Davis drove home listening to a combination of classic and punk rock via Pandora over his phone. The drive was pleasing. Stopping at a nearby park, he sits in wait for Mark to come by with the bottle of wine that he had asked for. He sat in his car, waiting somewhat impatiently, unaware that Akira would be walking through the park to get home.
Akira didn't notice Davis at first, his eyes glued forward, his body practically dragging itself forward. At this point it was useless for him to try and smile like he did at school. He wore a bright and cheerful mask at school, but it was hard to keep that mask up once he was drained of energy. As he walked through the park, his eyes flicked forward and a feeling of dread settled in his stomach, noticing the car that belonged to none other than his high school bully, Davis. He inhaled softly and forced himself to move swiftly away from the car. He just needed to get away.
Inhaling slowly, the bully takes a drag off of the blunt that he'd been looking forward to all day. The stresses of school-life wore heavily on him despite being popular. The constant struggle to keep his grades up so he could do sports. Trying to juggle his academic and social lives. Getting high was Davis's way to unwind and relax.
He looks tense…. "No surprise there," he says to himself, watching the smaller male desperately attempting to go by unnoticed.
Davis looks around, making sure that nobody is nearby. "Come here twerp."
Akira glances at Davis and sighed deeply, turning around slowly and taking a few steps away from him. "Look. I'd appreciate it if we kept the whole "Bully the nerd" to school. I already have enough- you know what I don't need to explain myself to you." He looked tired, tense, and defensive. "I don't need my glasses broken again."
Davis chuckles and holds the joint out. "Take a chill pill, mate. Consider this a… piece offering for organizing my binders."
Akira glanced at the blunt and shook his head. "I'll pass. I don't smoke." He turned his lower half away from Davis. "Can I go now?"
Davis rolls his eyes, and takes another drag from the blunt. "Ok," he exhales. "One hit and I'll let you go. It might help you relax a bit."
"I don't need your hand outs. I don't smoke and I don't intend to." He says bitterly, adjusting his glasses. "The last thing that needs to happen is you getting me high and then beating me up somewhere in an alley." His voice was cold, wary… But cold. He moved his body so he could leave easier. "So just… Leave it. I'll have your binders done by Monday."
"Okay…. Fair enough," Davis admits. "Go ahead and get going before Mark shows up."
He nods, relief spreading through his chest. "Bye." He swiftly turns away, now eager to return to the house he hated. It was better than getting ganged up on by Mark and Davis.
The weekend came and gone as a speeding car. Davis stood at his locker, waiting for Akira to give him his newly organized binders.
A promise is a promise; for the week I won't harass the fagot.
The weekend had been nice, spending it with his sister had been uneventful and quiet. She had dropped him off at home Sunday night, which he had dreaded. But, as promised, he had taken care of the binders. But… he didn't look good. He had a split lip and a blooming bruise on his jaw. He glanced at Davis and hands him the binders. "As promised." They were neatly organized. "I rewrote a few pages of notes since they had either torn or made no sense. There are tabs to keep each class separated, and they're organized by date."
Davis took the binders from the smaller teen. His eyes go wide upon seeing the dark bruises on Akira's face. "I know for a fact that I didn't cause those." Did some other homo try to aggressively fuck his face or something?
Akira paused at that, "Careful. For a second you almost sounded like you cared." He placed a few books in his locker, grabbing a few more things. He didn't feel in a chatty mood. He looked exhausted if carefully inspected.
"I like sticking to my word; you organized my binders, so you get the week off," Davis says as he gathers what he needs for the first class of the day. He struggles to suppress a yawn, and reaches for the thermos down by his feet.
He clicked his tongue. "For you maybe. Doesn't mean the rest of them aren't going to make my life a living hell." He murmured bitterly. "See you in class." He walks away, heading straight for their first period class.
Davis strolled into the classroom close to being tardy with less than a minute to spare. He seats himself at his desk, placing his thermos just to the side of his things after taking a large drink from it. The warm, bittersweet coffee washes down his throat, warming him up a bit. In a few minutes the caffeine would do its job and make him a little more alert. A sigh escapes him.
It's too early for this crap…. Why can't we do math when we're actually awake?
(I'm going to go to bed now. Night!)
Akira, of course, was settled away from everyone, sketching away in his notebook as he waited for class to begin. Coffee was a life saver when it came to this class, that was for sure. He didn't want to be at school though. He hated being at school. He adjusts his glasses quietly, glancing up at the bell but then returning to his notebook.
Davis sat and listened to their teacher explain quadratic formulas, trying not to groan from the fact that it's something that they already know. His thoughts drift towards his friends.
Mark has some nice muscles…. His face flushes in embarrassment upon realizing the arrant thought. Stop it!
He sketched quietly in his notebook as their teacher gave the lecture. He risked a glance over at Davis only to become confused. Why was Davis blushing? At maths? What on earth- actually why should he care? It's not like it mattered. He sighed quietly and started back on his sketch.
"Mr. Jones?" Mrs. Crabtree called, attempting to get the young man's attention. "Perhaps you could solve the problem, or are you too busy daydreaming?"
Davis looked up to see that their math teacher now stood directly in front of him. She pointed to the Smart-board where an unsolved formula sat waiting. He swore under his breath as he stood and approached the board, already doing some of the work in his head.
Far too early in the day for this.
He didn't know what he was doing but he carefully scribbled the answer onto a small sheet of paper and held it up subtly to the other. He wasn't sure why he was helping the other. Maybe it would ease up the bullying? He wasn't sure, but he kept quiet and his gaze away from Davis.
Davis turned to look at his classmates, specifically Allison, and saw that Akira had quickly wrote the answer down on a piece of paper. His brow scrunches up in confusion.
Mr. Know-it-all is sticking his neck out for me? Why? Deciding to take a chance Davis copies the answer onto the board, even showing work. He looks towards Mrs. Crabtree, smirking at her.
Mrs. Crabtree sighs. "Go back to your seat, Mr. Jones, and wipe that smug look off your face!" She then goes on to explain how Davis, through Akira, had gotten the correct answer.
"Good job Davey," Allison says, tucking some hair behind her ear and giving him a small grin.
Davis sat down, grabbed his thermos, and took a large gulp. His thoughts keep drifting towards Akira, coming up with reasons on why the twerp would decide to help.
Ah. That was probably why. Allison. She was very pretty and definitely Davis's type. He set his paper down and returned to his sketch. He didn't know why he helped Davis out… He just did. A deep sigh left his lips. He writes a few notes down and listened to the lecture, he didn't want to dwell on what he did too much.