The Homo Norm - WattPride

twenty five - silence

AS MR HAYES strapped a bandage on Jules' swollen eye, he kept inquiring. 

"Who did this to you?" he asked for the fourth time, but Jules was adamant in keeping quiet. As much as she hated Mason and Bryce for what they had done, she didn't want to risk their names.

Because giving out the 'who' would eventually lead to finding out the 'why', and she didn't want that. Not after Bryce had warned her of what was happening out there. Not after Tegla's arrest. Not after her parents wanting to put locks on programs considered 'sensitive'.

She kept quiet.

Mr. Hayes sighed. "Jules, are you being bullied?"

"No."

"Then what happened? You can't tell me you don't know who did this to you, can you?"

Jules avoided the nurse's gaze. "I rather not talk about."

Seeing that she wouldn't budge under his inquiry, Mr. Hayes decided to let it go. "Alright then. Let me get your friend."

As soon as he left the room, Jules felt a tear stream down her face. She was scared. What would happen now? What would happen when she came face to face with the boys who beat her up? Would they avoid her because of shame and guilt? Would they ignore her as if nothing happened at all? Or would they keep talking to her as though nothing ever occurred?

Jules hastily wiped away the stray tears as she heard the door open. She didn't look up from her laps as the visitor came.

She heard his steps and the clearing of his throat.

"Uhm . . . Juliet?"

"What," she muttered under her breath without looking up. Her voice was so low that the visitor wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't expecting an answer.

"I . . . have your phone." He said, stretching it out to her.

Jules looked up and saw bright green eyes-they were almost emerald- staring back at her with pure and unriddled concern.

As she took her phone, the green-eyed lad kept talking. "You got a couple of calls and texts."

She unlocked her phone and saw missed calls and unread texts.

All from Bryce.

A lump of emotional pain lodged up in her throat.

"I found you in the boy's washroom," he said, carefully sitting next to her on the bed as though afraid he would scare Jules away. "Are you okay?"

Jules looked up to him with a steady gaze as she tried to control her emotions. She saw herself mirrored in his emerald orbs and couldn't help but think of how pathetic she looked.

The pain in her chest was constricting, and with one heavy resolving sigh, she let her tense muscles relax and the tears to flow.

"I'm not okay."