Suicide And Depression (SAD)

Part 3

"Hey!" I called, before smashing my fist against Jared's nose. I didn't even give him time to recover before smashing his face into the lockers and slamming his head down on my knee, knocking him unconscious. Turning, I barely dodged the fist that was swinging at me from one of Jared's goons.

"This has got nothing to do with you, Price!" Goon #2 said as he prepared to throw another punch.

"I don't like bullies," was all I said before landing a kick to his abdomen and quickly following it with another kick to his head. As Billy crashed to the floor, I looked around to see Goon #3 running away down the hall. Giving myself a small nod, I finally looked down at the kid that was still curled up on the floor.

"Hey, it's okay," I softly said, reaching down to help the kid up. He didn't even look up at me. "They've been dealt with." The kid looked familiar. I'm pretty sure he's in one or two of my classes. I've never actually spoken to him before though. He's always been that quiet kid that sits alone in the corner of the room. "You're Ryan, right?" I asked, his name coming back to me. "I think we have Econ and...Calc together."

He only gave me a small nod before bending down to pick up his stuff that was scattered across the floor. I quickly started to help gather his things. He still hasn't said a word or looked at me. "I'm sorry about Jared and his goons. They're assholes who think that tormenting others makes them more of a man." I made a sound of disgust, shaking my head. "But they're just stupid idiots." I paused for a moment before hesitantly lying my hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry about them." I then handed him the papers that I was still holding onto before turning to leave. It was obvious that he was not interested in any kind of conversation with me.

"Price?" A small voice called from behind me. I quickly turned around to see him still staring at the floor.

"Yeah?" I whispered, taking a small step back towards him.

"Don't...don't come to school tomorrow."

I felt my breath stop as my heart skipped a beat. I didn't know what I should do. I had never been in this situation before and I was terrified of making the right choice. I knew immediately what Ryan was telling me. I knew what he planned to do. But I couldn't just stand by and let it happen. Yeah, kids can be jerks but that doesn't mean that they deserve to die for it. And reporting him to the teachers, well, that would only really be a temporary fix.

While I was contemplating what I should do, Ryan finally looked up and made eye contact with me. What I saw caused my heart to stop for the second time in less than five minutes. All I could see was the utter pain and desolation that ravaged his soul. I could see the determination in his eyes that can only be seen in the eyes of a person who has reached the end of their rope. A person who has lost all reason to live. It was at that moment that I knew what to do.

"Okay," I whispered, giving a slight nod. "I won't come to school tomorrow." Ryan returned my nod and started to turn away. "And neither are you. We're having a sleepover at my house tonight. Just me and you." I reached out and gently placed my hand on his shoulder. "We'll stay up late watching movies and playing games and eating a crap ton of junk food and then we're going to skip school tomorrow so we can sleep as late as we want before having pizza and chips for breakfast." I felt Ryan tense up under my hand. "And there's always room at my lunch table, I would love it if you wanted to join me or I could sit with you, but I understand that sometimes people may want to be alone."

"Why are you...why are you doing this?" Ryan whispered through the tears that I could see streaming down his face.

"Because I've been where you are, Ryan. I was lucky enough to have an older brother to pull me out of it. But now he's gone, and I have the chance to help somebody else like he helped me. I'm not doing this out of pity or because I have some ulterior motive. I want to help you because you deserve to have someone in this world that is looking out for you and I would like to be that someone; if you let me." I don't know how long we stood in that hallway before he turned to me with a small smile on his face.

"I like pizza."