Conflicted

Chapter Two

* Chase's POV *

"Xavier, what happened to your face?" I asked, looking at the small ginger boy in front of me, seeing the bruise around his bright green eye. He quickly looked down. "N-Nothing I-I'm just clumsy," he said. I could hear the pain in his voice that he was trying to hide, making me frown. I knew he only stuttered when he was nervous; he was hiding something. I gently take his hands, causing him to flinch a little. "Hey, I'm your friend. I'm not going to hurt you. Please tell me the truth." He slowly looked up at me with tears in his eyes. "M-My mom," he said nervously. I could feel his hands gently, starting to shake in mine. "S-She gets mad at m-me sometimes. I-I dropped a plate a-and." he stopped. It was apparent he didn't want to finish the story. The shaking in his hands worsened. I sighed softly and gently wiped the tears on his face before pulling him into a gentle hug. I couldn't understand why a parent would hurt their child, especially over something so small. "I'm sorry," I say softly, trying to comfort him.

My dream is interrupted by a cold splash of water hitting my face, followed by a few little giggles. I knew that could only mean one thing. "Melody!" I groaned, opening my eyes to look at the culprit. Standing in front of me was a little girl with long black hair and bright blue eyes. My little sister, I loved her to death, but sometimes she got on my nerves. She was only a few years younger than me, but sometimes I could swear she was a six-year-old. "Mom said I could wake you up anyway I wanted, so this is what I picked." She said with a smirk. I sigh and sit up, rubbing my eyes lightly. "It's the first day of school, silly." She said with a huge smile.

We recently moved to a new town a few hours away, and I was grateful for a fresh start. After everything that happened in that old city, I thought that things might finally start to look up for me. I smile back at her and stand up. "I know, I know. Thanks for the wakeup call. I need to get ready, so I'll meet you downstairs." I say, heading to my closet. She nods and leaves the room. I quickly start getting ready and find my favourite purple hoodie and match it with a pair of jeans. Nothing special, I preferred to be comfortable over fashionable. I brush through my black hair and make my way downstairs. Melody was sitting at the kitchen table, eating an apple. I look around to see that nobody else is around.

"Wheres, mom?" I ask. Melody looks up and shrugs. "I think she already left for work." She responded, causing me to sigh. My mom's always been a workaholic. Her job is why we moved here in the first place. "Do you want a ride to school?" I ask, looking at her. We didn't live far from school, but I thought it would be unfair to make my sister walk while I drove. She smiled and nodded in response. "Okay, well, we'll leave in five, so start getting ready," I say, heading towards the door. She got up with her apple and followed me, putting on her shoes. "Are you excited?" She asked with a questioning expression. I nod, "Yeah, it'll be nice to start over." She frowned. She was the one person who could see right through me.

"Make some friends this year, okay?" She said softly. I nod and head towards my car getting in she follows and gets in the passenger side. "I mean it, Chase." She continued, not dropping the subject. "The people here will be different. They don't know you, so all you have to do is make a good first impression." I sigh. "It's not really about first impressions. After everything with Xavier, I let myself become their target because I figured I should pay for what I did to him." I admitted with a frown. I hated bringing up my past and the friend that I failed, but Melody was the only one who knew the whole story, and I knew I needed to talk about it every once and a while or I'd go crazy. "That's the past, Chase. You're not a bad person, you did a stupid thing, but that doesn't mean you have to suffer forever. If you think you need to make up for the past, then befriend the people who have none. Be there for them. Sometimes all someone needs are one person who cares about them, and you can be that person." She said with a smile. My sister always knew how to make me feel better. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sure I could do that." I said, stopping in the school parking lot. "Well, we're here. Guess it's time to go find out classes and lockers." She nods. "See you later!"

I take a few minutes to gather my thoughts before I slowly walked into the school. I started to feel a little anxious. When the news broke about Xavier's mother, his bullies all turned on me. They didn't want to take responsibility for their actions. Instead, they chose to blame someone else. I didn't blame them, though. I deserved it for the way I treated him. I sigh softly and look around the mostly empty hallways.

I didn't know where to start. People passed by me paying very little attention to me, which I didn't mind. I look around, trying to figure out where the main office might be. A sudden noise around the corner catches my attention. It sounded like someone punched a locker. "P-Please yo-you don't have t-to hurt me." The pleading voice sounded scared. It made my heart drop, instantly reminding me of Xavier. I shake the thought from my mind and decide to follow the sounds to see what's happening. When I turn the corner, the first thing I notice is a small ginger boy on the ground with a much bulkier brown-haired male standing over him. Before I could even process what was happening, the brown-haired male kicked the ginger boy hard in the stomach. "Your such a pathetic little fag!" The brown-haired male shouted before sending another kick into the other's belly. Was he beating this poor kid for someone as simple as his sexuality? That seemed pretty low. There are far better things to hate someone. I could see tears in the ginger's eyes. His eyes reminded me so much of Xavier. I instantly knew I needed to help. "S-Stop, please, I-I'm sorry!" The ginger boy pleaded with his brown-haired assaulter. "You should be sorry!"

I couldn't watch it anymore. "Leave the poor kid alone!" I shouted, making my way towards the two. "Why would I do that?" the brown-haired boy mocked, glaring at me. He grabbed the ginger by his shirt collar, forcing him to his feet. I could see the boy was shaking. He was terrified. I was sure this wasn't the first time this has happened and seeing it broke my heart. The ginger looked so broken, and the brown-haired boy looked like he enjoyed every minute of the pain he was causing. I pulled his hand off of the ginger, causing the boy to fall back onto the floor pretty hard. "What the hell!" The brown-haired boy shouted before sending a punch my way. I didn't bother to dodge it, and I knew that would only cause a more significant scene. I smirked, looking him in the eyes, showing him that I didn't care. I just wanted him to leave the poor boy on the floor alone.

A teacher stepped in, pulling the brown-haired boy into the office, leaving me alone with the ginger. I was honestly a little surprised that nobody bothered to make sure the boy on the floor was okay after what had just happened. He quickly stood up, and it was pretty clear he wasn't very balanced. How could he be? He was just kicked in the stomach several times. "Hey, wait. Are you okay?" I asked, looking at him with a soft gaze. His green eyes slowly looked up towards me, and he nods in reply. I wasn't convinced. He had just been kicked in the stomach a few times.

"Are you sure?" I asked, taking a step towards him. He flinched and moved away from me, which made me frown. I get it though, he's getting bullied, and a random person is suddenly talking to him. I don't blame him for thinking I might hurt him. He has every right to feel uneasy. "I'm not going to hurt you. I don't even know you." I said kindly. I wanted to try and make him feel a bit more comfortable with me. "I-I'm sorry." He says quietly before looking down towards the ground. "I'm Jonah. Y-You should probably l-leave me alone. He'll come after y-you too." His tone sounds sad. He reminds me so much of Xavier Even down to the nervous stutters. I can't shake the feeling that this is my chance to make things right finally.

"I don't care. Let them come for me. The names Chase." I say with a soft smile. He seemed to tense at that, which made me curious. He looks like he needs a friend. The conversation with my sister earlier comes back to me, and I know he's the type of person she was telling me I should befriend "T-thanks but I-I have to go." He says before quickly walking away. I wanted to follow him, but I still needed to find the office before class started. I'll catch up with him later. I want to know more about him and why that other boy was after him.