New beginnings (boyxboy)✔

N.B 11

He coughed incessantly, still clutching his chest. It looked like I had hit a soft spot.

I closed my locker then. I touched my jaw. It still stung. I knew it was going to leave a mark and though I might not get into trouble with the school, I was going to get into trouble with my uncle. He would come to the conclusion even before I said anything that I had provoked whoever had done it, that I had been looking for it.

I grabbed my bag and headed to the door, the main door of the building. I was getting out of there.

Rainier's POV

"And? What did you do?"

"Rainier got the book from him".

"That Jerk. Didn't his mom teach him not to steal?"

"To think I liked him!"

"I knew something what wrong with him from the start. Anyone who hangs with those dimwits has a few missing brain cells".

"What are you going to do about it?" Jordan interrupted Julie and Jasmine's monopoly. He was looking at me.

We were sitting at the cafeteria at our usual table. Julie had just told the group what had happened in the hallway. As with every piece of information, Julie and Jasmine had monopolized the conversation between the two of them.

"Report him of course", Julie said.

"Technically, taking someone's book isn't a breakage of the rules", Jordan said.

"Correction, he didn't take it. He stole it", Julie said.

"Still love, Bradford will just say no harm done", Jordan said.

"No harm done? We spent time looking for it. He caused my brother distress. Maybe you didn't hear me properly. I said drawing notebook. He was going to take credit for Rainier's work. If you sold those drawings you could make a fortune! If that's not harm then..." Julie said.

Jordan cut into Julie's exaggeration.

"Love, I am not fighting with you here", he said. "I am not saying no harm was done, I'm just telling you how Bradford will see it".

"Well I am going to make sure he doesn't see it that way!" Julie said. "When do you want to go Rainier?"

I expired loudly. "I'm not going to report him".

"What? Don't listen to Jordan!" Julie said. Jasmine nodded. Jordan was just surprised Julie mentioned him.

"It's not because of what Jordan said", I said.

Julie was surprised. "What is it then? Rainier you can't..."

"Julie! Let the guy speak", Anthony said.

Julie huffed, but I saw her shoulders relax. Everyone's attention was on me.

"It's not worthwhile reporting Ryan. I have my book back, in one piece", I said.

"What if he's made copies?" Jasmine asked.

"Guys look, Julie I love you, but you exaggerate a lot. My drawings aren't all that great. You couldn't get much on them. You probably can't even sell them. We foiled Ryan's plan. Let's leave it at that".

"Rainier you can't just let him..." Julie opened her piehole.

"Juliette, that's it. End of discussion", I said.

Julie wasn't pleased, but she let it go. I focused on my food then, and slowly the chatter that had been going on before Julie and I came resumed.

I zoned in and out of the discussion. When my mind wasn't on the conversation, I was thinking of Ryan. That morning I had decided I was going to apologize to him for accusing him of trying to rape me. I felt really bad about the accusation. I was embarrassed by how I'd acted. I had acted like a little kid. I was wary of him, but I didn't want there to be bad blood between us. I just wanted things to go back to how they were. Not quite. I just wanted us to be friendly with each other, and that was it.

I didn't get a chance to do it in the morning because of the spot test in chemistry class, so I decided I would do it during lunch. During third period I realized my notebook was missing. At first I hadn't thought much of it, but when a thorough search yielded nothing, I panicked. I treasured that book. It had my drawings and my thoughts in it. I couldn't imagine being without it, being unable to read what seemed to have been written ages ago. It was therapeutic for me.

I shuddered at the thought of someone reading my thoughts, my inner turmoil. The book may not have been a true diary, but it contained personal thoughts that had bubbled out of me when the inside was too full to contain them.

Julie helped me search. We retraced our steps. I remembered seeing it in chemistry class the last time. We went there but couldn't find it.

Thoughts about creating a missing poster ran around my head when Julie and I passed by the lockers. At that moment I didn't think someone had stolen it. I thought I had lost it. What I heard when we passed Jesse and Ryan hit me like a rock. I hadn't even seen the book until I heard my name.

But then I saw it, nestled in Ryan's hands. I knew it from far. I knew what Ryan had in his hands was my book. I felt like I had just been kicked. There I was, standing next to the person who'd stolen my book and was planning on claiming my drawings, the same person I had been planning on apologizing to.

At that moment I felt like kicking him until he clutched his legs, bleeding. How dare he take my stuff and pretend it was his? He had no idea how much time I put into my drawings. He had no idea how much it took for me to write some of the things that were in that book.

I hated him! I didn't hate him. Hate was like love. You didn't just hate a person. I wanted to, but I couldn't. I didn't want to report him because I knew it was going to be a waste of time, and also because it really was a petty misdeed.

As I sat there with the group talking, I wondered how much of my thoughts Ryan had read, if he'd read them at all. What did he know about me?