Take Me Home

Chapter Twelve

It was on Wednesday when it finally happened - somebody catching Jackson and Hunter in the act. And that somebody happened to be Niall.

It was wet play, meaning the playground was empty because the teachers had decided to keep everyone inside. However, year three had just had PE in the main hall, and the store where the basketballs were put was outside, at the end of the field.

"Okay, volunteers to go and put the equipment away outside?" Mr. Hall asked, just as everyone was flooding into the changing rooms to get back into their uniforms and out of the PE kit.

Apparently, nobody wanted to got out into the rain in just their white t-shirts and maroon shorts, because everyone began to move a little faster and the four boys at the back of the rush were the ones that the PE teacher called out to to do the job nobody else wanted.

"Jackson, Hunter, Niall, Louis. So nice of you to offer," the teacher attempted to joke. Hunter groaned loudly, Jackson smirked and glanced at Louis, Louis took a step back warily and Niall just frowned, wondering what the big deal was. It was just a bit of rain. It wasn't like they were going out there to stay in the rain over night; he's had plenty of experience

"Three of you can take one of the bags of basketballs each. Niall, come with me and help me collect the cones, then you can catch up with the others. Okay?" Mr. Hall instructed. Niall smiled at Louis quickly before running to catch up with the teacher, leaving Louis alone with his two tormentors.

Strangely and unsettlingly, the two boys seemed to ignore Louis as they all lifted one of the bags and headed outside. It wasn't too cold, but the rain was getting heavier as they reached the sludgy mud of the field, and Louis couldn't seem to stop the uneasy feeling in his stomach that something bad was going to happen.

There was no way that Hunter and Jackson were going to stop being mean to him now, after almost a whole month of pointless bullying - was there?

Louis found the answer to that question when Hunter and Jackson both swung the heavy bags around at the same time and hit him with them. They didn't really hurt, but they took him by surprise and he lost his footing on the slippery ground and landed on his back in the mud, the wind completely knocked out of him.

When he caught his breath and zoned back in, he could hear the two bullies laughing hard at him, clutching their stomachs as if it was the funniest thing they had seen in all their lives.

Louis didn't laugh. Instead, he decided he'd had enough and holding it together wasn't an option anymore so he burst into tears instead, sitting up and covering his face with muddy hands. He cried even harder when he heard Jackson and Hunter copying his sobs and making fun of him.

He hated them. He hated school. And he even hated Mr. Hall for sending him out here with them.

It began to rain even heavier, thunder cracking overhead and washing the mud off of Louis' white shirt, wetting his hair down to his head, making him shiver. It didn't make the bullies stop laughing at him though.

Then there was another voice behind him. He quickly looked over his shoulder and saw Niall, glaring at the two laughing boys.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, dropping the cones down into the mud and holding out his hands to Louis.

Louis sniffed and tried his eyes, but only succeeded in smearing mud across his face. Niall didn't seem to care that Louis' hands were dirty when he took them, and hauled him up from the sludge with surprising strength. Niall was very small, but Louis began to wonder if he had been wrong when assuming he was weak too.

"Are you alright, Louis?" he asked, still frowning, rain darkening his blond hair and dripping off the end of his nose.

Louis glanced around at the equipment, all dirty on the ground, then at the two boys who were still sniggering, then back at Niall's concerned blue eyes. Then he gave a small shake of his head, telling the truth for once because he wasn't all right. Everything was all wrong since Jackson and Hunter had chosen him as their next victim.