Ghost (First Edition)

Chapter Six

Nathan

Nathan leaned on Luis's locker the next day, glad there were no more horrible words painted on the metal. He couldn't stop going over what had happened last night. What had they been about to do before that dog started barking? Have sex? He guessed he would never know. He also couldn't get out of his head how much Luis was neglected. And that neglect and bullying didn't stop at school either. It was like Luis was a ghost. He could reach out his hand to ask a question or help, and no one would feel or see him.

No one but Nathan.

He saw Luis then, cornered by a bunch of Andy's friends who were taunting him. Nathan rushed over and caught some of what the boys were saying.

"You're useless!" One of them yelled, shoving Luis against the wall, "You shouldn't even be here! you should just go and k-"

"Hey! Leave him be!" Nathan yelled, forcing his body in between the boys and Luis. He glared at the boys. They were two times bigger and fitter than he was, but he would do anything to protect Luis.

The other boys sneered at him and laughed before leaving.

Nathan turned to Luis and bent down to be eye level with him, hands on Luis's shoulders. "Don't listen to them, don't let them inside your head. They are full of lies," he murmured.

Luis looked at him, then away. Something flashed in his eyes that Nathan couldn't place. "Alright," Luis murmured.

Nathan gave him a quick hug. "I'm here for you," he whispered. He gave Luis a small smile, "Come on now, class starts soon."

Luis gave him a small smile back and followed Nathan down the hall, sticking close to Nathan's side, their hands brushing, and causing more stares than ever before.

***

Outside, the days were warming up. Nathan sat with a tray of food at the wooden picnic table under an oak tree outside the cafeteria. Luis sat beside him, eyes sparkling with delight as he ate his lunch of lamb stew, creaming soda, and a cookie. Food he never got at home. Though he didn't tell Nathan what he was fed, Nathan guessed it wasn't much.

Luis had his math book and study sheets laid out on the table; Nathan was helping him work through the questions.

"And that is how you get the area of a square," Nathan murmured, writing down the formula in Luis's scrappy math book.

"I see," Luis said around his cookie, "It's not as hard as Ms Smith made it sound."

Nathan looked around and then kissed Luis's temple. "It's easy once you get the hang of it," he murmured.

Luis blushed at the kiss before answering some of the questions on his study sheets using the formula Nathan had written for him.

"Well done," Nathan praised, seeing Luis had gotten all the answers right.

"Do you think I will get a C+?" Luis asked, turning, and smiling at Nathan.

"I think..." Nathan mused, looking down at the sheet. All the answers were correct, "... That you could hope for a B-, how about it? You definitely passed!"

Luis beamed. "I'm glad."

Nathan smiled back at him. he loved the way Luis smiled. A light would shine in his eyes and the smile would be kind of wonky but warm...

The bell shrilled, signalling the end of lunch. Luis shoved the rest of his cookie into his mouth and went to drown his soda, Nathan stopped him.

"Andy could be blocking the toilets again, and Mr Wallus doesn't let kids go during class," Nathan warned.