In Love With A Warbler

Chapter 6 : Jeff's phone call

Chapter 6

A few days later...

Alex POV

Today was Thursday. As the week went on, Jeff got quieter and more jumpy than ever. He hadn't had any more nightmares though. But Nick and I couldn't figure out what he was so scared about.

"Nick," I whined.

"What?"

"Come help."

"With what?"

"With proving that these triangles are the same."

Nick came down from his bunk, and started helping me with geometry.

All of a sudden, Jeff's phone started ringing. I could literally see his hand shaking as he picked it up.

"H-hello?" He asked, his voice cracking.

Nick and I were both watching and listening closely.

"N-no. I-I'm t-trying r-really h-hard," he stuttered.

He was beginning to shake more and more.

"D-do I have t-to!? T-the w-whole w-weekend!?"

He was making me nervous now.

"O-ok. B-bye."

As soon as he was off the phone, he burst into tears. Nick and I got up, and went over to him.

"Jeff, what's wrong? Who was that?" Nick asked.

"M-my d-dad."

"Why are you crying?"

Jeff laid down, and curled up. He doesn't want to tell us something.

"Jeff, what did your dad say?" Nick asked.

"H-he's p-picking m-me up t-tomorrow to v-visit."

"So you're going home for the weekend?"

He nodded.

"Do you not want to go home?"

Jeff didn't answer. And I sort of knew we wouldn't be getting more out of him. It's like he'll tell us a little bit, but then he just completely shuts down.

"Let's get back to the homework, ok?" I asked.

"Alright..."

Later...

Alex POV

Jeff was really freaked out about whatever his dad said. He couldn't seem to sit still. He just sat on his bed, and fidgeted. A lot.

Nick was currently in the shower. I went over to Jeff to try to get a few more answers.

"Why are you so nervous about going home?" I asked.

"I-I don't k-know."

"Do you like going home?"

"N-no."

"Why not?"

"B-bad."

"Bad?"

"P-please h-help m-me."

"What do you want me to do?"

"H-help!"

He broke into tears again. I pulled him into a hug. He felt so skinny and tense. And his whole body was shaking.

"Do you not want to go home?" I asked.

"P-please!"

The bathroom door opened, and Nick came out.

"What's going on?" Nick asked.

"He doesn't want to go home tomorrow. What should we do?" I asked.

"I don't know. Is there anything we can do?"

"I don't know..."

The boy in my arms was beginning to shake harder and harder. Suddenly, he bolted to the bathroom, and started throwing up.

I went in the bathroom, and rubbed his back until he was finished. I wrapped my arms around him from behind, and he leaned against me. I could feel him breathing quickly, like he was still scared.

"How about you try to get some sleep, ok Jeff?" I asked.

He nodded, and I walked him back out to his bed. Nick and I tucked him into bed.

Nick pulled me out into the hall.

"What should we do? He's terrified to go home. Something's seriously wrong," Nick said.

"I don't know. Maybe we can stop him from going home tomorrow."

"I'm really worried about him."

"Me too."

We went back inside. Jeff was curled up in bed, looking at us.

"Hey. We're heading to bed. Wake us up if you need anything, alright?" Nick asked.

Jeff nodded.

"Alright. Goodnight," Nick said, climbing up to his bunk.

I shut off the light, and got into my own bed. I hope Jeff can get to sleep.

The next day...

Alex POV

We were all in history class right now. I hated history so much. Why do we even need to know this stuff? We could just google it.

We were writing down all these notes and stuff. I was barely paying attention.

The teacher's phone rang, and she answered it.

"Mr.Sterling. You're wanted in the main office," our teacher said.

Jeff quickly packed up his stuff. I looked at Nick, and he looked just as confused as I did.

Jeff left the room, and he never came back.

Later...

Alex POV

Nick and I were running up a ton of stairs and down a bunch of hallways to get to our room. Jeff hadn't come back to class all day, and we were worried.

Nick unlocked the door, and opened it. But nobody was in there.

"Do you think he went home?" I asked.

"Probably... Do you think he's ok?"

"I honestly don't know..."

"What should we do?"

"I don't know... I think maybe we should just wait until he comes back, and see what happens. I mean, maybe it's nothing at all."

"I don't think it would be nothing at all if he cried like he did yesterday."

"Well... I don't know. I think we should wait until he gets back, and then we'll see what happens."

"Ok..."