Deon took me home once I recovered enough to stand, and the ride was a pretty silent one. He was still angry, and he didn’t reply to me when I tried to thank him for saving my ass. I didn’t try to keep the conversation going. It was obvious he wasn’t going to talk to me anymore. I could only wish he’d be in a better mood tomorrow…

“Thank you,” I said quietly once more after getting out of the car.

He just nodded without saying a word, but it was better than nothing. I closed the door, and he drove off, leaving me to face my dad alone. I preferred it that way. I didn’t want Deon to be there when my dad came home from work.

I took a deep breath and walked to the front door. With a heavy feeling in my chest, I stepped in. Thankfully, there was no one home yet. The silence in the empty house didn’t give me much comfort, though. I wondered if the school had already contacted my dad. I was pretty sure I was going to be expelled from school. They had given me a warning only a day before, so I assumed it was all over now.

And… part of me didn’t care…

I went to find something to eat, but the fridge was empty. The whole house was a mess, and the obnoxious stink of alcohol and cigarettes was getting overwhelming, so I decided to start cleaning. Maybe if the house was clean, my dad wouldn’t be so angry with me. I shivered when I thought about him. He would probably hit me this time…

My head still hurt, and my cheek was swollen, but I ignored it. I was hungry and tired, and I was feeling feverish, so I was sure I’d get sick again. My body begged me to go get some rest, but instead, I grabbed a vacuum cleaner from the closet under the stairs.

Two hours later, I was sweating, shaking, and feeling dizzy, but the first floor looked much nicer. I’d collected all the empty beer cans in one huge plastic bag, and all the trash into another one. All the windows and doors were open, but it didn’t quite erase the bad smell.

There was still a lot to do… The once white walls had stains all over them, making them almost yellow. Our dark-blue carpets had turned gray from all the dust and sand our old vacuum cleaner couldn’t remove anymore. When I’d opened the windows, I moved the thick blue curtains out of my way, and more dust fell on me.

I had plenty of time left before my dad would get home, but my body was basically shutting down from exhaustion. I nearly fainted while I took the trash out, so I had no choice but to get back inside and climb up to my room, where I somehow managed to fall onto my bed instead of the floor when my knees simply gave up. I curled into a tiny, trembling ball and pulled the duvet over my shivering body, feeling really sick, and I passed out soon after.

I always slept lightly because I was afraid of getting hurt if I wasn’t alert all the time, so when the front door was slammed shut, the sound woke me up. The fear washed over me instantly, and for a moment, I just shivered under my covers, staring at the wall in front of me.

“Theo!” I heard my father’s voice. “Get down here!”

I closed my eyes and almost started crying. My chest felt heavier than before… I just wanted to disappear…

“Theo!” he yelled again, and I knew he’d get angrier if I didn’t go to him soon.

I stood up and braced myself for being yelled at. I exited my room and headed to the stairs. With each step, my heart sank lower, and my soul shivered harder. My dad was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, and I lost my courage halfway down. I stopped in the middle of the staircase and tried to look at him in his dark eyes, almost failing to do so.

“Your teacher called me,” he said with no expression on his face. “She said you didn’t show up.”

“I… I w-was…” I stammered and lowered my gaze down at my feet.

I could feel the angry eyes on me…

“Then I got another call from some lady who claimed to be a doctor.”

“T-that… S-she… S-she’s my c-classmate’s… mom…”

“Then I got another call,” my dad continued, ignoring me completely. “From the school nurse.”

“W-what?” I frowned and looked at him again.

“Apparently there was an incident at your school, and she told me to tell you that you need to go see her first thing tomorrow morning.”

“What?” I whispered. “Why?”

“She didn’t tell me,” Dad said and headed to the living room.

I just stood there for a good while, staring after him. I could hear him opening a can of beer. Was that all? But I had a bigger question burning in my mind, so I found enough courage to follow him.

“They didn’t expel me?” I asked.

“No,” he grunted.

“Why not?” I asked, and he turned to look at me with an annoyed expression on his face.

“The fuck I know?” he said. “Be grateful that they didn’t.”

That was my cue to shut the hell up and leave him alone. He didn’t seem angry at me. It was like he was just annoyed he had to be the messenger. I hurried back to my room so I wouldn’t piss him off with my presence and closed the door silently. Then, I paused to stare in front of me, without actually seeing anything.

Why did Nurse Gale want to see me…? Did she…? Did she have something to do with the fact that I still didn’t get expelled?

But why would she care? Why would anyone care…?

I couldn’t stop asking those same few questions over and over again for the rest of the night, during the night, or when I got up in the morning. I stopped wondering about it only after I realized I’d overslept, and I was almost late for school. I skipped the shower and breakfast and just hurried to get dressed and leave the house.

I was really nervous when I made my way to school, and the lack of sleep and what happened with Sean yesterday didn’t help at all. When I stepped through the gates, I expected to get tackled by teachers, or at least get screamed at that I was never allowed to come back ever again.

But that didn’t happen. It didn’t make me feel any calmer, though…

I hated being late, mostly because the yard was already filled with students, and I was alone. I tried to make myself invisible and kept my eyes on the ground as I walked toward the entrance. No one paid any attention to me, or if they did, they left me alone. I peered at the parking lot when I walked past it, but I didn’t see the black car with silver stripes anywhere.

“Please hurry…” I whispered quietly and continued my way to the doors.

I was getting really dependent on Deon… But who could’ve blamed me? The minute I was left alone, I got hurt, and I really, really didn’t want to get hurt anymore…

I hurried my pace when I stepped inside the school. I’d be safe once I reached the nurse’s office. I wanted to run the rest of the way, but there were teachers everywhere, and I didn’t want to get in trouble with them.

I let out a huge sigh of relief when I knocked on the door of the nurse’s office. There was no one around in that small hallway, and I was safe for now. Then the door opened, and Mrs. Gale stood behind it, glaring at me with a grumpy frown.

“Good. You’re here,” she said and grabbed my hand, yanking me inside.

“W-why did you want to see… me…?” I spoke in a tiny voice but trailed off as her frown grew deeper.

“I heard what happened yesterday. Mrs. Steele called me, so save your crap,” she spoke.

“Why did she call you?” I asked nervously.

“Because she was concerned about you,” Mrs. Gale said. “She couldn’t get ahold of your father, so she called me.”

“It wasn’t necessary,” I tried to say, but Mrs. Gale waved her hand angrily to shut me up.

“Of course it was!” she snapped at me. “If I hadn’t interfered, you would’ve been expelled!”

So she had done something to prevent that, just like I’d thought.

“Interfere?” I repeated.

“They were about to sign the papers when I told them what happened to you, and why you weren’t at school yesterday. I told the board that you were hit by Sean Curtis, and you had to see a doctor,” she told me, and her expression turned even angrier when she continued in a mutter, “That kid should’ve been properly punished for it. But he’s the golden boy…”

“It’s all right,” I muttered. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” she said and sighed. “They hushed it up only because they think Mr. Curtis is a bright student, and they didn’t want to see his reputation ruined.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “As long as I get to stay here, I don’t mind,” I added, feeling more relaxed now.

Mrs. Gale looked at me with some kind of pity in her eyes. “How are you feeling? I can give you permission to go home for today.”

“I’m fine,” I said with a small smile. “Thank you.”

“If you start feeling nauseated or dizzy, come see me, okay?” she said surprisingly gently.

“Okay,” I said, trying to sound convincing.

“Get out of here then, and don’t get hurt again, you hear me?” she ordered sternly and opened the door.

I nodded and exited the room. There was no one else in the hallway when I hurried to my first class. I was hoping to find Deon, but once I got to the math class, barely on time, he wasn’t there. I sighed silently and walked carefully to the back of the room and sat down next to my desk. I received curious looks. I knew what they were thinking…

Where was Deon, and was it now safe to pick on me?