***

The first thing I noticed before opening my eyes was my nose. It was throbbing as if it'd been hit with a baseball bat. I blindly reached over to my bedside table and grabbed the bottle of Advil, taking three.

I tried to go back to sleep but my body ached, and my mind raced through the events of the day before. I heard my dad speaking on the phone in the other room, his voice raised in anger.

I moved in my bed, trying to find a position that wouldn't irritate my ribs, but it was no use. The Advil still hadn't kicked in and the longer I was awake, the more I felt each and every injury from the night before.

My door slowly creaked open and I turned to see my mom peeking in, checking if I was awake.

"Morning." I mumbled out, and she came into the room, carrying a small tray. Her eyes were puffed up and she looked like she hadn't slept a minute. She'd sobbed the entire way home from the hospital and my heart had broken for her.

"Evan baby, I've made you some eggs and toast, and here's some hot chocolate..." She set the tray down on my bedside table and sat next to me on the bed.

"Thanks, mom." I moved to sit up, keeping my face straight as I sat up. She didn't need to know how much pain I was in, it'd only hurt her more. "What time is it?"

"It's two-thirty, your friends came by this morning to check on you but you were asleep, I think they're coming back soon." She sniffed a bit but forced a bright smile onto her face.

"Oh." I reached for the hot chocolate and took a sip as my nose throbbed sharply. "Uh, which friends?"

"Erik and Rowan. They're both very sweet boys, I'm glad you're meeting new people. Did you know, Erik is one of my students?" I took another sip.

"Yeah, he mentioned..." Shit. School. How the hell do I go back looking like this?

My mom seemed to have read my mind.

"Don't worry about your classes dear, I've called your teachers and let them know the situation. You can stay home this week, I'll pick up anything you might need when I go in."

"Okay... I have a test this Friday though—"

"Yes, I've already spoken to Professor Reed, you can take the exam at home, he'll give it to me at the end of the week. Erik said he'd bring you his notes."

"Oh, okay... Thanks." She nodded and rubbed my back before standing up. I heard my dad's voice rise again from the other room, he seemed to be yelling at somebody. "Hey, who's dad talking to?"

She turned around and put her hands behind her back, and sighed.

"Honey, he's on the phone with the officer who spoke to you yesterday. He's hiring a lawyer—"

"Shit, no we can't afford that!" My heart dropped and I started to panic.

"Evan, we don't really have a choice. They say they don't have enough evidence to charge him with a felony, only a possible misdemeanor which is an absolute joke. They haven't even arrested him yet, so your father and I thought we'd take this into our own hands."

He'll find me again.

"No, please mom, can we just... Forget it? I don't wanna have to go through all of this when he's probably just gonna get off and we'll lose tons."

"We can talk about this at dinner Ev, have some breakfast and I'll bring our old tv in here, just relax."

She left, shutting the door behind her. I threw the blankets off of me and cussed, nervously heading to my window. Everything outside looked normal, our neighbors were having a barbecue and a few kids were biking in circles further down the street. Just a regular Sunday.

My phone rang from my bed. I took a shaky breath and walked over, seeing Lucy's name on my screen. I declined it, then saw a few unread messages on our group chat.

Lucy: Did you guys see what was on the Herald?

Alex: Yeah. It's fucked.

Maddy: No, what?

Lucy: Some guy got attacked downtown, it says he goes to Metropolitan. Evan, do you know him? it didn't give a name.

Maddy: Ev, why didn't you join our video call last night?

Alex: I texted Erik and he didn't answer yet, he probably knows the guy.

"Shit."

I grabbed my laptop from my desk and rushed back to my bed. I frantically made my way to the Omaha World Herald website. I didn't even need to go to the crime section, the article I was looking for was on the front page.

Omaha resident Ray Warner is said to have attacked an eighteen year old college student and vandalized his car outside his relatives shop, Melvins Car Parts in downtown Omaha. The victim, who attends Metropolitan Community College, had severe injuries including a concussion and multiple broken bones. He was unable to be reached for comment, and his parents wish he remain anonymous.

Police have spoken to Warner who was said to have admitted to the crime, but they have yet to make an arrest. They state that Warner may have attacked the victim because he was gay, making his assault a possible hate crime. Because of the lack of witnesses....

"Shit!" I scrolled down the page, reaching the comment section. Don't read them.... Don't read them...

Brad M: Why arrest a hard working American for doing God's work?

Paul W: I know Ray, he's a good man and was probably just trying to straighten out this kids head. Being gay is unnatural.

Suzie K: Violence is never the answer, but this poor boy's parents need to send him to church!

I slammed my laptop shut and tossed it angrily on the ground.

"Fuck." I never said I was gay. And I'm eighteen, not a fucking boy.

How had they not arrested him?

My phone rang again and I declined Lucy's fifth call. Her name popped up on my screen as she sent me a private text.

Lucy: Evan, I'm worried. You missed our call last night and I haven't heard from you all day, you never sleep in this late. Please call me back.

I sighed and my fingers hovered over the screen as I tried to think of something to say. I couldn't lie to her. But I didn't want her knowing the truth.

I'm okay, just in the middle of something. Call you later? I sent it and she responded immediately.

Lucy: Thank god! I was freaking out Evan! Yes, please call me when you're free!

I bit my lip in stress but quickly gasped in pain. I'd forgotten that my lip was barely healed. I tasted the metallic bitterness of blood on my tongue. Tossing my blankets aside, I grabbed my towel and headed to the shower.

I made sure to avoid looking in the mirror when I got in. I undressed and quickly drew the curtains of the shower, releasing my breath. I took the wrapping from around my broken ribs off and tossed it out. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see what it looked like. Instead, I felt around my face and picked off the medical tape they'd put on my cuts. I tossed those out too and turned the water too hot. It flowed through my hair and over my body, calming me down.

I switched the water to cold and let it run over my face. I ignored the stinging from my injuries and just held my breath, hoping it'd clean up a bit. After washing myself as best as I could, I sat on the floor of the shower, letting the cold water run over me.

Thoughts from the day before found their way to my mind. His angry face, blotched with red, his rotten breath, and the glass... The glass he'd held to my neck as he threatened me not to tell Rowan a thing.

"Evan?" There was a knock on the door and I jumped, my heart pounding. "Evan, honey your friends are here." Shit.

"O-okay mom, I'll be right out." I stood up on shaky legs and turned the water off, quickly opening the shower curtains.

I saw my reflection in the mirror before I could look away. My breath caught in my throat and my heart dropped.

I had not one, but two black eyes, from my broken nose. A few of my cuts had opened in the shower and blood was slowly leaking from them. My lip was busted and swollen. My face was blotched with purple and blue. There were two large bruises along my lower chest, where my ribs had broken.

I felt my breathing shorten as my eyes burned, and before I could stop them, I felt tears falling freely. I didn't recognize myself.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, I wiped them away and grabbed some toilet paper, dabbing the blood from my face. I searched the cabinets and found a small box of bandaids, quickly putting a few over some of my more eye-catching injuries.

I heard Erik's voice politely talking to my mom from the living room and cursed, wrapping the towel around my waist and heading to my room. I tossed on sweatpants and a hoodie, pulling the hood over my head, hoping it'd cover some of my face.

But as I reached for the doorknob, my heart stopped. And I heard his voice.

"One word to Williams about this, and I'll cut your pretty little throat." His face flashed before my eyes and I locked the door, taking a step back, my heart pounding.

I can't... My eyes searched through my room frantically before a thought popped into my mind. I rushed over to my sock drawer and rummaged through it, before finding my brightly colored Christmas tree socks.

I quickly reached inside them and found a small metal Altoids box, one Alex had left me. I headed to my window and pushed it all the way up, before opening the box. Inside there were four neatly wrapped joints and a lighter.

"Evan?" Another loud knock made me jump.

"I'll be there in a minute mom, I'm changing."

"Okay honey, I'm ordering food, what do you want?" I quietly cussed to myself,

"Just get me whatever you're ordering, thanks." I heard her walking away and quickly lit one of the joints, inhaling deeply. I held it in for as long as I could, before blowing the smoke out the window. I felt my nerves calm down and my heart was slowly returning to normal. I smoked half of the joint before putting it out. I stuffed the box back in my sock and put it back in the drawer.

I felt my eyelids lower slightly and a wave of calm flow over me. I wasn't too high, at least not yet.

I unlocked the door and pulled my hoodie over slightly more, taking a deep breath.

Rowan and Erik were sitting on the couch in the living room, my mom standing in front of them on the phone. My eyes lingered on Rowan, his face was serious, and there were dark circles under his eyes. His knuckles were bruised, as if he'd been in a fight.

My mom hung up the phone and I felt Rowan's eyes snap to mine.

A wave of relaxation ran through me and I felt myself smile.

"Hey guys."