Running down the stairs and to the front door, I tried to get out of the house as soon as I could. I was going to be late again this week and I couldn't afford it. I needed to be at the school in five minutes. I was praying to god that I could quickly grab the keys to my dad's car; assuming he was a functional adult today. I dropped my bag at the door and ran around to the kitchen to grab a breakfast bar to eat but instead was brought up with the kitchen a wreck and my dad on the floor again.
I stopped everything. I didn't move.
This was the third time this week this had happened. It was a...bad week at work again and I was not going to be at school on time.
Slowly, I moved around the kitchen and took all the glass bottles away from my dad's body so he couldn't do anything with them.
I couldn't throw them in the trash without definitely waking him. But I couldn't just leave him here. He passed out enough for me to be able to pick his body up off the ground, throwing one of his arms over my shoulder and dragging him across the hall to his bedroom.
His feet drug against the floor as I attempted to walk his sleeping being to his room. Opening the door was difficult, getting him onto his bed was worse. When I had gotten him onto his bed, he was still asleep to my knowledge.
I checked his pockets for his keys and wallet so he wouldn't lose them again. When my hands came out of the jean pockets his eyes snapped open and his hand was on my neck, squeezing tightly.
My hands instinctively went to his, to remove them but he was fully awake now and in a defensive mode. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"
"J-just getting....you to he-here-" When I was able to get words out he loosened his grip on my neck, his hands smelling like alcohol and medal as he held my neck and drug me closer to his drunken body.
"What was that?"
"I-I'm just trying to help d-dad-"
"Get out of here." Throwing me backwards, I caught and balanced myself on a chair by his bed before I could fall to the floor.
"Y-You should take some Meds today dad-"
"I SAID GET OUT OF HERE!" He threw himself off the bed, his feet thumping against the floor in front of me as he yelled. I couldn't move, my head locked on the floor as he huffed over me drunkenly.
When he took another step closer to me I flew my body out of there realizing he wouldn't go back to bed. Running to the front door, I barely caught my bag in my hand as I left the house and sprinted down the street to get to school.
My leg stung like a bitch as I ran, I shouldn't be running on it at all. But I had to get out of here, out of the vicinity of my home, out of the neighborhood and street.
My heart was already running a thousand miles an hour, the extra adrenaline of being late didn't help my case as I jogged to school after a few blocks of running. Breathing shakily, I gripped the straps on my backpack like a kindergartener would on their first day of school as I slowed down even more.
I was already late to school, there wasn't much point in rushing now.
When I did get to the school, I grabbed my I.D before heading inside where I had to sign papers and check in. The receptionist at the front desk smiled as I came through the front doors of the school,"Hi Tristan. What's the reason this time?"
"Physical therapy again. I thought my dad called in. I'm sorry about that." I technically wasn't lying, I did have physical therapy for my leg this morning at seven in the morning. Forty five minutes and I was on my way home again to get ready for school.
"It's alright. How's your leg doing?"
My leg. It wasn't good now that I ran on it to get here and out of the house away from my dad. It stung, I was leaning on my left leg a lot right now, not that she could see that because of the desk separating us.
"It's okay. Getting better, Doctor said a few more weeks of P.T and I can stop coming every week." I smiled at her as I brushed brown hair out of my face. Talking to her like I did most mornings at this point.
I was leaning on the counter now to relieve pressure on my leg, smiling as I tied a bit of my hair back into the small little bun it would make in the back.
"Good good. Well, you get to class now. Have a good day." She handed me a green slip with the date and signature, along with a note about being at therapy.
I waved to her as I walked out of the office and into the building. Hauling my backpack over my shoulder, shoving the green slip into my pocket as I blew more fluffy hair out of my face that would fall out of the small man-bun I had.
No one was in the halls, a few kids at a table or two every once and a while as I crossed the school to get to an English class. It was quiet and would be a nice walk if it wasn't for a small amount of adrenaline running up and down my body still.
A throb in my right leg shot up me everytime I stepped on it, my backpack felt heavy as ever. And I only noticed now how much my neck was burning from my dad this morning. I should have looked at it before heading to a class.
Only thing I could do now was try and cover it with my hoodie, not that anyone would take a whole lot of notice to it.
I didn't go into the English room when I got there. Instead, I leaned against the wall outside the room a few feet away from the door. Resting my leg a tad bit before I had to go in and talk to the teacher for what would feel like forever, having to stand on it for ever longer.
I felt like if I closed my eyes I would be able to fall asleep even standing upright. I had dropped my bag next to me as I leaned against the wall. Before I could start to relax, a door opened and a group of guys walked out, all glaring at me as they walked by.
One of them shoved their shoulder into me as they walked past me, shoving me into the wall even more as they strode themselves down the hall. I hissed as they chuckled under their breaths, muttering words under my own breath as I picked up my bag.
One of them had heard me mutter about them and came charging back at me full force. Sending me down to the ground roughly; I let out a yelp of some kind as my leg took my body's force of falling. I held onto it tightly as the guy stood over me.
"If you have something to say, say it punk." I only stared at him, the brute in front of me was nothing but a jock who thought he ran the world. It's a stereotype and it sure as hell is real here at this school, and I didn't want to dig myself into a larger hole. I stayed silent as his friends slowly came back around to me. "Not so talkative now, huh?"
"Don't you guys have something better to do?"
"Actually, we do. Why don't you come with punky." He reached down, pulling my hoodie that was still very much on my body to drag me. He pulled me up as I struggled to push his hands off of me and stagger backwards, having to catch myself as the four guys around us glared.
"D-Don't touch me."
"Then don't act like a little fucking punk." He shoved me again, a guy behind me grabbing my shoulders and holding me. "Maybe if you were worth something you wouldn't be in this trouble." Another shove. "Maybe, you should learn to stay out of our way in the hallways. Be a good fucking kid and stay out of our way instead of taking up the whole damn hallway." His foot stepped in between my legs. He was getting dangerously close to my right leg.
"Maybe, you should fucking stop complaing and take a hit every once and a while Tristan-" He was about to sweep his leg under mine, knowing that my right leg was damaged right now.
The only thing that stopped him was a kid coming up behind him and pulling him backwards. The blonde stumbled as a new person of the group shoved him away from me. Instantly, the guy holding me let go of me. I stumbled and tried to balance again.
"Get the fuck off of him Jerry. You know if you get caught that scholarship of your's goes down the drain." The guy stepped somewhat in front of me to block me from any more incoming attacks from these four. His shoulders were broad enough to convert my view seeing as he had an incredible height difference on me.
"Calm the fuck down Hunter." Hunter, the school's golden boy. He was essentially perfect in every way, thought I new on another level that there was anything perfect about him. He was always playing hero with me since the third grade. Though he's saved my ass from a few beating now, he was nothing close to the perfect Prince Charming people want to save them.
"Let him go. He's not worth the waste of your time." He moved forward some and I am sure he was giving the guy the stare down of his life because the next thing I know the guys are almost sprinting down the hallway. When he turned around, Hunter glared at me as I grabbed my bag and backed away from him a few steps. My eyes glared right back at his as he stood there. Tall and buffed out, his figure looming over the rest of me while I was right back up against the wall.
Hunter stayed there, watching me as I fixed my hood to cover my neck and adjust myself again. I didn't move anything else, I physically couldn't because of my leg that was roaring at me now to sit my ass down on something and let it rest. It had a mind of its own at this point.
It was an awkward moment of silence before I started to turn around and walk away, not bothering to stay in an awkward position at nine in the morning anymore.
I needed to sit down and stay far away from these guys again.
"What? No thank you?" Hunter spoke, crossing his arms as I passed him.
"No." Like that, I was pulled back by him, moved so I was against a wall as he held me dangerously close to him, looking down at me like this was a game of somesort. Again, my heart rate sped up as he held my shoulder gently, he didn't do anything to hurt me other than move my leg.
He never did.
"You should be nicer to your savoir you know." His southern accent came more now, not hiding that he is from the southern states of America as he spoke. It got to me a little bit, he knew that too.
"You are not my savoir."
He smiled at me while keeping his arms on either side of my head, looming over me more, "But you've been my damsel in distress since the fourth grade." He looked up quickly at my hair falling out around my face and out of my hood before looking back at me.
I only scoffed at him, "You're just as bad as them."
"Is that so?"
"L-Let me go. Don't you have classes to skip?"
"This is more entertaining." He shrugged but leaned off the wall now, letting my head free from the confining cage of his arms.
"Harassing me? That is your entertainment in life?" He glared at me again, his breath catching for a moment before he looked away. His eyes scattered and looked everywhere for a moment, his eyes looked like they were shifting colors or something before he looked back at me with a new glare.
Hunter was no good guy. Just because he saves you from a group of guys ready to injure you, doesn't mean he won't do the same. He was notorious for picking his own fights against people too.
Quickly, I was against the wall again, Hunter's hands holding my shoulder and head, his hand weaving through my hair and taking off my hood. His hand glided down my head and hair as my hood fell.
"Watch your mouth Tristan. It gets you in more trouble than you think you may be worth." With that he was gone, his body walking down the hall, ignoring what he did.
Why does he do that. He was always finds a way to touch my head. He has since we were kids. I never found out why and I stoped trying understand a while ago.
He never changed while growing up. He still saw me as a little kid on the play ground that he saved once day, he got the praise and fell in love with it.
Now he saved me and thinks he is entitled to whatever he wants to do, like touching my hair and putting me against the wall.
He is no better than the guys who would beat me.
My head twitched as I rubbed my scalp, glaring at him as tears threaten my eyes now. I wouldn't cry in the hallway, and I wouldn't cry over a dumb guy like Hunter. I grabbed my bag for a third time in a span of mere minutes, walking into a classroom that had no idea about what had just happened.
I didn't bother to talk to the teacher about why I was gone or what I missed, I wouldn't tell him about what happened outside because it was terrifying. I tossed the green slip on his desk and walked to my seat by a window. Talking out earbuds and plugging them into my laptop, I simply ignored everyone working on assignments.
--------------
"Tristan. Can you stay back a moment?"
As everyone left our last class of the day, I poked my head out of the textbook we had, looking at the teacher who talked to me as she waved everyone goodbye like we were children. We were all seniors in highschool, two months away from graduating even; yet teachers still liked to think we were young children that weren't about to be released into the real world soon.
I wandered up to her desk, my hood up on my head. Covering not only my neck, but the untamable hair I had still from this morning.
"Tristan, I just wanted to ask about the assignments you have yet to turn in. I'm worried about it. These are key papers for your grade and I don't even have a notification that they were worked on at all."
"I'm trying to get them done. I just need a few more weeks. If you need help, you can always ask. We can stay late and work on them together and compromise."
"Thank you, but it's not necessary. I just haven't had the time to get them done. I'll get one or two done by friday." I never have had to have help with school before and just because I am falling behind now doesn't mean I need it either.
I'm an A-average student, it's not difficult. I did not need a teacher's pity.
I left her room with my head down and hands in my pocket. Walking in the crowd of students trying to get to their cars or catch the buses before they left. I blended in as I walked quickly, anxious to get out of here just like everyone else.
When I did, I felt refreshed a free'd for a moment, my hood came down as I walked down the sidewalk next to people I had no clue who were. My only friends were on a school trip to Chicago while I was left here in the dust.
As I walked, I was called out by the exact group of guys from this morning. Called names and yelled at, everyone started to look at me. My hood came back up on my head as I walked down the street. Thankful that they were not following me in their cars or chasing after me.
I looked back every few seconds though, and everytime Hunter Rhodes was watching me. Sitting on a table in the school yard as I walked. He didn't say anything, didn't call out to me, only watched me. Only listened to his friends call me out for a minute or two before they went back to their own antics.
He just watched me.
And yet suddenly I was yanked back on the sidewalk, my sweater catching my neck and pulling my head to the ground. Painfully my head slapped on the concrete and my eyes closed on impact.
Someone turned me over onto my back and stomped my side, making me scream in pain as my body shook. When I opened my eyes the blond guy from this morning was standing over me, frowning as I winced.
"That's for getting me in trouble with Hunter." He kicked my side again as I tried to scramble and get up. "That's for reporting me to the fucking school." He kicked me off the sidewalk and into the road. People were starting to form around us and behind him on the grass as I pants and tried to move away.
Why does no one do something- "Thats for fucking talking back and getting me in trouble-"
And just like that he was ripped backwards from me and shoved into the grass on his stomach. He groaned as I sat up on my knees and panted, bent over and still on the side of the road as everyone's attention turned to the grass now.
I heard something like a crack and everyone 'oohing' at what was happening. I was staring at the ground and panting, holding my side before turning my head slightly before seeing Hunter looming over the guy. His fists were clenched as he huffed.
"He didn't report you. I did." His foot kicked the guy in the side as he rolled over to glare at Hunter as another bone cracked.
"Why do you keep protecting that smart mouthed brat?" He even dared to speak to Hunter like that, my full attention was on Hunter now as he started down at the guy. Everyone's eyes were flickering from Hunter to me and then to the guy over and over. Someone helped me stand up again, as Hunter looked back at me for a mere second before kneeling next to the guy.
Everyone got quiet, trying to hear what Hunter was saying. Yet it was inaudible and you could only see the guys face go pale as he looked me dead in the eyes and nodded. When Hunter stood, the blonde wasted no time in running away.
At that, everyone started to disperse from everything, and Hunter stood there looking at me as some girl let go of me and asked if I was okay.
Meekly, I nodded and turned around to start walking away from everything. Before Hunter could get to me, some girls had gone up to him and started to talk to him as I walked down the street with a bleeding head and hurt side.
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Chapter 1. Done.
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