-Oliver-

I guess I was lucky. Somehow, I only got bruises after getting beaten up by Jack. I think. I was sure that if I had broken bones they would hurt a lot more. I was in pain, true, but it was considerably easy to hide it. And the bruises on my back. Lucky for me, it was winter, so no one questioned me for wearing big sweaters with long sleeves and turtlenecks.

My birthday... We had cake after dinner and the staff had arranged us a movie night in the living room. Of course, when all the other kids were younger than me, we watched movies for kids, but it was fun nonetheless. We had popcorn and candy and sodas – treats we usually didn't have – and we even got to stay up late.

And I got a present.

"We all pitched in," Mrs. Bundt said with a big smile, when she gave me a small packet, wrapped in white paper and a blue ribbon. "I hope you like it. You definitely deserve it."

I stared at the gift, feeling emotional for some reason. The day had not been great, and I couldn't stop seeing Jaden laughing at me, or the anger on Jack's face, but knowing these people actually cared... I didn't feel so alone and helpless knowing that.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"Well? Aren't you going to open it?" Mrs. Bundt asked with a giggle.

I nodded, smiled at all of them, when they gathered around to see my reaction. I opened the ribbon and carefully moved the paper away to see what was inside.

"Are you kidding me," I smirked. "A new phone?"

"You are sixteen now! You need a new one. One that's hip," Mrs. Bundt said with a proud smile.

"I don't think anyone says 'hip' anymore," I chuckled, taking the phone out of its box.

I had never even held a smartphone before. Absolutely everyone at school had one, but I had no idea how to use it. It didn't have any buttons. That confused me. There were only two on the side of its slim figure. And an oval-shaped... something, at the bottom, but it didn't look like a button.

I was confused, but Mrs. Bundt spent the next thirty minutes teaching me how to use it.

I was happy, of course. The day ended better than it had started, but hours later, when everyone was asleep and I was lying on my bed, staring out of the window into the dark sky, the brightness of my birthday party couldn't outshine the darkness. Jack. Jaden. Mr. Hanson.

I couldn't sleep because my back started to hurt more, but I still refused to tell anyone about it. Jack was not a good person. Every time I even thought about him I could feel his aura. It terrified me. The way he faced Mr. Hanson at the school was just wrong.

And now he was mad at me. Of course I couldn't sleep.

Monday morning was bad. I could barely get out of bed because my back was still hurting, and knowing I had to see Jack again didn't make things any easier. The only thing that convinced me to go back to school was Jaden.

I just... couldn't stop thinking about him during the weekend. Not for a second. More than once, I caught myself wondering where he was, who he was with and what he was doing. For some reason, seeing him seemed to be worth the beating I would get the second Jack spotted me.

I was really curious. I wished I had the nerve to go talk with Jaden, and ask if he knew what happened between us. I'd racked my brain to figure out the answer, but I came up with nothing. That moment was not normal, that was for sure. One of the possible explanations was that I was having a seizure, and I was making weird faces or something, which Jaden had found amusing enough to stop and laugh at me. That was probably the best explanation I came up with, but... I wished it wasn't the right one.

Why I wished that was beyond me. Maybe it was because that moment had been so... magical. For a moment, I had felt an entirely new world around me, a world with magnificent auras and mysterious beings and everything magical. And the moment he turned away I was forced to face the ugly grayness and boring reality. It probably was just a seizure, and I was just hallucinating.

But... what if... the stories I loved to read... All those fantastic adventures...

"Ollie?"

I snapped out of my daydreams and turned to look at Mrs. Bundt. "Sorry," I mumbled, and took off my seat belt, before opening the door of her car.

"Are you all right?" she asked with a frown. "You've been a bit quiet lately. More than usually."

"I'm good," I said and mustered a smile.

She gave me a better look, but didn't continue asking. "All right," she spoke, and I knew she was suspicious. She just wasn't the kind of woman who started interrogating people without a good reason, but she would definitely keep a closer eye on me.

"I'm fine," I said as reassuringly as I could.

She did not believe me, but again, she didn't say anything either, so I exited the car and waved at her, before walking to the gates. I was dead-serious about not telling anyone anything. Even if it cost my life, I wouldn't tell anyone.

I spent the first half of the day looking over my shoulder, trying to avoid Jack the best I could. I wasn't sure if he was at school, but I assumed he was. At the same time, I was trying to spot Jaden or his friends, but I didn't see even a glimpse of any of them.

I got scolded for not paying attention a lot as well. I kept thinking about the last time I saw Jaden, playing all the questions I had in my head over and over again, so it was hard for me to focus in classes. I didn't realize it at first, but my difficulty with focusing was drawing more unwanted attention to myself.

We had P.E. later that day, and it finally hit me. Quite literally.

I was thrown onto the ground by a fast-moving basketball that hit me on the side of my face. It took me a moment to get my eyes pointing in the same direction again, and when I pushed myself sit up, I saw three boys snickering at me. One of them was holding the ball that hit me. Nick was his name. At first, I thought it was an accident and that it was my own fault for not paying attention, but only a little while later, I got hit again, but this time on the shoulder. It was Nick again.

By the end of the class, three more hits later, I knew for sure he was deliberately aiming at me. I had no idea why. I couldn't remember ever stepping on his toes or anything. He had never before paid any attention to me.

I tried to get out of the locker room as fast as I could, before Nick would spot me, but I was a bit too late. I failed to notice him behind a locker door, but he sure noticed me. He tripped me before I even saw it coming, and I fell flat on the ground. People around me laughed, while I hurried up on my feet again, trying to keep my face neutral.

"What's the hurry, rat?" Nick laughed after me, when I exited the room.

It wasn't the worst that had been done to me, even if I excluded the few encounters I'd had with Jack, but since I had the feeling this was just the start, and I was tired after sleepless night, I just wanted to go hide somewhere.

But no. That wasn't an option for me. Just a few minutes after I'd left the locker room, I walked around a corner, and saw Jack standing right in front of me, his back turned on me. I stopped breathing, and I tried to retreat back behind the corner, but at that same moment, somehow, Jack realized I was behind him.

"There you are," he spoke, turning around slowly while my own body froze all over in fear. "We didn't get to finish our conversation last time." He grabbed me by the front of my sweater, and yanked me closer. "Start talking, rat."

I just wanted to cry, but I managed to keep myself together. Barely.

"I – I... ha-haven't found a-anything..."

"Didn't I tell you I hate stuttering?" he asked quietly, but with anger written all over his face. "I saw you talking to Jaden last Friday. What did you tell him?" he asked, and I could tell he was doing his best to not hit me.

"N-Nothing–"

"Still stuttering!" he hissed, pushing me against a wall. "I'm running out of patience with you."

I was pretty sure he never had any to begin with. "I didn't say anything to him," I spoke slowly, trying to stay as calm as possible.

"Yeah, I figured out that much," he said, suddenly letting go of me. "You don't have the balls to do that, and Jaden doesn't seem to have any idea about our little arrangement. But."

I almost collapsed onto the ground, but I balanced myself against the wall. Jack peered down at me with squinted eyes, and I waited quietly, without moving an inch.

"Because of you, Hanson is now lurking behind my back, watching my every move," he spoke quietly, his words oozing hate towards me. "That's the second time you've gotten me in a bad situation. You were supposed to be useful to me."

I could hear the threat in his words. "I won't fail you, I promise!" I hurried to say, but he snorted.

"Then you better find a way to figure out where the fuck Jaden's hiding place is!" he growled at me, pushing me harder against the wall. "If you fail to do so, it's not only me you're pissing off!"

I trembled under his wrath. I could see his aura again, that horrifying darkness that surrounded him. He turned around and started walking, but it took me a moment to even start recollecting myself.

Then his words really sunk in. Especially the part about him not being the only person who would get pissed at me.

I... I really did not want to know that.