Shadows Fading (BxB)

~11~

~Kyle POV~

Why the fuck am I doing this? ...Whatever. I completely disregarded my caution of keeping my power a carefully guarded secret as I grabbed Collin by the arm, dragging him out of that damned gymnasium.

At least Collin got over the disbelief stage pretty quickly. He actually seemed interested by my magic, although - thankfully - he didn't press it.

"You really seem to like this spot," he commented after a bit.

I nodded in response. "Yeah. It's quiet. Nobody bothers coming around here. Don't have to worry about those assholes lurking around, either."

A moment passed before he spoke again. "Is there another place, besides here, that you go sometimes?"

"Yeah." I thought for a moment before I decided to just tell him. No harm in it. "Any of the parks in the city, I'll go to. There's also a spot just west of the city. A huge lake. One side has a forest, other side has mountains. I rarely ever get to go there since it's kinda far, but that place is the best." It truly was. It was beautiful. So what if I never seemed like the nature kind of guy? Fuck damn stereotypes. I refused to go by society's shit standards.

"It sounds nice," Collin said, to which I replied with another nod. "I just... run to my room and lock the door, pretty much."

At least you have a fucking lock. I didn't respond, not really having anything to say to that. Or at least, nothing I was going to say to him about that.

A while went by in silence after that. We must've lost track of time, because before long, the bell had rung, demanding that we go to sixth period.

"Will I see you after school..?" Collin asked, an almost hopeful expression crossing his face.

I shrugged. "By your locker again?"

"Sure," he mumbled. I nodded a confirmation before we each headed to our next class.

Boring shit. That's all the class even was. It took all my willpower to not just skip and instead remain in that seat, barely listening to the teacher drone on about whatever topic the useless lesson was about this time. Seventh period passed the same way, seeming even longer, if it was even fucking possible. That was why I hated school. The only damn good thing about it was that it gave me a perfect excuse for five days a week to leave the fucking hellhole I call a house.

A damn eternity later, the final bell rang. I wove through the masses of people filling the halls, making my way once more to Collin's locker. He didn't come until several minutes later, when the crowds had thinned out. After he had put his books into his locker and shut it, he turned to me. "Are you ready..?"

"Yeah," I answered simply, already starting to walk as he fell into step beside me.

We had already reached the sidewalk by the time he spoke again. "Are you going to go home today?"

I winced at the question, but I hoped that it had gone unnoticed. Either way, he didn't comment on it. The last thing I wanted was to go back to that fucking place, but I had to. Damn meds. "Yeah."

"I'll go with you, then," he offered.

I replied immediately with a hard "No."

"I wasn't asking," he argued. "And besides, I want to spend some time away from home today.."

I huffed. I wasn't in the mood to fight him until he gave up, I wasn't going to just ditch him, and it wouldn't be a good idea to stop at one of the parks for a while before going home. The sooner I got home, hopefully the less shitty the rest of the night would be. "Fine," I said, tone unintentionally harsh. I didn't care, though, and even though Collin seemed to flinch, it clearly didn't cause his resolve to waver.