Cadaverous - Rewritten by P A Webster (epub ebook reader .TXT) 📖

I knew it would only lead to another argument. I followed him back into the classroom feeling completely drained and ashamed. There was no way I was going to get anything productive done in the mood I was in, and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck sitting next to a pissed off Nate for another thirty minutes so I decided to approach the teacher.

"Please excuse me, Ms Johnson. I'm not feeling well," I informed her, still not meeting her eyes.

"Okay, go to see the school nurse," she sighed. "Don’t forget that you have an essay due tomorrow."

 After quickly gathering my things, I made my way out of the classroom. As soon as I was out of the sight of my classmates, I felt like I could breathe again. Unfortunately, it didn't erase my dark mood. Screw going to the school nurse, I'm going home. I didn't live too far away at all so walking wasn't going to be an issue. This was my first time skipping out on school, I might've felt nervous if I were in a better mood.

 I walked around the back of the school near the farms where the agriculture classes were taught. I knew that the chances of anybody catching me there would be pretty slim, and I was right. The only life lurking the green, weed-riddled paddocks were the chickens and cows. I still tried to keep my distance from them despite the fact that they were highly unlike to dob me in for skipping class, I didn't have many good experiences with any sort of animal. I followed the dirt track around the side of the school hall and to the school gates. Luckily for me, nobody was hanging around the front of the school which made me escape a lot easier.

 I walked the nearby streets until I came across the dirt track that I usually took whenever I was walking to or from school. The dirt track led through some woodlands and my house was just on the other side. It wasn't the only route home, but it was definitely the quickest. I decided to take the dirt track because it was the safest way for me to get home fast and without getting caught. Walking down the dirt track I felt myself grow more at ease, it was a beautiful place to be when it was warm outside and the sun was shining. The harsh sunlight made the leaves look an extremely vivid and beautiful green.

 I was lost in the beauty of it all until I heard somebody talking in the distance. I wasn't alone.

"Quit trying to sell us your lies and just come clean. I hate seeing your face just as much as you hate seeing mine, once you come clean we don't have to keep meeting like this," I heard. I looked around myself and eventually notice a group of boys standing in a clearing to my left. I stop walking, scared that I would somehow alert them of my presence. As I stare at the group unsure of what the hell I was supposed to do, I noticed a familiar face. I would recognise that blonde hair and those leaf green eyes anywhere. Ollie? No, of course it's not, it must be Cruz. Cruz was Ollie's twin brother, I'd known him just as long as I'd known Ollie. I'd known him long enough to consider him family. Recently I'd been avoiding him, mainly because of just how identical he was to his late brother. Yes, I felt guilty about avoiding him, but my parents had been encouraging me to do so for a long time. They claimed it was unhealthy to hang around him whilst I was mourning. I do admit that it was hard seeing him and being around him, but I couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it must've been for him of all people.

 "I've told you before, and I'm not going to tell you again. I'm not lying to you, I know absolutely nothing. I can't understand why you think I out of all people would know," Cruz replied coolly, his face unreadable. One of the boys with dark brown hair with bangs that swept across his forehead like a curtain stepped closer to Cruz.

"Isn't it obvious?" the boy said. His voice, I could now confirm, was the one I'd heard before. "You've always seen me as competition. You'd do anything to get under my skin."

I examined the boys surrounding him, trying to identify another familiar face. Who are these guys? I've known Ollie and Cruz almost my whole life and yet I've never seen these guys before. I carefully crept behind a tree trunk and continued to watch the group. I had no idea what was happening, but I was concerned for Cruz.

"I honestly do not care about you enough to go to such drastic lengths to get under your skin. I don't know where he is, end of story. Go back to crying over Lana, you're wasting my time here," Cruz shot back coldly. The boy he was speaking to grew visibly angrier. His face turned very red and his chocolate brown eyes grew black. He clenched his fists and struck Cruz across the jaw. Cruz fell to the ground from the force, blood dripping from his nose and the corner of his mouth. I gasped, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Cruz was a good guy, he was never the type to get into fights with people. This, of course, led me to believe that he was not the one in the wrong. The boy braced himself to hit Cruz again.

 Time seemingly stopped for me. I couldn't watch any longer, but I couldn't just walk away. I couldn't let Cruz get hurt anymore he'd been through enough. Ollie wouldn't have hesitated to save him. Ollie wouldn't have wanted this. Before I knew it, I was screaming.

"Stop! Don't hurt him!" My words attracted the attention of everybody in the group before me. Everybody froze and just stared at me in shock. They obviously weren't expecting to be caught by somebody. Cruz's eyes widened and his gaze met mine. The boy who had been furious before, suddenly relaxed and shot me a smirk.

"Who do we have here?" he asked, seeming strangely satisfied with my presence.

"What are you doing here? Run! Now!" Cruz yelled. Yet, I remained frozen in place. My heart was pounding, but it was like my mind had completely shut down. The smirking boy approached me slowly, like a predator sneaking upon its prey in the wild.

"Don't mind us, this is none of your business. Just go!" Cruz added.

"Now, now. Don't be rude she only just got here. Give your little hero a chance to save the day," the boy mocked. Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?

 "Leave him alone," the words practically fell out of my mouth. The boy in front of me seemed amused.

"Why should I? Do you know what he's done to deserve this?" the boy questioned me, his leather jacket straining as he folded his arms.

"Chase…" another of the boys growled. This one had shorter light brown hair and looked a bit older than the boy standing in front of me. The boy before me, Chase must've been his name I assumed, raised his hand, silencing the other boy.

"Let her answer, I'm curious," Chase instructed him.

"No, I don't know what he did, but he doesn't deserve to be hit. I know him well, he's a good guy. He's been through enough already so just let him go. Besides, isn't 4 vs 1 a bit unfair?" I replied, trying my hardest to sound reasonable.

"But now you're here to save the day, that evens out the odds a little, don't you think?"

"Leave her out of this! This is between you and me," Cruz cut in.

"You don't have to let them hurt you if you've done nothing wrong like you said. You should run, they won't hurt me, they probably wouldn't hit a girl," I pointed out. Chase laughed in response, his laugh gave me chills.

"I've never met somebody so naïve," he said, earning disapproving looks, even from his friends.

"That's enough Chase. Let's get out of here, this is a waste of time," the light brown haired boy suggested. He clearly wasn't afraid to stand up to Chase. Chase rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Looks like you really did save the day after all," he said, ruffling my hair with his hand. I shuddered under his touch. He then began to walk away with his friends trailing behind him.

 Once they were out of sight, I ran over to Cruz and offered him a hand since he was still on the ground. He shot me a look of disgust before slapping my hand away. I was stunned, this was a side of Cruz I'd never witnessed. The Cruz I knew was a really kind and easy-going guy. Perhaps he was just acting like this because he's been having a rough time.

"I don't need your help," he spat, picking himself up off the ground.

"Excuse me?" I cradled my stinging hand, still in shock.

"Why didn’t you run like I told you to? They would've hurt you without even flinching."

"I was just… I was just trying to help you! I hate seeing people getting ganged up on like that, and you're like family to me. I couldn't just stand by and watch," I explained, hoping my words would calm him down a little, but they seemed to have no effect.

"They're more than just a group of playground bullies! These guys are serious!" Cruz exclaimed, his eyes were starting to resemble Chase's when he got mad. I could feel my hands start to tremble. I never thought there would come a day when I was afraid of Cruz. He must've sensed my fear, he took a deep breath before calmly speaking again. "Run home before you get yourself into more trouble and stay away from me."

As we both parted ways, the same thoughts kept running through my head. In all the years I've known him, he's never been like this before. He's usually so kind and polite… but I guess losing his twin brother has changed him. Maybe he's angry because I've been avoiding him. Even as I arrived home and got changed out of my uniform, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I couldn't stop thinking about how angry he was, and how intimidated he made me feel. I thought that maybe I'd be able to help somebody for once. I couldn't save Ollie, but I thought that I had a shot at helping Cruz. Clearly I was wrong. I'm just a burden.

Chapter 2

 

"So let me get this straight," Jenny pushed her strawberry blonde bangs out of her face. "You just happened to stumble upon Cruz having some kind of showdown with a bunch of shady guys in the woods. I'm sorry, but this all sounds rather ridiculous. Are you sure this wasn't some kind of weird-ass dream?" she asked.

 We were making our way out of class at the end of school the day after the incident with Cruz. I decided to confide in Jenny because she was the closest thing I had to a friend at