chapter 1

"Friendship is one mind in two bodies."

--Meng-Tzu

It was 3:15 p.m. and Carter stood in front of his open locker piling out the books he had homework in. Around him, people laughed and giggled, talking amongst themselves in bright, cheerful tones, grateful that the summer break had finally started.

Carter wished he could be happy too but all he felt was cold dread, afraid of what he knew was coming.

Like any other "normal" school day, Carter was waiting in the locker room. Scared but waiting like he was supposed to, like he had been since the start of 2018, waiting for the inevitable.

The only thing that gave him hope was the fact that today was the last day of school and he wouldn't have to face this again tomorrow.

"Hey, bastard child," the tension in the room seemed to rise the moment Erin had entered and he felt the dense crowd around him thin out considerably. Carter had learned the hard way that there was no point in trying to escape them: they always found him and then…

He shuddered thinking about what had happened the last time he had tried to escape. He didn't want anything like that to happen again.

"Do you have money?" Zayn grabbed his collar and pushed him up against the locker. Carter whimpered and mumbled a low "no," feeling the blunt handle of his locker dig deeper into his back. He wondered if it was going to bruise later.

"Speak up little pussy," Ryan sneered and punched the side of his head hard enough to make it reel back and crash into the locker. Carter wished he knew why he was their target when he had never talked to them ever before last year, when this had begun.

"No," Carter blurted out, trying not to pass out from the intense pain. Erin raised his hand to slap Carter but froze when a cold voice spoke, "What do you think you're doing?" Carter hated how relieved he felt at that voice. He loved it. He hated it.

Ryan's face paled so much that his blonde hair looked dark in comparison while Zayn's face twisted with white rage. Carter stared at the tiled floor as the three of the turned to face a smirking black-haired guy dressed entirely in black.

"If I catch you doing something like this again…" he let the threat linger and smiled sweetly as Ryan and Zayn hurried out of the room followed by a poker-faced Erin.

Jacob glanced at Carter, his face contorted with worry and guilt. He hated seeing him in pain. He had borne with it for a year, he couldn't anymore. It was his fault and he was going to fix it now, whatever the cost.

He walked up to Carter and whispered, "Hey dummy, you okay?"

"Jacob…why are you helping me? You said you hated me…" Carter mumbled, moving away from him but Jacob moved with him.

Ignoring him, he placed his hands on Carter's cheeks, gently tilting his head from side to side, checking for bruises, his thumb brushing Carter's lips softly. Jacob desperately wanted to kiss him but, how could he? After all he'd done?

"Your head is a bit swollen here…" Carter heard him whisper. But he could no longer concentrate; he was, thankfully, already slipping away from reality.

He leaned against Jacob's hard chest and felt strong arms encircle him before the room fell away and darkness covered him in her cold blanket.