Saturday was both the best and worst day of the week. Best, because it meant no more school. Worst, it meant time at the apartment. With them.

Part of me wished it was still Wednesday or Thursday, because even though school was tough, I'd gotten more comfortable with Ellie around. True to her word, Ellie stuck around with me for the rest of the week. Partly because she was new to the school and didn't know anyone, but mostly because she'd said she would. I'd gotten used to her presence, and even started talking with her a little. Of course, she instigated all of the conversations, but I still replied whenever she had a question for me. Which was often, so I kept my responses limited to a few words only. So far, I'd confided in her my favorite subject (English), how man siblings I had (none), my favorite genre to read/write about (general fiction), and whether or not I liked Harry Potter (I didn't know, as I had never read it or watched the movies). Shocked, Ellie marched me to the library to check out the first book in the series, which I must say that I am glad of, so I have something to do during this miserable weekend.

On days like these, I liked to spend my time shut up in my room, away from them. I usually did homework or just stared at a wall. At the moment, I was doing the latter, silently debating whether or not I really wanted to start my math homework now, or if I should wait until Sunday.

"Joshua Berton, come here this instant!"

I'd finish it Sunday, then.

I reluctantly got up, crossed my room, and padded softly down the hall and into the kitchen.

"Did you do this?" My eyes widened as I took in the scene. There was a broken vase on the floor, it's contents spewing out, pencil shavings everywhere, and loose papers scattered across the space.

"I most certainly did not!" I said, surprising myself with my words.

"Then please explain to me, Joshua, why these papers have YOUR name on them!" Confused, I took a closer look at the paper nearest to me. Sure enough, my name was scribbled in the top corner of the paper in my untidy scrawl. A closer examination revealed that it was one of my poems. My cheeks heated.

"Aunt Olivia I–"

"Don't."

"I swear it wasn't me!"

"Don't"

"It was Jack."

"How dare you blame this on MY son?" She demanded, her face livid, "How dare you, you insolent little criminal!" I stared at my aunt in disbelief. Why was she getting so worked up about this? It was just a few papers anyways. My papers, my poems that I had written carefully and with thought, were strewn across the floor. 

"Clean it up,"

"But Aunt Olivia–"

"Clean it."

And that was final.

It took me all of three minutes to pick up the papers, Jack sneering at me all the while. It was him, I knew it. Once I had cleaned everything I stormed back into my room, boiling with anger. I wasn't mad that she had made me clean it up. I was mad that she had gotten so riled up about a few pieces of paper (may they be important to me nevertheless), and took out that anger on me. It wasn't fair.

The rest of the weekend flew by without any major mishaps. To be honest, I was kind of glad to get back to school, if only to savor those forty minutes of peace I had each day at lunch. When Ellie was with me, George Jacobs wouldn't dare try to torment me. His reputation mattered more to him than making me feel bad, and if pushing me down meant showing the school that he was a bully, he wouldn't do it. It was poor justification, but I didn't really care.

When lunch began on Monday, I found Ellie at our spot, looking cheerful as ever.

"Hello!" She sang, smiling at me. I managed a small smile back at her, which made her beam with pride. "I love seeing you smile." She admitted, her cheeks flushing a bit.

"It feels good." I said, truthfully. I hadn't smiled in a while, and it felt nice to. She beamed again. A silence fell between us, and I had the sudden desire to instigate a conversation. "I–I started reading that book."

"Really? What did you think?" She inquired, her face curious.

"I think that the writing is very good and–and that the plot could be very promising."

"That is an answer I can work with!" She exclaimed, her face shining in delight. "You'll have to tell me what you think after every chapter, and we can discuss hidden meanings and plot details and–"

"Okay, don't spoil it for me."

"I won't." She paused, "Well, I'll try not to anyways."

A nice, long silence fell between us. It wasn't uncomfortable, it was peaceful. Suddenly very hungry, I took out my sandwich, the same as usual.

"What do you have there?"

"Sandwich."

"You always have a sandwich."

"True."

"You should try to expand your horizons a bit, try new things."

'I'm good, thanks, I think I'll just stick with this."

"You are a creature of habit, aren't you."

"Yup."

"Well, as I always say–" Ellie was cut off by the bell. "Shoot, I swear they keep shortening lunchtime everyday." Nodding my head in agreement, I got up, swung my backpack over my shoulder, and headed off towards fifth period.

Fifth period Spanish II would be okay, if only mi primo, Jack, wasn't there. Sure, he wasn't the teacher's pet, but he was a troublemaker if I ever saw one, and he always framed me for it.

Yay.

But today, He wasn't there. He was home "sick."

Finally, a day where I could learn español in peace.

But alas, it would not be, as there was a substitute teacher in our class. All we were doing was working on homework due the next day. I wanted to learn for once, not sit around and finish homework (which, by the way, wasn't necessarily a bad thing).

When fifth period ended, I put away my things, and stepped out of the classroom. Outside, the sun was overpoweringly bright, causing me to squint until my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. Sometimes I really wished that my glasses had transition lenses.

I got to sixth period with three minutes to spare, so I took the time to look around to room, noticing the lab tables in the back were all set up. I frowned. I didn't dislike doing experiments in chemistry, but I really didn't like the idea of some foreign acid burning through my skin. I also didn't want to roll up my long sleeves. They hid the scars on my forearms.

"Today," announced the teacher after the bell rang, "We will be doing a lab!" Half the class groaned, the other half looked back at the lab tables excitedly. "We are going to be seeing which reactions between solutions form precipitates!" She went on, describing the general procedure and purpose of this lab, and dismissed us to the lab tables in the back of the classroom. I followed my lab partner to a table near the end and we silently began.

Fifty minutes later, I escaped from the stuffy classroom only to be captured again by them. The devilish twins Jack and Jessica and their evil mother. At least Jack wasn't there. That was one small mercy, one blessing in a heart of darkness.

|–––––|

The week passed by both too slowly and too quickly. I needed school to be over, but I didn't think I was strong enough to last more than a couple days with them. I dreaded winter break, only three months away.

I arrived at my lunch spot, sweaty and breathless from P.E., to find Ellie already there, humming to herself. I sat down, and she smiled at me.

"Did you just come from P.E.?" She inquired, taking in my red face. I nodded, to out of breath to form words. "I have zero period P.E. and I must say, it's not the most enjoyable."

"Sounds pretty bad."

"It is. I wish P.E. was gone, eliminated from the world. It does us no good."

"Did you eat already?" I questioned, wondering if she even had time to eat already.

"No," she replied, furrowing her brows, "I didn't bring a lunch today." I suddenly felt really bad, she must be hungry.

"Do you want this apple?" I offered while pulling an apple out of my bag.

"No thanks, I'll just eat at home. It's a block day anyways."

"Okay." Block days were probably the worst. On Wednesdays we only went to zero, second, fourth, and sixth period, however, each period was forty minutes longer. On Thursdays, we went to first, third, fifth, and seventh period. Neither me or Ellie had a seventh period, so school ended pretty early for us on Thursdays. However, it also meant that I had to spend an hour and a half with him. The devil child. Jack.

Sounds fun. 

~

Hi!!!!!

If you are still reading, thank you soooo much!! I am really thankful for your support! I would absolutely love it if you could vote and comment:)