The Fall of the Aftons

059: Michael Afton

One of the bullies used his big foot to sweep Michael's uninjured leg out from under him. Michael fell face-first onto the rough concrete surface of the blacktop. His face burned with scrapes and scratches, but he ignored it. He propped himself on his knees and arms, trying to sit up, but one of the bullies kicked him in the side. He fell back to the ground, landing on his injured shoulder. A flaring agony shot through his arm and he bit back a cry of pain, swallowing it so hard it hurt his throat.

He braced himself, ready for another attack.

But what was expected never came.

Uncertain of what was going on, he slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't believe what he saw.

Terrance and Apollo had ditched their study hall. Terrance was restraining one of the worst bullies as Apollo tried to get a teacher's attention. Noah was there, shouting at one of the unrestrained bullies, anger making his fists shake. Estella was doing the same with another kid being restrained by Analex. TJ and Lavender were shouting at the last bully, the one who had done the most damage to Michael over the years.

Suddenly, Apollo stopped trying to get a teacher's attention and rushed over to Michael. He lifted Mike off the ground and held him close. "Are you okay? What hurts?" he asked kindly.

"I-I'm fine. Just sore," Michael replied, quiet and unsure. He felt a scabbed cut on his lip as he spoke. "Thanks."

Apollo gave a small, sad smile. "It's no problem, buddy."

~ ~ ~

Michael stood in front of the main entrance of his school. His jacket's hood was over his head as he leaned against Terrance. The two of them were waiting for William to pick them up. Ever since Evan was adopted, William no longer relied on Terrance to bring him home. He would go to the school, pick up Terrance and Michael, then drop the three boys off at home before he went back to work.

Apollo suddenly snuck up behind Terrance, scaring Terrance and making Michael jump. He whispered something into his friend's ear, then turned his attention to Michael as he asked, "How're you doing? Are you feeling any better?"

"I'm fine," Michael lied. He shifted his weight so he now relied more on Terrance to keep him upright rather than himself. Truthfully, he was still extremely sore from the beating. It certainly didn't help that his shoulder had been throbbing ever since he'd fallen on it.

Terrance carefully lifted Michael from the ground and held him on his hip, his grip gentle yet secure. "Is that better?" he asked. He pulled Michael's hood down and brushed a long strand of hair out of his eyes.

"Yes. Thank you," he mumbled as he pulled his hood back up. He rested his head on Terrance's shoulder, tired from the draining events of the day. He wanted to go home and go to bed. He didn't have any homework--he'd finished it all during class.

Terrance started walking away as he waved goodbye to Apollo. He headed in the direction of the car pick-up lane, where William's car sat patiently for the two boys.

Terrance opened the back door and set Michael on his seat, then closed the door and got into the front seat. He slammed the front door shut. William started to drive away after he made sure that both Terrance and Michael had their seatbelts on.

"How was your last day of school?" William asked.

Terrance started rambling on and on about his day. But, for some reason, he avoided the incident with Michael's bullies. That was good. He didn't want to talk about what happened earlier.

No longer worried about his bullies coming up in conversation, Michael tuned out the conversation and looked out the window, and he watched the familiar surroundings go by. His thoughts drifted off, thinking about how he didn't like summer break but he didn't like being at school so much, either.

All of a sudden, somebody's shout startled him out of his thoughts. The car suddenly swerved to the side, sending Michael flying close toward little Evan. The car suddenly swerved a second time, driving off the road and squealing to a hard stop in the ditch. Michael flew to the car door, banging his head hard on the window. 

"Bloody plastered asshole!" William screamed as he punched the edge of the steering wheel. He took a calming deep breath that didn't work a whole lot and turned in his seat. He worriedly scanned the three boys, making sure that they weren't injured. "Are you all okay?" he asked. 

Evan didn't answer--he was fast asleep. Terrance nodded his head and mumbled a quiet, "Yes, I'm fine." Michael nodded his head, too, but William looked at him with a skeptical expression.

"Are you sure that you're okay, Mike?" William asked.

"I'm fine," he murmured as he rubbed the sore spot on his head. "I just hit my head."

"How did you get scrapes all over your face, then?" He pointed to Michael's forehead.

Michael looked away as he fidgeted with his thumbs. "I fell on my face during recess. I'm fine."

He saw William and Terrance look at each other with a shared expression. The same expression that had been shared between them very often nowadays--especially when they were suspicious about Michael's experiences at school.

"I'm fine," he felt the need to repeat.