Dear Jack, Count Me In

Alex”S P.O.V

I wake up to the sound of smashing plates. I sit up in my bed and immediately regret it, because my head is pounding. I slowly set my feet on the cold hardwood floor, a shiver climbs up my spine. I stand and make my way to my closet. I pick out my clothes and put them on methodically. Today I place the grey beanie over my brown hair. I pick up my bag from the corner of the room and walk out. My Dad is down stairs arguing with someone, the landlord I think. I take the chance and slip out the door before he could catch me.

I am early to school today, so I go to my locker to put my books up. While I’m putting my science textbooks on the small shelf I notice my reflection in the small mirror. I gasp quietly when I notice the small bruises going up my neck. I had forgotten to cover them with makeup this morning. I start walking to music, hoping no one would notice the bruises.

I was sitting in the back of the room doodling on a blank sheet of paper when Jack walks in, late like usual. He takes attendance and announces a “Music Identification Activity” I sigh, now he was going to play what was probably some shitty pop music. He says something about cussing and babies, but I honestly wasn't listening. He sits at his desk and presses a button. American Idiot by Green Day starts playing and it instantly brings a smile to my face. I write some stuff about how much I love this song. He stops the song and says;

“Raise your hand if you love Green Day!”

I raise my hand and he locks eyes with me.

“And you kids,” he extends his arms, “are amazing.”

He goes on to play a few more songs. Maybe he wasn't as bad as I had made him out to be. The class was over too soon. He tells us to bring in our favorite CD to play our favorite song on it. I sigh, because I don’t own any CDs. I catch him looking at me as I pack up, taking my time.

“Hey, how’d you get those bruises?” He asks.

I feel my heart sink to my stomach. Shit.

“I fell,” I lie.

“You can’t expect me to believe that. I fell the other day and you don’t see bruises littering my neck.” he narrows his eyes and walks up to me. He squints and examines my neck. “These...these look like fingerprints.”

I back away from him. This can’t be happening.

“I...I need to go” I stutter, running out of the room.

___________________________________________

As soon as I walk into the gym I hear;

“Alex, I’m having you sit out today.” From Mr. Merrick.

I sigh, someone said something to him, and I’m guessing it was Jack.

I sit at the top of the bleachers and put in my headphones. I put it on random and “Shut Up” by Blink starts playing. I lay down and close my eyes, but before I could get comfortable I felt a tap on my shoulder. I open my eyes to see Mr. Merrick standing over me. I sit up and he sits next me. He sighs and glances at my neck.

“Alex…… Is there something going on at home?” He asks, worry laced in his voice.

“Uh...No, not really.” I say, but I could tell by the look on his face that he knew I was lying.

“How did you get those bruises?” He asks

“I fell.”

He raises his eyebrow.

“Fine. I’ll let it go for now, but here's my phone number. Call me if you need anything.”

He places a piece of paper in my hand and walks back to the class, more specifically back to Rian. Damn, can they make it anymore obvious? I shove the piece of paper in my pocket and lay back down on the bench.

__________________________________________
Rian and I walk out of P.E.

“You have a thing for our teacher, don’t you?

“Maybe…. Is that weird?” He asks, making a face.

“Not at all, buddy Besides I think I may have a crush on Jack.” I say, looking down at my shoes.

“You have a crush on our music teacher?!” He yells.

A few people look at me weirdly and to make things better, Mr. Merrick walks out , giving me a stupid grin. I could hear Rian laughing behind me. I ball up my fist and stop myself from punching him in the face. I turn to Rian and smile wickedly at him. He gives me a weird look.

“Oh.my God, Rian I can’t believe you had a wet dream about our P.E teacher!”

“I’m gonna kill you, Gaskarth.” Rian growls.

I was already running down the hall.

_______________________________________________________

I walk through my front door to see my dad standing in the kitchen. He turns to look at me.

“Why don’t you have a job yet?” He asks.

“Because I have no way to get to any kind of job I could have.” I reply.

“Don’t give me attitude, you smart ass!” He yells.

I have to bite my tongue in order to keep from telling him that there was no attitude. I see him slowly pull a thin steak knife from the drawer.

“What are you doing?” I ask, backing away from him.

“You need to be punished for being such a disrespectful, mooching, brat.” He says as he takes a few steps towards me.

I take another step back to match his, but my back hits the wall. I go to run up the stairs, but he grabs my ankle and pulls me down. My head hits a step and black spots float across my vision. I kick as hard as I can, catching him the face. He growls and pulls me so I’m laying on my back at the foot of the stairs. He straddles me and uses one hand to pin my hands above my head. He takes the knife and traces is down my left bicep, making a small cut about an two inches long. I scream out in pain and flail around, trying to loosen his grip on me. He drops the knife and slaps me across the face hard. He lets me go and stands up, kicking me in the ribs twice. He picks up the knife, cleaning it of blood, and putting it back in the drawer. He leaves without another word. After a few minutes of laying on the floor in agony, I stand up and grab a towel for the cut. It was bleeding terribly, I reach into my pocket and pull out Zack’s number.

I put the number into my phone and dial him. It rang a few times before he answers.

“Hello, who is this?” Zack's voice says on the other end.

“It’s Alex.” I sob into the phone, “Will you please pick me up from my house, I can’t stay here tonight.”

“Yes, absolutely. I’m not at the house right now, but I’ll have Jack pick you up. What’s your address?” He asks.

I quickly tell him my address and tell him to hurry, because I didn't know when my dad would get home.

We hung up the phone and I waited.