Saving Chester Bennington

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Chester’s POV

          When he arrived at school the next day, he saw no sign of Mike or any of his friends. Maybe that was because he was twenty minutes late. Even better, they were all in his first hour. He contemplated skipping class just so he wouldn’t have to see them but he knew he would get in trouble. Chester rubbed his new tattoos self-consciously. He wondered if anyone would really notice them or not. He was actually wearing a T-shirt today since the flames had managed to keep his scars hidden pretty well. Maybe they would leave him alone if he wore something normal. He had to admit, it felt cooler to wear a t-shirt. He made his way to his first class and took a deep breath before entering the class. The teacher looked at him.

“Where have you been Mr. Bennington?”

“I’m sorry. I got caught up at home today,” Chester said quietly making his way to his seat.

“By caught up, he means not being able to open the door,” Dave shouted from the back of the class.

“Mr. Farrell!”

“Whoops did I say that out loud? Sorry,” Dave said as he turned back to his desk with a grin on his face. Brad smiled at him. Mike hadn’t turned to either of them during the last exchange. Chester shrugged slightly and sat down. He sat two spaces away from Mike and his friends. He didn’t ever glance in their direction. Until the girl next to him turned to him.

“Hey weirdo, Mikey wanted to give you this,” she said. Chester glanced at her. She was obviously infatuated with Mike by the way she already had a nickname for him. He took the paper from her and glanced in Mike’s direction for the first time that day. The other boy was talking with his friends but he turned to Chester as if he could tell he was being looked at. Chester lowered his gaze to the paper in his hands. He unfolded it and looked at the neat print on it. His jaw almost dropped.

I tried so hard and got so far

But in the end it doesn’t even matter

I had to fall to lose it all

But in the end it doesn’t even matter

One thing, I don’t know why, it doesn’t even matter how hard you try

Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme to remind myself how

I tried so hard

In spite of the way you were mocking me

Acting like I was part of your property

Remembering all the times you fought with me

I’m surprised it got so far

Things aren’t the way they were before

You wouldn’t even recognize me anymore

Not that you knew me back then but it all comes back to me in the end

          The beginning two lines had been his. The rest was new. But it was exactly what kind of words he wanted. They were perfect. How had Mike done this? He looked back at Mike who was smiling slightly as he talked to Dave and Brad. Chester looked at the words again before taking his own pen and writing down two more lines underneath Mike’s.

You kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart.

What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of the time when…