Hey sorry for the long wait, last week before vacation teachers pile everything possible on you! Sorry for the wait!
"You guys go ahead," Troy said as they approached Ms. Darbus' door.
"We're not leaving you here!" Chad yelled. He was shushed by the other four boys.
"No, you guys have a game to play in. This tournament has strict rules and if you get detention with me Mr. Matsui will have to choice but to boot you off too," Troy reasoned.
"But, you might be able to play. We don't know yet!"
"Chad, you guys just go. I'll go to my dad or something. If you guys go now without me, you wont get kicked off because she wont have to tell Mr. Matsui."
The four boys looked at each other, silently agreeing with Troy. Darbus was crazy with her detentions. Chad nodded and turned, leading the way for the other three to follow. Once they had made their way into Darbus' class, Troy turned around running the other way down the hall. Troy wasn't going to his dad's office where he had said he'd go, he was going someplace different.
Troy slowed down his pace and walked casually down the halls of the school. He had never seen the halls so empty. We saw his destination, the door, and smiled. No teacher was around to question him and no students to stop him, all he had to do was sneak out of the school and he could execute his plan. He had made it the night before and it was fool proof.
"Troy, what are you doing out of homeroom." Troy pulled his hand away from the door and turned to look at his dad. He smiled trying to come up with an excuse that would fool the coach, but one look into Coach Bolton's eyes told him that he knew he was trying to leave. The coach grabbed Troy's arm and marched him down to his office.
hsmhsmhsmhsm
Mack locked the door behind her. Usually her mother would give her a ride, but she had left right after the dinner to catch a flight to Annapolis to do some kind of business thing. She was stuck to do everything by herself.
Sure, Troy had woke her up this morning, but he had to leave shortly after. Mack had been left to get ready like she'd been doing for the last eight years. Even in kindergarten, Mack had gotten dressed, made breakfast, and left at the right time, by herself. Sometimes Troy was there, but he normally left early to meet Chad and walk to school with him.
Mack never had someone like that.
Sometimes she felt like Matilda, having to do everything by herself, but she had gotten used to being independent when she had to. She always wondered what it would be like to have parents that were actually around, but she couldn't dwell on dreams.
"Mack?"
She turned and saw Calum walking toward her. She released the doorknob and walked toward him. The two stopped walking when they were about a foot apart. Mack could feel Calum's eyes scanning her face. "You look tired."
"I couldn't sleep last night, a bad dream." She hoped her wouldn't ask any further. That night had been the worst night of her life. The vivid memory replayed in her mind.
The door slammed shut and Mack turned to face Troy, anger apparent in his facial features. He walked over to Mack and grabbed her arm tightly twirling her body around so he could see her sleeve. She winced as his hand tightened around her arm. "Boucher? I thought I told you to stay away from that family."
"Troy-"
"They're bad people Mack. Look at my face! Is that not enough proof? Look at my ribs!"
"You did that to yourself." She immediately regretted saying that. Troy pinned the girl against the wall.
"You listen to me, I want you to promise me that you will never talk to them again!" Mack's arms felt like they would fall off. "Promise me!"
"Troy you're hurting me."
Troy's face eased, but Mack could see the anger didn't melt completely off his face. He lessened his grip on her and she slid into the corner of her room, not wanting to make Troy that mad again. He turned toward the door and walked out, leaving the door open as he walked down the stairs. Mack climbed into her pajamas and curled up in her bed. "Where's mom when you need her?" Mack asked quietly to herself. Until she fell asleep she asked herself questions. Why had Troy changed, when had it happened, and why could she do nothing. That night as she slept, she had a haunting dream of her family falling apart. She woke up three times in a cold sweat. Troy woke her up late the next morning, right before he left with their father. She knew that her family was falling apart like it was in her dream, she just hoped that it didn't have to end like her dream did...
"Do you need someone to walk with?" Calum asked. She looked up in tears before shutting her eyes and crossing her arms. Calum was shocked. The last time he had seen Mack cry was in first grade when Troy fell off the playground and was knocked unconscious. He figured that her tears were family related and she probably didn't want to talk about it, so instead he pulled her into a hug and let her cry on his shoulder.
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Coach Bolton pushed Troy into the chair in his office. Troy looked down at his feet. "What's gotten into you? First you start getting into fights, then you try to skip school. This isn't like you."
Troy looked up. Jack winced at the sight of his black eye, fat lip and large gash that ran down the side of his face. Jack knew that his arms were covered with bruises, even if he couldn't see them through his jacket. "Now, the tournament directors called last night. They said that you can have another chance since it was in self defense and you don't normally fight. But if you step out of line, even getting detention, you're out. This tournament is very prestigious and I wouldn't have entered if I didn't think we could go far, but last night I was about ready to tell them to cut you off the list anyway. I heard you yelling at Mack. You need to get you're act together. You're grades are dropping, you seem distant at home, you aren't getting enough sleep." Jack had his eyes focused on his son, who was looking at the ground. He knelt down to Troy's level, "You need to take a break. Please, if not for your family, for your team. You're trying to be the hero in everything you do." Jack put a hand on Troy's knee, "please."
The telephone rang behind him with the 'outside call' ring. The coach walked over and picked it up, "Jack Bolton...Oh hi Judy...No she's not sick...What...Okay bye." Jack turned to Troy. "That was the school, you're sister's not there."
Hope you liked it! I have vacation so I'll get more chapters up. I have all the ideas in my head, all I need to do is get them on paper. Review!
