After exercising in gym class, we usually play a sport, which is the worst part of the class. Today, we played soccer outside in the grassy field. It was fairly sunny outside, with only a few puffy clouds in the sky. The class is split up into two teams, and we start playing. I still don't know how to play soccer, except that you have to get the ball into the other team's goal without using your hands. But I don't know any of the rules or techniques of the game, but I think as long as I have the main idea, it's fine.

We start playing, and I try to stay as far away from the ball as I can. Everyone except me is crowded around the ball, trying to kick it. The goalies are totally out of it, not paying attention to the game at all. And then the ball is kicked in my direction, and I see a whole stampede of students running towards me, trying to get the ball. I hear some of my teammates shouting for me to do something, but I don't know what to do. When the students all catch up to me, they're furiously kicking for the ball, and a few students kick at my ankles. When the ball is kicked away from me, I look at my ankles, which are now dirty and bleeding a little bit.

Alex comes up to me. "Are you okay?" he asks me.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine," I say, sort of limping to the rest of the crowd while Alex runs there. I hate this.

I notice that one of the guys from the group I saw this morning is on the other team. When I catch up with the rest of the game, the person looks at me. We make eye contact, and he smirks. This can't be good at all. When he gets the ball, he kicks it towards me so everyone is around me again. I try to get out of it, but then the kicking at the ankles starts up again. Then someone pushes me hard (again) from behind and I fall to the ground on my hands and knees. Everyone notices me clears out as I lay there on the grass, my palm, knees, and ankles scraped up and bleeding.

"Earnest!" I hear Alex's voice call. I see him running to me with the coach.

"You alright, boy?" the coach asks me, squatting down by me.

"I'm fine," I say, sitting up. Alex comes over and helps me up.

"You should go to the nurse and get patched up," the coach says. "You can help him to the nurse." The coach points to Alex.

Alex nods and slings my arm over his shoulder, walking us off the field.

"What happened back there?" he asks as I limp up the stairs. "You're all scraped up."

"I just... fell over." I lie. "People were just kinda pushing me around since I was close to the ball, that's all."

I stumble a little bit, and Alex supports me a little more by putting his arm behind me and around my waist. "You're okay now," he says.

I feel some blood drip down my leg after we finally get to the floor of the nurse's office. I notice Alex looking at my knee.

"You're bleeding a lot," he says.

"I know, I just... can't look at it," I reply. I can't take my mind off of his hand around my waist and my arm over his shoulder and how I'm leaning on him. We go into the office and sit down in the chairs since there's someone else who's being taken care of right now.

"You okay?" Alex asks again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reassure him for the final time as the nurse calls me up to her desk.

. . .

At the end of school, there's a note pasted on my locker. I take the note off and read it.

Meet me outside by the side of the school. Sarah.

This kind of looks different from Sarah's handwriting, but I won't question it. This is Sarah anyway, and if she wants to see me, I'll go see her.

I walk outside and to the side of the school. I don't see anyone here, and then I hear a scratching sound, like someone's scraping their shoe on a sidewalk. But there's no sidewalk here, only grass.

"Hello?" I ask, walking around a corner, hidden from being seen from the sidewalk. "Sarah?"

"Wow, I can't believe you actually showed up," someone says behind me. "You really are gullible."

I turn around, and I already know it's not Sarah. It's the three guys from this morning (including the one who pushed me during gym class.) They walk closer to me, and I back up, eventually stopping when I get to the wall.

"Why are you here?" I ask them.

"He still doesn't get it," one friend says to another. Then he turns to me. "I thought you were the smart one," he says. "Whatever. I know about your sister. Y'know, the one that you hurt. I mean, I'm sure you weren't trying to kill her when you pushed her, but I guess you did."

"I didn't push her," I say truthfully. "I wasn't home at the time."

"That's an obvious response. What was crossing your mind before you pushed her? Did you think that no one would think it as you? I mean, you wrote it down. Are you that stupid?"

"I said I didn't do it!" I shout. "How do you know about all this anyway?"

"That doesn't matter. You're trying to change the subject."

"I'm not trying to—" I stop talking before I can say anything else.

"What? What are you not trying to do?"

"Stop it!"

Then the guy punches me in the face, flinging my glasses off. I fall to the ground in pain, my hand over my cheek. I taste blood in my mouth.

"Don't ever fucking tell me to stop!" he says.

"Hey!" I hear a different voice call. I see the silhouette another person in the distance. The boys turn around, looking in that direction. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, it's the new kid," one of them mumbles.

The person walks closer. "Leave."

I try sitting up, but I can't see anything. I feel around the grass for my glasses.

"Maybe we should go," the other friend says quietly. "We're done with him anyway."

The students walk away, and the other person walks to the side and then hands my my glasses. I put them on, and I see that he's holding out his hand. I take the hand, and the person pulls me up.

"Earnest! Are you okay?" he asks. It was Alex.

"Alex..." I say quietly, looking up at his face. Then I wrap my arms around him, pressing my cheek against his chest, my eyes pouring out warm tears.

Alex seems surprised at first and doesn't hug back, but then he finally gives in. He nestles me in his arms, holding me close to him. "It's okay, Earnest," he says calmly. "You're safe now."

"Thank you," I reply softly.