5. Chapter 5 (1/2)

the weekend dragged in for damien, who had slumped around his house, all the while doing nothing. by monday morning he had grown so eager to see pip that he literally ran out to school, a piece of buttered toast hanging out of his mouth, in order to get there early. in fact he showed up so early that pip hadn't even come in yet and so he slid down onto his seat with a pout.

'where's that little

it when i miss him most?'

the classroom was next to empty and damien would probably think it was if a foul smell hadn't drifted up his nose. kel galway (previously known as dog poo) sat at the front of the room, staring up at the board. damien felt like throwing up at the sight of his dripping wet, short stringy, tangled up hair.

'holy hell,' he thought, 'it's called shampoo. in fact scratch that, it's called water.'

a small group of friends walked in to the room, some of which who weren't even a part of damien's form class.

damien sighed, 'still no sign…'

fifteen minutes passed and damien was growing agitated.

'where the fuck is he?'

he was just about to get up from his seat and go looking for him, even though the first bell had just rang, but before he started moving pip shuffled in.

"where the hell were you?" damien tried not to bark.

"i-i was in choir."

damien paused, "oh."

pip blinked, "are you angry with me?"

"no, not at all!"

damien felt embarrassed that he had gotten so mad, but he had worried. he thought that something could have happened to pip.

pip smiled, "you didn't miss me, did you?"

"sort of. i got in early so i was all alone for ages."

"aww i'm sorry," pip glomped him, causing their cheeks to rub together.

"s'ok," damien didn't resist him, secretly enjoying the physical contact.

pip released him and sat down in his chair, "so how was your weekend?"

"boring, you're spending it with me next time."

"o-ok," pip answered hesitantly. it wasn't that he didn't want to; it was just that damien had demanded it more than he inquired it.

the day flew in, probably because pip and damien entertained each other so well. pip drifted out of the school like a fluffy white cloud.

'oh what a spectacular day today was,' he thought to himself as he gracefully skipped his way down the large stone steps.

he opened his eyes, blinded by cheer and halted immediately to see eric waiting at the bottom for him. it was definitely a lot more flattering when it was damien who had waited for him.

"o-oh," pip thought intentionally aloud, "i think i may have forgotten my folder. i guess i should just…"

he turned to walk back into the school and leave again from the other exit, but a strong voice stopped him.

"don't go anywhere."

pip turned to look down at eric.

"c'mere."

pip moved back slightly, struggling to get his adrenaline to kick in.

"get down here now!"

pip tried to move, whether it be to obey eric to keep him from getting angry or to run, but for some reason he couldn't. eric was growing angry. he stormed up the steps and grabbed pip by the arm. pip covered his face with his hands and began to sob.

"please, eric, please don't hurt me!"

eric grinned, he loved to hear people beg.

"please! i've done nothing wrong, i won't tell anyone. just please don't hurt me!"

eric's expression softened into a frown, "geeze…"

he released pip's arm, who wrapped it around his body to keep it from being trapped again. he sniffed, the flow of clear tears coming to a stop.

"sorry," eric turned to the side.

pip didn't know what to do, so after pausing for a few seconds he turned away from eric and resumed his trip down the stairs.

literally.

just before his foot came in contact with the first step, two hands shoved him roughly forward and caused pip to fall all the way down, barely touching a single step. he landed on his hands and knees on the hard ground.

there was an eruption of laughter that got fainter and fainter behind him. after a while of quivering and crying, pip was sure that he was alone. he got up slowly, looking down to check the giant tear in his trousers, revealing a huge cut on his knee, covered in blood which seeped through the material and stained his black trousers. he went to stand up straight, but his knee hurt too much.

"oh bloody hell," he croaked between tears.

he looked around to find his bag wide open, his books scattered all across the ground. he bent down in agony to pick them up from the dirt and slid them back into his bag. he went to pick it up by the strap only to find that it was

oken.

"oh bugger."

he picked up the bag with his two badly scraped hands and held it in his arms as he stood up. despite the throbbing pain in his knee, he hurried out before eric could even think about coming back.

damien waited by the main gate outside the school.

'geeze, what's taking him so long?'

pip walked out gradually, looking around for any danger that may have been lurking. he spotted damien and cringed, straightening himself up quickly. damien turned to him, pulling himself from against the wall.

"pip!" he smiled.

pip avoided damien's eyes nervously, "h-hi damien…"

damien looked down at his ripped trousers and at the bloody mess beneath the hole. his expression faded.

"what happened?" he said as he stepped forward and knelt down before pip to inspect the wound.

"u-umm…"

damien poked it lightly with his finger and pip sucked in air sharply though his tightly clenched teeth.

"aw look, you've got some dirt and gravel in it."

damien looked up at pip like a puppy.

"so what happened again?"

"i-i uh… i f-fell."