Craving Normality - A Wilbur Soot Angst

Chapter 27

Tommy's suspension was mostly uneventful. On the first day, Kristen and Phil had sat him down and talked to him about the negative effects bullying can have on people, and how what he had done was unacceptable. He'd smiled and nodded for the most part, hoping that they would think he had taken in what they had said and would leave him alone. It worked, thank God. Suspension had always been presented as something terrible at his school, but for Tommy it was bliss. No teachers, no bullies, just sitting quietly in his room doing his schoolwork at his own pace.

But every day that went past was another day closer to returning to school, and even the thought of this made him gag. The pain from his burns was excruciating, and it was a constant reminder of what he was going to have to face again soon, every single day. There was no way out.

No way to escape.

• • •

Wilbur felt sick at the prospect of Tommy going back to school, although he felt slightly better now that Phil and Kristen had allowed him to join the same school as his little brother once his suspension had ended. Wilbur didn't want to go to school, but thinking about the burns that covered Tommy's torso was a sobering thought. He couldn't let that happen again, and if going to school was a way to prevent that then it was worth it.

• • •

'Are you sure you're ready for this?' Phil asked anxiously. He'd just come to wake Wilbur up for the school day, only to find him already dressed in his uniform and completely ready to go. Wilbur didn't mention it, but he'd been up since five o'clock that morning worrying about the day ahead.

'Certain.' He wasn't certain. Not one bit.

'Good.' Phil smiled at him.

All too soon, Tommy and Wilbur were climbing into Kristen's car, and in what seemed like seconds they had arrived at the school gates. She waved them goodbye and Wilbur felt nauseous as he watched her car getting smaller and smaller as it faded into the distance.

'You okay?' He whispered to Tommy, who shook his head.

'I'm scared.'

'Don't worry, just come and find me after every lesson, okay? If you don't come then I'll assume something's happened and I'll come and find you. It's gonna be okay.'

Tommy nodded, clearly unsure, and they went their separate ways.

The morning was monotonous, full of lessons that Wilbur really didn't care about, but despite his nerves and social anxiety, he enjoyed meeting new people. In his maths class, he'd sat next to a girl called Niki, who had invited him to sit with her and her friends at lunch. Wilbur couldn't help but think that she would be friends with Jack, and it made him miss him even more.

Finally the bell rang, signalling that lunchbreak had started. Wilbur grabbed his stuff and immediately left the classroom, scanning the packed corridor for any sign of his little brother.

Nothing.

He began to panic, but remembered that they'd agreed to meet by Tommy's locker if they couldn't regroup in the corridor. He weaved his way through the crowded passages, eventually reaching the block of lockers, one of which had Tommy's name on it.

He wasn't there.

Wilbur's panic became overwhelming. He tried to think where Tommy could possibly be, eventually remembering that the last incident had happened in the loos. Heart pounding, he hurried towards the loos, and as he approached he heard various bangs and thuds, as if someone was pounding against the wall. Wilbur broke into a sprint, throwing the door open, where he saw a group of five boys crowded around the sink. The tallest boy stood in the middle of the crowd, and Wilbur gasped as he saw that he was using both his hands to force a Tommy's head into a sink filled with water.

They were drowning him.

A/N: I hope everyone is doing okay <3

I just wanted to remind you all that my DMs are always open if you wanna vent or anything, I may not be a therapist but sometimes it's just nice to have someone to listen or empathise, and I'm always here for that. Ily all <3

(Also vote or Boris Johnson will boycott all food apart from cheese and wine at Christmas, if you know you know)