Chapter 25
Gym.
Josh hated gym. And just like with all the things
he hated; he tried to stall. If he would just take some extra minutes to change
into his gym clothes it would maybe save him from extra minutes of taunting. It
could work, but it usually didn’t.
Josh used to love gym, that was when he didn’t have
to cover up all the bruises that lined his body. It was exhausting to be in
fear and pain because of Henry but it was even more exhausting to cover up all
the marks. It was that and the fact that kids in his class took this
opportunity to extra harass him. It was harder for the teacher to keep an eye
on everyone and so it was easier to get to Josh without being seen. He was also
the last one to get picked when they chose teams and although it still hurt it
was not the main reason he hated gym. It was the changing clothes and the extra
opportunities it provided for his harassers to get to him.
Josh stayed behind, he was changing very slowly
because of the pain in his ass from the whipping last weekend and he knew there
were still apparent bruises on his stomach and he didn’t need the spectators
once he would pull his shirt over his head. So he waited till everyone left,
including Lance assuring him he would be out soon, and then he quickly changed
shirts. He was relieved he succeeded in doing so without being seen and moved
onto his pants, stripping quickly he changed into his gym shorts. His shoes
were like a walk in the park now and although he knew he would be late; he
already heard the whistle of his gym teacher indicating the start of class,
getting changed without anyone seeing the marks on his body was more important,
he would get taunted anyway.
Josh picked up his sneakers and bend forward to tie
his shoelaces; placing his foot on the small locker benches so he could reach
it better. He was unaware of the extra person walking in the locker room and
also didn’t notice how his shirt rode up when he reached down for his second
sneaker. His shorts weren’t pulled up far enough to hide his lower back so a
patch of bruised skin peeked out from between his clothes.
A gasp startled Josh and he spun around quickly,
meeting whoever was there. Josh’s eyes grew in fear as he met blue eyes.
Justin.
“Oh my” Justin gasped as he’d seen the bruises and other
wounds on the teenager’s back.
Josh pulled the shirt down and stretched it out as
he kept it way lower than the shirt could reach in normal circumstances.
“What happened to you?” Justin asked in shock at
what he’d seen.
“Nothing,” Josh told him dismissively.
“It’s nothing”
“Josh it’s not nothing…” Justin argued.
“Please, don’t” Josh pleaded as Justin stepped
closer, holding out his hands to ward him off.
“Don’t what?” Justin asked confused but he froze on
the spot.
“Don’t do this, please” Josh pleaded but it didn’t
clarify anything.
“Don’t say anything just… please, keep this to
yourself. Don’t tell Lance… please… it’s nothing” Josh pleaded honestly before
he went around Justin quickly, his second shoe in his hand, giving Justin no opportunity
to say a word.
Justin stayed behind; shocked. He didn’t even
remember what he came here for all he could think off where those marks on
Josh’s back. He didn’t allow himself to think, he couldn’t think.
“Timberlake come on!” he heard the coach yell, the
voice echoing off the wall and he forced himself to snap out of it. He shook
his head, in the hope that would help. He allowed himself one extra second to
think about what he’d just seen but frankly he didn’t know what he’d seen.
“Now!” a now angry voice called and this time he
shook his head successfully and jogged out of the locker room, meeting an angry
teacher at the door.
“Sorry sir” he mumbled incoherently before he
jogged into the gym hall. He met Josh’s eyes on more than one occasion but Josh
looked away quickly every time.
What the hell was going on with him?
***
“Josh what happened to you?” Justin asked, getting
straight to the point when he finally had him alone two days later.
“When?” Josh asked innocently, hoping Justin wasn’t
asking what he thought he was asking.
“Josh don’t play games. I saw it… what happened?”
Justin clarified strictly.
“Nothing happened!” Josh denied.
“I just... I hurt myself that’s all”
“Josh” Justin said firmly as if he were his father.
“It’s nothing Justin, it will pass, just leave me
alone” Josh said angry now, what the hell was Justin thinking he thought as he
tried to leave but Justin was not going to let that happen. He grabbed Josh’s
arm, maybe a little rougher than necessary, to prevent him from leaving. Josh
cringed, Justin felt him flinching under his touch and let go at once.
“What happened Josh?” Justin asked gentler now.
Josh forced the fear out of his eyes and used the
only weapon he had; anger.
“It’s fucking none of your business! Leave me alone
Timberlake” Josh snarled before he stomped off. Justin didn’t have a snappy
comment, he was shocked and even a bit concerned. He still didn’t know what to
think.
He was suspicious yes but what off?
He had no idea where Josh would get those bruises,
maybe Brad…
***
A week went by slowly. Josh went to school, served
his detention, ate quickly and then went off to Lance. Supposedly winning his
trust so he would tell him where the safe was. But he was still stalling,
because Lance already trusted him he saw no point in getting to work already.
Maybe he could push it forward for a few weeks. He hoped he could. He’d told
Lance about his detention, Lance had been shocked but once again Josh had
convinced him there was nothing he could do about it. But Lance was once again
angry.
Josh had pushed the encounter with Justin aside. He
was pretty good with ignoring problems. However during the week he’d caught
Justin staring at him and he couldn’t ignore that. Justin had been watching
him, eyeing him on some occasions and it made him feel highly uncomfortable.
Justin suspected something Josh could see it in his eyes; Justin knew there was
something wrong but he probably didn’t know what that was exactly or otherwise
he would have heard about it by now. Justin had not said a word to him and he’d
obviously not shared the knowledge with Lance since he’d not confronted him
with it either. He hadn’t asked Josh anything else either, he’d just been
watching him and it unnerved Josh.
Josh did not know what Justin was up to, he had to
bite back the pain so Justin wouldn’t suspect anything. His wounds had healed
well, the pain was less but sometimes it still shot through him and the fact he
had to sit at school all day didn’t really do him any good. Those were the
times he had to control himself the most because he just knew Justin was
watching him and he could not make him any more suspicious. He could not have
Justin finding out how he got those marks because what would happen if he
indeed found out… Henry would be fucking pissed. Henry would demand he would
deny it and he probably would because Henry would beat him severely if he
didn’t. Henry would play all sunshine and since there were no hospital records
of him being brought in with severe bruises or anything there was really
nothing to prove.
They would only be able to prove Henry’s
abusiveness towards Josh if Josh stepped forward himself and told his story but
he knew he would not have the courage to do so. Henry had beaten the courage
out of him. And Josh was sure if he did find the courage it would not last long
because sure Henry would be back and then there would be hell to pay but not
for Henry… always for Josh.
It was a vicious circle and it didn’t matter what
Josh chose he always ended up having the short stick. If he stayed with Henry
and did what he asked it would stay with an occasional beating. If he chose to
go to the cops and tell them what Henry did to him, sure Henry would get locked
up… for a while but then Josh had nobody left. He would end up in foster care
and he didn’t want that. On top of that; Henry would be back and he would make
him pay. Josh knew he was stuck either way, however staying with Henry was bad
but going to the police was worse. If Justin really knew, it would only cause
him more pain if he decided to do something about it. He had to make it look
like there was nothing wrong with him… he had to.
