Chapter Six: We can't run Forever.

I sat at my desk eating my lunch in peaceful bliss, a nice refreshing cheese, lettuce, and mayo sandwich. I took another bite and put the sandwich back into the container as I enjoy the current mouthful, I chewed slowly savouring every piece as I stared at the back wall of my classroom, my eyes occasionally scanning the room for interruptions. I opened up the bottom draw of my desk to the right of me and pulled out a bottle of water, I took the lid off and washed down the remains of the sandwich in my mouth. Closing the draw I then put the lid back on the bottle and rested it on my desk, I looked up slightly,
"Okay, it's too quiet! Don't tease me just lay it on me. What's happened, has Maya suddenly fallen in love with Lucas and not broken up with him, has Riley pull the pin of another grenade and thrown the pin at us, or perhaps thrown the grenade? Come on just let it loose will you!" I called out, suddenly Lucas appeared in the doorway of my classroom,
"Murray!" he called out,
"And there it is, I knew it!" I called out again pointing at Lucas.
"What?" Lucas asked in confusion.
"Never mind, pull up and chair and tell me what happened," I instructed him, he obeyed my instructions swiftly.
"Maya broke up with me, told me to go to Riley yet every time Riley see's me she turns and runs the other way and so I can't talk to her." Lucas explained, I took a moment to process what he said before sighing.
"I'm not going to legitimise that stupid excuse by repeating it," I said but paused putting the lid back on the container covering my sandwich, before moving it to the side and putting my book of notes down in front of me opening it up. I quickly scanned a page worth of notes, "here it is, you told me that the reason you liked Riley was because she liked you for who you were, you said that too often would girls show an interest in because you're good looking. But you're going to let a stupid excuse like that stop you from being with someone who likes you for not what you look like, or what you have, but for who, you are. Let me tell you something, when I was your age I went to a party with friends, now my friends dispersed to hook up with chicks and all of that, but that wasn't my thing. I instead stood there bored out of my mind, until I saw a girl in the same boat as I. I went over to talk to her, after explaining that I wasn't trying to hit on her or anything we chatted. About her boyfriend who was at work, how she didn't want to be there. We talked about relationships and I told her how I wished a girl would like me enough to want to date me. She told me that she didn't think it would happen, because I wasn't eye candy, she went on to say that girls nowadays when they see their boyfriends want to be happy with what they see, and she doesn't think a girl would be happy when they see me. I let that stupid girl ruin everything; I threw my feelings, my desire for a relationship, everything out the window and lost all interest in it. Because of it I missed an opportunity to be happy, but it allowed me to be there for my friends, to help them, listen to them and give them advice. I saw the relationships blossom and others die, I've seen relationships that were and shouldn't have been; one's that are and could've been. One of the most important things I learnt when it came to relationships was: when you're asking someone out, you're not only asking them to be with you, you are asking them if you can make them happy, if they think that they can make you happy and most of all if you can be happy together? Because you're telling them not only do you have feelings for them, but also you've asked yourself those questions and answered yes. Now I could go through my notes and read out how you and Riley both feel about one another, but you already know, and I think you've figured it out, that it's Riley, that it's always been Riley. Hell mate, I saw it back in my apartment when you realised what Riley was going through, you gave me a look and I knew that you'd tare this world apart to help, to make her happy, to see her smile again, you shouldn't let that stupid ass excuse keep you from her," I explained, Lucas sat in silence absorbing it all in.
"But, how do I get her to talk to me then?" He asked, having finally looked me in the eyes,
"I don't know, but perhaps if someone were to have a weekly timetable that would show when his next appointment with her would be, and if you were able to get a quick look at it you would know and be able to confront her there, because if that person simply told you they could be breaking some sort of code of ethics. As for me, I just need to pop out for a few minutes, stick around if you want to keep chatting when I get back, if not, I won't be insulted." I stated as I slowly slipped my timetable out from the back of my book leaving it on my desk before jumping up from my chair and dashing out of the room, turning left and heading around the corner where I stopped, leaned back on the wall and waited. I won't lie, I couldn't hide my smile, I was so happy and excited 'Why the hell should I?" I thought, I heard Lucas walk out of my room and in the opposite direction. I turned the corner a little to confirm he was gone before returning to my chair and continued to eat my lunch.

I wasn't completely honest with Lucas; I had removed one session time of Riley's from my timetable. Todays, Riley sat in front of me on a chair waiting for me to begin.
"You didn't run far enough," I informed her, as I looked down at my notes,
"What?" she inquired,
"With the grenade, you didn't run far enough" I stated, my tone lacking any interest.
"What do you mean?" Riley asked, I looked up form my notes and at her.
"That's right, you don't talk to them anymore, well then you should know that Maya broke up with Lucas" I informed her. Riley tried her best to hide her shock but was unable to do so entirely.
"But, but I walked away." She insisted,
"But we haven't walked away from you" Lucas insisted as he led the group's march into the classroom surprising Riley and I.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked shocked,
"I had Zay watch the room, I thought you'd have something up your sleeve" Lucas explained
"Zay!" I growled,
"Could you really say no to that face?" Isaiah insisted pointing at Lucas' face.
"What are you all doing here?" Riley softly asked as she stood up from her seat,
"We're here to help you Riles" Maya answered,
"You're one of our best friends, it isn't okay that you're going through this alone" Lucas continued,
"I thought you and Maya broke up?" Riley asked,
"We did, but it was more mutual" Lucas answered
"We decided that it was best if he and I stayed friends because our feelings were for others." Maya continued. Riley went to say something but stopped as her eyes looked passed everyone and towards the door. Everyone turned around, while I still seated in my chair slightly turned my head to see what she was looking at. In the door way stood a shell of a man, Mr. Arlen, his eyes were glassy red and his evil glare was focused on me. I slowly stood up from my seat,
"Students, go to Cory" I instructed, Mr. Arlen remained in the doorway blocking their escape,
"No" he mumbled putting his hand underneath his coat and pulling out a handgun, holding it close to his person he aimed it in my direction, the kids quickly backed up while I remained behind me desk. "No one is leaving" Mr. Arlen insisted,
"Mr. Arlen you want me, not the kids, let them go, please" I begged him,
"Why should they get to go? They're probably some of the kids that gave my son a hard time" Mr. Arlen insisted turning the gun on them, fearful for their lives they huddled together, tears welling up in their eyes. I ran around my desk and stood in front of them putting my arms up out to the sides
"I will not let you harm my students!" I proclaimed, while I could feel the anger and determination, I could also feel the tears streaming down my face. "I failed your son, I wasn't able to help him. And I failed him on that assignment pushing him over the edge I pushed him. I wish I knew what your son was going through so that I could have helped him, but I couldn't. Your son was a kind, caring young boy who wouldn't wish harm unto anyone, don't disgrace his memory by harming these innocent students" I pleaded with him, keeping myself calm and under control as best I could. He thought for a few moments and then stepped to the side opening up a clear line of escape;
"Go" he grunted, gesturing for them to leave. I turned around
"Go now, get to Cory!" I commanded them struggling immensely to stay strong in front of them, Lucas put up the most resistance against my commands,
"I'm not leaving you behind!" he argued, I hugged him tightly and pushed him back,
"Take care of them Lucas and get to Cory!" I commanded again
"But…"
"Go!" I shouted through my teeth, Lucas finally obeyed and acted as a buffer between them and Mr. Arlen as they passed him, one by one they broke from their huddle and burst into a sprint out the door, first Farkle, Isadora, Maya, Riley, Isaiah and finally Lucas who gave one last look back before he was out of sight. I calmed myself again, taking a single deep breath in and out. As they ran down the hallway towards Cory's room three gunshots rang out, and just before reaching their destination screams sounded throughout the school. They burst into Cory's room; Cory was with Jonathan Turner, and George Feeny, the three of them seemed to have been catching up, but now panicked and caught off guard. Once the kids were in the room the three of them pushed them up against the side wall of the classroom telling them to sit down.
"What the hell is going on?" Jonathan asked,
"It's Mr. Arlen, he confronted Murray in his classroom, he had a gun, Murray convinced him to let us go" Riley cried, Lucas had frozen for a moment as he knelt on the ground. He came to and went to jump up, but Cory threw him to the ground,
"Stay down Lucas!" Cory ordered him,
"But I have to get to Murray!" Lucas struggled as tears gushed from his eyes, but Cory pinned him down on the floor.
"Lucas, stay here with your friends, okay, stay here!" Cory ordered before getting up and running out of the room
"Matthews!" Jonathan cried out as quietly as possible.
"Jonathan go get him, I'll stay with the kids!" George Feeny insisted,
"Okay George, but lock the door behind me!" Jonathan planned before giving chase.

I was sitting up against the wall underneath the blackboard behind my desk, I didn't want to look at the damage, so I kept my gaze fixed upon my book of notes that was opened on my desk.
"Murray!" I heard Cory whisper before suddenly appearing next to me taking off his blazer, rolling it up and pushing it against the left side of my stomach which was numb.
"Matthews!" I heard another voice whispered, Jonathan appeared behind Cory, "oh God!" he insisted,
"His' left arm Tuner!" Cory insisted, Jonathan looked at my left arm then down at his shirt, he un-tucked it and tore the bottom off, I felt him tie it around my upper left bicep I believe trying to cut off blood flow.
"Cory" I mumbled,
"Yeah Murray?" Cory quickly replied,
"Are they okay, the kids, did they get to you?" I stuttered,
"Yeah, they're safe don't worry, you'll see them soon trust me" Cory assured me, Jonathan stood up and disappeared from my sight.
"We can't run forever"
"Well I'm sure you can, I mean you're a pretty fit guy Murray!"
"Ha-ha you know what I mean, from our failures and the consequences. I thought if helped the Kids I could make up for my failures somehow."
"Hey, they still need you Murray. Don't think you can get away that easily, who do you think is going to take your place, me? I'll probably do more harm than good"
"Ha-ha yeah you're right" I agreed coughing a little as I did, which sent a throbbing pain through my entire body. "Promise me you'll continue to take care of them Cory?" I requested,
"Of course I will"
"And no matter what happens between Lucas and Riley, promise me you'll be there for him, he needs someone, he isn't as strong as he lets on"
"Hey stop talking like this, he has you" Cory assured me but when I looked in his eyes I could see that he was struggling to contain himself, a few tears ran from his eyes.
"I always wanted to go home, one last time"
"You will go back, hey how about we make it a group trip, get all the kids and go down for a holiday, what do you say?"
"And let you turn surviving Australia into a life lesson, I think I'll spare the kids that ha-ha"
"Okay, no life lesson, just a holiday" Cory agreed but his words slurred and I felt myself become suddenly incredibly tired.
"My bag, in the bottom draw of my desk, inside my bag I bought a gift for the kids, I was going to give it to them when everything was fixed, give it to them for me please?" I requested faintly,
"Of course" Cory assured me. My head fell back against the wall and my eyes closed. "Murray?" Cory called out; Jonathan ran over,
"Check his pulse!" Jonathan instructed Cory quickly obeyed.
"I've can feel it," Cory confirmed,
"He's probably going into shock" were the last words I heard before everything went dark.

They were all waiting in the hospital waiting room, Jonathan and Cory still stained with my blood, and the kids were seated quietly with their parents who had come to support them. Lucas' Mother had to get back to work but Cory assured her that he'd take care of him. Katie and Shawn sat next to and comforted Maya. Every minute or so Shawn would look up at Cory to check on him. Cory sat next to Riley with his arm around her, holding her close. Farkle and Isadora sat with Farkle's parents, Isaiah sat on the ground leaning up against the wall, as for Lucas he was closet to the door also leaning against the wall, waiting for the doctors to come out. The kids all stared vaguely at the ground trying to process what had happened. Mr. Feeny came into with drinks and nibbles for everyone. Cory looked over at Lucas and remembered what I had asked of him, he went to get up but Riley stopped him,
"I'll go" Riley assured him, Cory nodded and sat down, Riley stood up and quietly walked over to him.
"You okay?" Riley asked as she stood next to him, Lucas only realised she was there because she had said something,
"Hey Riley, how are you?" Lucas asked after clearing his throat, Riley shook her head,
"How are you Lucas?" She asked,
"I, I don't know" Lucas said trying to remain as strong as possible, Riley could see him struggling and put her arms around him, Lucas put his arm around her and the two warmly held one another.
"It's okay Lucas, I'm here" Riley comforted him, Lucas rested his head on top of hers, his bottom lip trembled as he tried to hold back his tears. Meanwhile Cory looked down at my bag that rested next to his right leg and remembered the present.
"Kids, could you all come here for a minute please?" Cory requested, quietly and slowly they all walked over to him, Cory lifted up my bag and rested it on his lap,
"That's Murray's bag" Isaiah pointed out,
"Yeah, he said he bought you all a present he was going to give you when everything was fixed but asked me if I could give it to you" Cory explained, he moved the single strap to the side and unbuttoned the cover opening up the bag, Cory looked around for a moment before pulling out a small box. Everyone looked at the box suspiciously, Cory took the lid off the box to reveal four rings inside, they looked at them strangely for a moment until Maya pulled out her necklace and the two friendship rings attached to it.
"They're friendship rings" Maya pointed out, Cory noticed a note inside attached to the inside of the lid and pulled it out, opening it up once it did.
"Hey guys, we did it, we fixed your friendship. To mark the occasion I thought it was unfair that only Riley and Maya had a ring, so I thought I would get the rest of you one. It's been a long road and you've all made me so proud with your progress and dedication to one another. So when you put these rings on I want you to make a promise as a group to always no matter what stay together and fix whatever happens. I won't be around forever to help you guys, so it will be up to you, I know you all will be able to do it, now I don't really know how to end this because I'm probably there in the room with you. If I say goodbye you all might think I'm leaving and it will be awkward because I'm not. Okay I'm ending it here we…" Cory read out, bringing tears to everyone's eyes. Cory handed out the rings while Riley walked up to Maya and the two locked eyes and smiled at one another. Maya too the rings off of her necklace and handed one too Riley, at the same time they all put the rings on and the six of them smiled at one another. Their moment didn't last long as the doctors emerged through the doors; Cory got up and rushed over to meet them, while Jonathan and Mr. Feeny held the kids back.
"Scans show that there is severe bruising around his skull and brain which indicates he hit his head hard when he fell" a Doctor explained just loud enough for others to hear, but he lowered his voice after that. Cory talked to the doctors for a few more minutes before they walked back through the doors. Cory returned to the group, he wasn't giving away any emotion for the Kid's sake,
"They'll let the Kids go through and see him" Cory explained as a nurse waited at the door for them. The nurse led them to my room and gave them some privacy. They stood in silence, not entirely sure what to do or say,
"Hey Murray, you know I'd be fine if you had snapped and were insane, just as long as you woke up and stayed with us" Isaiah insisted,
"Seeing you became a highlight of the day Murray," Farkle complimented,
"I fondly enjoyed our debates as you tried to convince me to join the group sessions, I hope we can continue them Murray" Isadora revealed,
"As teachers go, you're pretty fantastic just like Cory, but please don't tell him I said that, well you can if you want you just have too stay with us" Maya bargained.
"You saw through me so easily it scared me, but you've never given up on me or us no matter how difficult it was. You'd ask after every session if I had suicidal thoughts, or thought about harming myself and I always said no, but I never told you why. It was because of them, and you, I saw how much you'd beaten yourself up because of what you called your failures, I heard my parents talk about how much Mr. Arlen harassed you and the school behind the scenes. I never had them or wanted to hurt myself because I couldn't imagine what it'd do to you and those around me. You're part of our family Murray, and we don't want to loose you, so please come back to us" Riley cried, Lucas put his arm around her to comfort her. They stood there for a few more minutes in silence, waiting for Lucas to say something but he didn't. A quiet look amongst the group and they decided to give Lucas sometime alone knowing that he was being strong for them as they cried. Farkle, Isadora, Maya and Isaiah left the room quietly, Riley turned and hugged Lucas properly, caught off guard by it, Lucas took a few seconds to recover and put both of his arms around her. Once Riley had left the room and closed the door behind her Lucas pulled up a chair and sat down.
"Please don't die Murray," Lucas began and already his defences broke "I felt close to you, and I need you, we need you, and you need us. So please don't go, it's your turn to tell us a story or two, and they better be good otherwise that's unfair. I moved here to New York with my Mum, I felt bad for forcing her away from her friends and family, I didn't think things would work out for us here but they have. I didn't think I would ever make the friends I'd have today, and I count you as one of those friends Murray, I…" Lucas paused for a moment and wiped away the tears and tried to calm himself down "Do you hear me God? You've already taken my Father, so please, please don't take him, we still need his help, there is still so much he needs to teach us and help us with. We still need to grow up and show him what we become, what he helped us become. Please Murray keep going with us." Lucas cried, after a few more minutes he stood up, and again wiped the tears away trying to cover up that he had been crying. He walked out of the room to find Cory standing there, Lucas froze and they stared at one another. Cory hugged Lucas tightly,
"I'm here for you Lucas, it's okay, you don't have to be strong in front of me" Cory comforted him, Lucas put his arms around Cory and hugged him back before breaking down into tears on Cory's shoulder. "There you go, let it out, its okay Lucas, I'm right here." Cory assured him.