“Hey, faggot.” A familiar voice came from behind him. Jack turned around slowly, only to find out his assumptions were correct. Alex stood with a couple of his friends, who were laughing at the scared look on Jacks face. They advanced forward, ready to pursue there victim. “Hey, I’m fucking talking to you.” Alex hissed, grabbing the front of Jacks shirt, and pulling him uncomfortably close to his face.


“S-sorry.” Jack whimpered, not wanting to look into Alex’s eyes. Alex laughed at Jack, shoving him onto the ground. His friends howled with laughter, as they began to kick the younger boy. When the kicking subsided, Jack began to tremble. It wasn’t the kicking that bothered him, it was what came after. Alex stood over the bruised and bloody boy, and smirked.


“You had enough?” He asked, hatred lining his voice. Jack winced, and nodded his head. He knew that wouldn’t stop Alex, but every time he asked, he would nod. Alex laughed, throwing his head back as he grabbed his stomach.


“You’re so fucking worthless, and pathetic Barakat.” Alex said, straddling Jack. “I hope you have a good ice pack at home.” He said, grabbing the front of Jacks shirt again. Jack looked away from Alex’s face, not wanting to see the expression of joy on his face. Alex pulled his fist back, getting ready to give Jack the daily blows to the face. Jack closed his eyes, waiting for the connection, but it never came. He opened his eyes, and saw that Alex had lowered his fist. Instead, he was looking at something else. Jack looked over to see exactly what Alex was looking at. “Why the fuck do you have this?” Alex asked, leaning over and picking up a small picture, and holding it up in front of his face. It was a picture of when Jack was 6, and Alex was 7. Alex’s mom had brought them to the zoo, and Alex insisted that they get a picture taken in front of the monkey cage. Before the picture was taken, Alex had grabbed onto Jacks hand. One was given to Jack, and Alex had one as well.


“It’s mine.” Jack said, wincing from the pain. Jack could’ve sworn that Alex’s face had softened, but he could’ve been imagining it, because in the next moment Alex was punching Jack in the face over and over again. He showed no sign of stopping, and the blows were more forceful than usual. When Alex finally stopped, Jack could barely move, and he could hardly see.


“You’re so fucking stupid, Barakat. I’m taking this picture, and I’m burning it.” Alex said, kicking Jack one more time before he stalked off with his posse. Before they were all gone, Alex quickly came back, bending over Jacks backpack. It looked like he took something out. Jack remained on the ground, not able to move, watching Alex disappear down the corridor.


It took almost an hour for Jack to finally get enough strength to get up. He weakly pulled his bag onto his shoulders, and proceeded to limp home. When he got home, the house was dark, signifying that his mother wasn’t home again. She was never home anymore. Jack made his way up to his room, quickly turning on his favorite Blink CD. Alex had gotten it for him when they were in seventh grade, and it was the only thing he treasured. He emptied his bag on his bed, sifting through his belongings to see what Alex had taken. As he scanned the pile, he spotted in the corner of his eye, a small rectangular slip of paper, or at least that’s what it looked like. He picked it up, and immediately a lump formed in his throat. It was the picture of him and Alex at the zoo.

Notes

Hey there, I felt like I should start a new story... so here you go.
comment on it, please ?!
leave feedback, and tell me what you think of it. cc: