I wake up to Micah taking pictures of a very sleeping me.
Grumbling, I flip him off and try to roll over. I groan in desperation when that doesn't work. "Move!"
"Excuse me?"
Aiden sounds surprised at my harsh remark. I grumble again. If he doesn't move by himself, I'll help him.
I wait three seconds. When he hasn't moved, I scoff and give him a push. The hard thud and the following curse has me grinning. It worked!
My blanket is still warm, having me sigh in delight. I snuggle away again and enjoy the whole bed for myself.
"You know what? Fine. I'll eat the croissants up by myself."
Croissants?
I open one eye open, suspicious, but Aiden is only standing up from the floor next to my bed. My satisfied and warm body begs me not to, but I jump on him. He tumbles down all over. "What the—"
I am now lying on top of him—hey, that's a first—with the blanket around the two of us. Shrugging, I cuddle closer into him. This way, I get both warmth and croissants. I am a genius.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Aiden sighs. He's given up! I win!
"Nope," I smile, wrapping my arms around him. "Bring on the croissants!"
But instead of Aiden carrying me with blanket and all to the table, Seb lifts me up without warmth. I gasp. "No!"
Seb is unforgiving though, and drags me along to the kitchen. I try to stop him, but he doesn't let me. He frees me only when I am sitting down on a chair at the table. "Eat."
I frown. Look behind me to see my door still open.
I run away.
Unfortunately, they're with four, and Micah is in the hallway. He catches me immediately. "Hey, where are you going?"
I sigh. "I just want to sleep!" "Don't we all?"
He carries me back and doesn't let me go again. I am caged in his, Seb's and Aiden's arms, all while Ada is smirking at me over breakfast. I, however, am not pleased.
"I am never staying for a sleepover ever again!" I threaten, but only get raised eyebrows. Everyone knows I'll be at one of their places tonight again.
My phone, which is on the table, shows a next message. It's from Emma, making me grin stupidly in excitement.
Me, Isaac and a few friends are meeting up after college. Want to join?
Smiling broadly, I clutch my phone closer. Seb gives me a knowing grin. Micah kisses my hair. Aiden lets go of me, and the other two follow, realizing I'm too awake now to go back to bed.
"What is it, baby?" Ada asks, going along in my enthusiasm. My cheeks hurt from smiling so broadly when I answer, "Emma asked if I wanted to meet her and a few friends today. Can I go?"
Aiden looks up, his mouth full with food. With a frown, he swallows. "Of course you can. We're not your p— I mean, we're not the boss of you. If you want to meet up with them, you can."
That makes me even happier, knowing they won't get mad at me for going out. "Just be safe, alright?" Ada adds, "And if you feel uncomfortable, call one of us and we'll come get you. Is that a deal?"
"Okay!" I squeak. Wow, this is better than I'd have hoped.
Humming a song under my breath, I eat my croissants before going back to my room to dress up. I feel today is going to be a good day.
****
Screw today being a good today.
Today is a great day. Not only because I had another bully-free day, but also because multiple people I have class with have acknowledged me passing by. By name! I have no idea why this so suddenly changed, but I can't deny I'm happy.
While I wait for the doors of my next lecture to open, a group of boys passes by. I avert my gaze to the ground, a habit I've learned after the humiliation of the past few years. If I keep looking, then I'm an uncontrolled fag.
Except . . . "Hey, Aaron!" the leader calls. Horrified, I look up. What is— "You want to join us for some football sometimes?"
Still shocked to my bones, I give a small nod. "Sure? I think? You-you'd be okay with that?"
He laughs. "Of course! You've always seemed cool, I just didn't want Ezra or Silas to go to their dad and make me lose my scholarship. Now that they're gone . . . You know, you've been there."
I give another nod, a little less confused. In how many more ways have the Stansley's tried to ruin my life?
The bell rings and the doors slam open. I wait until all students, or most of them, have left before I enter and choose a seat. To my surprise, Ada is packing her stuff in the front.
I smile and give her a little wave. She smiles and winks back. "Hello, mister Bright. Are you okay? You seem in an excellent mood today."
Knowing a few other students are with us in the classroom, I nod politely and decide to play along. "Of course. My paper of English got a 98 mark, so I am pretty happy, yes."
Bullshit. I didn't even have a paper of English.
She gives me another smile before leaving. I sit down on my seat and decide to keep a seat free for Emma. She's in the same class now, right?
I can't remember. Just as I grab my phone to look at the schedule she sent, I feel someone grabbing my neck from behind. Shit. Are they back?
"Here is the piece of shit," Michael's voice sounds from where I am being hold. The other two friends of Ezra and Silas come in my view. Fuck.
"W-well, I wouldn't think of myself as a piece of shit," I mutter. They are less intimidating than the brothers, but I still don't feel quite relaxed in their company.
The grip tightens. It's not that bad that I am lacking for oxygen, but it is starting to hurt. "Could you maybe let go of me? We could talk like, I don't know, adults. Wait, my bad. You don't know what those are, of course."
The fist flying towards my way has me closing my eyes as a reflex. Except, the pain never comes. I wait a few more seconds, but when it still doesn't come, I slowly open one eye.
A broad guy is glaring at the friend who was trying to hit me. His fist is grabbing by the guy, who gives me a glance before looking back. "Don't fucking hurt him. You have no rights to."
Seriously, all these new people having my back all of a sudden is going to give me a whiplash. Silas and Ezra's friends grumble, but let go of me and retreat. I watch them walk out of the classroom.
The guy turns to me. "You alright? They hadn't hurt you before I came?"
I shake my head, feeling flushed. "Thank you. You didn't have to—" "I did. And you know what? Fuck them. Don't let them make you think you deserve to get beaten up for putting those son of a bitches in jail. No, you did amazing."
My cheeks go back to tomato-Aaron mode. "Does everyone know about that?"
He smirks. "Oh, count on it. I'm Alex, by the way. Friend of Emma's, but yours now too." He sits down next to me and talks about how his girlfriend is trying to get him to laser his tattoos away. I frown, "No! I like them."
Emma sits down on my other side. "Me too! Look at that one on his arm, it's so cute!"
Alex scowls at her. "I do not like to think of them as cute. You shouldn't either, by the way." She grins and shrugs. "Isaac stands by my side."
The broad guy rolls his eyes. "Isaac stands by your side every damn time. Okay, Aaron. Uno or Monopoly?"
Speechless for a second, I gape at him. Then, hesitantly, "Uno?" That must've been the right answer, because he sticks out his tongue to Emma. "See?"
Emma gives me a shocked look. Then, she places her fist over her heart in mock pain. "I thought you were my friend!"
Alex gives me a high five. "Too bad, Em. He's my friend now." I try to hide my smile, realizing I just made another friend.