Broken Strings

Chapter 1

As the blonde's eyes lingered over the jittery young man, however, a distinctive frown began to form upon his angular features. The sight before him was a troubling one.

"What's the matter, Mitchell?" a tall, light-haired boy leered, reaching forward from his seat - one of the desks in the front-row – to swat the bundle of pencils that the timid boy had just gathered from the floor out of his hands once again. "Have you had a little too much peace and happiness for one day, spaz?"

The pale-skinned young man flinched violently at the harsh contact of the other kid's hand to his own, emitting what sounded to be several breathless little whimpers as he held the hand that had been offended to his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly behind his thick-lensed glasses as he cowered, giving himself the appearance of a frightened child. After a moment or two, however, the frightened boy reached forward once again, torso and hands trembling as he scooped up as many pencils, oblong erasers, and pens as he possibly could within the span of just a few seconds.

Another student – this one a snarky, red-headed female – took advantage of the kid's bent over position, and gave him a rough shove forward by the shoulders, causing him to tumble forward and land upon his knees as he hit the floor.

"Glad we could help," the redhead leered as she sat back in her seat, watching as the first offender reached for the boy a second time. By this point, however, one extremely irritated Kendall Knight had already stood up and was striding pointedly into the center of the scene that was being made. He stopped before the tall, sandy-haired kid's desk and scowled.

"Y'know, he probably wouldn't be the way that he is if assholes like you would leave him alone. Lay off, would'ja?" he snapped, not giving the guy a chance to respond before moving on. Stepping into the aisle between the desks of the timid boy and the bully, Kendall kneeled to help his apparent class partner collect his belongings.

"Hey, are you okay, kid?" Kendall asked in a kind tone of voice, offering the petite boy a smile. The only response that Kendall received from the other teen was a barely-audible whimper, as he proceeded to gather his belongings from the floor that they had been scattered upon. Frowning a bit once again, the good-willed blonde boy reached out toward the boy with a handful of pencils and erasers. His project partner merely held forth his pencil case in response – no thank you, no kind smile.

Kendall dropped the objects into the case even so, and then continued to help gather up scattered objects. As soon as he was sure that he and Logan had gathered every last stray pencil and eraser, he stood. Offering a hand to his new acquaintance, who remained upon his knees, he smiled once again. However, Kendall's kind gesture seemed to have gone entirely unnoticed as the young man concentrated solely upon latching his pencil case shut, then-after swiveling to replace the plastic container upon the desk from which it had fallen. Even after he had accomplished this small feat, he took it entirely upon himself to get to his feet. This disappointed Kendall slightly. However, in his independent attempt, the shorter boy had managed to brush against Kendall's outstretched palm accidentally.

In response to what wasn't any more than feather-light contact, the brunette yelped quietly, stumbling backward from the boy before him and into the edge of his desk. His breathing seemed to have intensified, and noticing this, Kendall lowered his hand as he watched with careful eyes. The young man had taken to rubbing ferociously at his shoulder –the spot that Kendall's hand had brushed – and his teeth had begun gnashing at his full lower lip. As Kendall gauged this reaction warily, something seemed to occur to him.

"You… don't like being touched, do you?" Kendall asked, leaning against an empty desk in the second row of chairs. For the first time since the taller boy had caught him staring those few moments before Mrs. Jones had arrived at his desk, the sketchy boy drew his gaze upward, momentarily catching his class partner's eyes and speaking very softly.

"N – No…" he muttered, shaking his head erratically from side to side. Kendall tilted his head, hoping to keep the young man's gaze long enough to provide him with a bit of reassurance.

"Okay, well… you won't have to worry while we're working together. Just so you know. I'm not a mean guy, and I won't push your boundaries," he promised, offering yet another smile to his new acquaintance. The boy cleared his throat in an odd fashion, gazing hesitantly into his classmate's eyes for a moment more before averting his gaze. A couple of seconds later he spoke quietly once again, his hands beginning to fidget before him.

"K – Kendall… thank you," he murmured. His voiced was strained-sounding, and his long, dark eyelashes fluttered in a way that could have been considered innocent and childlike.

As he finally received a slightly friendly reaction, the smile upon the Kendall's lips broadened, and he chuckled quietly before speaking his next words. "No problem, kid… you're Logan, right?" he asked, a gleam shining through in his eyes. For reasons unbeknownst to him, he felt confident that he might be the one to bring this kid out of his shell. Nodding sharply, Logan again met Kendall's gaze for a brief moment. He nudged his glasses upward a bit, back into their rightful place before his eyes, before lowering his eyes.

"Y – Yeah… s'me," he stuttered, those teeth of his still chewing away at his unfortunate lower lip. Watching with intrigue as Logan dug his pearly-white incisors into the soft flesh of his lip, Kendall sighed, though he still smiled amicably.

"Okay, Logan… it's nice to meet you," he mused, offering a hand at first before remembering Logan's aversion to touch and withdrawing the motion with a sheepish little chuckle.

Just as Logan opened his mouth to respond to Kendall's words, he was cut off by the ear-drum-piercing ring of the school's final bell. Flinching a bit at the sound, he shook his head. Kendall had been about to smile politely once more and make his way toward the back of the class to collect his things, but before he had the chance, Logan pursed his lips, and milliseconds later reached forward with electric speed to grip Kendall's hand, giving it a firm shake.

"Okay," he spoke before turning around and hastily scooping his possessions up into his arms, hurriedly moving to brush past Kendall and out of the room. Remaining still for a moment due to the slight shock caused by Logan's gesture, Kendall shook his head a bit for the umpteenth time that class period, huffing quietly as he rolled his shoulders a bit. It took him a moment to shake off that same odd sense of vulnerability that he had felt earlier as a result of Logan's gaze. He wasn't honestly sure whether he should be uplifted by the rushed contact, or simply confused.

After a moment, as he finally turned and walked back to his desk to collect his belongings, Kendall's confusion was elevated further - this time thanks to the voice that rung in from behind him as he slung his book-bag over his shoulder.

"I can tell that you're going to be a good match for Logan," Mrs. Jones spoke in an uncharacteristically kind tone of voice, catching the attention of the student before her instantly.

"Um… well, yeah, I guess. He needs a friend," Kendall spoke in an odd voice – one that clearly conveyed the confusion that he felt – as he made his way toward the door. He still wasn't accustomed to the nicer side of this woman, but being the kind person that he was, he managed a polite smile as Mrs. Jones nodded to him.

"Yes, yes he does," she mused, gazing down upon the paperwork littering her desk for a moment. She sighed softly and raised her eyes to meet Kendall's once again a few seconds later. "Oh, and Mr. Knight – I know that you had nothing but good intentions in sticking up for the boy, but please, at least try and save the foul language for the hockey rink."

Kendall laughed a bit, smiling more genuinely as he reached the doorway. "Sure thing, Mrs. Jones. Sorry," he said, and with that and a polite nod, made his way out of the classroom and into the school's hallways, which he then navigated throughout to locate his new locker for the year. From there, it was on to hockey practice.