Suffering Alone In Silence

Frank’s POV

We had arrived at school and Mikey walked with me to the office. I got my timetable, locker code and a ‘friendly’ chat from the headmaster. He was just welcoming me back, but it felt a little bit like he was mocking me. I voiced this to Mikey.

“Frank, he seemed sincere enough, don’t worry yourself over it.” He replied with a smile.

“Thanks Mikey.” I sighed.

We walked down the hallway to our locker bay. I had managed to get my old locker back, which meant it was next to Mikey’s. I smiled a little to myself. We put our bags away and got our necessary items for class.

“Man, this is gonna rock. I don’t get to have homework for two weeks!” Mikey squealed.

“Mikey, seriously, you sound like a girl.” I replied.

“But this is going to be awesome. I get to help you, and not do any homework; it works for both of us.” He smiled.

The bell rung and we made our way to class. I wasn’t too bothered as I had art first up. As we got closer to the art room, I started to get more and more nervous.

“Mikey, I-I can’t do this,” I panicked.

“Frankie, sh, it’s okay, you can do this,” Mikey replied, turning to me and gently grabbing my shoulders.

“I can’t M-Mikey, they are all going to stare at me.” I mumbled, not looking at him.

“Frankie, you can do this. Walk in there like nothing ever happened, and give them a look of defiance. They won’t say a word.” Mikey replied, shaking my shoulders gently, and giving me a firm look.

“Okay, let’s go in.” I mumbled.

I gathered my thoughts and did as Mikey said, putting up a defiant look and adjusted my posture. Mikey nodded his head and we walked to the door of the art room. Mikey knocked, and then entered. The teacher looked up and over to where we were standing in the doorway.

“Ah Frank, Mikey. Come on in. Welcome back Frank, you boys take a seat anywhere you like.” Miss Smith smiled.

I nodded and followed Mikey to the back of the classroom. We took our seats, and the teacher finished marking the roll.

“Hey Frank,” Alice turned and greeted me, when the teacher had finished explaining our class work and we were free to do what we wanted.

“Hi Alice,” I mumbled my reply, giving her a small smile, before averting my gaze.

“Where have you been? It’s like you just dropped off the face of the earth.” She giggled.

“I’ve just been away, some stuff happened.” I said, trying to avoid disclosing any information about my whereabouts.

“Oh, well I’m glad your back.” She smiled at me once more.

I just nodded my head and got started on my work.

“You okay?” Mikey asked, quietly.

“Yeah,” I replied, continuing my work.

We worked quietly for another half an hour before Mikey nudged me.

“I just need to go to the bathroom, will you be alright here?” He asked.

“Y-yeah, g-go.” I stuttered.

“I’ll be back in a jiffy,” He replied, getting up and leaving the room.

I went back to my drawing, but I soon felt a presence behind me. I stopped what I was doing and gripped the table tightly, drawing in a deep breath. I turned around slowly and looked at the big footballer that was standing menacingly close to me.

“What do you want, Ryan?” I asked.

“Heard you were in jail, is that true pansy?” He asked, calmly.

“No, it’s not.” I replied cautiously.

“Oh. Well where have you been?” He asked, continuing to be calm.

“Just away, had some things to sort out.” I replied.

“Okay.” He nodded then turned away.

I turned back to my work and tried to ignore what just happened. Mikey returned not too long after and we sat in silence for a while.

“Ryan came and talked to me while you were gone.” I said, not looking at Mikey.

“What did he say to you? Did he hurt you?” He asked, his clam voice had a hint of worry behind it.

“He just asked me if I was in jail, and no he didn’t hurt me. I think he may be a bit apprehensive about me.” I smirked slightly at that.

“Wow, that’s not like Ryan.” Mikey smiled at me reassuringly at me.