Chapter 9 :
„No,you
won`t go!“
“Yes,I
will!”
“No,you
won`t!”
“I will,and
that`s my last word!”
Dolphy
rolled her eyes to the ceiling and sighed heavily.How could a single boy be so
stubborn?She and Jim had argued the whole morning whether he should go to the
lessons or stay in his bed.It`s unnecessary to say who was of which opinion.
“Fine!But
don`t complain to me when you collaps on the floor!”
By the look
on Jim`s face Dolphy quickly realized that what she had just said sounded a bit
harsh.She sat next to Jim on his bed and put her hand on his thigh.
“I`m just
worried about you…You know that,do you?”
Jim leaned
forwards to her and gave her a soft kiss.Afterwards Dolphy stared in his deep
blue eyes and smiled.
“I take
that as a `yes`.”
After
breakfast the two teenagers went separate ways to their lessons although Dolphy
would have preferred to follow Jim wherever he went….And that would have been
better.His history teacher was ill and the students had a spare hour.Most of
them assembled in the cafeteria or the park where they talked to their friends
and since the other students were sitting in the classrooms and being bored
beyond imagination the hallway was completely empty.Jim didn`t know exactly how
he should spend this free time but he knew that it would have no use to stay
with his classmates so he decided to go back to his dormitory.Unfortunately
Carren was in the same history course.He followed Jim quietly down the hallway
so he didn`t notice him and when he did it was too late because he was roughly
shoved against the wall.As he tried to get away Carren grabbed his hands,put
them violently behind his back and pushed him with all his weight so that the
side of Jim`s face was pressed against the wall.
“I don`t
think you`ve understood what I´ve told you yesterday,have you?” he whispered
coldly.
As Jim
didn`t show any sign of giving an answer Carren got more agressive.He
intensified the death grip on his hands which caused Jim to gritt his teeth in
order to prevent himself from screaming in pain.
“Listen,Hawkins,I`ll
say this very slow so that even you will understand.I don`t wanna see
you and that girl together anymore.Tell her to move back to her former room and
nobody`s gonna get harmed,is that clear!?Throw her away!”
“Don`t dare
to talk about her like that!She`s a human and no thing you can simply get rid
of!” yelled Jim furiously.
“You`ve
forgotten who you`re talking to.I can get rid of everybody if I
want!Your little girlfriend is scum,just like you are.You`re outsiders,ejected
by everyone else and alone and I want it to remain like that.”
“Get a life
and stop annoying us!” cried Jim who had finally managed to free himself from
Carren`s grip and punched him hardly with his elbow in the stomach.
Carren
cursed loudly but got a hold of Jim before he could escape and grabbed him by
the collar.
“You`re
gonna do what I`m telling you!”
“NO!Dolphy
will stay with me,is that clear?” he said with a determined look on his
face.
Carren`s
eyebrows narrowed until you almost couldn`t see his eyes anymore and he threw
Jim violently on the floor,ready to beat the daylights out of him when he saw
that he was pressing his hand on his right side.The eyes of Carren suddenly lit
with an evil hint of realization.
“Oh,I guess
you`re not feeling so good,huh?Well,well,it`s nice to see what effects our
meeting yesterday had on you.”
Jim let out
a muffled scream of pain when Carren slammed his foot in his side.
“You`re the
most stupid guy I`ve ever met,ya know,Hawkins?”
Another
kick.
“Letting
yourself being beaten up only because of that girl?”
Another
kick.
“I mean,if
she was one of those pretty cheerleaders,yeah,okay…but her?”
Jim gave
him a menacing look.
“She`s
worth more than all of the girls you ever had together!”
Another
kick.
“I`m a fair
and extremely soft-hearted person so I`ll give you a little more time to think
about your decision.See ya soon,Hawkins.”
With that
he kicked him one more time and finally disappeared in the direction he had
come from.Jim needed a few moments to recover until he managed to stand up and
slowly went to his room.Just in the moment he`d closed the door behind him he
collapsed on the floor.
“I hate it
when she`s right.” he muttered sarcastically under his breath as he remembered
his and Dolphy`s argument from the morning.
He jerked
his head in the air as an in panic shrieking thing came flying towards him.
“Don`t
worry,Morph,I`m okay.” he lied. “Just fine.”
Pain struck
his body as he tried to stand up but before he collapsed again he managed to
hold on to a nearby shelf and went slowly towards his bed where he sat down and
the pink blob rubbed his jelly body comfortingly against Jim`s face.
“What am I
supposed to do,Morphy?” he sighed.
The little
shapeshifter gave him a confused look.
“Either I
get killed or I`ll lose my best friend.”
Suddenly he
was confronted with a very upset little blob which threw some like complaints
sounding noises at him.
“Oh,woa,sorry.”
said Jim quickly. “I mean,one of my two best friends.”
Just as the
words had left his mouth Morph was content and happy again and hysterically
licked Jim`s cheek.
“Hey,Morph,stop
it,I`ve already washed myself today!” he laughed.
He shot a
look at the clock on the wall to check how much time he had until he had to go
to his next lesson.After noticing that there was enough time for a little nap
he leaned back and before he had the chance of telling Morph to wake him up
punctually he fell asleep.
“Jim!!!”
“What
the-woa!”
He almost
fell out of his bed as the door was ripped open and a very upset person stormed
into the room.
“Dolphy?”
he asked dumbfounded while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “What are you
doing here?Aren`t you supposed to be in one of your classes?”
“Classes?Jim,it`s
lunchtime!I`ve waited for you but you didn`t come and-“
“It`s
already lunchtime!?” yelled Jim suddenly fully-awake.
“Yes.What
happened?Uhm,are your rips hurting?Or did you have a relapse or,or,did you meet
Carren and his jerk-friends or,uhm,or…?”
Jim at to
smirk at Dolphy`s nervousness because she acted just like his mother did so
often whenever he was in trouble.
´Those two
would get along very well.` he thought to himself.
“What?”
said Dolphy and interrupted his thoughts.
“Huh?”
“Why are
you smiling?”
“Oh,nothing.”
“Are you
okay?I was really worried when I didn`t see you in the cafeteria.What`s
wrong?You know,you can tell me the truth.”
Jim thought
for a moment and then turned back to her.
“My
history-teacher Mr.White was ill today so we got a free hour.I went back to our
room in order to take a nap and somehow I overslept…”
“Can you do
me a favour?”
Jim looked
at her curiously.
“Please
stay here for the rest of the day.I can see it in your eyes that you`re still
weak so relax a bit,okay?”
Usually Jim
would have argued with her about it but his reason and the pain in his body
told him that she was right.
“Okay.” he
admitted hesitantly.
Dolphy
stayed with him until she heard the bell announcing the end of the lunchbreak.
“Morphy,I
got a job for you.” she said. “Keep an eye on him and don`t let him leave his
bed.” The little shapeshifter saluted and flew to Jim who was lying in his
bed.There he transformed into some ropes and corded himself around Jim`s upper
body and his feet,pretending him from moving even an inch.
“Haha,very
funny.” he meant dryly while Dolphy had one of her typical laugh-attacks.
“See ya
later.” she said as she opened the door. “And get well.”
Days went
by and Dolphy got more and more worried and suspicious because Jim`s condition
didn`t get better.On the contrary,he seemed to be weaker with every day that
passed.She had tried to talk to him about it more than once but he always
assured her that everything was alright.However,she knew for sure that he
wasn`t telling her the truth and that Carren simply had to have something
to do with it.Dolphy met him in the hallway one day and stopped him asking him
angrily what he had done to Jim but he just grinned at her in his arrogant way
and said that he wouldn`t waste his time with someone like him…
Jim
exhaustedly rubbed his temple as he sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria
during the lunchbreak.Carren had beaten him up several times in the last two
weeks and he wasn`t sure how long he could endure this.The pain in his side
became worse and worse since his ribs didn`t get the time to heal.
“Jim?You
okay?” asked Dolphy who was sitting facing him.
“Sure.”
Same
question,same answer as usually.
At the
other side of the hall a group of people was discussing the current situation.
“Man,it`s
getting boring with that guy.I mean,it`s like beating up a…well,a thing that
doesn`t…uhm,defend itself and-“
“Would you
do me a favour and shut up!?” snarled Carren at Lenaro.
“Gradually
I think this Hawkins is an even bigger freak than Jessica.” meant Vivian dryly.
“Who`s so stupid and lets himself nearly get killed only to be together with - her?”
she added in a disgusted tone.
“Rakitan,what
are you thinking?” asked Carren his friend who was sitting at the end of the
table and staring absent-mindly through the huge mass of students.
“Huh?Uh,what
did you just say?”
“Stop that
day-dreaming,you fool!I was asking you what we shall do with Hawkins!”
Rakitan
sighed slightly and looked away from his leader.
“Can`t we
just let him in peace?”
Suddenly
everybody of the group was looking at him.
“Are ya
gonna turn against us and take part in their little freak-club or what!?”
yelled Lenaro upset.
“Eew,I
smell that ugly odour of a traitor!” snapped Meena but was immediately quiet as
Carren gave her a clear sign with his hand.
“Don`t
panic,guys.He`s right.”
“What!?”
yelled all of them in unison,even Rakitan.
“Yeah,as we`ve
seen,beating up Hawkins didn`t have the consequences we`ve expected.I`ve got
that sick feeling that he would rather let himself be beaten to death before
he`d release that girl.”
“So…what
are we gonna do?” asked Stella curiously and with a dumb look on her face.
“If he
really likes her that much then he`d do anything for her…especially when he
knows she`s…well,let`s say in danger.”
While they
started making plans Rakitan`s thoughts drifted off again and his look fell on
Jim and Dolphy.He had no clue what was going on with him.Why was he trying to
defend people he did barely know?Somehow he was sick of being one of the bad
guys and terrorizing other students all the time,although he was never the
one who actually hurt them,neither physically nor verbally.He always just stood
behind Carren and let him be the ´boss`.Unlike Lenaro he didn`t really enjoy
what they were doing to the others but what could he have done against it?He
shared a room with them and didn`t dare to criticize Carren because he wanted to
experience his next birthday.But what they did to this Jim was beyond his
understanding.He apparently loved that girl with his whole heart,they were the
only ones each other had…so why was Carren so stubborn about destroying their
friendship?Suddenly Rakitan felt a strange feeling in his stomach :
jealousy.What would he give to have a friend,a true friend like that?
“Rakitan!”
“Uh,what?”
“Oh,man,your
brain seems to be taking a nap again,huh?” snapped Carren angrily.
“We`ve got
some business to do.Come on!”
Some hours
later :
“My lessons
are over for today,see ya later.” said Dolphy as she waved goodbye and made her
way along the hallway.
“Okay,see
ya!” meant Jim before he went to his next class.
Heading
towards her dormitory Dolphy suddenly heard footsteps behind her and turned
hastily around only to be face to face with her former roommates.
“Oh,great.”
she said obviously not in the mood for arguing with them. “What do you want
from me?”
“I`m glad
you ask.” grinned Vivian sinisterly. “The thing is that…we want you back.”
Dolphy`s
jaw nearly dropped to the floor when she heard this sentence coming out of
Vivian`s mouth.But she had the right to be suspicious about this really more
than unexpected request.
“Yeah,sure.”
meant Dolphy sarcastically. “Why would you want me to move back to you?”
Meena went
nearer to her and put her arm around her shoulders,making her feel slightly
uncomfortable.
“It`s quite
simple.Since you`re together with that…boy…living in our room has become
quite boring.”
`Aha,and
now it comes…` thought Dolphy.
“I
mean,it`s no fun when you don`t have the possibility of destroying the life of
a weird little freak like you are.”
`I knew
it.`
“So either
you come back to us or we`ll be very,very sad.” said Vivian and pressed
her claws through the back of Dolphy`s shirt.
Ignoring
the pain,she stared her straight in the eyes.
“Forget
it,flea-food.”
A
suppressed cry of pain tried to escape her throat as Vivian`s claws ripped her
shirt all the way down her back,causing four deep scratches in her skin.
“Think
about it,freak-y.” grinned the feline as she and her two friends left her
standing alone in the hallway.
“I`ve
thought about getting a cat but I guess I`m gonna change my mind.” muttered
Dolphy to herself and went to her room.
“Woa,I
feared that this hour would never end!” sighed Jim as he finally heard the
relieving sound of the bell.
As he went
out of the classroom he was immediately grabbed by someone and pulled away from
the door.
“Not you
again.”
“Why,aren`t
you happy to see us?” grinned Carren who was standing in front of him with
Lenaro and Rakitan behind him.
“Now,have
you reached the point where you beat me up while lotsa witnesses are around?”
asked Jim challengingly and shot a look at the many students who were entering
the hallway and passing by.
“No,Hawkins.I
just wanted to ask you one last time if you finally agree to do what I want
from you.”
Before he
could answer Carren was holding a small piece of cloth in front of his face.Jim
recognized it,it was a part of the shirt Dolphy was wearing today.He tried to
attack Carren but was immediately grabbed by Rakitan and Lenaro.
“What have
you done with her!?” he snarled furiously.
“Oh, I
haven`t done anything to her.Not yet.See it as a warning.Now listen to me
´cause I`ll say that only once.Throw her out of your room and tell her that you
don`t wanna see her ever again.I`m not joking,Hawkins.Either you do that or
your little girlfriend will regret that she has ever met you.Believe me,I don`t
care that she`s a girl,that won`t keep me from doing some not-so-nice things to
her if you know what I mean.It`ll be lotsa fun,at least for me.When I see you
together with her then…well,just use your imagination.”
Jim stared
at him with shocked and angry eyes.He didn`t doubt that Carren would do what he
had threathened and beat her or do things which were even worse…
“Let go of
him.” ordered Carren and his two mates did as they were told.
“I give you
time till supper.” he said in a strict voice as he turned his back on Jim and
gave Rakitan and Lenaro a sign to follow him.
But one of
them stayed where he was.
“Hey,Rakitan,what
are ya waiting for?” asked Carren expectantly.
“Just go
ahead,I wanna make sure that our friend here decides the best for all of
us.”
After
looking at him a bit suspiciously Carren and Lenaro finally let the two alone.
“Okay,what
do you want from me now?” snarled Jim beyond annoyance.
To his
surprise he became no threatening or arrogant answer but a very serious and
caring sounding response.
“I know
it`s not easy for you to lose your friend but please do it anyway.I know Carren
for very long and I`m aware of what he`s able to do if people are in his way.”
“On whose
side are you?” asked Jim not trusting him.
“I…I wish
I`d know that myself.”
There was a
moment of silence between the two until Jim continued with another question.
“What I
don`t understand is,why doesn`t anybody stop Carren?He`s only one guy,so why
didn`t it have any use to go to the principal?I heard about some people who did
it and-“
“They were
beaten up by Carren because of that.He always picks on the weak ones,outsiders
like you and your friend ´cause he knows he has the upper hand.Besides,he`s
quite popular with the other students and the reason why the principal doesn`t
do anything against him is simple.”
Jim gave
him a curious look.
“His
parents are very wealthy and since Carren is not the,uhm,let`s say brightest
one when it comes to writing good grades,they have been sponsoring the
academy with nice amounts of money.And that`s why he hasn`t been thrown out of
here yet.It`s all because of the money.”
“Why are
you telling me all that stuff?” asked Jim still suspiciously.
Rakitan
didn`t seem to know what he should answer and thought for a moment.He was
right,what the hell was he doing?Carren would kill him if he found out what he
had just told his biggest enemy.
“Just do
what he said.Believe me,it`s the best for your friend.” he told him and ran
away.
“Hey,wait!”
yelled Jim but Rakitan had already disappeared.
“Damn!!!”
shouted Jim while he headed back to his room. “Damn!Damn!!Damn!!!
He quickly
realized that punching the wall with his fist was no solution but caused even
more pain.What was he supposed to do?Telling Dolphy the truth?No,she was way
too stubborn and would never leave him,even if this meant that Carren would do
something terrible to her.So the only chance was…Jim sighed as he became aware
of what he had to do in order to protect her.He had to be so mean to her that
she wouldn`t want to be near him any longer.Standing in front of his room he
slowly put his hand on the latch only to realize that he was trembling.
“This is
the only way out.” he muttered to himself and entered the room.
He`d
expected Dolphy to sit at the table or on her bed but he was apparently the
only teenager in the dormitory.Suddenly a little pink blob came flying towards
him and shrieked upset.
“Morph,where`s
Dolphy?”
“I`m in the
bathroom,Jim.Just a moment.” he heard a
voice from behind the door.
What
happened?” he whispered to the shapeshifter who transformed into a miniature of
Dolphy with a ripped shirt and four bloody scratches on her back.
Jim
shuddered and went to the window where he stared into space.
“I wish
there was another solution.”
“Oh,man!Why
did that have to be so difficult?“ muttered Dolphy as she had finally managed
to wrap a bandage around her upper body. “Damn scratches.Damn Vivian.Damn
everything.”
She reached
for a black T-shirt and put it on,not daring to cry as the pain on her back
became more intensive.
“I`m not
gonna tell Jim about it.” she thought. “I`m sure he`s got some more important
things to do than worrying about me.”
Jim winced
slightly as he heard the door to the bathroom opening and Dolphy greeting him
cheerfully.
“Hi Jim!Had
fun in the diplomacy-class?“
“Has
someone ever told you how funny you are?” asked Jim but not in his good-natured
sarcastic way.He said it with such an annoyed and sinister tone that Dolphy
didn`t recognize her friend anymore.
“What`s
wrong?”
“You`re
wrong!I`ve had nothing but trouble since I`ve got to know you!You`re-you`re
following me whereever I go and Carren doesn`t stop giving me a hard time just
because of you!”
Both
teenagers suddenly felt a knot in their stomachs.Jim because he didn`t believe
what he had just said and Dolphy because she in fact believed what he had told
her.
“That your
injuries don`t heal…is that Carren`s work?” she asked insecurely.
“Wow,first
prize for da genius!I don`t want you here any longer,it was a big mistake to
let you move into my room,I admit it.Man,was I stupid!” he yelled and threw his
arms in the air, trying his best to act convincingly,although it nearly broke
his heart.
Tears were
appearing in Dolphy`s eyes but she refused to let them run down her face.
“But…what
about the things you`ve said…that you like spending time with me?”
Jim turned
his face away from her and gazed at the wall.
“I lied.”
“And…what
about the kiss?”
He turned
his back on her and stared out of the window,not finding the strenght for
looking her in the eyes as he told her the rest.
“Just
wanted to try how it is to kiss a girl.I was curious and you were the best I
could get.No big deal,it meant nothing to me.”
Jim heard
steps walking towards him and suddenly a hand slapped him hardly in the face.As
he regained himself he was confronted with a very upset Dolphy who was glaring
at him through wet eyes.
“I`ve
always thought Carren was an arrogant moron but YOU are ten thousand times
worse,you idiot!You and a nice guy!Hah!How blind have I been!?” she yelled as
she stormed towards the wardrobe and threw her stuff in her bag.
Shortly
before she left the room she turned back to Jim and glared at him,a single tear
running down her cheek.
“I never
want to see you again…I hate you!”
A loud
crack of the door and she was gone.A very confused and shocked Morph flew to
Jim and stared at him questioningly.
“I had to
do it.” he whispered rather to himself than to the little blob and sat down on
a chair,his elbows leaning on the table in front of him.
There he
leaned forwards and buried his face in his hands.It was quiet in the room,the
only sound one could hear were some muffled sobs.
It were
only two weeks that passed but for Jim and Dolphy it seemed like an
eternity.Both of them hadn`t spoken to each other since the incident and every
time Jim saw her he had the feeling that she ignored him on purpose because she
always looked in another direction.He had asked Morph for visiting her from
time to time when she was alone in her room but when he wanted to know if she
had talked about him the little shapeshifter just shook his head.It seemed as
if Dolphy had forgotten him entirely.At least she was safe now…that`s what Jim
thought.In fact,Carren hadn`t attacked them anymore but Dolphy`s roommates
threatened her worse than they had ever done before.She had no peaceful minute
when they were together in their room,they mocked her and pushed her around
like she was just a thing and no living being that had feelings.At first Dolphy
had decided to spend her spare time in the park where she did her homework or
drew until it was time to go to bed but the autumn brought coldness and rain
with it so she was forced to stay in their room.
One Friday
evening she was finally fed up with her roommates.She couldn`t stand their
mocking anymore and since she knew that their lessons on this day lasted longer
than hers she took the chance.Morph came flying through the opened window and
saw his friend packing several things into her backpack.He pulled at a strand
of her hair in order to draw her attention on him and transformed into a
mini-backpack.
“I`m going
away,Morphy.” she said quietly and looked at the clock.
She didn`t
have much time until they came back.
The pink
blob shrieked nervously and desperately clinged to her arm.Dolphy had to smile.
“No,I won`t
run away…okay,I will,but just for some days.” she reassured him while she gently
stroked him with her finger. “It`s just…I need an off-time,ya know?If I stay
here then I`ll get insane,that`s for sure.”
Morph
looked at her with huge puppy eyes.
“Do you
wanna accompany me?” she asked slowly and the little shapeshifter let go of her
and happily licked her face.
“Alright,let`s
go.”
To be
continued…