Mechanical (CPD)

Bullies

"So there was this boy in my year. He was on the lacrosse team and so was I. We were in the same English class together and the teacher was his mom. His dad was the coach of football and occasionally lacrosse."

"I thought you would be a cheerleader."

"God no. I much preferred sport."

"Fair enough."

"So this boy was called Tom. His parents always wanted him to go to a University where he could play a good sport and have a high education. They would always say be better at this, be better at that and the mom would constantly praise me infront of the class. She once said that she wish she had a kid like me."

"That's an awful thing to say."

"It was. I went to her after lesson once and asked her to stop saying stuff like that because it wasn't fair on Tom. He quit lacrosse and moved down an English Set. Tom had an amazing voice and was brilliant at acting so he joined Drama club and sometimes would sing in the Choir."

"I loved watching him perform and see the smile on his face when people actually praised him. His dad started being really homophobic and calling him gay because he didn't want to play a rough sport. I totally get that. I broke my actual arm from lacrosse. He came to me for advice and I told him that if he was gay, it was his choice whether he wanted to tell his parents and if he wasn't then he needed to tell his dad that."

"Why did he go to you for advice?"

"I don't know. He told his dad he wasn't gay but his dad still left home. His mom blamed him most of the time for his dad leaving them and then he blamed me. He ended up going back to sports and joined the football team and the popular boys. They all picked on me from there and blamed me for their 'best coach' leaving."

"I tried to tell them that had nothing to do with me but they didn't listen. They bullied me for a whole year before I finally snapped. Tom tripped me up as I was going down the stairs and everyone started to laugh. I grabbed his jacket and threw him into the wall before I started punching him. Police had to pull me off of him. He wasn't anywhere near the point of dying but there was a lot of blood and a few broken bones."

"God. What did you break?"

"His nose, finger and I want to say I nearly broke his jaw."

"Al took the case and was on my side completely but he couldn't stop me from getting kicked out. He did help me control the anger though and I didn't get bullied at the new place."

"That's good."

"His mom then left him and he lived with his grandmother. He was so angry and had reached his breaking point but didn't know who to blame. He blamed me."

"What did he do?"

"Al had to pick up Lexi from school so I said I would walk home and leave the gym slightly later. It wasn't even dark out when I left. Tom followed me from the gym half way back to my house when he ran passed me and stabbed me in the leg."

"I dropped to the floor instantly and tried to call Al but I had no service. I grabbed the wall that was near me and practically dragged myself home. But my mom was at a Uni open evening with my sister so I called Al as I sat on my kitchen floor, trying to stop the bleeding. Next thing I knew, I woke up in a hospital with my mom, Zoe and Al by my bedside and like five cops outside."

"Did they ask if you wanted to press charges?"

"Yeah and I said no. When I beat Tom up, his parents said no about charges so I did the same for him. He apologised to me loads but after high school, we never saw each other again. He's a drama teacher now."

"I'm glad he found a career that made him happy. I now understand why you want to protect Zoe from bullies."

"Yeah, I don't want her to go through the same thing I did."

When we finished our pizzas, we went back upstairs to join the others. I wanted to tell everyone to go home but we ended up getting another case.

"Location?" Asked Antonio.

"Chicago Medical school dorms." I announced.

*Jay's Pov*

"You have got to be kidding me." Said Jordan.

"What's up?" Asked Adam.

"Don't worry about it for now, I'll explain when we get there."

"Is there any chance you, Jay and Antonio can just go, let us guys rest?" Joked Kim.

"Yeah. We'll just go if it's okay with Hank. We don't mind." I said as I checked with the other two, who both nodded.

"Yeah, see you guys in a bit." Said Hank.

Jordan and Antonio rode together considering they are partners and I drove in my own car and met them there.

"So, what's wrong with this place?"

"I'm banned. If I come here again, I was told a restraining order would be put in place."

"Oh, that's great Jordan." Said Antonio.

"They called us remember because there was a body." I said.

"Wait, what?" Asked Jordan.

"I though you knew. There was a body found at this party in a dorm room."

"My sister was at that party." Said Jordan.

We all looked at each other before running inside and up the stairs to the third floor.

Many people were gathered around, mostly drunk teenagers. Security was keeping everyone back as we went in to look at the body. Thank god, it wasn't Zoe.

Jordan kept looking around for her and asking people if they had seen her. Antonio was looking around the crowd when he spotted Zoe. He pulled her through and then walked her to Jordan. Zoe practically jumped into her sister's arms as they held each other.

"I was so worried about you."

"I know, I'm sorry. Everything I said at the District, I take it back. None of it meant anything."

"It's fine. I'm just glad you're okay."

"Isn't she like 26?" Asked Antonio.

"Yeah but they have a really close relationship and would probably break if they lost one another."