The Loner and the Prep (bxb)

Chapter Eleven

Elijah P.O.V

There was a light on the other side of my closed eyes causing a slight sense of discomfort. I try moving to see if the light would go away but unfortunately, the light didn't go away when I moved. It stayed just as strong as it had been the moment before. I give up after a couple moments of moving around, the light has won. I surrender. 

I peak my eyes open, unaware of where I am for a few moments before I remember the events that took place before I had decided that the school's nurses office would be a great place to take a nap in. I am currently regretting it because of my tense muscles. It was a rather painful chair to sleep in and I should have known the floor would have been much more comfortable than that awful chair. I look over to the cot that Watson had been sleeping in and let out a disappointed sigh when he wasn't laying there anymore. I seriously wish today's situation hadn't happened. Based on how things are looking, concerning what I was assuming to be cutting issues, Watson was literally killing himself by doing what he was doing. 

I don't know Watson very well, but I don't think anybody in this school does either. He never talks to anybody, and those that do talk to him--or about him-- do so to bully him or spread rumors that I know just can't be true. Some things lie that you hear simply can't be true. My peers seem to enjoy making rumors like that. I hardly ever believe rumors because the kids in my school aren't the kind to ensure that the truth remains the truth. No one in this school knows how to keep the truth true. They like to blind the truth with lies and make said, person, they are lying about appear worse to everyone, including said person the rumors are about. 

Something I have always hated about being popular. The rumors. How things never seemed to be as important anymore. Everything seems to blur together by the end of it. At this point, I don't think I could walk away from the popular group. Even if I did, people would still follow me around. People would still talk to me like they were the closest thing I've ever had to a best friend and I knew why they'd continue to do so. Money. Kids in my school will do almost anything for money as sad as that is. I don't see why they'd want the money, other than the few that I know spend it on drugs. I don't see why people would want to do drugs and I have never been attracted to the idea of drugs. A perk I guess. Who needs drugs? Based on what I've seen drugs only ruin your life . . . the illegal kind that is, the legal kind are pretty good at saving lives and curing illnesses. Way off topic. 

I don't really understand what Watson's story is. I don't know if something more than the bullying is going on or if that is what that is. Who knows, those cuts might not be self-harm marks, they could something else entirely. How am I to know? I don't know Watson personally and a part of me wishes I did so that I would understand this entire situation. I kind of hate that Watson looks so, with no better choice of words, weak in a way. He looked so broken when our peers say hurtful words in his direction. I have seen the expression on his face, him looking heartbroken about being told to lose weight, to kill himself, to go away, to stop breathing. He's as thin as can be. If it is cutting marks than he's close to the death part. My peers are awful. I've only ever heard these things being muttered underneath peoples breath but I know there are kinds in this school who have the guts to say those words out loud. I've seen some of the larger jock looking students push him to ground, push him into lockers. Bullying, if not abuse. 

It isn't like much can be done either. Teachers don't care about how we are physically. All they care about is our test scores. The more that pass the more they get paid. They don't get paid for treating us nicely. Very few teachers actually cared about our well-being. It was how things in this school seemed to work out and it doesn't look like anyone is going to change anything any time soon. It doesn't seem like they can, not without the entire school turning against them. No one wants to change anything, or that's what it looks like. 

I was about to stand up to get out of this chair before I looked down and noticed a pink sticky note on my knee, which I know wasn't there before. I pick the sticky note up off my leg and look down at it. 

'Hey Elijah. Thanks for taking me to the nurse earlier. It means a lot.' 

I smile down at the sticky note, holding it to my chest for a second before sliding the note into my pocket. That note meant more to me than I thought it would. It meant more to me than it should. I get out of the chair finally, leaning back to pop my back because it was stiffer than anything else in my body. 

I lean back to a straighter position before I noticed something peaking from underneath the cot that Watson had been laying on. It was clearly a book. I go over to the cot lean down and pick up the old battered book, looking like it was rather important. I flip the first page and found that not even I could read the words due to the fact that the ink has faded over the years. 

Glancing down at the book realized that this was it. This was my way to communicate with Watson.