Free The Suicide Club by Rhys Thomas

academia. He was funny, but not like a clown, nice, but not overly nice, serious when he wanted to be, and stupid when he wanted to be.
    Two weeks had passed and it was the night of the Halloween party. History class had just ended and as we filed out I pushed ahead of a few kids because I wanted to talk to Craig. I caught up with him and grabbed hold of his arm.
    â€˜Hey,’ I said.
    â€˜Oh,’ he sighed when he saw me, though his facial expression didn’t change.
    â€˜That party’s tonight. I can call for you at about seven.’
    â€˜I’m not going.’
    â€˜What? Not going? What are you talking about?’
    I really wanted him to go. The past two weeks must have been awful for Craig. Everybody was talking about him and some of the more teenagerish kids had said some disgraceful things. If you ask me, he should never have been allowed back to school – not with all those
teenagers
. We can be nasty creatures when provoked. And a suicide attempt counts as provocation. But not for me. My heart went out to him and I was sure I could feel a bond burning to life between us. The golden rope that would join us was translucent at the moment and I needed it to solidify. Which meant making some sort of connection with Craig.
    â€˜I don’t want to go. But thanks for asking, it’s really kind of you,’ he said. His voice was flat; there was no meaning behind his words. Even his eyes were still glazed. This boy was a mess.
    â€˜I’m coming over to your house at seven o’clock, right? I’m not going to make you go to the party, but I just want you to know that I really want to go. And if you don’t go, I don’t go. And I wouldn’t think that you were that selfish.’ I was treading on eggshells.
    Craig just looked at the floor when I said this. Still no connection.
    â€˜Rich!’ somebody called from behind. It was Freddy. His hair was flopping in front of his face but not like a goth.
    â€˜Freddy, will you tell Craig that he has to come to this party tonight?’
    Freddy looked at Craig with quite realistic seriousness.
    â€˜Do you want to go?’
    â€˜Not really.’
    â€˜You do what you want.’ He took a step closer to Craig. ‘Are you OK?’
    I really hoped that Freddy wouldn’t swan in and make the connection that I had been working towards. That would have been unbearable – it was me who was the most concerned. Genuinely.
    But he didn’t. Craig just shrugged.
    All of a sudden one of the kids in the year above noticed Craig. An American kid, which was the worst part.
    â€˜Hey, Craig. Craig!’ Craig looked up. ‘Way to try and kill yourself, man.’ And then he started laughing. One of his friends actually high-fived him. Which I thought was just plain ridiculous. We high-fived ironically but the American kids did it for real because Americans can be like that sometimes.
    I felt disgusted at the remark. I took a step towards them, when something happened that I didn’t expect.
    Freddy got involved.
    â€˜Hey,’ he called.
    The corridor was jam-packed and the American kid, who was a big boy, didn’t hear Freddy.
    â€˜Hey,’ he called again. ‘Fuck-face.’
    This time the American stopped. I swear I saw his ears twitch. He turned back to Freddy. He didn’t look angry or anything – I think he was more shocked.
    â€˜Take that back,’ said Freddy. I was right on his shoulder.
    â€˜Take what back?’
    â€˜Take it back or I’m going to smack your fucking head in.’ The way he said it was chilling. In that moment I saw something genuinely
menacing
in his face, that same balled-up anger that I had. We didn’t normally let it show but when it occasionally bubbled over into the real world it was unsettling. Something in the darker places of me was glad to see this aspect of him. Knowing that Freddy had this side to himmeant one thing – he really was