Those Cold Eyes ✓

Chapter 8

He walked off.

He just left me there. Speechless. Angry. Frustrated. Confused. So fucking confused. I tried to look like I wasn't fazed; I tried to hold myself together. The last thing I needed was for someone to see what that guy did to me. He hadn't even done anything. He'd just said a couple of words, words that had been used so many times by so many people that they didn't really mean anything.

I hadn't meant them—or perhaps I had, but not in that way.

"Dylan." I heard Tyra's familiar voice as she walked closer. I couldn't seem to greet her with my usual smirk. I didn't have it in me.

"What's up?" she asked, instantly seeing that something was off. Two days, she had known me for two days and had picked up enough to read my like this. That made me smile, albeit a small one.

"Nothing really," I answered, shrugging my shoulders in something between I-don't-care and I-don't-know.

"Nothing, huh, such a big ugly lie in that pretty mouth of yours," she scolded playfully while latching on to my arm. She really was a great girl. Had I been a little less gay, I would have kissed her right there and then. I did kiss her forehead, though, which brought the sun out in her eyes.

"See, now you look much better!" she said. When I didn't respond she continued, "Do you want to hang at my place tonight? Watch a movie or something?"

"Sure, I was just about to suggest it. Can I bring a friend though?" She looked at me curiously, obviously wondering who my friend was, and why she didn't know about this.

"Of course, who?"

"Sebastian, I have to go and see if he's up for it, haven't asked him yet."

"Sebastian..." She seemed to think for a while, quirking her mouth a little to the side as if struggling to remember. "The quiet guy?" she asked, looking at me with slightly raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, any problem?"

"No, of course not. I was just a little surprised. He's so shy. I've never seen him talk to anyone."

"I'll go find him," I said and walked away.

It didn't take me long to find him, but I wasn't exactly happy when I did. He was standing in the middle of what looked to be a circle of assholes who didn't leave him any room to escape. It twisted my gut. I didn't get bullying, there really was no point to it. It was just a way for insecure teenagers to swell with an illusion of power. I hated it.

"Get lost," I said, keeping my voice a bit nonchalant but firm. One of the guys turned his head over his shoulder and looked at me mockingly.

"Yeah right, loser," he said, laughing at my attempt to stop them.

"You really think you're a bad-ass for bullying a guy half your size?" I asked, provoking him with a grin plastered across my face.

"I don't care what you think," he growled, leaving the group to stand in front of me.

"What's happening here?" The shrill voice came as a welcome interruption. I didn't think I would ever be happy to see our very insufferable chemistry teacher, but here I was, changing my mind. "Clear off boys, leave poor Sebastian alone." She looked at me pointedly, clearly thinking that I was one of the aggressors.

I met her stare, refusing to let her judge me just based on what she saw. As the others went, we stayed behind and that just made her glare harder. I felt like laughing in her face, but teachers tended to dislike that.

"Come on Dylan, let's go," Sebastian said, lightly nudging my arm. I noticed Ms. Denton's surprise and smirked at her before walking off.

"I was looking for you, was going to ask if you want to hang with me and Tyra tonight, maybe watch a movie, eat some snacks?"