A Friend in Need

I ran away. Out of the courtyard where we always had lunch together, down the halls, and past the students that gawked as I ran by. My legs took me up several flights of stairs just to make more distance. I had to get away from Lacey, from her blood-caked face, from the wound she made to match mine.

I didn’t stop until my eyes found the one place she couldn’t go into – the boy’s restroom.

Slamming the stall door shut, I sat atop the toilet, shivering. My heart raced as the panic sought to catch up to the adrenaline rush. Only then, did I realize that my legs were jelly. Regardless, I rocked back and forth to calm myself. There was no strength get up. I cowered in that spot, sucking in shallow breaths, wondering what the hell had happened.

Who I thought was the perfect girlfriend had gone crazy, cutting herself up when I showed her my cheek. That was the cause for it all, that reality-defying glitch that made no sense no matter how I pondered it. My hand shakily reached for my pocket, pulling out another band-aid. I slapped it over the wound on my cheek.

No more.

If I couldn’t even trust Lacey with the secret, then who else could I trust?

A solid two knocks echoed from the stall door.

“I know you’re in there. Get your butt out here!”

“Taylor? Wha-, now’s not a good time!”

“Of course, it isn’t a good time. You’re on the damn shitter. Now, I wouldn’t want to come anywhere near you normally, but I doubt you’re in there for business. All I know is that I saw Lacey, and then, I saw you running in here, white as a ghost. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t check? Ain’t a friend supposed to notice when things don’t smell right?”

I reached out to click the lock open. The stall door swung out to where Taylor sized me up. I wasn’t sure how he even found me so quickly. At this point, I wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. My cheek started to sting more. Even the band-aid didn’t help. My finger dug past the adhesive, scratching at the flap of loose skin that hung there, like I needed to fidget with it.

“Why are you even here? Are you following me?”

“That’s what I’m here for. The best bud to keep you on the straight and narrow. And right now, it looks like you done screwed up.”

I turned to Taylor with a look of confusion. This entire day was messed up. Now, even he was just egging me on.

“I screwed up? How the hell did I screw up? Have you seen Lacey? She’s gone crazy, man!”

“Yeah, because you went and treated your annoyance like it was a real problem. When you should have left it be and moved on.”

I got up, furious and in his face. What did he know? Ripping off the band-aid, I showed him the horrific gouge, now even bigger since I had agitated it. A strand hung down from my face, further unraveling.

“This is not normal. This should not happen. I don’t know how you can just stay calm! Nothing makes sense! How am I supposed to just ignore it and move on?!”

“You just do it anyway. Plain and simple. Otherwise, I make fun of you. I take the worst parts of you and tell it to your face, because that’s the type of friend you wanted in me!”

I froze. There was that claim again.

What I wanted.

They were both blaming me for making them behave that way, like I had any say in it. Like I was caught in some game, picking roles meant to please me.

“Who the hell am I? Huh? What’s my name, Taylor?”

“Best bud? I dunno.”

Taylor’s answer sealed the deal. Something was wrong with this world, and only I found it off. I had been living in blissful ignorance before this morning, but everything was a lie.

I stared at Taylor, wondering how I would even befriend a jerk like him. Our first meetings were hazy, a constant string of downright bullying, coupled with moments where he seemed almost nice. My head hurt the more I considered it.

What was a friend even? Did one behave normally like this? I had nothing to compare with. Taylor was the best friend. Lacey was the girlfriend. And all I knew was that everything felt like a plant.

“Well, then.” I turned away from him. “Piss off. I don’t need a friend like you.”

A punch slammed me right in the face. I staggered backward and into the wall. The opposite cheek now ached like the other side. Staggering into a defense pose, I stared as Taylor marched toward me, making his case.

“You also wanted a friend who wasn’t afraid to beat the stuffing out of you whenever you didn’t fit in!”

I punched forward, striking him on the chin. He shrugged it off and lifted me right off the ground, tossing me out of the restroom. It was small, cramped. No room to maneuver. Out in the hallway, I realized that there were more options.

Several students froze and turned back, likely going to fetch the teachers. I didn’t care. I didn’t start this. So I certainly wasn’t going to stand there and be beat on for no reason.

Taylor charged at me like a bull. For the first time, I regretted befriending someone that was strong as an ox. I dove to the side, kicking my leg forward, tripping him in the process. As expected, the top-heaviness of his body caused him to stumble.

What I hadn’t expected was how he took several awkward steps right into the glass windows of the third floor. With a crash, he smashed right through them. Seeing that, I raced over to check.

Even if he was a jerk, I had no intention of committing murder. While it may have looked like an accident, the guilt from tripping him wouldn’t be an easy thing to deny.

“TAYLOR!” I cried, hoping for the slim chance that he somehow caught himself. But as I looked down, a hand reached out for my face.

Surprised, I shrank back. However, my head moved faster than the dangling strand that unraveled. Taylor managed to grab onto it and yanked me forward once again.

Pain erupted from my face. I could feel it unraveling more and more. The only decisions were to let myself be undone, or to fall forward to join Taylor in death.

Unfortunately, the weight of Taylor made that decision for me, as I felt my feet lift off the ground, and there I went.

The wind picked up speed as gravity took hold. The world spiraled around me as I left the third-floor hallway and dropped like a rock toward the ground. Taylor and I yelled as we both fell. At that height, we only had seconds before meeting our end.