Turning the page, he began reading line after line. The cheering noise in the background sounded like a barely mute buzzer to him. He didn't even see the paper balls fly over his miniature figure, or the taunts by other immature kids. The boy was so wrapped up in his readings he hadn't noticed somebody sitting next to him: towering over him until it was too late.
One minute he held the book with his pale fingers, perfectly content, and in the next, it slipped out of his grasp like butter.
"I got it!"
Zexion looked up and scowled at the mullet-headed boy who held his book, laughing with the popular crowd on the bus.
"The Diary of Jane… sounds like porn!" The rebel of the group exclaimed, causing almost everyone in hearing range to laugh. Zexion seethed as he scooted to the edge of the seat to get a better view of them.
"Give it back," The pale teen said; his voice thick with fear. Memories flooded back in his head about the "unfortunate" situations with the group. All those hurtful words, all of the taunting and mocking and cruel jokes almost drove him to the edge.
"Throw it out the window!" The queen-bee of the bitches shouted.
"No!" The small teen jumped up and ran towards the far back of the bus, but one of his classmates (was it Xaldin? He's not sure) tripped him. Zexion felt his chin connect with the rough surface of the bus floor, causing an internal pain shoot through his jaws.
"Nice Xigbar!" Ah, so Xigbar was the cause of this. Zexion expected as much. The pain hadn't ceased for a couple of minutes, and soon the bus came to a halt.
"Dude I think you killed him!"
"Ha ha, I hope I did!"
"Gosh Xigbar, you're so mean!" Laughter rang through the pale ears of the boy. God he hoped they would all leave him alone. Why did he even agree to go to this stupid end-of-the-school-year field trip?
"Alright kids, a few rules real quick," Had Mr. Merlin not seen him sprawled on the floor? Probably not; Mr. Merlin's as blind as a bat! So much for an adults' help… "Rule one: No touching each other. Rule two: Don't eat or drink around the pool area. And Rule three: Have fun!"
As the kids struggled to get off, sounding like a bunch of lions fighting over a t-bone, only one student stepped on Zexion's hand, which he guessed was Larxene due to the knife on those seven inch high heels digging and cutting its way through the small bones and skin on his palm, causing Zexion to cry out. Too bad his cry was muffled by the roar of the children.
Once everything was quiet, Zexion slowly lifted himself to see blood dripped on the floor. He frowned and touched his lip, which seemed to be busted.
After a moment of blank staring, Zexion finally pulled himself to his legs and sat in the seat next to him, holding his lip while his eyes scanned the area. The bus was completely deserted – all except for his book, which had pages torn out and stuffed into a huge wad, which someone had attempted to stick it out the narrow windows. They only succeeded in causing a huge paper wad to be stuck in between both inside and out.
Tears wielded up in his dark blue eyes. He hadn't meant to cry, but the thought of being tormented like this for a few more years is horrifying.
"…alright, just chill for a sec!"
Zexion took a glimpse out the window, only to feel his heart beat faster and fear to open up his eyes. That idiot of the group (Demyx?) was running over to the bus. No, if that boy saw the pale skinned boy crying, he'd tell the whole school! Or worse – use blackmail…
Zexion had to disappear – fast! He sprinted to the back of the bus, thankful at his height for once, which seemed to cower behind the seats with ease.
Demyx boarded the isolated bus, looking up the walkway. That emo kid was gone, and yet the wad of pages stayed glued in between the window and he didn't notice the boy walk off.
"Hurry up, Demyx!" The mullet-headed boy glanced at his friends at the gate, who looked impatient.
"Hold up!" Demyx yelled. He took another look around, but didn't see that blue haired teen (had they said his name was Zexion?) anywhere. He almost took a step off the bus, but out of nowhere a soft cry met his ears.
Zexion's eyes widen as he held his hands to his mouth, trapping anymore unwanted cries. Tears still crawled down his face; wetting his hands or plummeting onto the brown leather of the seat. He prayed to God that that Demyx guy would just shrug it off and leave.
But to his dismay, he heard light footsteps approach.
"Z…Zexion?" He could hear Demyx's stuttering voice very close. Gradually, Zexion turned his head to see Demyx staring at him with some kind of pitied emotion.
"What the hell do you want?" Zexion's voice came harsh and cold. Demyx winced but sat next to the small teen.
"What's wrong?" He asked; oblivious to the memories of mocking and hurting the poor boy. Zexion, however, let his eyes turn more dark and disturbing.
"You! You're so fucking…" Zexion gripped his dark hair in irritation; tears leaking his eyes. Demyx noticed this and his hands shot up.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, dude chillax!" Demyx said, hoping to calm down the teen. This only angered him even more.
"'Chillax'? For God's sake, you're an idiot! And to actually think I used to fear your very presence!" The angered teen stood up and pushed the blonde out of his way, only to feel a hand rest upon his shoulder. Zexion was about to shrug the being's hand off, but out nowhere, Demyx spun the shorter teen around and smashed his lips against Zexion's.
Zexion's eyes grew wide, but he felt no urge to kiss back. In fact, he felt his hands ball up into fists, but stayed perfectly still.
As Demyx pulled away, he noticed the balled fists and frowned.
"Zexy, is something wro—" BAM! The smaller teen's fist collided with the blonde's face. Demyx cried out, holding his nose and staggered back.
"That's ZEXION to you!" Zexion snapped, and then rushed off the bus, past the angered popular group, and into the mal restroom.
Eventually Zexion caught his breath, leaning against a sink. His throat burned from that run, but mostly because of that stupid kiss. What would make that idiot think he could just swoop down and steal my heart after the teasing? The teen couldn't come to a conclusion.
After a few more seconds, he looked up into the mirror and opened his mouth to scream.
In an instant, Xaldin had his thick hands around the small teen's throat. Zexion let out a gasp that sounded strangled and strained. He hadn't even heard the door open.
"Why does Demyx have a bloody nose?" Xaldin snarled.
"I-I don't know!" Zexion lied; scarcely breathing. Xaldin tightened his grip.
"Wrong answer," He whispered. Zexion gaped for a breath, but none entered his lungs. For a moment, Zexion swore he would die, but miraculously somebody flushed a toilet, startling Xaldin and forcing himself to back off for a moment. Zexion wasted no time and swung his leg as hard as he could into Xaldin's crotch.
"Argh!" Xaldin cried out in pain, holding his "area". The teen gulped down a huge breath of air before rushing out of the bathroom, only to run into Axel and Xigbar.
"Ha, told you Xaldin couldn't kill him!" Xigbar laughed. Axel glared at his friend before advancing on Zexion, "Maybe he couldn't, but I will."
The blue haired teen ran the other way from the two older men – towards the pool. When he arrived though, Larxene, Saix, and Marluxia were waiting for him.
"Look who came to join us," Saix teased in his calm, cold voice. In the corner of Zexion's eyes, he could see Axel, Xigbar, and Xaldin coming to join.
"S-Stay away," Zexion warned, backing away as the other three joined Larxene.
"Or what? Besides, fair is fair, bitch. You punch Demyx, we kill you," Larxene informed, smirking. They took their sweet time walking towards Zexion, and the little teen backed away, looking around. Merlin would be no help, and everybody went for lunch – even the life guards. Zexion looked back and quickened his pace going backwards. They had gotten closer.
"Oh I'm going to enjoy pounding—huh?" Larxene watched with surprise as Zexion's foot slipped on the slippery edge of the pool. He let out a startled cry and his arms flared out to catch something, but his petite body slammed into the water.
"H-HELP!" Zexion screamed, feeling himself trash around in the water. He had no clue how to swim. The popular group watched; unable to move. The blue haired teen kept screaming, feeling his head go under for a moment.
Just then, Demyx returned to the pool area, not seeing Zexion. And yet the blonde felt his eyebrows furrow together at why they were swarmed around the deep end the pool.
"Hey… hey guys?" It was like they didn't hear him. Placing the small towel for his nose in a chair, he began walking towards them.
And yet the closer he got, he heard a gurgled scream and water splashing around. And the louder the screams came, the faster Demyx walked until he was on a full speed run.
Without even pausing, Demyx shoved his friends out the way and gasped.
"Zexy!" He cried out, about to jump in but out of nowhere two arms held him back.
"G-GET OFF!! Can't you see he's drowning!?" Demyx screamed, thrashing around.
"Stop it, Demyx," Axel growled in his ear.
"No, you stop it!" Demyx snarled, attempting to kick Axel, but the redhead refused to let Dem get a single inch of space. Zexion now only had his hand floating above water, but soon enough it was gulped down by the water. The pool became disturbingly still.
"NO!" Demyx finally broke free and dived into the water, rushing down till he saw Zexion's still body lying upon the tiled floor. The blonde scooped the teen up in his arms and came up.
After putting Zexion on dry land, Demyx pulled himself up and towered over Zexion on his knees, ignoring the yells from his "friends".
"C'mon Zexy, wake up," Demyx whispered, placing his head on the younger teen's chest. No heart beat. "Wake up, damn it!" Demyx pounded his fists against Zexion's chest, but his eyes didn't open. He wouldn't breathe.
"Goddamn it, Zexion, don't die now!! P-Please…" Demyx attempted CPR, but no pulse came from his chest. Tears wielded up in Demyx's eyes as he hugged the limp body. "Oh God, Zexion, I'm so sorry," Demyx sobbed, "I'm sorry for teasing you, I'm sorry for hurting you, I'm… God!" The blonde burst into a fit of tears.
Soon his "friends" approached the mullet-headed boy with the lifeguards, who separated Demyx from Zexion and checked for a pulse.
"Sorry man," Axel muttered quietly, scratching the back of his neck. Hatred shot in Demyx's eyes. He turned to the group.
"Sorry man doesn't cut it! For Christ's sake, you killed him!" Demyx snarled. Larxene scowled.
"We didn't kill him, he drow—"
"Because NO ONE helped him!" Demyx shouted, "I even tried to save him, but you stopped me!" His eyes flicked to Axel, "How could you…?" He kept glaring at Axel, who looked sheepishly from one person to the next.
Demyx felt tears push against his eyes again. Before his mind could comprehend what was happening, he sped out of the area.
"Demyx!" He heard them calling, but he didn't slow down. He hadn't slowed down until he found himself facing a bridge.
"I-I'm so sorry…" Demyx whispered, tears blurring his vision. He was sorry for a lot of things, but mostly for allowing Zexion to drown. Demyx knew if he only tried a little harder, he would've saved Zexion. He could've…
Cars suddenly stopped on the bridge as adults and children alike watched a boy with mullet blonde hair and blue-ish green eyes tip over the bridge and for a moment, everything was quiet until they heard the body slam into the water.
Depressing, isn't it? Well, my friend said it was. Anyway, just because I can, this story was inspired by my own experiences at a pool trip, and the one coming up at the end of the year. I kept thinking I was Zexion - the one who always reads and wasn't looking forward to the field trip, while Demyx was... well, Demyx. :) Review, please?