AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you for the continual support! This chapter contains some sensitive themes of extreme bullying.
Brax knocks on the door of his little brother's room after getting organised himself.
It was seven-thirty in the morning, Tuesday week.
Kyle is already out of bed and getting half-dressed when Brax knocks.
Casey remains in his bed, not willing to move, feeling miserable.
Kyle puts on his shoes and looks over at Casey and senses he is not just being his lazy self.
"Case, are you alright?"
"No," Casey mumbles.
Brax knocks again a little while later and cracks open the door, to make sure his brothers were up.
Brax smiles at Kyle; delighted by the kid's early-bird enthusiasm. He's also glad to see that the sleep obviously helped Kyle.
Brax glances over at Casey still in bed and groans.
"Casey, will you get up and out of bed now!" Brax orders sternly.
Casey groans and pulls his covers up to his chin.
"I don't feel well," Casey moans.
Brax furrows his brow.
"You had better not be lying, Casey," Brax warns.
Casey whines and remains curled up in his bed.
"You haven't got an exam or assignment due, have you?" Brax asks then turns to Kyle.
"Does he?"
"Not that I know of," Kyle replies.
"I really don't feel well. My stomach hurts and I feel so hot but so cold," Casey whines again.
This time, Brax takes it more seriously and approaches Casey and rests his hand on his forehead, feeling the clamminess.
"You are a bit sweaty and warm; let me get the thermometer. Kyle, are you right to get yourself organised for school?" Brax asks.
Kyle nods and before he could leave the room, Casey suddenly sits up and vomits on the floor.
"Whoa!" Brax exclaims, alerting to Casey's sudden change.
Kyle cringes at the sight but remains sympathetic towards his little brother.
Casey whines and tosses in his blankets as the sweat pours from him.
"It's alright, Case, just take it easy. I'll be right back," Brax assures and gives Casey's shoulder a squeeze.
Brax gives Kyle a small smile as they both walk out of the room, with Brax heading to the bathroom to grab the thermometer from the cupboard while mentally telling himself to grab something to clean up the mess while Kyle heads into the kitchen.
Brax returns and orders Casey to open his mouth and sticks the thermometer under his tongue and while he waits for the reading, he begins to clean up the vomit.
"Sorry," Casey whines, with the thermometer in his mouth.
"Don't be sorry, Champ," Brax assures, giving Casey a smile.
Brax gets up from cleaning the vomit and takes the thermometer out of Casey's mouth and sees it is higher than normal at 39 degrees Celsius.
"Seems you do have a bit of a fever Casey. I'm going to call work and tell them I can't come in. I'm not leaving you like this. Stay in bed and get some rest," Brax comforts and strokes Casey's hair.
Casey lies back down and gives his stomach a rub as he wriggles around in his bed trying to get comfortable.
"I'll be back in a short while," Brax says.
Brax then walks into the kitchen where Kyle is finishing his breakfast.
"Is Casey okay?" Kyle asks.
Brax shakes his head.
"He's got a fever on top of being sick, so won't be going to school."
Kyle's heart sinks. He had PE and Casey was always his biggest protector against his bullies.
Kyle sighs; at least he would have Ryder to back him up.
"I really don't want to leave him alone, but I need to get you to school," Brax comments.
"I can call up Liam, his Dad sometimes carpools Romeo and Ryder; I could get a lift," Kyle suggests.
"That would be a great help, Kyle," Brax replies with a smile.
Kyle uses the phone to arrange his ride then continues to get ready for school, packing his bag with his lunch, PE clothes, and schoolbooks for the day's lessons.
Meanwhile Brax gets off the phone with his assistant manager, notifying he would not be coming in.
Eight-forty-five arrives, and Liam's Dad pulls up in his minivan.
"Bye Brax!" Kyle calls.
Kyle hops into the backseat and sees Romeo and Liam but no Ryder.
"Is Ryder not coming with us today?" Kyle asks.
"Nah, he called and said he's really sick; like you said Casey was. Maybe they have the same sickness?" Liam says.
Kyle suddenly gets an overwhelming feeling in the pit of his stomach; no Casey, no Ryder; he would be alone in PE, and he could only hope it wouldn't be that bad.
Kyle is setting up the field for PE and is looking over his shoulder every thirty seconds to make sure that Aiden, Grant, or Wesley, don't sneak behind him and shove him into the muddy field.
Today they are playing soccer which he isn't looking forward to. He sucks at soccer more than anything and is always tripping over the ball and landing on the sometimes, slushy ground.
"Thank you, Kyle, the field looks great," Mr. Gardiner says with a slight smile.
"No worries, Mr. Gardiner," Kyle says, and his heart pounds in his chest as he sees his bullies approaching.
"Where are Casey and Ryder today?" Mr. Gardiner asks as he continues to see more students walk across the field, but he doesn't see Casey or Ryder.
"They're both sick today," Kyle replies and drops his head as his bullies walk past.
"That's unfortunate, I do hear that there is a bug going around," Mr. Gardiner sighs and walks away.
Suddenly an arm swings around Kyle's neck and pulls him close.
"Hey runt! I've been looking forward to getting you on your own. Man, is today going to be fun," Aiden says, laughing in Kyle's ear then giving him a quick wet willy while Mr. Gardiner isn't looking, he then quickly shoves Kyle to the ground.
"Geek!" Wesley taunts as the three of them walk away.
Kyle quickly pushes himself up and looks around awkwardly.
He hates when Casey and Ryder aren't here, he has no one to talk to or back him up.
"Okay, today we aren't going to pick teams. I will give you a number and it will either be one or two and those are the two teams," Mr. Gardiner explains, as he starts to give everyone a number.
Kyle smiles slightly and is very grateful that he doesn't have to go through the embarrassment of being picked last.
He is given the number two and walks over to where the other number twos are standing, this includes Wesley.
"If you're the reason we lose this dork, I will punch you so hard you'll be peeing blood for a week," Wesley taunts, snarling at Kyle.
He then grips Kyle's tee-shirt and pulls him close.
"Got it geek?"
Kyle nods his head furiously and Wesley lets him go and shoves him away.
"Good nerd," Wesley laughs and goes and stands next to Nico, a boy in their class who is a rugby star.
Soon the game begins, and it doesn't take long for his bullies to make the game miserable for him.
Aiden has the ball and runs right into him and knocks him to the ground, then takes a shot but luckily, it's saved.
Kyle pushes himself up afterwards the goalie rolls the ball to him. He manages to stop it and pass it to Jake, the boy who is standing closest when Grant runs into him and knocks him to the ground.
"Grant Peary! Play nicely; no fouls!" Mr. Gardiner yells.
"Sorry sir, it was an honest mistake," Grant apologises, looking sincere.
"Well, just don't let it happen again. Now help Kyle to his feet," Mr. Gardiner instructs.
Grant grumbles but helps Kyle stand before whispering in his ear: "loser!"
The rest of the game is no better. Kyle gets hit with three balls: one in the shin, one in the stomach and one in the face, then of course he had to deal with tripping over due to his own clumsiness.
After class all of the students walk towards the changing rooms and Aiden whispers in Kyle's ear as he passes.
"See you in there loser!" he laughs.
Lowering his head Kyle packs the cones away and puts them and the soccer ball back in the bag and picks it up ready to carry back. He does this as slowly as he can without making it too slow and obvious, just hoping it gives him enough time for the bullies to be done in the changing room.
He carries the bag back to the equipment room, then he slowly shuffles his way to the changing room.
"Kyle, good work again today. I'm so glad to see more participation," Mr. Gardiner says with a smile, meeting Kyle on the way to the changing room.
"Thank you, Mr. Gardiner. Have a great rest of the day," Kyle says, smiling slightly, but Mr. Gardiner looks at him worryingly.
"Is there something wrong, Kyle?" Mr. Gardiner asks as he can just sense that something is bothering the boy.
Kyle shakes his head.
"No, everything is good," Kyle replies and forces a wide smile onto his face.
"Okay then, I'll see you in class tomorrow," Mr. Gardiner smiles and Kyle nods in reply.
Kyle walks into the changing room and his heart sinks as he sees his bullies in there waiting.
He is immediately grabbed by Aiden.
"You took your time Count Dorkula!" he laughs and holds Kyle's tee-shirt in one hand and slaps him across the face with the other.
"Ow!" Kyle whimpers in pain.
"If you think that hurt loser then you'll hate this!" Aiden smirks and shoves Kyle to the ground roughly, and he, Wesley, and Grant start to kick Kyle while he's lying defenseless on the ground.
"Stop please," Kyle whimpers which just causes his bullies to laugh.
"No way, geek; this is too much fun!" they laugh, and kick Kyle for a little bit longer before stopping.
"Well boys, little Kylie might want a drink after that. Let's be nice and give him one," Aiden laughs evilly as he and Wesley grab Kyle off the ground and drag him to the toilets.
"No, please stop," Kyle begs as tears fall from his eyes.
"No, I don't think we will. You and that stupid brother of yours got me suspended! You deserve this. Besides, you need to learn how to stand up for yourself," Aiden taunts, laughing as he and Wesley dunk Kyle's head in the water and Grant flushes.
Kyle's head is lifted out of the water but before he can even catch a breath his head is dunked into the toilet again and another two times after that.
The next time they pull Kyle's head out they let him take a breath.
"Okay dork, we're halfway there, so take a deep breath," Wesley says laughing as he gives Kyle a wet willy.
The tears that are falling from Kyle's eyes are so bad that he's struggling to take a proper breath.
"Okay breaks over," Aiden laughs and once again dunks Kyle's head in the water just as Grant flushes it.
They do this four more times before they finally let Kyle go.
He rests his head on his arm and cries, unable to understand why they continued to torment him like this; he never did anything to them.
"Okay dork, we're now moving onto the next thing," Aiden laughs as he grabs Kyle by the briefs and pulls him into the main area. He then chucks him onto the ground.
The three bullies smirk at each other as Kyle is crying on the ground. They all jump onto him and strip him out of all his clothes except his underwear.
"You're such a skinny little dork!" Wesley says taunting Kyle, who is rolled up in a ball in an attempt to try to protect himself.
Aiden pulls him to his feet.
"Wesley, you're the best at wedgies. Give this loser one he'll never forget!" Aiden laughs as Wesley grabs Kyle off the ground and yanks his underwear up high, causing Kyle to squeak in pain; he hates wedgies so much!
While Wesley is wedging him, Grant gathers up not only his PE clothes but his uniform as well and chucks them in his own bag.
Wesley continues to pull until the briefs are above Kyle's head.
"Ple.." Kyle starts to yell in pain, but Aiden slaps his hand over his mouth.
"Grant: hand me the tape. Little Kylie here needs to learn when to shut up," Aiden hisses, as he grabs the tape and cuts off a strip and puts it tightly over Kyle's mouth.
All Kyle can do now is whimper in pain, as the bullies continue their humiliating torment.
Suddenly Aiden gets an idea, so he whispers it in Grant's ear. Kyle becomes really scared when he sees the evil smile Grant wears as he nods his head.
"Okay Wesley, that's enough," Aiden orders as he and Grant grab Kyle and pull him over to a bench and make him lie down.
Aiden gestures towards Wesley who then grabs Kyle's briefs and hooks them over the edge of the bench.
Kyle shifts in extreme pain, but his movement is short lived for as soon as he's lying down, the bullies grab the tape and tape Kyle down to the bench with the tape only going across his shoulders, his mid chest and his legs.
Kyle tries to toss and turn but it's no use; he is stuck.
He continues to cry pitifully, as he wonders what on earth what more they are going to do to him. This was by far the most humiliated he's ever been.
"What first boys?" Aiden asks with a smirk.
"How about a pink belly?" Wesley says with a smirk.
Kyle's eyes widened, vividly remembering the pink belly that Heath gave him and how much it hurt.
He viciously shakes his head hoping that his bullies wouldn't.
"Aww, look: the little geek is saying no. He thinks he has a choice, that's so cute!" Grant laughs as the three bullies start to slap Kyle's stomach causing him to whimper in pain.
The bullies are having a lot of fun and are howling with laughter.
After a while they get bored of the pink bellies and Aiden starts to give him a nipple cripple, this lasts a couple of minutes and causes the bullies to laugh even louder.
Tears are rolling down Kyle's face and he can't stop crying, so much so he feels he is beginning to choke on his sobs.
Suddenly the door that's connected to the gym opens and the boys all turn in shock, to see Mr. Gardiner.
"What's going on in here?" he yells disgustedly at the scene in front of him.
The three bullies quickly grab their bags and run away, before Mr. Gardiner has a chance to stop them, for he is in shock of what he had walked into and stares momentarily. He has seen bullying in the changing rooms before but nothing like this.
Kyle's so glad the pain is over, and the bullies have left, but he's so embarrassed to be seen in this position by a teacher, or anyone in fact.
"It's alright now, Kyle. Just try and remain calm while I attend to you," Mr. Gardiner says gently and approaches Kyle.
Kyle let out a heavy sob.
Firstly, Mr. Gardiner pulls the tape off Kyle's mouth and then unhooks his briefs.
" Are you okay?" Mr. Gardiner asks, then thinks to himself how that was a stupid question.
"Not really," Kyle whispers in reply as tears continue to roll down his face.
Mr. Gardiner looks at the tape wrapped around Kyle's body.
"Sorry Kyle, this might hurt, but I have to get it off you," he apologies as he grips the tape to start pulling it off.
"It's okay," Kyle whimpers, bracing himself for more pain.
Mr. Gardiner starts to pull the tape off and Kyle whimpers in pain as the tape is pulled off his bare skin.
It takes a couple of minutes for Mr. Gardiner to pull all the tape off carefully, as the bullies had taped it around a few times.
Mr. Gardiner helps Kyle sit up and the teen rubs his eyes.
"Okay, get changed and I'll take you to see Miss. Scott. This is a serious matter and I'm assuming she'd want to call your brother," Mr. Gardiner says and stares sympathetically at the young teen who remains seated.
"I can't, they took all my clothes," Kyle says crying; his self-esteem completely destroyed.
"Okay, just give me a sec. I'll go grab you a pair of tracksuits," Mr. Gardiner informs, knowing they have the tracksuits that the sports teams wear when they go on tournaments in the equipment room.
"No! Please don't leave me, they'll come back," Kyle panics crying. He can't handle anymore bullying from them.
"Kyle, I promise: I'll run over and grab them; I'll be less than a minute," Mr. Gardiner promises and waits for Kyle to nod before running to the equipment room to get a pair of tracksuits for Kyle.
Kyle quickly runs to the toilet and locks the door so no one can get in as his stomach does nervous flips, terrified of being targeted again.
Not long after, a door opens and Kyle freezes in fright, forcing himself not to make a sound and doing his best not to sob loudly, but failing.
"Kyle?" Mr. Gardiner calls.
Kyle quickly unlocks the door and steps out, doing a quick check to make sure it was only his PE teacher in the room.
"Here you go," Mr. Gardiner says gently, as he hands Kyle a pair of tracksuit pants and a tracksuit jacket.
Kyle quickly slips them both on and feels a little bit better, not feeling so exposed.
"Okay grab your bags and let's go see Miss. Scott," Mr. Gardiner instructs and watches Kyle attentively.
Kyle quickly gathers up his bag before following Mr. Gardiner out of the changing room.
Mr. Gardiner walks towards the Principal's office with Kyle shuffling alongside him, gripping his bag tightly for some sense of comfort from his humiliation, misery, and extreme pain.
They reach the door and Mr. Gardiner gives a firm knock.
"Come in," Bianca calls and the two of them walk in.
"Mr. Gardiner? Kyle? What's going on?" Bianca asks, "Is Kyle still struggling in PE?"
"He's not in any trouble, Miss. Scott, but someone else is. Kyle had a tough time today, I found him taped to a bench with the underwear pulled up and hooked over the edge of the bench in the gym changing room," Mr. Gardiner informs and looks at Kyle who has his head lowered.
Kyle shuffles his feet, and he can feel his stomach twisting.
"It also looks like he has been whacked or punched quite a few times on the stomach and his nipples looked a bit red and his hair is wet," Mr. Gardiner explains, causing Bianca to look at Kyle shocked.
"So, you're telling me that he got a wedgie, a possible pink belly or severely punched, injuries to his nipples and they wet his hair somehow?" Bianca clarifies.
Kyle starts crying, feeling utterly miserable.
Bianca looks at Kyle full of empathy, for the poor, sensitive boy. She adores him and it hurts to see him this hurt, especially when she considers him family given her relationship with Heath.
Mr. Gardiner rests his hand on Kyle's shoulder and gives it a squeeze.
"You're a good kid Kyle, you didn't deserve this, and it'll be made sure of, that it doesn't happen again," Mr. Gardiner reassures, giving Kyle a smile.
"I'll give you two some space," Mr. Gardiner says as he walks out of the Principal's office.
Bianca looks at Kyle.
"Are you okay Kyle?" she asks.
Kyle however doesn't reply and just looks sadly at his feet as tears continue falling from his eyes.
"I'm going to call Brax to come and get you," Bianca informs, knowing that Kyle really needed his big brother, and this was something serious that required Brax to be informed.
Kyle nods his head but still refuses to look up from his feet.
"Will you please take a seat Kyle while I call Brax?" Bianca asks, as all she wants is for Kyle to be comfortable.
Kyle looks at the chair and knows that his butt will hurt a lot if he sits down, but he also knows that Brax would be a while, and he doesn't want to be rude, so he sits and squeaks lightly as he feels discomfort.
He sees Bianca dialing Brax's number and looks miserably at his feet, wondering what Brax will think of him, now that he was indeed such a weak loser.
After Bianca gets off the phone, she passes some tissues to Kyle.
"Brax just has to sort out someone to keep an eye on Casey, then he'll be here," Bianca comforts, as Kyle wipes away his tears.
"Okay," Kyle whispers sadly.
Back at home, Brax goes into the boy's bedroom around eleven with a glass of juice aiming to check on Casey.
He walks in and sees him slightly tossing restlessly in his bed and groaning.
Brax approaches and rests a gentle hand on Casey's shoulder, to which the youngest flutters open his eyes and moans.
"How are you doing Champ?" Brax asks quietly.
Casey just lets out a moan.
"I brought you in some juice," Brax says.
"I don't want anything," Casey moans.
"I know you probably don't feel like it, but I called Sid and he said you likely have a bad strain of Gastroenteritis and said you need to keep your fluids up, so sit up and at least try and drink the juice," Brax instructs softly.
Casey attempts to sit up slightly, his skin still clammy and sweaty.
After taking a few sips of the juice, Casey hands the glass back to Brax quickly and groans as he holds his stomach and hunches over again.
"Do you need to vomit again?" Brax asks, and reading the signs, grabs a bucket he had placed on the floor earlier and places it in front of Casey and gently rubs his back.
Seconds later Casey vomits up violently again.
Brax waits for Casey to settle before he exits, coming back seconds later with a damp wash-cloth and gently pats Casey's forehead.
"My stomach really hurts," Casey whines.
"I know Champ, just relax as best you can," Brax replies.
Casey fidgets in his sheets and throws them off.
"It's so hot!" he exclaims, only seconds later complaining he was cold again.
"That's just the fever. Let me check your temperature again."
Brax measures Casey's temperature and concludes it is no different to the earlier measure.
Brax gently rubs Casey's back.
"Why don't you lie down again and get some more sleep?" Brax suggests.
Casey does so and Brax covers him back up again.
"Can you stay here with me?" Casey asks, pitifully.
"Sure Case," Brax replies and continues to rub Casey's arm soothingly until the teen falls asleep again.
Brax remains next to Casey's bed, sitting on the desk chair until he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket.
Taking a quick glance at Casey, Brax stands up and quietly exits the room to answer his phone.
"Is Kyle alright; what happened?" Brax exclaims as Bianca informs him Kyle had been in a serious bullying incident and needed Brax to come and discuss it and pick him up.
"Yeah, sure; I'll be there as soon as I can. I just need to get someone to keep an eye on Casey. I don't want to leave him alone when he is so sick. Tell Kyle I'll be there soon and thanks again Bianca for informing me," Brax says and after both farewells, Brax hangs up the phone and heads next door in hopes Marilyn was available to keep an eye on Casey temporarily.
Marilyn answers and sees Brax on the doorstep.
"Hi Brax, it's lovely to see you," Marilyn greets with a wide smile.
Brax sighs heavily.
"Marilyn, I'm actually wondering if you could do me a huge favour?"
"Anything," she replies happily.
"I need you to keep an eye on Casey for me because he's at home really sick and can't be left alone and I have to duck to the school and pick up Kyle," Brax says in a rush.
"Oh dear, that poor little boy being sick, and is Kyle sick too?" Marilyn asks.
"Sadly no. Kyle has actually been the target of a very serious bullying incident, so I've been told," Brax explains with a sigh.
"Oh my, that sweet poor boy! Of course, I can help you out, as much as you and those two boys need," Marilyn says in haste.
"Thanks Marilyn. If you are able to pop over some time now, I'd really appreciate it," Brax says.
"Let me just grab my things and I'll be over in a jiffy."
Brax smiles and walks back into his house, running a heavy hand through his hair, allowing the worry to take hold over the predicament of his two youngest brothers.
Brax goes back to the bedroom to check on Casey who is still sleeping. Not wanting to disturb the teen by waking him to tell him of the fact he was leaving and wanting Casey to remain rested, Brax walks back out of the room where moments later Marilyn arrives at the door and Brax lets her in.
"Casey is still asleep. If he wakes up before I get back just maybe offer him some fluids and check his temperature if he still says he feels hot," Brax instructs.
"Don't you worry about a thing; Casey will be just fine," Marilyn assures.
Brax nods and grabs his phone, wallet and keys.
"Please call me if anything drastic changes," Brax asks to which Marilyn smiles and gives a nod.