James 

James hurried off to his next class, gym. James quietly walked into the locker room and surveyed the scene. There were lockers against the walls and four rows of benches in the center of the square room. Without supervision the half dressed and testosterone filled freshman shoved and yelled half joking insults at each other. Two kids even seemed to be engaged in a screaming match, seeing which one could yell "Penis" louder. It was this sort of thing that made James wish he was not associated with his freshman class.

James quickly made his way to a corner of the locker room, sticking close to the walls and making no eye contact. Upon arrival he changed as fast as he could. This however was not quite fast enough. Before he could put it on Derek snatched his shirt away from him and held it high in the air out of reach. James said nothing but simply stared with utmost contempt at Derek, a cold fury etched across his hard features. Derek laughed on and held it still higher.
"Want it bitch? It's right here!" Derek jeered.
I fucking hate tall people, James thought loathingly.
"What's wrong, James? Is your little girlfriend not here to stand up for you this time?" Derek sneered, his voice thick with scorn. Something snapped inside of James at the mention of Rain. With an explosion of sudden movement James slammed his foot into Derek's balls. Derek instinctively doubled over with a yelp of surprise. Grabbing Derek by the back of the neck, James pulled his head down and kneed him in the face. In fury, Derek shoved James back and threw a swift punch. James, already off balance from the shove, took the fist directly in his own face. Derek took his chance as James staggered back. Within seconds he had James by the throat and pinned him to the wall, beefy muscles rippling across his gorilla arms.

James and Derek locked eye contact, both mutually pissed off.
"Oi, you ladies about done in there? Class is starting!" the gym teacher called through the door. Derek released him.

"Till next time, punk," Derek sneered. He sped out into the gym, leaving James alone in the locker room. James threw his shirt on and put his hand to the bleeding cut beneath his swelling eye. He grimaced as it stung painfully.

"Fuck it," James muttered, and he too sped off into gym class.

Half an hour and a dozen fresh bruises later, the bell rang.

"Oh would you look at the time!" the gym teacher exclaimed, slapping his forehead and looking up at the clock. He turned to the sweaty kids before him and stammered,

"Hurry up then, you'll be late to your next class! Sorry guys," the gym teacher apologized. James, battered and bruised from an unnecessarily rough game of lacrosse, ran into the locker room and didn't even bother changing cloths. He just grabbed his bag and ran. A stampede of the sweaty gym class bulldozed into James and sent him sprawling to the ground. He struggled valiantly to get back on his feet. He almost made it too, but Derek put him back down with a brutal kick to the ribs as he passed. Groaning, James staggered to his feet as the stampede subsided to mere echoes across the now barren hallways. And with insult to injury, the bell rang. James sighed, letting everything go with a cold indifference to it all. His whole body ached, and his face sunk to show a weariness that expressed more than just physical exhaustion.

Not even trying to hurry anymore James walked to English class without any real sense of purpose in his step. He stepped into the classroom and a hush fell across it. One by one everyone turned their heads and stared.

Well, I do look like I just got mugged, James reasoned. But this did not make the stare of the class cutting into him any more comfortable.

"What happened James?" the teacher asked, looking him up and down.

"Um..." James shuffled uncomfortably, "I tripped?" James said, wincing at how lame that sounded.

"What the hell did you trip on? A land mine?" a kid jabbed from the opposite corner of the room.

"Language, Jacob," the English teacher said impatiently; it was far from the first time Jacob and been told to stop swearing.

"Look James, why don't you work with the group over there? We're starting the group project," the teacher said, shaking his head. James shuffled over to the group the teacher was pointing at and sat down, wishing people would stop staring.

"Alright, back to work then everybody," the teacher said with a sigh before sitting down at his desk. James looked around at the people in his group. There was Melanie; she was a gossipy bitch who looked disgusted to be stuck in the group. Beside her was George; he was a nice guy but was really nerdy and shy. He kept fidgeting and pushing up his glasses, stealing a glance at Melanie every now and then. And beside George was Leif. His brilliant green eyes cutting deeper than a knife into James.

"So what really happened, James?" Melanie cooed in a sickly sweet voice, trying to pry out this fresh piece of gossip. James remained silent, shielding his eyes from her behind his curtain of black hair.

"Perhaps Melanie," Leif interjected coolly, " we should get to work, should we not?" The rest of the class dragged on endlessly, Melanie was relentless in her attempts to pry information from James, George tried to work on the project but stopped trying when Melanie insulted his work openly. Leif was making a little progress with James's help, but James found it hard to concentrate for numerous reasons. By the time the bell rang, nobody left happy.

James went to his next class, a study hall. He walked in, slumped into a chair, and within minutes was asleep. He fell away from the world, from exhaustion, from all distractions that hid his reality. He faded into dream, swept away on a current of his own subconscious.

James opened his eyes; he lay in a soft bed of grass. He watched as puffy white clouds sailed across the ocean like expanse of the sky. A gentle summer breeze tickled at James playfully, wafting the sweet smells of the forest to him. James turned on his side and Rain was there, lying in the grass with him. Her brilliantly blue eyes matched the sky and regarded James warmly. For a moment James laid there and looked back into her eyes. Then for a fleeting second he was happy. She leaned forward and kissed him, the warmth of her embrace surpassing that of the sun. She pulled back and James did not need to hear the words to know, it was in her eyes. And from that moment on James knew he was in love with her, and she with him. So much communicated between the two in the mutual silence. Words were lost to the wind, for all that mattered in that moment to James was the surging affection towards Rain as the reality of the moment came to him. the long months of friendship bursted with gratitude to his features and his being seemed to hover a few feet above him, he was elated with joy at simply being in her presence. And there was nowhere else that James would rather be. But sooner or later, you have to wake up.

James was wrenched awake by the piercing scream of the bell.

She's dead, he reminded himself. James rose to his feet and shuffled to lunch. The dream had felt so real, probably because it once was. A memory that he had locked away in the recess of his mind, forced back into the present by his subconscious. He collapsed into his usual chair at lunch, and was once more faced with the empty void that resided in Rain's chair. His gut wrenched again and this time he really was sick - he could taste the stomach acid but he forced the urge back down, grimacing. Leif took a seat next to him.

"Look man, don't bullshit me. There is no way in hell that you're alright," Leif snapped. Sarah sat down next to Leif and took his hand.

"Leif," she started quietly. Leif turned his head to Sarah and took her other hand.

"Maybe James is just coming down with a cold... I know you're concerned about your friend, but babe..."

"Then you should go to the nurse James," Leif said in a friendly yet authoritative voice. James evaluated his options and replied,

"Yeah, you're right, I probably should." And with that, he staggered to his feet and walked out, sensing Leif's eyes all the while.

What right does he have to order me around? Who the fuck does he think he is? James thought seethingly. He's just concerned, he's your friend.

Another part of James cut in. James felt guilt churn in is stomach for is outburst of anger. What's happening to me? James thought, fear crawling up his throat.

He picked up his pace, as if he could outmaneuver his own emotion. He had no intention of going to the nurse. No, he needed some time alone. He just couldn't let anyone see him like this. James turned into the bathroom, opened a stall, locked it behind him, and sat down. He closed his eyes and Rain was there. A sob swelled in James's chest, the image of her brought the truth back painfully. He grabbed his face and started to rock back and forth.

I don't want to feel anymore, James thought desperately. The stall suddenly made him feel claustrophobic, as though he was trapped in a prison. How the hell do you get out of your own head? James thought desperately. Rain, like a migraine took hold of his mind and possessed his consciousness. He assaulted himself with mental images of her dead body, hanging from the noose she mentioned in the note. James, taken by the pain of reality clawed viciously at his skull and clenched his teeth to silence a scream. Waves of agony resonated from James in the form of stifled sobs. And in silence, James waited for it to pass. Rocking back, and forth. Back, and forth...

James shivered in the heat, his face pale and sore from crying. The cut under his black eye hurt from tears stinging at it. James rose slowly to his feet. He knew the lunch period would end soon.

I need to move. James ordered himself.

He unlocked the stall and walked out into the hall just as the bell rang. The lunchroom emptied to go to the next class. James spotted Leif and wove through the crowd to stand near a group of tall people. He ducked low to conceal his position from him and made it to his next class undetected. People stared at him as he made his way to his seat.

Oh c'mon, am I really only interesting if I'm covered in bruises? James thought bitterly. History class started.

"James," the teacher inquired, "what happened? Do you need to go to the nurse?"

"No, I'll be alright. Thanks for the offer though, Mr. Taylor," James replied, ignoring the first question. The teacher lost interest and continued on with class. James was not paying the least bit of attention. This time however, he was not alone. Mr. Taylor's dull monotone put the majority of the class asleep. James fought to stay awake though, he couldn't face Rain again. Class droned on and on. Derek looked over at James and threw a paper airplane at him. It was a perfect throw, it hit James square in the chest. Mr. Taylor, who was facing the chalkboard noticed nothing. James unfolded the paper airplane and read the note.

"I'm gonna kick your ass after school punk. I already told everyone, run and everyone will know what a fucking coward you really are," it was inscribed.

Shit, James thought. He crumpled the note up and started formulating a plan, entirely awake now. James looked up at the clock and panicked, only five minutes until school ended.

There is no way in hell that this is a fight I can win... I'll have to escape, James thought, his mind racing. The bell rang and James left the room at a full on sprint, Derek's barking laugh booming behind him. The doors were in sight, James weaved through the crowd and almost made it through them. But then Melanie tripped him. The floor rushed up to meet James and knocked the wind out of him.

"Did you really think that I was going to miss the show, sweety? Come now, it's time that you got what you deserved," Melanie cooed in a matter of a fact tone, flashing her phone at him all the while to videotape the scene.

Derek caught up and kicked him in the ribs again. James rolled over and lashed out viciously with an uncapped pen, his entire being contorted into a fiery retribution. He slammed the pen an inch into Derek's ankle, causing him to fall to the ground. Derek rolled over on top of James and slammed his fists into any bit of flesh he could get at. Pain coursed through James like lighting as he felt his nose break. Blood was everywhere, it seemed to enshroud his whole being as Derek continued to beat him maliciously. The reek of it consumed him as it clogged his nasal cavity, he gagged on it as it ran down his throat, and could even hear it make a sickening wet sound as Derek's fists came into contact.

The pain surmounted until it was all he was conscious of, and without knowing it, he was screaming.