He's tired of living like this, he's tired of living as a weakling. From today henceforth, he's going to stand up for himself, enough of the insults and bullying.
Enough.
*
Jack rushed to the rooftop.
"B-Baby boo?" Seraphina called in confusion.
"What did you say to him?" He demanded almost raising his voice.
"Hey, take a chill pill, I don't even know who-
"Who left here just now?" He cuts her off.
"Nerdy boy? You know him?" She asked in surprise.
"Just answer the fvcking question before I lose it with you" He almost snapped, trying so hard to control his anger, with his palms folded tightly as his knuckles turned white.
"Fine, okay? I just made a harmless joke and it got on his bad side. He left before I could even apologize for it" She explained carefully.
"Be detailed" He demanded, glaring at her. If looks could kill, she'd be six feet underneath the surface of the earth right now.
"I only made a comment on his phone" She lowered her head in regret.
"Shít" He cussed and walked away.
"Baby!" She called after him.
He already drove out of the parking lot when she got there.
*
Dominic entered the house and then burst out in tears, with shaking hands he dialed his grandma's line.
"I'm tired! I'm tired of living like this! I just want to give up on everything and go somewhere far away from here, Grandma" He cried on the phone, before letting go of it.
He weakly sat on the floor, staring at the broken screen of his phone.
She's dead.
Her line isn't reachable anymore.
He'd never get to hear her voice again.
The harsh realization made him burst out in another round of tears.
"Stop crying, Dominic" Someone hugged him from behind.
It's Dylan.
He saw Dominic leaving school earlier, and decided to trail him as he isn't the type to ditch classes.
"Dylan" He cried, holding onto his arm tightly.
"I miss her so much" He cried harder, making Dylan placed his head on his chest.
"I'm here now, Dominic" Dylan consoled him, stroking his head fondly.
"Wanna get some rest?" He asked, and Dominic nodded in response, sniffing on his tears.
"Okay so stop crying, you know I hate it when you cry, right?"
Dylan then carried him in his arms and placed him gently on the bed.
He turned to go shut the door close when he saw Jack at the door, clinging tightly onto a shopping bag.
Jack witnessed everything.
He ignored Jack and slammed the door, immediately locking it from behind.
Jack almost kicked the door open, filled with fury but changed his mind and kicked the air instead.
First, he caught them kissing and now, Dylan carried him to bed.
Alright.
He returned to the car and zoomed off immediately.
Dylan joined Dominic in bed, cuddling him like a baby while stroking his hair.
Dominic buried his head in Dylan's chest and slowly his eyes went shut.
*
Jack is driving crazily on the road, he even caused an accident. He didn't step on the brakes for a second, everything kept flashing in his head, from the kiss scene to the scene he witnessed few minutes ago. Nothing makes sense to him right now.
First, Dominic frowned at the thought of being gay, and then got caught intensively and intimately locking lips with a guy!
Today, he was in the arms of a guy!
They once played in the rain too!
Could Dominic have lied about not being gay?
But what doesn't make any sense to him right now; is the fact that he still can't get his mind off the kiss scene, since last night.
Why is his victim's life any of his business?
It shouldn't bother him at all but it seems like his heart is about to burst out of his chest.
He even yelled at Seraphina for the first time in history, last night.
He almost choked her to death.
He almost lost it with her on the rooftop today again because she made Dominic cry.
He even rushed went to a mall to grab a new phone and new pair of glasses for him, hoping that'd probably fix his broken heart a bit, and he'd apologize on Seraphina's behalf, that was if Dominic accepted the gifts from him.
"What the heck is wrong with me?!" He screamed out in frustration, snapping out of his trance.
"Noooo noo nooooooo" He tried controlling the wheel but he lost control of it already.
He crashed into a moving truck and immediately his head banged on the steering, and then he started bleeding, he passed out.
The car bonnet flew open and started smoking heavily.
The police siren could be heard at a distance.
*
THE CARTER'S MANSION*
The mansion is decorated with luxurious items from the pure gold crafted sculptures on a shelf, the bright chandeliers hung on the ceiling, the flat smart TV on the wall, the couches are made of expensive materials with golden designs on it.
Seraphina came to report Jack's recent change to his parents.
Mr Carter isn't home.
"Calm down, Seraphina. I'll talk to him, okay?" Mrs Carter consoled Seraphina.
"Hmmm" She nodded in response, and Mr Carter wiped off her tears.
Roger walked in.
"Hey son" Mrs Carter beamed in excitement.
"Hey mama" He chuckled, and they shared hug.
"The limited edition adopted son has finally decided to come grace the mansion with his presence" Seraphina taunted.
"I didn't see you for real" He faced her.
"Hmmm" She sounded.
"I'll have the chef prepare something for you" Mrs Carter said, already heading to the kitchen.
"Maybe some other time, Mama. The thing is I didn't see Jack at school today, I went over to his place and couldn't find him there. I've been trying his line too but it's not connecting which is so unlike him" He explained.
"I'm sure he's probably out there spending the money he didn't work for on useless things. He got his allowance today, and we all know how financially wasteful and rebellious he can be at times, so worry not" She shrugged, and with that she headed to the kitchen.
"Mom is right" Seraphina chipped in from the couch.
" It's a different thing that he doesn't want to answer the phone but his line been switched off? That's out of it. Do you even know him at all?" He rolled eyes at her.
"Are you trying to say you know him better than I do?" She got up.
"I'm not in the mood for an argument please" He rolled eyes and left.
His phone started ringing when he got to the car, it's Jack. He answered the call in a haste.
"Yoo, where have you been bro?" He questioned worriedly.
"Good day sir, is this Mr Roger?" A female voice said from the other end.
"Yes and where's Jack?"
"Mr Jack had an accident and we had to reach out to his emergency-
"What's the name of the hospital?!" He cuts her off, already zooming out of the compound.
*
Roger rushed to the ward, and there was Jack laying unconscious, with his forehead wrapped with a band.
"Bro!" Roger called out in horror.
The cops are outside the ward.
"What happened to you?" He asked, sitting beside unconscious Jack.
"Jeez, I said it. I knew something was wrong but no one believed me, not even your mom" His voice broke at the end.
"Just wake up and let's go home, okay?" He held his hand.
"He's in coma" A nurse said behind him.
"W-what?" His heart sank, letting go of the hand in shock.
*
DOMINIC'S PLACE*
Dominic got welcomed back to life with the sweet aroma from the kitchen.
"Dylan" He called but got no response though, Dylan's voice could be heard from the kitchen singing.
He slowly got up from the bed and went to the kitchen. He stood by the door, watching as Dylan moved his body like he was on a dance floor, with his headset over his head.
A smile crept on his lips as he stared with so much admiration in his eyes.
Dylan flinched when he saw him.
The smile on Dominic's face disappeared within the speed of light.
"Food is ready, Dom" Dylan smiled, taking off the headset.
"How did you- I don't recall having any foodstuffs at home" Dominic replied.
"How do you even survive? All I could find in your kitchen were cups of instant noodles" He asked in concern.
Dominic took in his lower lip and started sucking on it.
"Look Dominic, I'm not saying this to make you feel bad or feel less of yourself. I'm just saying this from a place of concern" He held Dominic's shoulders.
"Yeah, I know that I'm struggling too but that doesn't mean you should hesitate to reach out if you need my help, okay?" He started stroking his hair.
Dominic remained silent.
"Got it?" He said, staring into his eyes.
"Alright" Dominic finally responded.
"Let's go have lunch" He played with his cheeks, making Dominic smile.
*
THE HOSPITAL*
Roger made payment for Jack to be moved to a VIP ward. The news of Jack's accident is everywhere already, some reporters and bloggers are outside already waiting for him to come out. The cops came out and the reporters attacked them with questions.
* Where is he?
* Why are there cops in the hospital?
* What's the update?
* The CCTV footage on the highway shows that he caused an accident, will he be arrested for it?
* Will the Carter's family sweep it underneath the rug?
* Has he been taken to another hospital?
The cops struggled to get out of there and immediately zoomed off.
Roger was watching everything from the ward's window upstairs.
"He keeps getting himself in trouble" He muttered underneath his breath.
"Isn't that Roger his friend?" A blogger announced already taking pictures of him.
Roger quickly drew down the curtain.
"Kindly tighten the security here" He said to the doctor present.
"Okay sir" The doctor nodded and left.
He had to switch off his phone because it was buzzing non-stop.
*
BACK AT THE CARTER'S MANSION*
Jack's parents are fuming in rage. Relatives, business partners, reporters and friends have been calling non-stop. They had to switch off their phones too.
Seraphina already left for home before the News of his accident broke out.
"I should have just given you the permission to terminate the pregnancy back then. I won't be going through all these at my old age, if only I choose to ignore my emotions and let go of that shameless being!" Mr Carter spat.
"He keeps bringing shame to this household" Mrs Carter said, pacing around the room.
"I'll just let him suffer for his crime this time around. I'm not sweeping any of his mess underneath the rug any more. I've done more than enough as a father" He said to himself.
"You can't do that, honey" Mrs Carter pleaded.
"Oh well, I can. I'll just concentrate on his siblings" He tuts his lips in annoyance.
"Jack is rebellious and has always been on the news for one thing or the other but that doesn't mean he should be abandoned"
"Kindly tell me the number of cases Jack has had with the police" He faced her.
"Is it being a bully? Getting involved in underage drinking? Underage driving? Driving under the influence? Constant fighting on the streets? Getting beaten up and arrested at casinos right from when he was seven years old. Causing numerous accidents on the road? Remember one person even died back then. Did Jack go to jail for any of them?". He questioned, glaring at her in fury.
"Get him suffer the consequences of this one" He spat and walked out on her.
"You alone can't just decide what happens to our son, okay?" She shouted after him.
"Go bail him out if you have the influence to. You think it's just about money? Do you have the connections needed for that?!" He shouted back and entered the bedroom.