You all have a very good reason to be happy for this chapter. I would love to tell you but I can't because it'll spoil the fun of reading. Sorry, you'll just have to read to find out what it is.

Donna novv: your idea help inspire about half this chapter. Whether or not it's a good thing is up for debate. I guess I can spoil you a bit and reassure you that eventually TJ will tell. I just wanna break him down a little more. (Guilty face) You thought they were cute? I sort of forgot to mention Chauncey's dimples and Sam's face full of freckles. They have a small appearance in this chapter though. (Really small)

At this point, TJ considered stabbing himself in the foot just to get out going to Prickly's house. But then he knew his mother would just take him to the hospital, and after he was healed, would be sent to go through his punishment. So he figured that he might as well get it over with.

He had spent the last two days hanging out with Chauncey and Sam, hoping to get in as much free time as possible before going into the devils den. While doing this he often looked over at his other five friends, to see them ignoring him. Normally he would be wondering what the hell were they mad about, but he obviously had other things to worry about.

Sadly Saturday did come and he sat outside of his house, waiting for Prickly to drive up. The idea of running away crossed his mind, but knew the police would be after him in hours. Things just kept getting worse….

Eventually the sound of a car stopping came to his ears. He looked up and there he was. Grudgingly he stood up, walked over, and got in the passenger seat. Soon after they were driving away.

'I don't care what Sam said,' He thought to himself. 'God hates me. He hates me and this is all part of some sick joke of his.' He slouched in his seat defeated.

TJ took solace in the fact that for the most of the day he actually did work around the house. It mostly consisted of vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the gutters, and what he was doing now, mowing the backyard with a push mower. It wasn't made any better from it being hot; if he heard right from the news this morning it was supposed to feel like 100 degrees today. And it did. If it was his own house, he would've gladly taken his shirt off to relieve whatever little heat he could. But it wasn't his house. Not only that but he could just feel eyes watching his every move.

With one last push he was done his torturous task.

"I'm done!" He yelled. With a sigh of relief he headed back inside. He knew not to expect a break because he hasn't gotten one all day. Instead he was lead to the kitchen and was met with a sink full of dishes. Not a word had to be said and he started to get to work.

Five minutes in, he felt those same eyes on him. Didn't this guy have something else better to do than stare at him all day? It was starting to get to him.

All of a sudden he was grabbed and pulled from behind; one arm around his waist and a hand over his mouth.

"Have you been telling your friends about our arrangement?" Those words were whispered with such violence, it sent newfound fear through him. He shook his head as he tried to pull away. "I don't believe you. They've been giving me looks whenever I walk down the halls. What did I say would happen if you told anybody?" A muffled answer was the reply. "That's right. And that's exactly what's going to happen." That was followed by several screams. The hand was lifted from TJ's mouth and he was allowed to talk.

"I can keep them quiet! They won't say anything, I promise!" He yelled.

"Can you?"

"YES! They won't say anything!" A silent moment passed, and TJ could tell that he was thinking. He closed his eyes, and hoped he would be let go. It was true what he said, he did keep the others quiet for at least this long. And it didn't look like they were going to say anything at this point, but he didn't know how long it was going to last.

"Fine, they better not say a word of this to anyone else," Slowly the arms that were holding him back let go. "You already know what'll happen if they do." Gently he was pushed back towards to sink where he continued to clean as well as think.

He could make a run for it, run out of here and go home. At this point getting grounded looked like the better option. And if he had to come back here he thought about doing something that he would have to get grounded for, like breaking the TV, or setting the house on fire, anything to get out of having to be here.

Why did he have to care about those guys so much? If he didn't, he wouldn't be worrying about what'll happen to them, and he would be on his way. No, that sounded wrong. No matter how mad he was, he wouldn't let that happen to them. But he obviously needed a break from it happening to him.

Once he was done, he walked down the hallway towards his next task. Turning a corner he was grabbed again, an arm around his waist, and a hand over his mouth. But this time that mouth held a cloth, and he was beginning to feel sleepy and everything went dark.

He was floating, which was an amazing feat in itself, above a room. Once his eye's cleared he could see it was the principal's office. He pondered, at what point did he get here, and then it hit him. He was dreaming, and he wanted it to be one of those dreams you can control, but after trying to imagine flying in the sky didn't work, knew it wasn't. No, this seemed like one of those lame flashback dreams they used in movies so damn often. So he watched as best he could while floating. After a couple awkward minutes of doing nothing, he saw himself come into view, although he was about a year younger.

'This is weird,' He thought to himself. 'I'm watching myself. This is like one of those out-of-body experience things..' He watched as is younger self walked towards the desk, scared and trembling with every step. His younger self made it to the desk, and over to Prickly, who he didn't even notice was there. They started to talk, and he started to listen, though he had to move in a little closer to here. Trying to move involved motions that were a strange mix of swimming and kickboxing.

"You're thinking about telling someone, aren't you?" Prickly asked the trembling child.

"No, sir…"

"Yes you are. You've got that look like you're planning something. And honestly, I wouldn't blame you if you did."

"You…..wouldn't?"

"No. I had a very weak reason for making you not tell anyway, but let's come up with a new reason for you not to. Let's see, how about if you tell anyone, you and those friends of yours will get expelled from school?"

"You can't do that! We haven't even got in enough trouble for that!"

"Yes you have. All of you. There's enough on all of your records to easy call for an expulsion. And you wouldn't want that to happen would you?"

"No, sir…" He said in between sobs. He lifted up and sat down on the desk.

"Don't cry now, you're doing a great thing by protecting your friends. They're lucky to have a friend like you, okay?" It started to get brighter and brighter until TJ could no longer watch the scene play out in from of him. Now he felt like he was falling.

If he did fall, he landed on a very comfortable bed with very comfortable covers. At first he thought he had somehow mad it home, but realized what he had been doing earlier. Add to the fact that his clothes were not where they ought to be (Instead they were on the floor in front of him) and the fingers running through his hair, he quickly discovered where his was and what mostly likely had happened.

"You know," Said the voice of his attacker from behind of him. "The others from a few nights ago, they really liked you. They really want to see you again." Instead of answering back he curled into a ball and started to silently cry. "I won't take you back there again as long as you don't tell alright?" He nodded. "Good. Besides, you don't know who they could've been. For all you know they could've been the police. They could've been firemen, or governors. Maybe even a few teachers. But you don't know that do you?" He shook his head. "That's right. Now get dressed. I'm taking you home." He sound of footsteps echoed through the room, followed by a door closing, leaving TJ by himself.

'This didn't just happen,' He thought to himself. 'It didn't happen…It didn't happen.' He kept repeated those words in his head as he got dressed, and rode back home. No matter how many times repeated, he still knew it was true, and no amount of wishing was going to change that.

Once the car pulled up to his house, he got out without a word and started to walk inside. He was met by Sam and Chauncey who were waiting for him to get back.

"You okay?" Chauncey asked, wary of the answer.

"No, I-I'm not okay…..I'm really not. I can't play right now, guys." He said before walking in to the house and into his room.