Another Love ─── L. Castellan

xxv. maybe i should stay away from explosives

My mom had complained to the school a million times that they weren't doing enough to help him. She'd called social services, but nothing ever seemed to happen. The social workers claimed Tyson didn't exist. They swore up and down that they'd visited the alley we described and couldn't find him, though how you miss a giant kid living in a refrigerator box, I don't know.

Tyson was only in eighth grade and was trembling as five twelfth graders surrounded him, leering over him before I arrived. 

"Sloan! Away," I yelled, like the boy was a dog. 

Technically all men were (my boyfriend not included).

"Ah, Andromeda, darling," I glared at him, before reaching down to help Tyson to his feet. "Come on, we were only a having a nice little talk. Don't be like that, sweetheart."

"Come any closer to me, Sloan, and I'll stab you with a pencil. Clear?" His friends oohed, as Sloan chuckled.

"My girl's got a little fight in her!"

"I am not your girl, Sloan. I've already told you this multiple times before, what doesn't you thick head understand?" I asked. "Come on, Tyson."

The tall eighth grader, who was teary eyed, followed me through the twelfth graders and back over to my table in the library, where I was attempting to study before PE.

"You have to stand up for yourself, Tyson, especially against Sloan,"

"'m sorry, Romy," Tyson mumbled, wiping his eyes as I sighed. 

"It's alright, Tyson," I smiled, before looking at the time. "I've got to go for PE but after school you can come and grab ice cream with me and mum, yeah?"

"Yeah," He nodded, as I grabbed my bag and began towards the locker room. Sloan was waiting for me, and I sighed.

"What do you want?"

"For you to go on a date with me," He grinned, slicking back his hair further as I glared in disgust. "Come on, Andromeda, you know you want all of this."

"For your information, I already have someone who tops all of...whatever that is," I pulled a face as I gestured to Sloan. "He's intelligent, kind and hot. All of which, you aren't."

"Your imaginary boyfriend?" He laughed. "Look, I know you're just playing hard to get. You want me."

"The only thing that's imaginary are pleasant feelings from me to you. Move," I slammed past him, closing the door to the girl's locker room as I rubbed my temples to push past the migraine. Only a few more hours and then I was gone, home free.

I changed quickly. The gym uniform at Meriwether is sky blue shorts and tie-dyed T-shirts which could have been worse. I wished that I was able to avoid Sloan, but the school didn't want to help, so I was kind of stuck.

When we got into the gym, Coach Nunley was sitting at his little desk reading Sports Illustrated. Nunley was about a million years old, with bifocals and no teeth and a greasy wave of grey hair.

Matt Sloan said, "Coach, can I be captain?"

"Eh?" Coach Nunley looked up from his magazine. "Yeah," he mumbled. "Mm-hmm."

Sloan grinned and took charge of the picking. He made me the other team's captain, but it didn't matter who I picked, because all the jocks and the popular kids moved over to Sloan's side. So did the big group of visitors that I hadn't clocked before.

I took everyone else.

Matt Sloan spilled a cage full of balls in the middle of the gym and I loosened up my joints, knowing that Sloan and his entire friendship group were going to target me as if that would make me like him.