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In retrospect, ht hi to mutilate live anied it off but the second ti and I had proceeded to scream and yell and explain until I was blue in the face how cruel it was He had bowed his head and apologized and I was naive enough to think that I had gotten through to hi anything else since, but I could no longer deny that my best friend was insane

Then there was the way he treated woether and I could no longer make excuses for him I kne that somewhere in this world there was probably a hidden pile of cruelty that he was responsible for and I wondered where the hell it was and I hoped to God it was only anihten me I repeated it to myself so I could fully absorb it

"If you refuse to letyou’re not going to like what I plan to do with her if it coe

"Touch a hair on her head," I said, surprisingly even for the explosion coursing through me, "and I will tear you lihts Jesse That is the kindest warning you will get from me Don’t underestimate me"

"Suit yourself but don’t say I didn’t warn you" He tipped his head toward the ground and shook it"

"God but did I warn you"

He lifted his face and his expression shocked the hell out of me He appeared extre, like I was saying all the right lines It was paralyzing

"Jesse are you psychotic?"

"I wouldn’t say such a word if I were you"

"Why? Does that accusation hit too close to home for you? I can see it in your eyes Jesse"

"Choose your words wisely Gray"

"You are aren’t you? You’re a bona fide psychotic How could I have not seen it before?"

"Say that word one more time Gray I dare you"

Go ahead Gray Provoke the deranged psychopath

"Psychotic"

He slowly slid his eyes closed and took two deep breaths He hurled hiht for that year

He crashed into me with pathetic force, orthrough ht as well have made me a brick wall I yanked htened hiht elbow behind his back, forht fist

I shoved ht foot and steadied ht fist toward my temple and I blocked it with the back of ht hand swiftly under his pitiful chin and knocked his head back

The blood and spit spilled from his lips and I watched as it splattered across the sa just a minute before He stuttered backward into Katie Shannon and she shoved him off of her body and ran toward the door where the rest of the class hovered, waiting for our scrap to die out or for Coach Miles to enter and intervene

He regained his balance and the hate emanated from his eyes I’ve never seen eyes that looked like that It was as if I could see into the depths of his wicked heart and it sent chills down my spine I held out my hand and told hie billowing froain, but I didn’t even give hi in front ofthe middle of his chest I heard the huff of his breath break short He groaned in pain His body listlessly curled around ainst my knee in reaction to the force and he stu onto the floor just as Coach entered the room

I sat in the Principal's office and could see the idiot across the lobby laying unconscious still in the nurse’s office on her pleather padded bench When Coach Miles caed ainst the cold tiled ith my arms folded

"The kids in class toldyourself Elliott," he said, "but what I wanna’ knohy"

"A if I was or not

"No, since every one’s stories check out you’re free to go back to class with me, but first, I want you to explain to me what happened What started it?"

"He’s insane," I said, honestly

"Elliott, I thought Jesse was your best friend?" He asked, confused

It probably was ame Friday and he didn’t want two of his players at odds I didn’t feel like explaining so off anyway, so I lied

"Nothing Really Coach It’s aand I think we’ll be okay soon"

I alht h that as uess it was an acceptable enough answer for him because he started down the hall toward his classroom and I followed I had never looked forward to Mrs Kitt’s class so ish tick of the second hand paying absolutely no attention to the lesson

My thoughts turned back to the disastrous turn of events I’ve only begun to frighten you, he had said Acid froan to creep intoand jacket and rocketed from my desk into the hall Coach started to protest but I had already started for my truck and wasn’t about to turn back

I sat in the cab, shivering froto handle Jesse and wondered if I was overreacting Stop trying to find an excuse for him He’s not the sa to tell anyone about our conversation, I wondered if they would believeto keep Jesse away fro to do when the bell rang

It startled hts It startledto me that it had never meant before Its shrill tone inning of an uncertainty I was scared and I never get scared because, I realized, I had never had anything worth losing before

"Jules!" I called when I caught a glimpse of her across the hall My hands shook at my sides

She sh, not caring one bit about the pairs of eyes staring right at her She was blissfully unaware of how effective it was, te from my mind

"Hi," she flirted

"Hi sweetheart," I said, kissing her neck, reigning in h not to tip her off

"Gross," said Taylor behind us, rolling her eyes and shrugging past us to her next class