"What happened to me?" Lucas asked again, hitting his locker agressively.
"I don't know, it's Zay time now, stop bringing me down!" Zay exclaimed jokingly, leaning back on the locker next to his best friend's.
"You really mean that?" The former cowboy looked up at his friend, his voice breaking.
"Nah, man, you know that's just a joke I made up during freshman year" he laughed in return. "Dude, what's wrong?" He noticed Lucas return to his hunched position.
"Don't even talk about that time at the end of freshman year." He answered angrily. "What happened to me?" He repeated.
"Dude, it's not your fault. Nothing was your fault." The black haired boy scrunched his eyes as the echoing shrill of the bell ringing suddenly through Abigail Adams high school. "C'mon it's time to go to class."
With that he took the handles of the chair the other junior was sitting in and pushed him down the coridoor to their first period class.
During gym he had to sit aside. It annoyed him to watch all the other boys, and even girls, have fun and do their own sports, while he had to sit on the side and scribble in his notebook or help the teacher.
He wheeled himself towards the changing room/bathroom area, hating both changing and going to the bathroom because they were both so difficult for him right now.
The disabled stall was the least used, and he was grateful that it was much cleaner than the rest of the bathroom. The bathroom was a war zone, apparently especially for the girls. It was where people went to talk, cry, and hide. He tried to spend as little time as possible in that place.
Once he had finished, he pulled himself along, avoiding the field. Zay was going to kill him for disappearing. He looked around and noticed a familiar face.
"If it isn't my favorite wolfie." He smiled as he approached the girl.
"What do you want, Friar?" The former blonde beauty looked around at him. Of course, she was still beautiful, just not blonde. Her hair was now black, and swept across half her face. Her clothes were dark, ripped and mainly leather based. The only thing that didn't change was her face.
"Not doing gym?"
She began to laugh sarcastically. "Me? Do gym? Since when?" He decided not to answer that question, remembering that the last time she did gym was, in fact, not long before the incident happened. Well, her incident.
He looked down at her arms and noticed they were covered with fishnet sleeves all the way down to her wrists. Like always. Below those, he knew what was there. It wasn't obvious, but he knew.
She must have seen him looking, because she pulled her arms behind her back and started, "You don't need to disturb me, you know, Sundance? Just let me be. Don't worry."
"I know, pancake. Good luck, then, with your bunking. Talk to y'all soon." He tipped his fake cowboy hat and wheeled himself away.
"Maya, what's that, tell me right now." He yelled at the short girl who had changed so much.
She immediately pulled her loose hoodie sleeve back over her arm, and grabbed him by the shirt collar. "Not here! And anyway, stop. It's my life, you don't need to get involved!"
But he wanted to. No, it's true, he didn't mean to pull the girl's sleeve off her arm and reveal the horror beneath, but he now felt helpless. Before he could say anything, she was already storming off in the other direction.
"Where'd you go, man I was worried!" Zay punched him lightly on his shoulder as he changed, and Lucas just sat not moving.
"Well I guess I can't say I went for a walk." He laughs, then calmed down. "Nah, bro, I just went to the bathroom."
"Dude, I know it's hard for you, but the bathroom should not have taken you that long." Suddenly, his face became warped with horror. "NO! Did you-"
He interrupted his best friend before he could go any further with that idea. "No. I just got caught up. I was talking to Maya."
"Maya? As in Maya Hart? You got her to speak?" Zay calmed down, but only for a second until he replied with shock again.
"Yes, Zay. She's still a human being, of course it's okay to speak to her."
"I just mean it's not that long ago that-"
"Yeah. I know." He interrupted again. He didn't want everyone talking about it, it was unfair.
The girl lying in front from him hadn't spoken to him, or anyone really, for almost a year. They had all noticed her becoming more reserved. He had promised not to tell anyone about her scars, but he was regretting it in this moment, since he was apparently the only one who knew.
They all knew it was hard for her when her best friend left, but they didn't expect it to go this far. He nervously rubbed his sweaty hands together again, remembering the way her clothes suddenly became darker, how she slowly stopped going out, the day she walked in with a black fringe.
He gasped when the girl began to stir, unsuccessfully trying to hold back his tears, in an effort to keep his vision from blurring. "Maya?" He whispered, voice failing.
"Riley?" The girl cried, eyes closed. Tears already started flowing down her face.
"Sorry, baby girl... it's just us." Katy put her hand on her daughter's, sniffing with relief that she was okay.
Maya opened her eyes, and gasped. "Huckleberry?" She gasped, a mixture of anger and surprise.
"Wow you haven't called me that in a long time..." he smiled. "Don't worry, Maya, I didn't say anything. I'm just glad you're alive. He sighed.
Of course that didn't change anything. She still bled from her wrists, still held herself widthdrawn at school, didn't talk to them.
She came into school a month later, with a healing leg, and hadn't done gym since. Well, hadn't done much at all.
"Shall we?" Zay asked, having finished changing, and Lucas nodded.
"Hey, Zay?" Lucas asked as the boys enetered the still empty coridoors.
"Yeah, buddy?" Zay had cared so much since he found out that he couldn't believe it. He looked after Lucas all the time and he was grateful.
"Yknow it's not a red wagon but it's close enough. Thanks, Zay. You're a real good friend"
"I always said I would return the favor"
He was asked what wheelchair he wanted. In his mind, that sounded like being asked which prison to be sent to for the rest of his life. He didn't care, because any one would restrain him.
He chose a manual one which he could move around most in. They all came with handles, and it was recommended because it was supposed to be easier to get in and out of. He honestly didn't want to limit his movement at all, though it was the point of the wheelchair, so he compromised by choosing one which he could stilll use to move, at least his arms.
Before he got it, he was asked what colour. Seemed strange to ask. What colour... well he thought they all came in black or metallic silver. Apparently not. As soon as he looked at the options he knew. He knew everyone would think of him as ridiculous, but he knew it was exactly what he wanted.
"Red." He declared.
His own little red wagon.
