Accident Or Not?

Fighting

The bell just rang, and I decided to go to the canteen. It has been kind of a long time since I have been here again, since my incident.

I went to a small table to sit there and eat my breakfast. Because Mother left us with a bunch of dishes, and we had to go to the store for groceries, I completely forgot the time and was in a rush. I just took one bite of my bread, so it didn't surprise me that I was starving now.

''Hey Ava, do you mind if I sit here?,'' Caleb asked me. Why is he only hanging out with me and not the boys? Or was it something else that he wanted to hang out with me?

''Uh no, go ahead.''

I saw that one of Caleb's 'friends' had just got into the canteen. He stared at Caleb and me, but didn't say or do anything, and walked away. (Don't you guys think that was off? I mean, none of Caleb's friends really talked to him this morning, so it's weird).

I noticed that Caleb wanted to say something, but then Jackson came out of nowhere.

''Hey, Mother says she is coming home late today, so we have to cook and eat dinner ourselves,'' he rolled his eyes. She just left us two alone and only spends time with some other man.

''And she didn't bother to tell me either?,'' I sighed hard. Jackson looked from Caleb to me.

''You good?,'' he asked, obviously referring to Caleb. I nodded.

''If you say so,'' and with that, he walked away.

I guess Mother doesn't care about us for even a little bit.

''Are you okay Ava? If you need some space, I'll go,'' Caleb suggested.

''No, I'm okay Caleb. Don't worry about me.'' He stared at me for a few seconds. Of course, I didn't sound convincing, but that's not my fault. I don't like it if people are (at least a little bit) concerned about me.

Honestly, not only that. If Jackson and I suspect that Caleb's Father is cheating with Mother, why didn't he get angry because of me sitting with his son? I need to ask him when we get home.

In the next lessons, Caleb sat next to me, and we finished our homework together. I wasn't really in the mood to talk about other things. It was pretty obvious, so he didn't really say anything either.

A few hours later:

Jackson was on his phone and I watched television. I had zero motivation to do anything fun. But I still have to ask why he didn't, you know. Burst out into anger.

''Jackson. Why weren't you angry when you saw Caleb sitting with me?,'' I asked carefully.

''What do you mean?''

''I mean, his Father is maybe with Mother so...''

''Listen Ava, that Caleb's Father is like that doesn't mean Caleb will be like that, nor is it his fault.''

''True. But isn't it a bit weird that he only wants to hang out with me instead of the other boys?''

''Hmm that's strange indeed...''

''So? What now?,''I asked.

''I don't know. Get to know him better. In that way, you can find out yourself if he's a 'snake' or not.''

''And how do I do that?''

''Just do it step by step. It's the only way to find out without making him suspicious of you.''

The front door opened and Mother stepped in. Her hair was messy. What the heck?

When she saw us, she froze right on the spot. And then she looked down at herself. Her white t-shirt had red spots as if she was bleeding. Jeez.

She dashed upstairs at the same moment and for the next two hours, she didn't take a step out of her bedroom. Jackson rolled his eyes.

I continued watching a funny movie on television, but I couldn't help it that I kept yawning. So I decided to get to bed early so I could get a good sleep that I haven't had in days.

The next morning:

I got downstairs and saw Jackson bringing out breakfast. Cheese, egg and bacon on toasted bread. My favourite. I looked around the house. It was clean. Of course, Jackson and I always clean up. The only one who is always making chaos in the house is Mother.

It was already time to go to school, so we packed our things and went to the bus stop. Surprisingly, it wasn't full of people in it. And sometimes, that's even better.

When I stepped into the classroom, I only saw Caleb sitting. His 'friend' Nelson was there too, they were arguing about something.

''Stop acting like a child and grow up for once. Just leave the others alone. Most of them didn't even do anything wrong,'' Caleb said calmly.

''Who are you to tell me that? I am just returning what those snakes did to me back then at elementary school,'' Nelson spat.

''Those snakes were bullying me and humiliating me. And most of them didn't even say a thing!''

Hearing that makes me pity him a bit. I must say that, when I got teased, I didn't say anything either. It wasn't that I couldn't stand up for myself. No. I just ignored it. Sometimes, it's better to say nothing than react to it, it will only make things worse.

''And what did I do? I didn't bully you or anything like that,'' Caleb said. I could hear he was annoyed.

''That is... uh… because... ugh, this is impossible!''

And then they turned to me.

''Sorry, I didn't mean to… uhm... interrupt,'' I said carefully.

''It's alright I guess,'' Nelson said with a frown on his face. I could tell he wasn't happy that someone heard his conversation.

And with that, the conversation was over and Nelson left. I was speechless. What they were talking about sounded like some kind of revenge. I mean, from out of nowhere? Something bad must have happened to Nelson back then. Well, at least it seems that Caleb isn't going with the 'g**g' into bullying others anymore.

I took the seat next to Caleb's and looked around the classroom. Some tables were pushed aside. What happened before I arrived?

No one else was present in the classroom, so I wanted to watch some shorts on Snapchat. I saw that Caleb added me, so I added him back.

I watched 2 shorts, when I saw a short about 2 people fighting. I immediately recognized it. It was one of Nelson's other 'friends' and him fighting. This person made a video of them fighting and posted it a few minutes ago. That's why the tables were pushed aside.

We both sat there for almost 20 minutes, so Caleb and I decided to go to the canteen. When we got there, we saw a lot of people standing in the middle of the canteen.

Everyone was recording with their phones. I guess I should admit that our school has turned into a combat ground.

Jackson walked over to us and at that moment, we heard principal Hawkins talking.

''Attention everyone. The board and I wanted to let you guys know that the school is going to close for a few weeks. Some of you might not know because they are new here, but the reason is that some fellow students do not take things seriously here. Always fighting, misbehaving and getting bad grades. So, we decided to let you guys have homeschool for a few weeks. Your parents are already informed about this.''

''For students who have been misbehaving all the time, you guys should be ashamed of yourselves.''

Everyone became silent. Some were staring at the ground with guilt. The ones who were fighting stopped and went outside separately.

''Well, back to the bus stop I guess,'' Jackson mumbled.