The Deprived

(Jayden)

I walked along the sidewalk with Sydney trailing behind me. I had told my friends at my old school that they wouldn't be seeing me there again but to keep in touch.

Nobody answered though, rather depressing I know.

As we entered the building I noticed people giving me looks.

One of the girls looked at me and whispered something to her friend.

I gulped and turned to Sydney.

"It's ok." She assured me which made me feel a lot better.

We entered the classroom together and I saw somebody that I knew, and it wasn't a good kind of person. "Chloe." I eyed her closely as I walked to the teacher's desk.

"Mr. Tanner, this is Jayden Davis." Sydney said.

The teacher, who was covered by his magazine, pointed to a desk next to Chloe.

"Oh great." I groaned.

"Something wrong young man?" Mr. Tanner placed his magazine down. He was a towering figure who made me feel nervous. He had curly black hair and a stern look that made me melt onto the floor.

"No sir." I whimpered.

"Good." Mr. Tanner sat down again.

"Mr. Tanner, his parent's were just arrested, cut him some slack-"

"Miss Liu, please take your seat."

I followed Sydney to the front row and sat down between her and Chloe.

"I saw your name on the news." Chloe smirked.

"It wasn't my name." I said.

"Well, it was your last name." Chloe laughed.

"There's nothing funny about it, I did nothing wrong, it just so happened that-"

"Alright class, today we have a new student, Jayden Davis, as many of you may know, his parents were on the news for robbing a bank." Mr. Tanner explained.

I couldn't take it. I raised my hand and waited.

"Yes, Mr. Davis?"

"May I be excused." I asked.

"Alone of course not, Miss Levington, please escort him to the restroom." Mr. Tanner said.

"Excuse me, I'm as capable as anyone else here to go on my own." I said.

"I wasn't born yesterday, I know a murderer when I see one.�� Mr. Tanner smirked.

Sydney looked at me. "Just go along."

I sighed and stood up.

Chloe followed.

We walked past the classrooms and into the boys bathroom.

"You're not supposed to be here." I said.

"I was told to watch you." Chloe smiled.

"Get out!" I shouted.

Chloe looked offended, "I am listening to the teacher, do not question his authority."

"Actually, I think that my privacy is more important than his authority, I have rights too!" I shouted.

"Well, maybe you should've thought of that before you helped your parents." Chloe scoffed.

"Helped them, I was at Sydney's house the whole day."

Chloe laughed. "Likely story."

"I'm being serious Chloe. "I said. She was getting on my nerves.

"Is everything alright in here?"

I saw a teacher come into the bathroom.

"Miss Levington, what are you doing in here?"

"That's what I want to know." I said.

"I was, just um, I mean." Chloe stuttered.

"Go back to class."

Chloe stuck her tongue out at me and stormed off.

"Are you ok?" The teacher asked.

"Yes thank you." I sighed with relief.

"You're new here, aren't you." The teacher smiled.

"Yeah, I am." I said.

"Jay Davis, right?"

"Yes." I said ashamed.

"Don't look like that, you did nothing wrong, the principal noticed and set up an assembly to talk about bullying."

"That sounds great." I smiled.

"Well, you better hurry." The teacher walked off.

At least I wasn't hated by everyone. I knew this would be a hard year. I spent the first month's at my old school, and now I had to endure the torture of being the new kid. This would be one heck of a year, but I had to push through. But my past was too hard to forget. Would this trigger any of those memories?

(Bianca)

As I sat there in class doing absolutely nothing, I thought about what my grandmother said. The words deja vu kept popping up in my head.

My grandma has been through the exact same things I had been through. I thought about what my grandma had said before. Stop worrying. But the more I told myself to stop the more I worried.

"Miss Jefferson, are you listening to me?"

I quickly sat up but knocked down my pencil box in the process. "Yes Ma'am." I stuttered.

"Ok, can you answer my question?" My teacher asked.

"I um, well." I gulped as I tried to figure out what she was talking about.

"This class, is a good example of having your head in the clouds."

I suddenly remembered what we were talking about, procrastinating.

"Now, time for sharing circles."

One of the boys raised his hands. "We're not five."

"It's good to learn more about each other, so everyone get into groups of five." My teacher instructed.

I, however, didn't move.

"Bianca, why don't you join Nick over there."

I looked up at my teacher, my eyes showing that I didn't want to go.

She took my hand and pulled me over to Nick and his group of idiots.

"Well look who we have here, the fangirl." Nick laughed.

I smiled and waved trying not to be rude.

"Come join us." Elliot smiled.

He was the only other person there that I would actually talk to.

He was kind and gentle and put everyone in a great mood.

I took a seat next to Elliot who smiled at me.

"Don't worry, I hate it here too." Elliot whispered.

I laughed, even though his comment wasn't that funny.

Nick looked at me like I was some weirdo, but he did that to everyone so I guess it didn't matter.

"So, does anyone have anything to share?" Elliot asked.

"I do," Nick smirked. "Yesterday, I kicked some homeless guy off my property and told him to go kill himself."

Everyone except Elliot and I laughed.

"That's not funny, that's mean." I snapped. "You could've at least given him food."

"That's his problem." Nick said.

"But you still should-"

"Bianca, do you have anything important to say, you've been talking a lot about that kid on the news lately." Nick said. "You know, the one who robbed the bank."

"I heard he went to some secondary school near Robin's house." One of Nick's friends said.

I wonder how he's doing, better go check after school.

"Anyways, Bianca what's with you and that kid, do you have a crush on him or something?" Nick asked.

"Oh leave her alone." Elliot groaned. "They're only friends.

"Only friends." Nick said in a mocking tone. "And besides, how would you know?"

"You met last year, remember, I invited you two to bowling." I said.

"That's right." Elliot laughed.

I sighed remembering the good days when Jay was more happy.

Now he seemed more irritable and annoyed.

After school I rushed home as fast as I could. I was hoping that I would reach my house before my mom went to her party so she could drive me to Sydney's house. I unlocked the door and rushed into the house. "Mom!" I shouted.

"Bianca Jefferson, can you please be quiet?" My mom said.

"But mom."

"Bianca." My mom raised her finger to her lips.

I nodded and waited for her to put down the phone.

"Yep, that sounds good, ok see you in a couple minutes." My mom placed down her phone.

"Who was it?" I asked.

"Sydney's mother, get into the car."

I trotted over to the garage and hopped into my Civic. "Where are we going?"

"We've been invited to Sydney's house for dinner."

"Oh, that sounds great." I said.

As we drove, I thought I saw Jay walking home. But Sydney's house was the opposite direction.

I asked my mom to stop and rolled down the window. "Jay, wait!"

Jay turned around and saw me. He turned and ran down the road.

"Mom, wait for me here." I said.

"I'm not going to let you run after him alone, young lady." My mom argued.

I ignored her and ran after Jay. "Jay, wait." I said.

He wasn't fast so it was easy to catch up to him.

Jay saw me and turned on the closest street.

I chased after him still trying to get him to stop. "Jay, where are you going?"

"Home!" He shouted back.

I got close enough to grab his arm.

Jay was pulled to the ground. He lay there on the sidewalk looking up into the sky.

"Home is the other direction." I said.

"That's not my real home." Jay cried. "Nobody understands anything, everyone assumes that I'm evil, that I'm a monster."

"What, that's not true." I said.

"Why do you think sales went down for my stories? '' People are throwing out my books too, I saw one fly out of a garbage truck."

"Jay, listen to yourself, don't you think you're acting unreasonable?" I asked.

"Rachelle and Chloe came over to Sydney's house to show the new book that they published, I read it, they took my style of writing and used it for their own personal gain." Jay cried.

"Jay, listen, you need to calm down."

"Calm down?" Jay said. "I'm done, don't follow me." Jay stood up and walked off leaving his bag on the ground.

"Jay, don't leave." I begged.

"I never should've asked for you help that night, it only made things worse."

That last comment hurt. It tore my heart open. I wondered what was in his bag, was it important? I opened Jay's bag and found his early draft of Black Mist torn to pieces.

"Jay, no." I said to myself. I collapsed onto the ground crying. He had completely given up. His self esteem was

I heard a car pull up behind me. "Bianca, did you find Jay?"

It was Sydney and my mom.

I stood up and immediately fell into my mom's arms.

"What's wrong, where's Jay?" Sydney asked.

"He's gone." I cried.

Sydney looked at my hand. "Isn't that."

"It's destroyed." I said, tears still rolling down my cheeks.

"What, destroyed?" Sydney gasped.

"He, he's changed." I said softly.

"No, we need to find him." Sydney said.

"It's too late." I sighed.

"Where did he run off to?"

I pointed down the street hoping that Sydney wouldn't go but I wasn't going to not answer.

Sydney bolted down the street.

"Sydney, honey." My mom called.

"Tell my mom if I'm not home by seven to call the police!" Sydney called.

"I'll go after her." I sighed, wiping the tears off my face.

"Bianca, I forbid you to go out on your own." My mom said.

"Please mom, Jay's out there alone, he needs me." I said.

My mom paused like she was thinking. "Bianca, in the car."

I wanted to help my friend so I ignored her again and ran after Sydney."

"Bianca Jefferson, you are in big trouble."

I kept running. I didn't know where but I followed Sydney.

She took me to an abandoned house which I recognized immediately.

It was Jay's house. I knocked on the door to see if he was home.

"Thank god his house was so close to us." Sydney said.

I was so transfixed on finding Jay that I blocked out all sounds. I saw somebody in the window. "He's here."

Sydney pounded on the door. "Jay, where are you?"

"Go away!" I heard Jay's voice.

"How did you even get in?" Sydney asked.

"Nobody changed the locks." Jay said.

"Please let us in?" I said.

"I guess since you're not going to leave." Jay unlocked the purple door and opened it. "What do you want?"

"Come home." Sydney said.

"No, my home is here, I shouldn't even be alive." Jay said.

"Jay, that's not true."

"I was adopted ok, my real parents left me to die."

"I, I didn't know-"

Jay cut Sydney off with a shout of annoyance.

"My real parents just left me, I sat on the street alone for five years." I said.

"Jay, that's horrible." I said.

"Bianca, do you know why I was so quiet when we first met?" Jay asked.

"I didn't know then, but I know now-"

"No you don't, I was abused as a child. That's why I didn't go to your swimming party, so you wouldn't see all the scars I got from being whipped." Jay snapped.

"Jay, you need to overcome that." Sydney said. "Let me help-"

Have you ever had a gun pointed at your head?" Jay asked.

"No, but-"

"I have, my dad drank a lot and was crazy, he kept a pistol in the drawer in his room." Jay said.

"Jay, listen I know how you feel but-"

"You do not know how I feel, I almost died once, I got shot in the chest while I was being threatened by my father."

"Jay, come back home." Sydney said.

"I'm never leaving here, I would rather rot and die." Jay cried out.

(Rachelle)

As I sat alone in my room holding the finished copy of The Book of Magic, I thought about Jay. He was an interesting person. I flipped through the pages of my masterpiece. I had made about one hundred fifteen pounds in a day. No wonder Jay did this.

I heard a knock on my door, I thought it might be Chloe so I opened it.

Nope, not Chloe. It was Sydney and she looked mad.

"Sydney." I said, I was not happy to see her.

"You need to take down your book, now." Sydney said.

"Why, have you seen the sales." I said half mockingly but half serious.

"Do you know how Jay is feeling?" Sydney asked.

"Crushed, defeated?" I said.

"Exactly." Sydney said.

"Wow, it worked." I laughed.

"I can't believe you, do you know what Jay is going through?" Sydney asked.

"He was the one who rejected me, he got what he deserved." I said crossing my arms.

"He was abused as a child, ok, he didn't want to hurt you cause he knew it would crush you and he knew how that felt." Sydney said.

"He probably was lying about that." I said.

"He showed us his scars, they were all red and stuff, he had a bullet hole in his chest."

There was no possible way Jay was abused like that. "Yeah right."

"Just stop, he's been through more than you've ever been."

"Excuse me, I am your friend and I deserve better than perfect little Jay cause I'm a beautiful girl." I said.

"That means nothing." Sydney said. "Rachelle, you need to be more understanding."

"I suffer from depression and anxiety because of what he's done."

"Ok first of all, don't overreact and second, did a doctor diagnose that?" Sydney asked.

"Sydney, I can't believe you." I said.

"Just, give Jay a chance ok?" Sydney left me alone in my bedroom. She was crazy, right?

I messaged our choir group chat.

Everyone had been talking about Jay and what happened with his parents.

"Was he a bad person." Joel had asked.

"Probably, I mean the kids get influence from the parents." Faith had answered.

"I should've seen this coming, I can't believe I stood in front of him." Mia had said.

I smiled to myself.

Four days later, I found myself in choir.

"Ok choir, I know that the past few days have been hard, but everyone be kind to Jay." Ms. Garcia said.

Everyone looked to Jay who was sitting alone in the corner of the room.

"Anyways, everyone let us start in our pieces."

The choir began singing but we were interrupted by Jay who was screaming. It sounded like he was pleading but there was nothing there.

Ms. Garcia walked over to Jay. "What's wrong-"

"Get away, please he'll kill you."

Everyone in the room was confused.

"Jayden, are you alright?" Ms. Garcia asked.

"No, please don't hurt me." Jay cried.

Some of the kids were laughing but Bianca shushed them.

"He looks sleep deprived." Chloe noted.

"Yeah, look at the bags under his eyes." Mia said.

Jay rolled into a ball still screaming. He pulled up his shirt revealing scars all over his back.

Everyone gasped except for Sydney and Bianca.

Jay looked like he was in a lot of pain but nothing was hurting him.

"Jay, are you ok?" Ms. Garcia asked again.

"What happened to his back?" Talia asked.

Sydney jumped off the risers and ran towards Jay. "Jay, it's ok I'm here."

Jay shouted as Sydney ran her fingers through his hair.

I was so confused, how could this happen. This made me seem evil now that everyone knew what I was planning on doing.

Chloe nudged me. "This is perfect, people are starting to think he's insane."

I felt so guilty but I knew that he didn't want to see me so I couldn't help.

"It's all my fault, I should've never had trusted you Bianca." Jay screamed.

I saw as Sydney's mom ran into the room.

Bianca hid her face from view.

Jay struggled as he was carried out of the room.

Ms. Garcia shrugged, let's take a small break.

I saw Bianca and Sydney both sitting in the corner just talking.

I walked over to them. I was wondering what Jay had meant by "I should've never trusted you." But I didn't really know what to think.

"Bianca, listen I know that-"

"Please, leave us alone." Bianca said.

"Please guys, just tell me." I begged.

"You contributed to some of his stress." Bianca said. "You're so self absorbed."

"Excuse me, you are such a fangirl." I said. "You two are made for each other."

Bianca blushed. "I, what, no!"

Sydney winced. "She got you there."

"What, that's not true." Bianca argued.

I laughed but was stopped by Sydney.

"Listen, Jay was hallucinating ok, just leave him alone." Sydney said.

Jay was so troubled, but he never told anyone. Maybe he didn't want anyone to know. But he was always so happy, why did he suddenly snap. Was it my fault? No it couldn't have been. I was the nice one and was never unreasonable. He was the one who shouldn't have said yes in the first place. But was I to blame, maybe he was just too shy to tell me. No, that can't be it.

"Rachelle, time for dinner." My mother called.

I gulped and walked down the stairs.

My mom walked into the room holding apan of my favorite dish, macaroni and cheese.

"I thought that we would celebrate the launch of your new book." My father said.

"We are so proud of you." My mother smiled.

"Thanks mom, I really appreciate it." I said happily.

"No problem, what are moms for."

I laughed, "This I guess."

"Did you see that Jay kid?" My father asked.

"Yes, he seemed quite troubled."

"Poor kid." I heard my father say softly.

Poor kid? I thought Does he even know what Jay did to me?

"David, what did you say?" My mother asked. "I told you that he hurt Rachelle's feelings, she's your daughter, whose side are you on?"

"Rachelle has been through nothing compared to him." My father said.

"She deserves more than him, she is a lady and should be treated with respect."

"At what cost?" My father asked. "Hurting him won't fix your problems, our daughter needs to learn that."

I couldn't believe it, my dad was betraying me, whose side was he on. "Jay is a mother-"

"Watch your language young lady." My father snapped.

"But father-"

"Go to your room, bring your dinner up there." My mother said. "Your father and I need to have a chat."

I was worried that they would kill each other, it has happened before. As I ate on my desk I thought about what my father and mother were arguing about.

Was father right about Jay?

I didn't care. I knew that I was right, but I had an inkling that I was wrong. It was probably nothing though.

The next day at school, I sat with my friends. I was just sitting there listening to the teacher ranting on about history and stuff. It was rather boring.

Finally lunch came around.

I ate my lunch listening to my friends talk about fashion and all that stuff which I found boring. I was never able to relate to them.

"My mom read your book," My friend Kya said.

"Oh really, did she like it?" I asked politely.

"No, she said that the book that your other friend, Beyoncé or something recommended was better." Kya laughed.

I gritted my teeth, Jay wouldn't leave me alone.

"Are you ok?" Kya asked.

"First of all, her name is Bianca," I said. "Second how is my book so bad?"

"Well, it feels like you didn't put any effort into it," Kya winced, waiting for me to react.

"You monster, I would kill you if you weren't my best friend," I grunted.

"Chill Rachelle, I didn't say that I thought that, it was my mom," Kya said.

"Your mom is an idiot for thinking that," I didn't really believe that, but I was so frustrated with Kya.

"I thought you liked my mom," Kya sighed.

"Oh, have you seen that Jay dude yet?" Another one of my friends asked.

"I did, but there's something wrong with him," I told them.

"What?" Kya asked.

"He seems to be hallucinating," I said.

"That sucks, he always seemed so nice," Kya sighed.

"He is a jerk, he doesn't care about anybody but himself."