Author's Notes: This chapter is told entirely from Sonic's point of view.
What the hell's going on? I feel dizzy. Damn, my head hurts so much. Throbbing like hell. Feels like there's something trickling down my head, too. What is that? I wipe my hand on my head. I see red on my hand. Dammit, I'm bleeding!
Is there toilet paper in here? Looks like there is. Didn't even think they'd have that in here, this place sucks. I take a length of toilet paper and fold it into a square, ready to press on the gash on my head. "Keep pressure on the wound until the bleeding stops", that's what Mighty would be telling me right now. He should know, seeing as he wants to be a medic and likes to try and treat anybody who needs it.
I sit on the thin foam mattress on the floor in the corner of the room and lean against the wall. Gotta keep the pressure on, even if it hurts like hell.
I wonder where Ray went. Hope he's OK. He's not the kind of guy who can really handle himself when real trouble goes down. The amount of times I've had to stick up for him... still, I can't imagine that Pete and his goons did anything to him. It's one thing for them to pick on me, but they're gonna be too gutless to target the mayor's son!
Can't believe it, stuck in this jail cell. It stinks. Looks and smells like it's never been cleaned since about forever. Paint peeling off the walls. Lots of nasty messages that people have scratched onto the surfaces. The less that's said about the toilet the better. Ugh, this place is a dump. But of course it's a dump. This whole stupid island is a dump. I hate this place.
Wonder what Pete finally found to try and pin on me. Says it was arson. I dunno what he's even on about. I didn't even hear about a fire happening. Did it happen last night? Well, it would be typical of everyone around here to instantly think it was me that did it. Hell, I wouldn't surprised if Pete set the fire himself. He's been looking at something to pin on me for ages. I bet he's loving this.
What's his problem? I've never even done anything to him. Well, except maybe being a bit smart mouthed, but I'm like that to everyone! Oh, and that one time I put a load of wet toilet paper over his car, but I'm sure nobody ever found out that was me. Still, he seems to think I'm just born bad. Well, so does almost everyone else around here. But Pete seems to just hate me. I mean, really hate me. It's not like I even do bad stuff. I mean not any really bad stuff. OK, I skip school all the time, but that's only because the teachers cramp my style. Still, I've never done anything like arson. But every time Pete sees me he seems to want to make me miserable. Wish he'd just disappear. Wish I could just disappear.
What if I don't get out of this? I bet everyone already thinks it was me. Especially now I've been arrested. Everyone will be talking about it. Not like there's much else for them to talk about around here. I bet it's the most exciting thing to happen here in months. But if I get in front of a court nobody will believe me. They'll all think I must have done it, because I'm just plain bad. Then they'll probably be real harsh for the sentence.
Oh man, what will the sentence be? They'll probably end up sending me to some juvenile facility on a different island. I know that the judge is real harsh. He'll probably throw the book at me and ship me off as far away as possible and for as long as possible. Not that I like this place, but they'd end up sending me somewhere way, way worse. I just know they will. Pete and all the other hypocrites would just love that. I bet they'd be having real fun laughing about how they finally got rid of me. They'd all love that.
I can see the narrow, barred window at the top of the cell. The rain has stopped and sun is shining. Freedom, just a few inches away. This place doesn't look that secure. The doors are all rusty. The locks look really old and like they'd be easy to pick. Ray always likes tinkering with things and he likes to pick old locks that he can find. He even showed me how to do it. So I bet I could pick the lock if I could find something sharp. There's hardly anybody standing guard. If I just ran right out of the door at the first chance, they wouldn't catch me. Nobody on this island could catch me. I'm the fastest thing alive!
But then what? I'd be a fugitive. I know that Pete wouldn't give up. He won't stop until he thinks he's beaten me. I can outrun all of them, but I'll never be able to show my face anywhere near Beachrock ever again. Not that I like the place, but it wouldn't be easy. I'll be on the run and alone. Completely alone and with nobody in the world to help me.
Damn, I wish Mom and Dad were here! They'd be able to help me. Why did they have to... wish they were still here with me...
No! I'm not gonna cry! Mom and Dad are gone! They ain't coming back! So there's nothing left for me to do but man up and deal with this. I gotta get out of this.
I've almost forgotten about the bleeding. It's stopped, so that's something. I put the bloodied toilet paper in the toilet.
If I get shipped off to some juvie place, Pete and all the other stuck up hypocrites have got rid of me. They win. If I go on the run then they'll have gotten rid of me, too. They win. If I cry, they win. Well, I'm not gonna let them win. I'll fight this. I won't let them beat me down! I won't let them win!
Author's Notes: A shorter chapter than the first one. Some of my chapters will be shorter chapters, told from an individual characters point of view. The more traditional storytelling chapters will be longer, including my next one.