AJR-Panic Attacks

Winter- 7 (Bullies)

RYANS POV

I'm working on producing a song in my room when I glance at the clock. 3:22. Almost an hour after Winter's supposed to be done school. He's 11 now, so we let him walk home from school by himself. The walk should only take him about 15 minutes or so, but sometimes he takes the long way through the park, which only adds a few minutes. It's been almost an hour. I start to get worried, but I know he's a smart kid. Not even 30 seconds later, I hear the door open and I breathe a sigh of relief. Although, as I continue listening, it sounds frantic and strange. It sounds like Winter maybe ran home, but that doesn't make sense if he's home an hour late. I hear Cat welcoming him, and then I hear Cat yelling,

"Ryan!" I rip my headphones off and quickly make my way to the front room. I get past the hallway to see Cat holding Winter in a massive hug as Winter is crying and shaking and panting, trying to catch his breath.

"What happened?!" I ask frantically. Winter releases himself from Cat and plunges into my arms as I crouch down in front of him.

"Hey, you're ok, I'm right here, you are safe." I whisper near his ear, trying to settle him so I can figure out what happened. Cat crouches down beside Winter, rubbing his back softly.

"I... I... I..." Winter pants out, trying to explain what happened.

"Woah, slow down bud. Take a deep breath." I say. He takes a breath and kind of calms down, even though he's still crying.

"Settle down bud." I say. "You're safe." We settle him back down, making sure his breathing slows down before we ask what happened.

"Here, how about we go sit down on the couch." Cat suggests. We move over to the couch, Winter sitting beside me, leaning into me. He starts fidgeting with his hands; he's clearly very anxious.

"So, can you explain what happened?" I ask slowly and carefully, trying to gauge Winter's reaction to the question.

"Well, I was walking home from school," he starts, talking very quietly. "And, these people in my grade, well, they, they pushed me into this building that's beside the school... and, took me to this one room, and, they, they... locked me against a wall and... kinda... umm... taunted me." Winter pauses, looking at me and Cat's faces, both of which were frozen in shock.

"Wait, what do you mean locked you against a wall?" I ask.

"Umm... they tied me against the wall with ropes..." he mumbles.

"And what do you mean by taunted you?" Cat adds.

"They made fun of my name, and you, and my clothes, and my hair... basically everything."

"Ohhhh, bud..." I don't even know what to say.
"How did you get away?" I ask.

"Umm... well... I had a knife in my pocket that uncle Jack gave me a while ago, and I managed to get my hand out of one of the ropes, but the other was... really tight... so I had to cut the ropes off without them noticing. As soon as I was out of the ropes I ran out of the building and ran home."

I don't even know what to say. I just want to make sure my kid is ok.

"The scariest part though wasn't even them pushing me into the building or tying me up, it was after I got out of the ropes they... they noticed and then started running after me. That's why I was so out of breath when I got inside, I sprinted all the way home."

"Buddy..." I mumble. "Are you ok? Did they hurt you at all?"

"The rope on my left hand was really tight and that kinda hurts, but they also punched me a few times to stop me from trying to get out of the ropes as they were tying me up, and because of that I have a h-headache..." he mentions.