Born In Silence (BoyxBoy)

Twenty-Six

Owen's p.o.v

I curled into a tighter ball as my blankets were tugged from my body, letting the light from my windows strike me in the face, successfully make me wince.

It had to have been early in the morning because although it was bright, it could have been way worse. My mom untangled my limbs from themselves, and rolled me onto my back, looking down at me with a small smile. Her naturally curly hair was tied back into a tight bun, and her usually cheery brown eyes were clouded with worry as she ran a hand down the side of my face.

"Are you going to go to school today? Ben is downstairs, and was passing by so he thought he'd stop by... you'll be late for first period, but he thought he'd offer," she signed.

I sighed, my mind screaming at me to just shake my head, and roll over, but the dark circles under her eyes encouraged me to sit up, and push the blankets off my lap. I couldn't bring my eyes up to meet hers as the guilt, and self-disgust consumed me.

I watched from the corner of my eyes as she left my room, her robe following behind her. I debated momentarily to go down, and tell Ben I decided to stay home, but shook the thought off once I thought about my classes. I was already behind four days, and making it a whole week didn't really help, especially when the school had suggested I go into assisted classes because of my impairment.

I slipped off my pajama pants, and replaced them with a pair of navy blue jeans, and grabbed a long sleeved shirt from my dresser, slipping a hoodie over my head for double protection just in case anybody tried to reach for my arms; although the only person that had done that for the past while was Tyler. I rubbed my arms uncomfortably for a second before I made my way to the washroom, with my bag slung over my shoulder.

I brushed my teeth quickly, running a hand through my hair which inevitably fell back over my eyes. Shrugging, I made my way from the bathroom to the kitchen, watching Ben lean against a wall as he talked to my mom who sat at one of the table chairs.

Ben's mouth stopped moving as he saw me come into the room, a small, pitiful smile coming onto his lips. My mom turned in her seat, her as well offering me a small smile before she got up, and grabbed my lunch from the counter. After she helped put it in my bag, she signed to me that I better eat it all, and I nodded, signing back to her that I would; although I knew it would probably end up in the bottom of the trash.

I was too upset to eat. My stomach was constantly in a knot, and holding down a granola bar was hard to do, let alone a full meal, and she knew that.

"You'll be ok," she signed with a frown on her face.

I shrugged, knowing that it would never be ok. Tyler... he gave me the attention I needed, and now who was going to do that? Who was going to protect me from Sean, and his clique when they did their rounds?

I pivoted around her before I broke down with a crowd. Instead I made my way past Ben, who followed without a word. We slipped on our shoes, and made our way to his car. I slid into the passenger at the same time Ben slid into the drivers. He waited until I buckled up before taking off down the road.

We walked up the steps together to the school together, and I was positive Ben would walk away, but instead he tagged along beside me as I made my way to my locker. He watched me closely as I took out my books for today, reaching in to grab my English book for me when he noticed I was going to leave it.

I shook my head as he held it out to me. I wasn't going to that class, was he crazy?

"You're not going to English?" he asked, talking slow enough so I could read his lips. I shook my head, grabbing the book and placing it back on the top shelf. Ben poked my arm, getting my attention. "Why?" he then signed. His brows furrowed, and his green eyes searched my face.