Silently Falling

Chapter Four (Edited 8/29/2020)

Warren scoffs, his 'nice' facade crumbling away within seconds. "I was just trying to help get you to the top of the food chain instead of stuck in the dumps with these losers."

"Alright, you've said hey, you got turned down, now leave." Toby snaps, his earlier amusement boiling back into disdain for Warren.

Warren tsk's and his icy eyes meet mine. "But I haven't even said hello to Raine. She can prove I'm not gay."

Within a second, Toby is stepping forward with his fist clenched and on the move, but Gray and Tyler stop him. They gesture to the administrators all around the cafeteria so that Toby will understand. If he does anything he'll only get in loads of trouble, and knowing Warren's dad and how dirty he likes to play, I'm willing to bet he would find a way to sue Toby for touching him. His little threat does the trick, however, and Warren flinches back.

Warren is all bark and no bite.

Just not when it came to me.

"Down boys. I didn't come for a fight." He says when he realizes the punch isn't going to come, but they don't step back.

"Then I suggest you go." Tyler says lowly.

Warren chuckles before turning and leaving, rolling his eyes at us. We watch him walk away and the boys don't sit back down until they're sure he's gone. Then they take their seats, all still stiff from the confrontation.

"Are you okay?" Toby signs to me instead of speaking, taking into account that West is looking at us all questioningly.

Every time I see Warren, the same fear takes me over. I feel stuck, frozen in place, unable to block him out. However, when he leaves, it almost instantly goes away.

"I'm okay, don't worry."

He frowns but nods anyways, putting his arm back around my shoulders with brotherly love. I accept his comfort, silently thanking him. Even if the event with Warren happened three years ago, I will never forget it. Every time I see him, flashbacks of that night hit me for merely a second, but that's long enough to make my body go rigid and panic to rise inside of me.

"So, are we just going to act as if that didn't happen, or are y'all going to explain why you look like you've just met Hitler?" West asks, a lazy smirk back on his lips.

"This doesn't concern you," Toby growls.

West chuckles, brushing off Toby's obvious anger and glances at me.

"Ex boyfriend of yours?"

Looking away, I sign my response with minimal energy, and Alyse reads my signs solemnly to voice them for me.

"Something like that."

"Well," West begins, taking note of the shift in mood, "whoever he is, he's sort of a dick."

I could be offended. I could be repulsed that he's calling Warren my ex boyfriend, but he doesn't know any better, and I'm not going to openly admit why he's wrong. Instead, I shake off what just happened and catch West's eye with a grin, signing for Alyse to translate again. And when she does, everyone relaxes and laughs, allowing the tense moment to pass.

"And according to you, he also wants some."

West chuckles, but I notice his expression change as he glances back towards the table Warren and the baseball team occupy.

"Did he say his last name was Snow?"

The rest of us glance at each other with our brows furrowed, wondering why he cares.