A/N: WOOO! She's FINALLY off her writers block! Ok I'll put most of my AN down below the chapter so you can get to reading.

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed...I still don't have enough money in my piggy bank to buy Nickelodeon.

Chapter 3

Wake Me Up

"Are you ok Drake? You've been acting funny." Josh asked his brother nervously. Both brothers were walking to Science class together.

Drake sighed..."I'm fine Josh."

"Ok but you don't look fine. I mean forget bags, your packing crates under your eyes! Have you been getting enough sleep?"

Drake was growing tired of his brother's constant nagging. This was his battle, not Josh's. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Look if you don't want to talk about it that's fine" Josh replied, sounding like it was not in the least bit fine.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Drake retorted, very annoyed now. He looked over at his brother, Josh almost seemed hurt. "Anyways," Drake attempted to lighten the mood. "We're just in time for yet another wonderful lesson on fungi spores."

It worked, Josh laughed and both boy's took their seats in Science class.

"That's my ball! Give it back!"

Yet another fight had broken out among the 12 kindergartners in her Day Care Classroom Center. Mrs. Plumfield sighed and went to go see what the trouble was. Or rather who it was. There were three little boys and one girl in her class that seemed to be the cause of most classroom disputes.

"Miss Plumfield! Miss Plumfield! Drake stole my ball! I was playing with it first!"

Ah. And so it seemed to be one of her regulars.

"Ah ha! I got it!" And so she had. Little Maggie had pulled the ball away from Drake. He stood there with a surprised look on his face. Maggie then, seeing her open shot, reached forward and pushed the boy down. Drake flailed his arms wildly then fell to the floor with a thump, hitting his back on a pile of balls. Then, to Mrs. Plumfield's great surprise, he began to cry. Mrs. Plumfield had never seen this little boy cry before. She immediately took action.

"Maggie! You don't push. You know you aren't supposed to push other kids. Now go sit in time out while I deal with Drake."

Maggie grinned wide at making her tormentor cry and then stalked off to the time out chair, not the least bit bothered with her punishment.

Drake was still crying when Mrs. Plumfield turned back to him. "Come on Drake...was it really that bad?" She reached to pick him up but he flinched. She slowed her movements and tried again, managing to pick him up and carry him to a couch. The 6 year old just sat there sobbing loudly. "Drake, want me to take a look at your back? Maybe I can make it feel better." Kisses always make pain heal, every kindergarten teacher knows that.

Drake quickly shook his head, his shaggy brown hair flopping back and forth over his reddened eyes. "Ok then." The teacher replied. "What can I do to make it feel better?"

The little boy thought this over for a moment. "Maybe a cookie would help, just a tiny bit though."

Mrs. Plumfield grinned. "A cookie it is then." She left and then returned a few moments later with two cookies, one for him and one for her. Tears had stopped by now and both teacher and child sat together on the couch enjoying a treat. The room was filled with screams and giggles and other such sounds that children make, but in that corner all was silent. Drake sat there licking the final crumbs of the cookie off his hand. Then he spoke up.

"Mrs. Plumfield?"

"Yes Drake?"

"Are you gonna tell my daddy about me stealing Maggie's ball?"

Mrs. Plumfield was a bit surprised by that and had to consider her answer a moment. If she answered yes then he may start to crying again but if she answered no that really wouldn't be fair to Maggie. "Why do you ask Drake?"

The next words that came out of the little boys mouth startled her. They were almost so quiet she could barely hear them.

"'Cause I don't wanna get whipped again."

He looked at his hands and twiddled his little thumbs in his lap. She carefully grasped his chin and tilted his head upward so he could look into his eyes. That's when she saw it. Peeking out of the collar of his shirt was a red hot welt. Her eyes narrowed and she immediately took action. "Drake honey can we go into the bathroom for a few minutes?" Without waiting for a reply she scooped the little boy up and carried him across the room. She quickly nodded at Hannah, her teacher's aide, to take over.

Drake was working himself into a panic the entire time. What did he say wrong? What did he do? Why was she dragging him into the bathroom? He didn't have to go potty.

In the single bathroom she sat down on a stool so she could look him in the eye. "Now Drake...I need to ask you to take your shirt off." The boy quickly shook his head as before and tugged down at the bottom of his shirt. "Please Drake, I just need to see if I can get something to help your ouchies." ((A/N: I have a peeve against the word boo-boos. I don't know why but it just bugs me.))

Drake thought about this for a moment and then nodded and lifted his hands in the air so she could pull the shirt off. Mrs. Plumfield tried to be as careful as she could but even still Drake shut his eyes tight and grimaced in pain.

When the shirt was completely off she gasped and almost fell off her stool in pure shock and horror. The little boy's upper torso was covered in welts and bruises. No wonder he had cried. "Oh dear, hold on...let me get something out of the cabinet to put on your back. It will make you feel better, I promise." Drake nodded. He was relieved to get anything that would help with the pain.

Mrs. Plumfield quickly got a bottle of salve out of the cabinet under the sink. She then gently turned the little boy in front of her around and proceeded to spread it over his wounds.

When she was done Drake smiled at her. She was right, it certainly did help with the pain. "Thank you Mrs. Plumfield." He said, genuinely grateful. That is when the kind hearted teacher began to cry. Drake didn't understand why and gently put a hand on her knee. That only made her cry all the more. It was freaking the little boy out a little. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

She looked him in the eyes and tried to dig to the depths of his soul before replying.

"I'm so, so, sorry."

She then stood up, helped Drake get his shirt back on, and looked in the mirror to make sure there were no more tear residues.

"Go on out and play ok. Don't get into any more fights with Maggie, I'm sure Hannah has let her out of time out by now. I'm gonna go into my office for awhile. I need to make a call."

Drake quickly tugged on her shirt and looked up at her. "Your not gonna go call my daddy are you?"

The teachers eyes grew dark and filled with malice. "No...I will not be calling your daddy." She then briskly walked away.

Three hours later young Drake Parker was crying in the back of a red Sudan. It was taking him to his new foster family. He didn't want a new family though...he wanted his mommy.

His mommy had cried and screamed when they took him away...her voice echoed in his brain, playing over and over again like a broken record. "Nooooo! Not my baby please! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Noooooooooooo!" cried Drake Parker as he woke up with a start. They couldn't take him away, they just couldn't.

That's when he realized he wasn't alone and he wasn't in a car. Heck, he wasn't 6 years old, he was 16. And he was in Science class.

Everyone in the room was staring at him perplexedly. Especially the teacher. "Is there anything you would like to tell us Mr. Parker?"

Drake shook his head. "Bad dream." He answered simply.

"Well please try and refrain from falling asleep in my class. Everyone please turn back to the board." The Science teacher went on with his lecture on spore bearing fungi and Drake sighed and rubbed his sleepy eyes.

A few moments later he felt a tap on his shoulder as a note was passed from Josh to him.

Drake.

Bad dream my butt. We are talking after school.

Josh

"Shit."

A/N: Ok I know it really was a bad dream but...well...that just seemed the right thing to write. I hope you all liked it. Oh yea and by the way, I am going to camp next week, so don't expect any chapters till I get back. I'm still trying to convince my mom to let me take my laptop on the long car ride down there. If I succeed you may have another chapter in a week and a half. Thank you SO SO SO much to everyone who reviewed, sorry I can't reply to all of them right now. Sorry to my Beta JanetBanana who didn't get to beta this chappy because I had to get it out so soon! Love you all!