Part 6

Third Person POV

After a boring and emotionally draining day of school, Josh and Justen met up in their special spot. Josh was first like yesterday then Justen arrived a few minutes later.

"Hey," Justen said, going to sit on his rock.

"Hey," Josh said, sounding tired.

"Tired?" Justen asked.

"Yeah," Josh said. "I had a rough night last night."

"Yeah, same," Justen said.

A silence fell over the boys.

"A-actually, can I trust you?" Josh stuttered.

"Yeah, of course," Justen said.

"Can I tell you about my night?" Josh asked.

"Go ahead," Justen said, figuring Josh would talk about his friends annoying him or his parents not getting him what he wanted.

"After I left, I found my parents holding my little brother. He was crying because they were scaring him and I told them to let him go. I had to pull him out of my mom's grip so he could run to his room. And that's when it started," Josh said, his voice breaking as he spoke.

"What happened?" Justen asked.

"They beat me," Josh said.

"Oh my gosh," Justen said. "That's terrible! No one should beat their child!"

"It's not their fault," Josh said. "They might argue a lot and that causes my dad to drink, but it's my fault for making them argue."

"It's not your fault, Josh," Justen said.

"Well, it's not their fault either!" Josh snapped.

"Okay," Justen said.

There was more silence as Justen's eyes found the water.

"So, how was your night? You did say it was rough," Josh said.

"It was terrible," Justen said.

"How so?" Josh asked.

"My dad is a drug addict," Justen said. "Last night he was high and we got into an argument. One thing led to another and he dragged me out to the kitchen to beat me. I tried to escape but when I did he threw a fork at me."

"A fork?" Josh asked, holding back a small laugh.

Justen rolled his eyes and removed his stained, white sweatshirt revealing bruises that ran up and down his arms. He turned slightly, wincing as he did so.

"See?" Justen asked, pointing at four, tiny defined holes in his left arm.

Josh gasped. "Oh… My…"

Josh then stood up and walked over to Justen who didn't say anything. Justen had just exposed himself to someone he barely knew.

"Has he done things like this before?" Josh asked, looking at all of Justen's bruises and scars.

"Yeah," Justen said sadly.

"I… I don't know what to say," Josh said speechless.

"You don't have to say anything," Justen said, pulling his sweatshirt back over his head. "I shouldn't have even shown you."