Eight more minutes left, you're going to make it as long as you keep up your steady pace. The sun was partially blocked out on this early October afternoon, at least you had that to your advantage as you ran upon the track field. "Ugh, why do we have to do this stupid timed mile every damn week? I swear, Coach Jensen's got a grudge against us students or something.", you internally groaned to yourself, huffing slightly as you continued to run along with other students behind and in front of you, some already sat on the bleachers after finishing their laps.
"One more lap, almost there, only a couple more-", a foot was suddenly shoved into your path, catching you completely off guard and unable to think fast enough to prevent anything. Before you knew it you felt your body stumble onto the ground as you tripped over the unexpected obstacle, falling onto your hands an knees quite forcefully, which caused a small yelp to escape your lips.
Looking up from where you were, you saw a familiar unpleasant blond figure running past you, completely ignoring you and acting as if he had done nothing wrong. Todd had seen everything from where he sat upon the grass waiting for both you and Maple to finish your laps, immediately getting up to run over and check on you, "Y/N, are you okay? That looked like quite the fall. I've got bandages in my locker I can give you after class.", he explained as you slowly got up, the scrapes upon your hands and knees now visible; red and raw.
"Thanks Todd, I appreciate it. Thanks for checking on me, I'm okay. Travis just had to bother us for the day somehow. God, I hate having him in this class with us.", you said with a sigh, before dusting your gym clothes off and turning back to your red haired friend, "Well, I still gotta finish my damn laps. Thanks again for offering the bandages! I'll see you after I finish this last lap.", and with that you took off, wanting to get the miserable process over with. At least your next and final class of the day was art with Larry, Sallyface and Ash, you weren't going to let Travis ruin your mood. Not a chance in hell.
* * *
"Hey, where's Y/N? She's usually here by now. I want her opinion on my shading for this drawing.", Larry spoke, glancing over towards the open classroom door, waiting to see you walk in at any given moment. "She had PE last period, right?", Ash asked while she prepared her art supplies, "Maybe she just took a while getting changed, or her teacher lost track of time. I'm sure she's coming.", she reassured the two boys sitting at the table.
Sallyface looked at the empty seat across from him, he too was wondering why you hadn't arrived yet. Art class wouldn't feel the same without you, so of course he was getting a bit antsy as the late bell was sure to ring soon, "...I'm gonna sharpen my pencils, I'll glance down the hall and see if I see her. Ash is right, she's gotta come sooner or later.", he got up from his seat and began towards the pencil sharpener mounted on the wall besides the classroom door.
Out in the hallway, you tiredly made your way to class with a less than excited expression on your face, "Man, of course the day I wear shorts to school Travis decides to be a massive dick. Now they're all gonna worry about me, even though it isn't a big deal...", your thought was cut off once you entered the room, seeing Sallyface standing right besides the door as he sharpened his pencils, his attention immediately turning to you, "Hey, there you are Y/N! We were waiting for...you.".
You saw his gaze behind the mask shift from your face down towards your bandaged hands, and then onto your bandaged knees, rendering him speechless for a moment. In an attempt to avoid him worrying about you, you quickly offered him a forced smile and placed your hand on his shoulder, "H-heh, yeah, it looks bad, I know. Don't mention it. Cmon Sal, let's sit down.", your voice was much softer when you spoke just now, clearly embarrassed over what had happened last period.
Beginning to walk towards your usual table, Sallyface followed closely besides you, clearly worried as he rambled on question after question, "A-are you sure you're okay? What happened? Did you fall? Did...someone push you?", he asked with a concerned tone, catching the attention of both Larry and Ash who now also took notice of your injuries before you plopped down into your seat.
As expected, Larry instantly shot up from his seat and stood before you with furrowed brows and a frown to match, "Of course someone pushed her, man! She has PE with Travis before this period, remember?", he exclaimed as he answered Sallyface's last question, kneeling down onto the floor to get a better look at your bandages.
Sighing, you ran a hand through your hair and looked down at him, "Look, it's not a big deal, Travis just pulled a usual dick move and tripped me while we were running. It's oka-Ah!", your sentence was interrupted by Larry placing a hand upon your thigh, the other upon your calf as he lifted your leg up to his eye level, squinting as he examined them, "These bandages are getting worn out already, you're starting to bleed through them. You've got to get new ones.", he explained, setting your foot down once again.
Sallyface frowned slightly when he saw Larry's hand upon your bare thigh, he thought that was a bit uncalled for but hey, he was just checking on you, right? He can't be mad at that. He dismissed the bitter taste it left in his mouth. A bit flustered after the unexpected contact, you quickly shook it off and looked down at your knees; he was right, the bandages would have to be replaced by now.
Ash now took the opportunity to speak, "Yeah, Larry's right, do you want me to come to the nurse with you, Y/N? I promise I won't grab your leg like Larry just did, you can't just grab a girl's leg like that dude.", she joked, looking over at Larry who gave her a shrug, "What? It's just Y/N, she doesn't care.".
You let out a laugh, rolling your eyes as you looked over at Larry, "It's just me? Gee, thanks.", you teased at him, slowly getting up from your chair with a strained smile, the stinging sensation was terrible. Sal took a step closer towards you, those blue eyes of his clearly filled with worry, "Y/N, when Travis does something like this, you don't have to hide it from us. We know how much of an asshole he is, we'll take care of it. Right, Larry?", which Larry quickly responded with a gruff, "Yeah, no shit. Next time I see him he's got it coming.", Ash now chiming in, "Usually I'd say to just ignore him, but he's done this way too many times. That guy is hellbent on bothering us, it's about time he gets a taste of his own medicine.".
Hearing all your friends come to your defense made you feel a lot better, you truly couldn't ask for a better friend group. "Thanks you guys, really, it means a lot. But really, I'm okay! Sure it hurt like hell in the moment but, I feel okay now. I could use some new bandages though, do you still want to take me to the nurse, Ash? I don't really remember where it is.", before Ash could answer, Sallyface suddenly spoke out of the blue, "W-wait, let me take you.".
You all looked over at him when he blurted that out, causing him to blush under his mask slightly, you were also beginning to faintly blush as well when you saw how eager he was to escort you to the nurses office; it made you feel...special. "Sorry Sallyface, Ash already-", Ash interrupted Larry and gave Sallyface a nod, "No, you can take her, Sal. Now that I think about it I can't really recall where the nurses room is, it'd be better if you took Y/N. You don't mind, right Y/N?", she asked you, which you promptly replied with a, "No, not at all! Um, should we go now, Sal?", you asked, looking at him with a gentle smile, rubbing your hands together gently in an attempt to soothe the pain.
Clearing his throat, he quickly nodded and gestured towards the door, his ears faintly tinted pink, "Y-yeah, let's go. Let's let Mrs.Myers know where we're going. See you guys later.", "Yeah, later guys, we'll be back in a bit.", you and Sal assured your other two friends before making your way out, walking side by side. Smiling to herself, Ash looked down at her sketchbook and continued to sketch out the assigned subject for the day, she was glad that the two of you had gone off together.
"Sal always acts weird around Y/N when something happens, you think he feels bad that Travis went after her instead of him?", he asked, glancing over at his brunette friend, "Yeah, that's probably it. Sallyface just really cares about Y/N. Hey, how's this look so far?", she asked him as she held up her sketch, wanting to change the subject before Larry caught on.
Little to everyone else's knowledge, Ash was the only person who just knew that there was something between you and Sallyface, it was undeniable. However, she knew that if anyone else caught on it might make things awkward, so she promised to keep this little secret to herself, silently rooting for the two of you. Eventually, your true feelings had to come up someday, somehow.
* * *
"O-ow, ouch!", you winced at the feeling of the damp, bloodied bandaids being peeled off your knee, startling Sal slightly as he was in the process of taking them off for you, "Sorry! Um, maybe try and look away? I still have to use the alcohol wipes to clean the scrapes, that's probably going to sting a lot worse.", he explained, looking up at you from where he kneeled, hands trembling slightly as he touched the soft skin of your leg.
Unlike Larry, Sal had actually asked permission to gently hold up your leg in order to administer the new bandaids upon your knee, one hand upon your calf and the other tending to your small wounds. The two of you were in an empty stairwell of the school, you sat upon the top step while Sal was one step down, allowing you to look down upon him as he every so carefully assisted you in the painful process.
"N-no, I'm alright, I'm not that squeamish. It just stings like hell, but you're being really gentle, I appreciate it...", there was a light blush across your face that had been there ever since Sal placed his warm, slightly calloused hand upon your calf; your crush was touching your leg of all places, of course you'd be red in the face! Those eyes within the eyeholes of his mask couldn't help but look up at you in awe, somehow even while you were wincing in pain, you still managed to look so beautiful.
He darted his eyes back towards your cuts, ears red, continuing the process, wiping your knee down with the alcohol wipe before quickly opening up a brand new bandaid, gently placing it upon the red abrasion, "Onto the next knee, I think you'll need two for that one...", he explained, letting go of your calf and awaiting for you to lift your other leg up for him to tend to. Slowly, you did just that, his hand once again making contact with your skin, and so the process began once more.
The two of you were silent as he did this, it was almost as if speaking would ruin the atmosphere that had been built around the two of you in this moment; the feeling of being completely alone with one another in this stairwell, almost like being the last two people on earth. "Okay...and, done! How's it feel, Y/N?", he asked, letting go of your now newly bandaged leg, allowing you to move them freely along with your also newly bandaged hands.
"A lot better, Sallyface! Thanks again for coming with me and helping me out, that nurse wasn't really helpful, was she? She was in the middle of her lunch break though, guess I can't blame her for practically throwing the supplies at us.", you playfully remarked as you scooted down onto the same step Sal was perched upon, sitting shoulder to shoulder besides him, the two of you laughing quietly within the school stairwell, not wanting a teacher to catch you hanging out outside of class.
The two of you sat there besides one another simply enjoying each other's presence; sure art class was fun because you also got to hang out with Larry and Ash, but being alone together was just special for a reason neither of you could place your finger on yet. Sallyface silently thought to himself for a second before he gathered up the courage to finally speak upon the subject, "Y/N...?", you looked over at him, a couple strands of hair framing your face as you turned to face him, "Yeah, Sallyface?", he turned his head to face you as well, the two of you now eye to eye, "You know...if Travis bothers you again, you can just tell me and I'll try and deal with him. I know you might think I'm not as strong as Larry, but...".
You cut him off, "What? Sal, don't be silly. Of course I don't think that. I know you're just as capable and strong as Larry, maybe even more. Remember when he couldn't open that lock on the fifth floor, but as soon as you gave it a solid kick, it fell apart?", as you retold this fond memory the two of you chuckled, making Sal feel a lot more confident in his strength.
"You really know how to cheer a guy up, Y/N. Thank you...I really appreciate you. I promise the next time Travis decides to fuck with you, I'll teach him a lesson. He'll have to go through me first if he wants to mess with you.", Sal sternly declared as he looked back at you with a determined gaze, placing one of his hands upon your shoulders. Blood began to rush to your cheeks as he uttered those words, he had just promised to defend you no matter what, "Oh, gosh. Sallyface, you make it so hard to not like you more and more each day.", you thought to yourself without realizing your hand had reached out, placing itself upon the cheek of his mask.
Surprised at the sudden hand upon his prosthetic, he began to feel nervous, no one, let alone a girl he liked, had ever laid a hand upon his mask, this was completely new for him but, it was Y/N, he knew he had nothing to be afraid of...right? Gulping, Sal wondered what you were doing while your hand was placed upon his mask and your [E/C] eyes seemingly staring back at him with an intensity like never before, when suddenly, you began to lean forward.
His eyes widened to the size of saucers, body immediately tensing up, the only thing that wasn't frozen in the moment was his heart; it had to be beating at a million miles an hour. Your face only came closer towards his, your lovely eyes shut, blush grazing your cheeks, and then it happened, you planted an ever so gentle kiss upon the left cheek of his prosthetic, your other hand gently holding his face as you did so, wanting to make him feel safe. Once you pulled away, both you and Sal were blushing messes, but you couldn't help but laugh at those big old blue eyes that were staring back at you, seemingly in disbelief.
"S-sorry. I just wanted to give you a token of my appreciation, a way to say thanks, you know? Was that weird?", you asked him, standing up from the steps you sat upon. Quickly getting onto his feet, Sal shook his head enthusiastically, "N-no! It wasn't weird at all, I um, it felt nice. E-even though it was on my mask and I technically couldn't feel it but-", a big smile formed on your face while your crush attempted to explain himself to you, he was just too cute.
You couldn't believe you had been brave enough to do that, but now that you did, you felt better than ever. Hopefully it wasn't enough to give away the entirety of your true feelings towards him, "Cmon, let's get back to class. They're probably wondering what's taking us so long.". "R-right.", Sallyface agreed with you and the two of you began to descend the staircase, making your way back to class. Walking past the restrooms underneath the stairwell, you failed to notice that the door to the boy's side was cracked open slightly; a certain unpleasant blond boy had been listening into your whole conversation.
* * *
Ash waved at the three of you from the
passenger seat of her moms car, her little brother in the backseat pressing a silly little face against the window as they pulled out of the school parking lot, making the three of you chuckle as you walked towards Larry's car.
Looking out at the parking lot, you remembered that the three of you had gotten to school a bit late today, forcing Larry to have to park at the very back of the small lot, "Man, I'm tired and want to get home. My mom wants to put Halloween decorations around the building, you guys wanna help out?", Larry asked you and Sallyface. Without hesitating you eagerly agreed, "Yes! I love Halloween decorating, but it's not like Addison Apartments isn't creepy enough on its own already.", you joked, Sal adding on, "Yeah, the ghosts make it feel like Halloween all year long. Why bother decorating when we can just ask them to go around and scare the shit out of people?", all three of you began laughing amongst yourselves.
Finally reaching the car, you were about to reach out and open the door for Sal before a hand reached out and grabbed your wrist; someone had been hiding behind the large truck parked next to Larry's car, waiting for the group to arrive. Completely caught off guard, you froze in place as you looked upon the person who had a tight grip on your wrist, "T-travis? W-what?", you fumbled with your words, but in an instant Larry shoved Travis, hard, letting you take back your hand as you watched your aggressor fall to the ground.
"Who the fuck do you think you are touching her like that, dude? What the hell is wrong with-", Travis quickly cut Larry off, "Calm the fuck down, I'm not here for her or you. I'm here for him.", his thin tan finger pointing towards Sallyface, who was in the process of checking your wrist for a bruise before shifting his attention onto Travis, clearly irritated but keeping his cool, "You can get my attention without bothering Y/N, leave her out of it. What do you want?".
Sal's voice was much more stern and serious than you had ever heard it be, surprising you as you watched the confrontation continue before you as Travis stood up from off the ground, Larry taking a few steps back to stand besides you in case he pulled anything else. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm just here to see if you meant what you said.", the scowl upon his face never left as he spoke, he was clearly angry, but for what reason?
Sal, Larry and you all looked back at him, clearly not knowing what he was referring to before he spoke up again, "I promise the next time Travis decides to fuck with you, I'll teach him a lesson.", his scowl turned into a smug grin, amused at what he had just said, "Don't you remember saying that, Sallyface? I just came to see if you'll keep your word, or was it all just a bunch of big talk to impress your little girlfriend, huh?".
Suddenly, you remembered what he was referring to, he was reciting what Sal had promised you in the stairwell earlier that day, "W-what the fuck? Were you spying on us? How did you-", Sallyface spoke up without hesitating, "Yeah, I said that. And I meant it. If you want to get to Y/N, then you'll have to go through me first.", he spoke so sincerely that it made your heart race, feeling a mix of both worry and admiration.
"Sal...", Larry muttered underneath his breath as he watched the two boys size each other up, fists clenched, Larry was prepared to jump in at any given moment, but only if Sal needed it. He knew this was a battle that needed to be fought alone, if he intervened without Sal specifically asking for help it'd only make him feel weak. With a sly smirk, Travis rolled up the sleeves to his bright salmon colored shirt, raising his fists that were already bruised, from what, you had no idea, "Ready when you are, freak." he uttered out.
Doing the same, Sal rolled up the dark sleeves of his shirt, beginning to take a few steps towards his opponent when you suddenly yelled out, "N-no! Stop! Sal, you...you don't have to stoop to his level! You...you don't have to prove anything to him...", voice beginning to crack, a stream of tears began to flow down your face, "...you don't have anything to prove to me. I don't...want to see you get hurt, Sal.", was all you managed to choke out before Larry placed his arm around you, attempting to console you, "H-hey, Y/N, don't cry, it's okay.".
Sal turned his head to look at you after realizing how upset you were, making you cry was never his intention, seeing your face wet with tears and hearing small sobs escape your lips made his heart feel like it was being split in two. He knew he couldn't go against Travis no matter how badly he wanted to teach him a lesson, not if it made you this upset. Turning his back on Travis, Sal began to walk towards you, wanting desperately to comfort you and hold you in his arms, but suddenly, WHACK!
Your eyes widened as you watched your friend stumble forward, falling onto the ground, the blow he had just received to the back of his head was hard enough to even send his mask flying off his face, landing a few feet away from where Sallyface now sat upon the ground, hands clutched upon his face, not wanting you or Travis to see what lies underneath his prosthetic.
"M-my mask...", was all he could think to himself in the moment. Laughing to himself, Travis began to speak once again, now much more confident after landing that cheap shot on Sallyface, "Cmon, let's see what you really look like underneath that dumb ass mask! Where did all the guts you had earlier go, huh?", after he finished spewing out all that nonsense, Larry knew now was a better time than ever to kick his ass, he had enough of this guy treating his friends like shit. "Oh, you fucking asked for it this time, dude.", he growled before lunging at Travis, the two of them now brawling, leaving you in shock as you stared down at Sal, completely unsure of what to do or how to react.
Everything was so chaotic in this moment. It felt like everything was beginning to crash down, but you knew you had to do something, anything. You had to...protect him. You didn't care about the scrapes on your knees. You didn't care how much it stung. All you cared about, right now in this moment, was him.
Without a second thought, you fell onto your knees besides Sal who was still hiding his true face behind his hands, and grabbed him. Your arms wrapped around him, bringing his face against your chest, shielding him from the world as you embraced him tighter than ever before, hands tightly clutching him close to you. No one, not Travis or yourself, would look upon the face underneath his prosthetic without Sal's consent.
Quietly, you shakily whispered to him, "I've got you, Sal. No one's going to look at you, I've got you...", tears once again beginning to form in your eyes when you felt him begin to shake, hands now off his face and instead clutching onto the fabric of your shirt; he couldn't believe just how safe and secure he felt within your protective embrace. He didn't want you to ever stop shielding him away from the cruel world.
The two of you sat upon the black concrete of the parking lot, Larry continuing to wail on Travis for a good while before you decided enough was enough, he had gotten what he had coming to him when he set his hands upon Sallyface, "Larry! That's enough! Stop it! Get Sal's mask instead, can't you see he needs it?! It's over there!".
Fist in the air, right in the middle of another punch he was about to land on Travis, he knew better than to ignore what you were saying, relenting and letting Travis go, who quickly got onto his feet, "F-fuck you guys. Don't mess with me again, just stay out of my way.", and with that he was off, jogging away back towards the school, presumably to wash off in the bathroom.
Picking up Sal's prosthetic off the ground, he dusted it off as he walked towards the both of you, you were still hiding Sal's face against your chest and within your arms, "H-he's gone, Sal. You can put it on now.", Larry explained, clearly out of breath but relatively unharmed, "Y/N won't look, her eyes are shut. Right, Y/N?", he asked. Nodding, you slowly let go of Sal, your eyes shut and hands now placed upon them, wanting him to know you weren't going to invade his privacy, "Yes, my eyes are closed, Sal. Larry has your mask, you can put it on now. I'm...so sorry all this happened...".
A minute passed while he buckled his prosthetic into place, returning to his usual masked appearance, "I-it's on, Y/N.", he spoke softly, standing up, hand now extended to you as you slowly opened your eyes, placing your hand into his as he helped you up off the ground. Sniffling, you wiped the remaining tears off your face as you looked back at your two friends, the three of you were clearly shaken up by the events that had just transpired.
"L-let's go home, guys.", was all you could manage to utter out, which they gladly agreed to. After getting into the car, no one spoke a word as Larry put in the groups favorite CD, starting up the car and flooring it out of the school parking lot. Sanity's Fall blasted throughout the cars speakers as it ran along the road, the sun beginning to set in the distance, a serene way to end the otherwise totally chaotic day.