I was pretty sure that I was going to be expelled from school. They had given me a warning only a day before, so I assumed it was all over now.

Deon took me home once I recovered enough to stand, and the ride was a pretty silent one. He was still angry, and he didn’t reply to me when I tried to thank him for saving my ass. I didn’t try to keep the conversation going – it was obvious he wasn’t going to talk to me anymore. I could only wish he’d be in a better mood tomorrow.

“Thank you,” I said silently once more after getting out of the car.

He just nodded without saying a word, but it was better than nothing. I closed the door, and he drove off, leaving me to face my dad alone. I preferred it that way – I didn’t want Deon to be there when my dad came home from work.

I took a deep breath and walked to the front door. With a heavy feeling in my chest, I stepped in. Thankfully, there was no one home yet. The silence in the empty house didn’t give me much comfort, though. I wondered if the school had already contacted my dad.

I went to find something to eat, but the fridge was empty. The whole house was a mess, and the obnoxious stink of alcohol and cigarettes was getting overwhelming, so I decided to start cleaning. Maybe if the house was clean, my dad wouldn’t be so angry with me. I shivered when I thought about him. He would probably hit me this time.

My head was still hurting, and my cheek was swollen, but I ignored it. I was hungry and tired, and I was feeling feverish, so I was sure I’d get sick again. My body begged me to go get some rest, but instead I grabbed a vacuum cleaner from the closet under the stairs.

Two hours later, I was sweating, shaking and feeling dizzy, but the first floor looked much nicer. I had collected all the empty beer cans in one huge plastic bag, and all the trash into another one. All the windows and doors were open, but it didn’t quite erase the bad smell.

There was still a lot to do. The once white walls had stains all over them, making them look almost yellow. Our dark-blue carpets had turned gray from all the dust and sand the old vacuum cleaner hadn’t been able to remove. When I had opened the windows, I moved the thick, blue curtains away, and more dust fell on me.

I had plenty of time before my dad would be home, but my body just refused working. I nearly fainted when I was taking the trash out. I returned back inside and climbed up to my room, somehow managing to fall down on my bed when my knees suddenly gave up. I curled into a tiny, trembling ball and pulled the duvet over my shivering body, feeling really sick, and I passed out soon after.

 

*****

 

I always slept lightly because I was afraid of getting hurt if I wasn’t alert all the time. So when the front door was slammed shut, I woke up. The fear washed over me instantly, and for a moment, I just shivered under my covers, staring at the wall in front of me.

“Theo!” I heard my father’s voice. “Get down here!”

I closed my eyes and almost started crying. My chest felt heavier than before, and I just wanted to disappear.

“Theo!” he yelled again, and I knew he’d get angrier if I didn’t go to him soon.

I stood up and braced myself for being yelled at. I exited my room and headed to the stairs. With each step, my heart sank lower, and my soul shivered harder. My dad was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, and I lost my courage halfway down. I stopped in the middle of the staircase, and tried to look at him in his dark eyes, almost failing to do so.

“Your teacher called me,” he said without any expression on his face. “She said you didn’t show up.”

“I… I w-was…” I stuttered and looked down at my feet.

He had a small pause before he continued, “Then I got another call from some lady that claimed to be a doctor.”

“T-that… S-she… S-she’s my c-classmate’s… mom…”

“Then I got another call,” my dad continued, ignoring me completely. “From the school nurse.”

“W-what?” I frowned and looked at him again.

“Apparently there was an incident at your school, and she told me to tell you that you need to go see her first thing tomorrow morning.”

“What?” I whispered. “Why?”

“She didn’t tell me,” Dad said and walked towards the living room.

I just stood there for a good while, staring after him. I could hear him opening a can of beer. Was that all? I found some courage to follow him, because I needed to ask him something.

“They didn’t expel me?” I asked.

“No,” he grunted.

“Why not?” I asked, and he turned to look at me with an annoyed expression on his face.

“The fuck I know?” he said. “Be grateful that they didn’t.”

That was my cue to shut the hell up and leave him alone. He didn’t seem angry at me. It was like he was just annoyed that he had to be the messenger. I hurried back to my room so I wouldn’t piss him off with my presence and wondered why nurse Gale wanted to see me. Maybe she had something to do with the fact that I still didn’t get expelled.

 

*****

 

I was extremely nervous when I walked towards the school on Thursday morning. Stepping through the gates, I almost expected to get tackled by teachers and be told that I was never allowed back ever again.

But that didn’t happen. There were other students loitering in the yard already, since I had overslept. I was almost late for school, so I had skipped the shower and breakfast, and just hurried to get my clothes on.

Keeping my eyes on the ground, I walked towards the entrance. No one paid any attention to me, or if they did, they left me alone. I peered at the parking lot when I passed it, but I didn’t see the black car with silver stripes anywhere.

“Please hurry…” I whispered quietly and continued my way to the doors – I was getting really dependent on Deon.

But who could have blamed me? The minute I was left alone, I got hurt. And I really, really didn’t want to get hurt anymore. I hurried my pace when I got inside the school. I would be safe once I reached the nurse’s office. I wanted to run the rest of the way, but there were teachers everywhere, and I didn’t want to get in trouble with them.

I let out a huge sigh of relief when I knocked on the door of the nurse’s office. There was no one around in that small hallway, and I was safe for now. Then the door opened, and Mrs. Gale looked at me with a grumpy frown.

“Good. You’re here,” she said and grabbed my hand, yanking me inside.

“W-why did you want to see… me…?” I spoke with a tiny voice, but trailed off as her frown grew deeper.

“I heard what happened yesterday. Mrs. Steele called me, so save your crap,” she spoke.

“Why did she call you?” I asked nervously.

“Because she was concerned about you,” Mrs. Gale said. “She couldn’t get ahold of your father, so she called me.”

“It wasn’t necessary,” I tried to say, but Mrs. Gale waved her hand angrily to shut me up.

“Of course it was!” she snapped at me. “If I didn’t interfere, you would’ve been expelled!”

So she had done something to prevent that, just like I had thought.

“Interfere?” I repeated.

“They were about to sign the papers when I told them what happened to you, and why you weren’t at school yesterday. I told the board that you were hit by Sean Curtis, and you had to see a doctor,” she told me, and then her expression turned even angrier when she continued with a mutter, “That kid should’ve been properly punished for it. But he’s the golden boy…”

“It’s all right,” I muttered. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” she sighed. “They hushed it up only because they think that Mr. Curtis is a bright student, and they didn’t want his reputation to be ruined.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “As long as I get to stay here, I don’t mind,” I added, starting to feel more relaxed.

Mrs. Gale looked at me with some kind of pity in her eyes. “How are you feeling? I can give you permission to go home for today.”

“I’m fine,” I said with a small smile. “Thank you.”

“If you start feeling nauseous or dizzy, come see me, okay?” she said surprisingly gently.

“Okay,” I nodded.

“Get out of here then, and don’t get hurt again, you hear me?” she ordered sternly and opened the door.

I nodded again and exited the room. There was still no one else in the hallway when I hurried towards my first class. I was hoping to find Deon, but once I got to the math class, he wasn’t there. I sighed silently and walked carefully to the back of the room, and sat down next to my desk. I got some curious looks, and I could see what they were thinking about: where was Deon, and was it now safe to start picking on me?

The teacher started the lesson soon after, and I buried my head behind the textbook. I felt insecure and exposed, but I was thankfully left alone. I really wished they had grown bored with me, and would leave me alone for good. I knew it would never happen, but I couldn’t help but fantasize about it.

When the class was dismissed, I waited for everyone else to get out before standing up from my seat. I exited the room and looked around, trying to spot possible threats. When the coast was clear, I headed to the exit, so I could hide outside until the next class started. I couldn’t spend even five minutes inside without drawing unwanted attention.

I walked close to the wall, keeping my eyes on everything that moved. Other students were staring at me wherever I went, but no one did anything. I guess they thought Deon would be right behind me or something, because I almost got to the back exit without an incident.

There was no one around when I passed one of the unused classrooms, but the second I had walked by the door, it flung open and I was yanked inside. I tried to yell, but someone pressed their hand over my mouth, and I could hear them shush in my ear. Thinking it was Sean, I was prepared to fight to get free, but to my surprise, it was Beau.

“You scared me,” I told him once he had removed his hand and closed the door.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wanted to talk, but you skipped school yesterday,” he continued and his smile faded.

“I told you I was sick,” I said quietly and took a step away from him.

“But I heard you left with Deon yesterday morning,” Beau frowned. “So you were here.”

“He was taking me to see a doctor,” I muttered. Beau didn’t look like he believed me, so I continued, “Sean hit me – I still have the bruise.” I pointed at my cheek.

“Oh,” Beau said, his expression changing. “That guy is a jerk.”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered and looked down. “So… You wanted to talk?”

“Yeah,” Beau said and stepped closer to me. “I wanted you to know I broke up with Sabrina.”

“What?” I said with wide eyes and looked up at him. “You did?”

“Yeah, because of you,” he said with a smile.

I couldn’t believe my ears. “Because of me?”

“Yeah,” he said with a warm smile, and stepped right in front of me. “I want to be with you.”

I almost forgot how to breathe. I didn’t have any words to speak, but he didn’t even give me any time to come up with something to say. I froze completely when he suddenly leaned closer and kissed me.

His lips were just as soft as the last time. His scent flowed all around me, and his firm body felt comforting when he wrapped his arms around my waist, pressing me tightly against his chest. My mind hadn’t quite grasped the situation yet, when he licked my lips. I opened my mouth in surprise, and he took advantage of it immediately. He slid his tongue in my mouth and pressed it against mine. I didn’t know what to do. Part of me was still in shock, but the rest of me enjoyed the new sensations. I tried to mimic what he was doing, but I was probably really bad at it, since he suddenly pulled away and chuckled lightly.

“You need practice,” he smirked.

“W-what…?” I asked hazily, and he kissed me again.

It felt just as amazing as it had on the first time, but this time he seemed hungrier. His other hand traveled down my back, while the other one climbed up on the back of my neck. He took a firm grip on my hair and pulled me into a deeper kiss. I let him do what he wanted, because I had no idea what to do.

Then he pulled away again, breathing heavily, just like me. He stared into my eyes for a moment before letting go of me with a smile on his face.

“I have to go, but don’t forget me, okay?” he said with a boyish grin. “I want to see you tomorrow, after school.”

“O-okay,” I said breathlessly.

“I’ll come pick you up at six from that store,” he said. “Oh, and…” he said, his expression turning a little sad. “Can we keep this as a secret? For now? You know my parents…”

“Okay,” I breathed out. I definitely wanted to be with him, and I didn’t want to mess things up right there in the beginning. “I won’t tell anybody.”

“Thank you,” Beau smiled and exited the room.

I had to lean against the wall to catch my breath and regain my senses. I knew the bell would ring in a minute, but I was somewhere far above the clouds. I could still smell him. I could still feel the warmth of his body. I could still taste his saliva on my lips. I could still feel how much he wanted me.

I had never felt like that before. And I loved it.

I had a smile on my lips when I grabbed my bag from the floor and walked out of the classroom. I hardly even noticed the people passing me by, but I was sane enough to hide my smile. I’d already learned that people didn’t like to see me smiling, and they would do everything they could to bring me down. So I tried not to think about Beau as I walked deeper into the school.

I reached the next class just when the teacher opened the door. I was still so deep in my pleasant memories of Beau that I failed to notice Deon.

“What? Are you ignoring me now?” Deon spoke right next to me, and I jumped in surprise.

“W-what?” I asked and turned to look at him.

“Whatever,” he muttered and pushed me towards the door. “I need you to help me out tomorrow.”

“With what?” I asked in annoyance, but I didn’t wait for his reply, and continued, “You know what? I have plans already.”

Deon snorted with a disbelieving smile and led me to the back of the room, then pushing me down on my seat next to his.

“It’s Friday tomorrow,” he said.

“Really?” I gasped sarcastically. “So today must be Thursday!”

“You better tune down that attitude of yours,” Deon grunted, but I could see the corners of his lips trembling, like he was hiding a smile.

“Or what?” I asked, feeling awfully brave all of a sudden.

Deon raised his eyebrows at me. “I can leave,” he shrugged.

I was about to tell him to leave if he wanted, but there were too many sets of ears listening to our conversation. The second Deon would stop protecting me, my hell would start again.

“That’s what I thought,” he said with a smug smile on his lips, and leaned back in his chair.

I let out a deep sigh and shook my head in annoyance. “What do I need to do?”

“Let me crash at your place,” Deon said. “Just like last Friday.”

“Fine… But I do have plans for the evening,” I said.

“I don’t care. Just be home after midnight,” Deon said.

“Fine,” I sighed again.