The Heart Chooses [boyxboy Short Story]

                “Get him!” they cried as I raced forward, my heart slamming. I looked over and, desperate, sprinted towards the monkey bars.

                I climbed up the short ladder and grabbed desperately at the metal bars. I pulled myself up and crawled over to the center of the monkey bars, watching anxiously as the others reached the ladder.

                Emilio, the biggest one, tried to pull himself up, but slipped a little.

                Frustrated, he dropped back to the ground and glared at me. “You have to come down sometime! Recess is almost over!” he said furiously.

                Knowing he was right, I looked around for any sign of the teacher. She must still be inside the school. I looked back down and my eyes widened.

                Emilio’s best friend, Tyler, was climbing up the ladder. He grabbed the bar and managed to pull himself up. He grinned and crawled towards me.

                I looked around desperately. “Maxx!” I screamed, wishing I knew where my best friend had disappeared to. Maxx never left me alone at recess. He knew what happened when he did.

                Tyler grabbed me and, at the cheers of the other kids, shoved me forwards off of the monkey bars. I let out a scream as I plummeted down towards the rocks on the ground.

                My eyes snapped open, my heart slamming wildly. I reached up and gently touched my face, relaxing when it wasn’t bloodied from rocks. I looked around and realized I had fallen asleep in my living room.

                “Chandler, did you have another nightmare?” my little sister, Ariel, asked curiously.

                “Yea,” I grumbled, running a hand through my hair and trying to push the memory of that day out of my mind. I had been about 6 or 7 years old. Maxx had been inside, using the bathroom, when it had happened.

                “Hey kids,” my dad greeted, coming into the room.

                “Daddy, Chandler had another nightmare. He was moaning,” Ariel said, running over to my dad and hugging him.

                “Big mouth,” I whined.

                “You have the biggest mouth,” she shot back, sticking her tongue out at me.

                I had to hold back my laugh. Oh little sister, yes I did have the biggest mouth. Or, used to. I was trying to “behave” nowadays. I was done with the screwing around.

                “Chandler, are you okay? I thought you said you didn’t have those nightmares anymore,” dad said with a frown.

                Of course he didn’t actually know what I dreamed about. I had never told my parents that I got bullied. I had always lied and said I fell or tripped.

                Until, of course, some assholes had broken my arm. Yea, then my parents found out.

                “Dad, I’m fine,” I said flatly, getting up. “Really.”

                I made my way to the kitchen and poured myself some water. I mentally sighed as I heard my dad entering the kitchen.

                “Chand, are you sure you’re okay? You used to scream in your sleep, and your mom and I don’t want to see that happen again,” he said in concern. “Do you want to talk about it? Do you want to talk about anything?”