adora • lookism

7. Cafeteria

Immediately, she heard the clatter of at least one other chair falling back. From the corner of her eye, she could see Jay jumping to his feet as the shock faded and he realized what had just happened.

"Fuck, this pig can't see where the fuck he's going," a guy in sunglasses said, coming closer. He kicked the plumper boy away and crouched in front of her. "You good?"

At his words, the pain from her legs and her banged hip and elbow flooded in. Ari hid her face under the curtain of her hair, a whine beginning to rise in her throat.

"Oh shit, are you crying?" The guy in sunglasses reached out to grab her shoulder, trying to see her face better to check.

Before his fingers could touch even the corner of her clothes, another hand smacked him away. Jay's familiar sleeve came into view, curving around her protectively. There was no way he'd run around the long cafeteria table that fast; he must have leapt over it.

From above her head, to her left, she heard a furious voice snarl, "Hobin Jin, why the fuck are you kicking people around in the cafeteria? Are you fucking crazy?"

And, from the right, "Take off your sunglasses. I'm going to punish you so you can't ever do it again."

"Ari, are you okay?" Daniel asked as soon as he arrived, panting a bit from having run over from the other side of the cafeteria. From one hand hung the sweater he had been wearing, which he quickly put over Ari's lap so that no one could see under her skirt. "Is anything broken?"

Zoe, having arrived with him, immediately knelt down to arrange the sweater to cover everything better. "Does it hurt a lot?" she demanded. "Should I go beat that asshole up for you?"

"Oh, it looks like it must hurt," said Mira. She also knelt on Ari's other side, her hands hovering over her leg as if unsure what to do. There was a vivid red welt beginning to form where the chair had dug in. "Can you stand or should I call the nurse over?"

To be honest the chair hadn't hit anything important---it was just that the red imprint it had made looked quite fierce against the pale skin of her calf. At most it would be a big, tender bruise, which was not nearly as severe as her classmates were making it out to be. But still Ari couldn't stop her tears, which were for the most part from the sudden shock of the pain rather than the pain itself.

A few feet away, Vasco and Zack were already beginning to round on Hobin, who looked increasingly pissed.

"It was a goddamn accident, why are you bastards all pouncing on me like that? You simping for the same chick or something?" Hobin snapped, smacking away the hand that was about to grab at his collar. "Shit, it wasn't even me that hit her, it was fucking Duke."

"Everyone saw you kick him, asshole," Zack said, menacingly. "Apologize to her properly."

"What the fuck!" Hobin Jin dodged Vasco's attempts to snatch his sunglasses away. "Hands off, you motherfucker!"

"Take off your glasses so I can scold you."

"I bet she's not even that hurt---hey, you!" Hobin called angrily, turning his head to her. "You're fine, right? Tell these fuckers that you're fine."

"I'm," Ari hiccupped, finally raising her head, "Okay."

When she looked up at him, it was through damp lashes heavy with moisture. She knew that the skin around her eyes was already flushed red, and her cheeks were awash with the tears that were trickling slowly down. Her mouth had pulled itself into a sullen pout that she couldn't straighten out no matter how much she tried.

Hobin looked at her and paused.

It would have been an excellent opportunity for either Zack or Vasco to grab him, except they were looking at her as well.

"Huh," Hobin said. "Looking at that face, I'd want to beat the crap outta me too."

Zack snapped back to attention first, and turned to him with a mean grin. "Then you won't fight back when I hit you, right? I promised not to fight, you see."

"Hey," Hobin called out, ignoring him. He walked closer to Ari, making everyone tense up, and then, when he was barely still out of Jay and Daniel's reach, leaned down towards her with both hands in his pockets. "Was it Ari? You want me to carry you to the nurse's office? These assholes are all useless, trying to pick a fight instead of actually giving you a hand."

She could feel Jay's body stiffen behind her. In the next instant, she felt arms sliding under her knees and back, lifting her up without hesitation. Zoe reacted quickly as well, rearranging Daniel's sweater over her thighs so that it was still covering her well.

"Wow, look at this bastard," said Hobin, straightening up and tilting his head back. "Is he saying hands off or something? You other suckers are falling behind, y'know."

Ari didn't pay him a single mind, more concerned with other matters.

"Jay, I can walk," she sniffled, patting his shoulder so that he'd let her down. She'd be limping a bit, but being carried through the school was a bit too embarrassing.

Unfortunately, her protests were quite summarily ignored, and Jay made his way out of the cafeteria with long strides, trailed by the terribly contrite Duke and orbited by a small retinue of worried friends.

___

[ Author's Note ]

I didn't know what to write so I just started writing and this came out by accident... BTW, whose perspective do you want to see first?

I personally think Jay's muteness is probably psychosomatic, caused by trauma or stress. :) Not to say that this condition could realistically be cured by a close friendship, but I thought it would be super cute if she was the only one he'd talk to, even though she'd understand him either way.

Vin Jin returns back to his original name of Hobin Jin because I think Vin Jin looks like a dumb name.