[15]

I watch the nurse press a cloth onto Kai's temple, a hiss echoing through the room.

"Fuck, is that painful. How did he even manage to make me bleed?" Kai mutters into the silence of the room, breaking it.

An amused chuckle leaves my lips at his statement. "The rings, Kai. The rings."

"Oh . . well, whatever." His cheeks redden slightly before he turns his head away and stares out the window. Droplets of rain are dropping onto the glass, trailing down to the bottom until they disappear out of view. Its loud, comforting sounds are filling the quiet room.

"All done. Here are some pills in case you get a headache in the next couple of hours." The nurse hands Kai a small bottle, its insides cluttering loudly as she shakes it a bit.

"Thanks, Ms. Parker," Kai says as he grabs the medicine and jumps off the bed that he had been sitting on. He quickly stuffs it into his backpack and makes his way over to me, an appreciative smile crossing his lips. "Thanks again, bro. But what you did was really reckless, you know? He could've broken your neck with his pinkie."

"Should I have just let you get beaten black and blue then?" I reply, not wanting to say the same thing over and over again. I owed him, and he's my bestfriend.

"Man, I wanted to hear that bestfriend thing again!" he whines slightly and swings his arm around my shoulder, making me bite down onto my lip as to not yelp out in pain. "Never heard anyone say it, well except for Gwen. But she's a girl, so that doesn't count. Girls just love me."

I roll my eyes. "Sure."

"By the way, remember Gwen's little brother? Cooper? Gwen asked if she could bring him along today. Her parents forced her to kind of babysit him, you know? She isn't allowed to leave him anywhere alone because he got home late and drunk from a party or something."

I avert my gaze from Kai as we walk down the hallway, my mind wandering off to Gwen's little brother.

Cooper.

Of course, I remember him. Our first encounter was pretty unforgettable, I'd say. At least for me. Bumping into someone and even spilling out something they had bought would usually get me some bruises, but Cooper wasn't even angry.

He's pretty laid-back in general. Easy to talk to, though it sometimes gets really awkward between us.

"Are you even listening?" Kai nudges my uninjured shoulder and sends me an amused grin.

"What?- . . . Uh, what were you saying again?" I mumble, digging my teeth into my lower lip.

"I was asking if Cooper could come over along with Gwen and me today. Like, let's order some pizza or play some video games or something," he says.

I feel my stomach churn slightly, an empty feeling settling in it. "Sure," I force out. It's not that I don't want to spend time with them, it's just- I don't feel like having fun.

Sighing, I grab ahold of the straps of my backpack and clench my fists tightly around them.

Together we walk down the hallway, Kai limping slightly and me trying my best to not whimper in pain because of my shoulder, towards lunch.

The halls are filled with students gossiping and chattering about the incident from a few hours ago. They keep sneaking glances at me and Kai, but I try to ignore them, as hard as that may be.

The painfully tight feeling in my chest reminds me of just how intense these stares are, though.

Once we arrive at the cafeteria, we quickly part ways in order to get what we need for lunch. I bet Kai will order himself some of the food from today's menu, like he always does, though he usually ends up throwing away half of it because of its gross taste. I always hated when he did that, knowing how much of a waste it was to throw food away. But it really does taste gross, I have to admit.

I don't even think it's edible sometimes.

Anyway, unlike him, I usually just get myself something from one of the few vending machines in our school. Some small snack or just a cola, because my appetite wouldn't allow much more since I'm already being forced to eat full meals for breakfast and lunch.

Though I mostly only finish half of it.

I shove my money into the machine, praying for it to not just get sucked in by that metallic monster, and press on some numbers. After the clattering, signalling that the money was accepted, sounds out, my lunch falls down right as I stuff my hand into the machine and grab it.

Feeling content with myself, I let a soft chuckle escape my lips before I quickly scurry to my usual seat. Kai is already seated there, laughing about something most probably very much unfunny, with Gwen eyeing him weirdly from her seat right next to him.

"That is just disgusting, Kai. You hear me? That's not funny," Gwen sighs, rubbing her hand over her face. When I approach the table, her eyes instantly find me and fill with relief. "Thank god, Chase. I already thought that vending machine fell onto you and left me alone with that damn idiot over there."

I snort slightly as I sit down, putting the bag of nuts in front of me on the table. It's not my favorite snack, but it's quite filling and not as bad as those weird banana crackers that I once had.

"Hey, I'm sitting right next to you!" Kai complains and attempts to throw a napkin at Gwen, but due to its thin fabric it only flies a few inches until it falls softly onto the table. "Dammit."

Gwen breaks out into a fit of laughter, clutching onto her stomach and slapping her hand on her thigh - something, I noticed, she does a lot when she laughs. Kai on the other hand, picks on his food with a fork, a scowl etched onto his lips.

As for me, I just silently watch them, enjoying their company. It's nice, really. To have them around, to hear them laugh and bicker with each other. It's so lively with them around, it often takes my mind off of other things.

Well, until I zone out as usual.

Then it all comes back, invading my mind and my senses with whatever memory I dreamt of the night before. Either I feel hands rip apart my clothes and roam my fragile, trembling body, or a belt coming into contact with my bruised skin. Or hands gripping my hair harshly until my scalp hurt, and my head throbbed.

I take a deep breath, trying to think of something else. I glance around the room. Those students look so carefree, as if there were nothing in this world that could make their smiles falter. But we all know otherwise, we all know of the cruelties this world possesses. We just simply ignore it until we no longer can. Until we look it right in the eye.

When my gaze lands on the window that shows the backyard of the school, my eyes instantly settle onto a hooded figure leaning against the wall in one corner, far away from everyone else.

I immediately recognize him. With the way he is leaning against that brick wall, with his hands resting in his pockets and his eyes closed, it's hard to not recognize him.

I watch him intently, gazing at the bruises on his face once again. How did he even get those?

He is not one to let people walk over him or even look at him in the wrong way, so why did he get hurt in a fight he was sure of winning without a scratch?

I think back to what happened earlier this day. My heart still skips a beat when I recall the way he slammed his fist into the locker right next to my head, or the way his eyes darkened when he walked into my direction with those long strides of his.

But he didn't punch me. He had the chance to do so, I was practically served on a silver platter to him, my weak build doing nothing to protect me. My father would've jumped on the opportunity without another thought.

But not Riku. Why?

Suddenly he pushes himself off the wall and sends me a blank look, before he walks off.

I freeze. Did he know I was watching him?

Before I could further think about it, the bell blasts loudly through the room, signaling the end of lunch. I quickly scramble to my feet and, after waving at Kai and Gwen, I take off into the direction of my next class. Though I wait for a few moments, until the cafeteria is cleared out a bit, so the risk of getting shoved and hurting my shoulder in the process is smaller.

When the last period ends with the bell booming through the building, I stand up from my desk and practically run out the door.

The teacher was extremely obnoxious. She only asked those students questions that had no idea what was going on, and ignored those who raised their hand all the time.

I sigh loudly as I scurry through the crowded hallways, dodging a few students that are in my way. Once I make it to my locker, I spot Kai and Gwen leaning against it. They are chatting casually and glance around once in a while to see if I'm around.

I quickly make my way over to them and wave my hand when they spot me. They return the wave with a smile. "Hey, bro, you ready to go? Cooper is waiting outside." Kai gives me a quick fist bump before I turn to my locker.

Opening it, I shove a few books into my backpack and shut the locker door. "Let's go," I say.

Kai swings an arm around my shoulders like he always does and drags me along with him. I have to bite my lip again, not wanting to let out the whine that's threatening to escape my mouth.

As soon as we step outside, a warm summer breeze brushes past us. The weather is currently playing around with everyone. One day it's almost freezing cold and the other day it feels like it's summer.

With my eyes, I follow a leaf that is being carried around by a weak breeze of wind, until it crushes into one of the few trees on the front yard of the school. Leaned against its trunk is a certain brown haired guy, waving us over with a wide smile.

As Kai drags me into his direction, Gwen follows us quietly. A look of annoyance had spread on her face the minute she spotted her younger brother. I wonder if siblings always feel annoyed by each other's presence. I never had one, nor did I ever want one.

But the thought of having someone, just so they are there and keep you company, always made me feel slighlty envious. Especially when I was sitting in my room, all alone, with tears streaming down my face, curled up in a ball.

I quickly shake those thoughts away and focus my attention on Cooper's green eyes as they sparkle brightly in the sunlight.

"Hey, big sis," he calls out as soon as we are in earshot and attempts to pull his sister into a hug. But she dodges, whereupon he stumbles over his feet.

Suddenly, his face is so close to mine that I can feel his breath on the tip of my nose. I blink in surprise, my breath getting caught in my throat. His eyes grow wide as he pulls back and stands up straight. Heat rises to his ears, painting them in a bright red.

"Sorry," he mumbles.

I clear my throat, feeling the heat build up in my cheeks as well.

"Well, uh . . let's go," Kai chimes in, and ushers us into the direction of the forest. Before I let myself get dragged along though, I spot a shadow lurking behind one of the trees. But before I can attempt to make out its face, it's gone. As if it was never there.

But it was.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey there,

I know, I know, it's been literal decades since I last published a new chap, I'm sorry.

I had this small project that had turned out to be way bigger than I expected it to be and then I didn't wan to write two stories at a time because I would mess up everything and the plots and characters would become a huge mess, so I kinda neglected this book.

Again, I apologize for not having enough brain cells (lmao) to write more than one story at a time, but from on it will continue as before.

I will try and update without too long pauses in between ;)

Love ya guys! Stay safe!

❤

- L I S A