Oh Boy! (BL)

4 - He Protects (3/3)

The next morning came sooner than I'd been hoping for. Morning equaled school, school equaled Thunderbirds. Thunderbirds equaled... I didn't wanna go there. I felt sick only thinking about meeting one of them in the hallway. At seventy-three degrees, wearing my black hoodie was definitely too warm, but I felt exposed wearing anything else. It was my shield, my iron armor, the coat hiding old and new scars. It protected me.

With my mind being absent, I could hardly follow anything that was being discussed in class; and since I had abandoned my backpack inside the locker room, I couldn't even look up what we'd learned today since most of my study books were in it. I'd have to make up a plan to get it back. Someday.

Not today.

I was on guard, expecting the boogie man behind every corner, in each classroom, and I clung to my black armor made of polyester. That nothing happened was almost worse than if anything had happened. But when I left for work after school, none of the Thunderbirds had approached me. It was as if the whole team had been swallowed by a black hole.

So, I went to work with a false sense of security. Matt froze momentarily when seeing my bruised face, but the look in my eyes must've told him to let it go. And he did. It was already getting quieter in the store this afternoon when Matt asked me to fill up the free space in the bookshelves. He eyed me with a suspicious gaze because he knew something was wrong. But he didn't ask, and I didn't confess.

I was almost done unpacking my third box full of books when a shadow fell over me.

"Hey."

The novel fell from my hands before I got the chance to put it on its shelf. While my entire body was paralyzed, it fell to the ground with a muffled sound. Feeling like the actor in a bad movie, I watched how Clay kneeled down next to me and took the book in his hand. "Tolkien." He turned the book around, carefully studying the dark cover of The Hobbit. "Never got the chance to read it." He smirked when turning his eyes from the novel to put them on me instead.

I had no idea what he was up to, whether he was here to silence me or whether it was sheer coincidence that he was here. The only thing I could do was stare at him with a terrified gaze.

When I didn't correspond to his book talk, Clay turned and put the book on the shelf.

I watched him do whatever he did, wondering what he would do next. Surely, he wasn't here to casually chat about Bilbo Baggins.

He didn't do a thing. Clay just kept looking at me with his cool grey eyes and I stared back at him, his sun-kissed face, the straight brows, and his unruly auburn hair. I noticed that the ceiling lights reflected in the three silver rings in his left ear but left the matte pin in his lobe untouched.

In the end, he was the one breaking the silence. "Kenji...what my boys did to you on Friday..."

Abruptly, I jumped to my feet and turned away – my flight instinct got triggered. I didn't wanna listen to him. Hell, I couldn't listen to him. Not if my body kept telling me to run.

"Wait!" Clay yelled and grabbed my arm. He was not the one who'd hurt me. In fact, he was the one who'd saved me. I knew that, but still, I yelped when he touched my skin. Helplessly, I tore my arm out of his grasp and held it to my chest. Cold sweat was breaking out on my forehead, my breathing quickened.

I wanted to scream.

"Sorry." Clay held up his hands and slowly made a step back. "Sorry. Please, I won't hurt you. I promise."

That's what he said, but I couldn't believe it.

I was certain that he was here to silence me. To prevent me from spreading what had happened inside the locker room. He didn't need to. Nobody would believe me anyway.