Terrible Things (Boyxboy)

VI. Punishment

Chapter 6: Punishment

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An Original Short Story By

TheBirdWhoCannotFly

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Adrian's POV~

Jamie hasn't been seen anywhere. His mom came to my room to ask me about him. I told her what I knew, which was almost nothing. She went into hysterics, worried and all. I apologized to her over and over again, feeling that it was my fault. Every time I did, she'd insist that it had nothing to do with me. That they would find him. My nerves were frazzled beyond belief. All I could think about was Jamie in some gross building, tied to a chair and gagged with a disgusting rag. Him trying to scream. It brought tears to my eyes every time. A picture of him and the others were on the news. What was happening to him right now? Were they torturing him? Selling him to a different country for money and power? Or worse, did they already kill him and dump his body in a stream somewhere?

Worrying is all I've been doing for the past two days. Without Jamie by my side, it felt like I had no one again. Before he came to Brattleboro, I mean. It made me think what would happen if Jamie was never found. What if he never came home? How could I deal with that?

There was a knock on my door. 

"Come in." I called. It was probably the doctor or a nurse. Surprisingly, it wasn't. Actually, it was Tony. What was he doing here? How did he know I was here? "Tony? What're you doing here?" I probably looked like shit. I hadn't slept in awhile and on top of that my injuries were still very visible.

"Wow, Adrian. You really got yourself into this one. You look awful." I rolled my eyes.

"Gee thanks, Tony. You're a man of many words." My voice had a mocking tone as well as it being horse and thick. I hadn't cried yet, but I've been pretty close.

"Well sorry... It's the truth. Zach's such a dick."  Tony scoffed and sat in the chair next to my bed.

"It's not just Zach, you know." It was true. Zach had some effect on my situation, but most of it was directed at Jamie.

"What do ya' mean?" Did he seriously not know about Jamie being taken?

"Haven't you watched the news? Jamie! He was the last one kidnapped by the black van!" Tony was an alright friend, but he has his head in the clouds way too often.

"Really? Poor kid. But how does that affect you more than Zach Robinson beating you into the hospital?" I sighed and threw my pillow over my face and groaned. I took the pillow away from my face enough to talk.

"Because he's my best friend, Tony. Like, you have no idea how much I worry about him." Tony look astonished for a few seconds.

"Seriously? I never even noticed you two talked. He's kind of weird." He shrugged. Wow, he's the only person I was ever with in school besides Tony sometimes. I got the feeling he didn't like Jamie so much.

"What makes you say that?" Instantly, I went into defense mode. I'd never noticed Jamie to do anything weird. Except, he never talked to the popular kids when he would have fit in so much better with them than with me.

"Well, Amber Love asked him out. Did you know that?" My insides twisted. Not Amber Love?! She's the biggest slut in school! Why was I reacting this way? I know I don't like Amber, so that's why I don't like she asked him out. That's why. It had to be.

"So?" I said casually.

"But, he turned her down. Doesn't that strike you as strange? And Gianna Thompson, Janice Roberts, Sandra Owens, Chloe Birch; you know what they all have in common? They all got rejected by Jamie Hudson. Hell, the whole cheer leading team tried going out with him and he turned down all of them! The luckiest guy in school turned down all those girls. I'd hit him myself for being so stupid..." What was Tony trying to say? I felt strangly satisfied he turned all those girls down. None of them are even close to being good enough for him. I caught myself smiling.