Mentions of bullying and anxiety attacks.
"Haha dork!" He felt someone shove into his shoulder and he ducked his head down, hoping they would just leave him alone.
Of course they didn't
"Hey dork I'm talking to you!" Kev was shoved fully against the locker. Clutching his biology book to his chest, he prayed they would leave soon.
"Hey Tony. W-what can I do for you?" He tried to keep his voice steady.
"Hmm, well… I have an English essay due on Friday, and I'm just no good at creative writing. I was hoping" Read 'I'm going to force you' thought Kev, "You would write it for me. I'll reward you handsomely." He rose one blonde eyebrow and Kev shrunk.
"Tony, you've never paid me back for the things I've done for you before…" The soccer player slammed a fist on the locker above the trembling ginger's head.
"Don't ask any more questions and I'll give you a little bonus."
"O-okay Tony. Do you have a hand out with the specifications on it?"
"Yeah. I'll get someone to get it to you." He slammed his on the locker a second time, making the smaller boy jump again.
"Is there an issue here?" A dark voice came from their left. A tall, lanky student was leaning on the lockers not ten feet from the two. His dark hair was covered by a beat up old beanie and his jacket sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.
Kev saw the emotions change in Tony's eyes and sighed inaudibly as the soccer player took a miniscule step back.
"No issue here Edd. Just talking to my dear friend Kev here. He's going to help me on my English paper. No need to get your panties in a twist dude." Edd pushed himself off the lockers and took three long, languid steps towards them.
"That's good to hear Anthony. I would truly hate if I had to… interfere." A dangerous glint in his eye made the soccer player take another step back.
"I'm outta here. Look out for someone with the paper, Dork. And don't forget, its due Friday." He turned on his heel and stalked off in the opposite direction.
"Are you unharmed?" Kev whirled his head from the direction the blonde stalked off in to look at Edd.
"Y-yeah I'm fine. He must have been in a good mood." Kev laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head, shuffling his Knowledge Bowl cap.
"He does this often?" Edd was leaning back on the locker, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his dark jeans.
"I wouldn't say often, but I guess it does happen occasionally." He subconsciously placed a hand to his right ribs, remembering the throbbing pain that had barely faded.
The sullen student next to Kev was silent for a moment as the red head turned to open his locker. Shuffling through his notebooks, Kev almost missed what he said.
"If that happens again, wrap your torso. It supports the ribs and keeps them from getting jostled in everyday life." Kev almost hit his head on the top of his locker when he realized what Edd had said. He quickly turned to deny the claim, his glasses slipping off his nose, only to find Edd had already walked away, blending in with the sea of students.
Kev placed a hand back on his torso and sighed, not wanting to admit that Edd's advice was most definitely going to come in handy. He grabbed the right notebook and headed to his robotics class. He slipped in the doors just as the bell rang.
"Alright class, today I'm going to talk about the last project. I was really looking forward to seeing what you were going to come up with, but I was slightly disappointed with the end results. A lot of you seemed to have the same internal design to your project. I don't know how you did it, but it's like you worked together on them, or had someone else make it for you entirely."
Kev, sitting in the back of the class, didn't miss the pointed glances at him from certain students in the class. He was 'recruited' to help with some of their project.
Most of them just ask politely, because they had other tests to study for and such, but others used excessive force. Kev tried to make them look different, but apparently he didn't do a very good job disguising his work.
"Kevin Barr, could you stay after class?" Kev's attention suddenly snapped to the front of the room, and his face flushed bright red. He nodded and opened a notebook, pretending to take vigorous notes.
He missed his teacher's worried glance at his capped head before turning back to the white board and begin drawing some diagram.
'"Kevin, I'm worried about you." Class had passed without ant incident, and Kev was glad the teacher called him after the period ended because he couldn't be hassled after the lesson. He looked at his teacher and tried to keep his freckled face clear of emotion.
"There's nothing to be worried about." Kev gave a sweet smile and began inching towards the door.
"No, Kevin. I'm quite sure there is something to be worried about. I know your work, and I know you made all those projects. Normally, if a student did that they would get in a lot of trouble with the school, but I know you better than that. Now, if you don't want me to report this little project incident, you'll have to tell me what's going on."
Kev's already pale face drained of all color and his hands began to tremble slightly, He had worked so hard to keep this all hidden, especially from adults.
"T-they just asked for a little help." His voice cracked on 'help' and his teacher's look of determination hardened.
"Did any of them hurt you Kevin?" He asked it gently, but the slight student in front of him still flinched.
"O-of course not!" Kev didn't mean to raise his voice, but he was scared.
"Kevin, you can tell me. I'm here to help you, and if someone's been hurting you, I need to know immediately." As he spoke, the bell rang. Hearing the signal for the start of the next class, Kev grabbed his backpack and ran out the door calling a flippant 'don't worry' over his shoulder.
After a brief scolding for coming to class late, Kev took his seat in the back of his English class in the last open seat. He sat down and placed his head on the desk, trying to calm his heart and calm his breathing so he didn't pass out.
"Breath in for a four count, hold for a four count and release for an eight count." A husky voice quietly spoke into his ear. Lifting his head an inch above his arms, Kev made eye contact with Edd, green meeting slate grey.
Kev could feel his breathing pick back up again, and he could feel himself on the edge of hyperventilating.
"Kevin you must obey my command this instant." Kev felt a large hand on his back and he began counting the seconds.
One, two, three, four. Hold one, two, three, four Breath out one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. He repeated this over and over, blocking out the drone of their teacher talking about the essay they should have read over the weekend.
Only after several repetitions of the breathing exercise did Kev realize there was still something warm resting on his back. Lifting his head again, he saw Edd was still watching him, a look of faint relief passing over his stoic features before returning back to its usual bored expression.
"You know Kevin, you are under no obligation to complete Anthony's English work." Kev signed and shook his head.
"I don't mind. I e-enjoy helping." My voice caught in my throat. It used to be that I enjoyed helping others with their work, then it became a matter of walking away a little tired and the work done or limping home with a new bruise.
"Do not think your lies are going to convince me Kevin. I know of your past with certain students." Edd leaned back in his chair, lifting two of the legs off the ground.
"Edd be careful! You could fall backwards and get hurt!" Kev's harsh whisper caused the intimidating boy to give an intimidating chuckle.
"Do not worry about me, dear Kevin. I would worry more about that." Before Kev could ask what Edd meant, something slapped onto his desk.
"I'm so sorry my class is so boring to you, Kevin. And I'm also sorry to have to keep you after school." She sighed. "What happened to you Kevin? You used to be a star pupil and now look at you. Walking into class late, sleeping during the discussion and talking? You're starting to worry me Kevin." Edd saw something change in the ginger's eyes. He saw the deadness change into something fiery, something fierce.
"There's nothing to worry about!" Kev didn't mean to snap at her, but his nerves were on edge after his almost anxiety attack. She looked taken aback and after a moment, she shook her head and walked away.
"Stay after school Kevin." Kev felt his eyes start to sting, but he simply nodded and placed his head back on his desk.
The bell signaling the end of the class was the only thing that got Kev to raise his head. Not the teacher calling his name, and not the slightly worried voice coming from beside him. He stood up, grabbed his bag, and ignored the effort Edd put out to grab his attention.
His last class was a study hall, so he went to the library and set up at his usual table in the most secluded corner of the large, busy room. For fifteen minutes he sat and worked on his homework, though halfhearted in his answers.
"Hey dork." A cold voice startled him out of his day-dreaming. He turned and saw a very stony looking Tony.
"Hey Tony. I'm sorry, I didn't get your paper yet, but I was working on some concept ideas for a creative writing piece." He took a step forward.
"I know you didn't get the paper, nerd. You didn't get the paper because the person who was supposed to give it to you is in the principal's office, along with everyone else who was doing my work for me." He leaned in close and was practically spitting in Kev's face.
"W-why are they in Principal Doug's office?" Kev was genuinely confused.
"Because apparently someone got found out for doing all their robotics projects, and got them all in trouble for cheating." He leaned in even closer and sneered. "But I don't see you getting in any trouble, now do I?" Kev's heart skipped a beat. He knew where this was going.
"Tony please. I have detention after school and I can't go with bruises." He prayed that this would be able to keep the beating to a minimum.
"Oh don't worry. No one will find out, because I know exactly where to hit you." He closed the rest of the gap between Kev and himself.
The first punch knocked the air out of the smaller boy's chest, making his cough weakly. The second punch came right after the first, striking the same place on his torso as the first. His left hand shot out to grab Kev's upper arm, holding his upright so he couldn't curl in on himself and defend his chest.
It only took three more punches for Kev to hear a sickening crack. His whole body sagged, the fight leaving his body. Tony's fingers dug into his upper arm, but that pain didn't even pierce the veil of pain that was numbing his mind.
He heard the bell ring, and realized Tony had left him lying on the ground of the library with a piece of paper crumpled over his face. Gathering up is stuff, Kev took a deep breath and walked very slowly to his English classroom, stopping at his locker to grab his jacket to hide the bruises on his upper arm first.
"Kevin, are you okay?" His English teacher opened the door just as Kev was about to knock, startling him back a step.
"I-I'm f-fine. Just tripped a little on the way here." Her face showed complete disbelief, but she checked her phone and sighed.
"Look Kevin, my daughter is throwing up at the daycare and I have to pick her up as soon as I possibly can. I know you're a responsible student, and since you were responsible enough to actually come to your detention in the first place… Just go home Kevin, and make sure you pay attention for the rest of the year." Kev just nodded and moved aside to watch her hurry down the hall towards the teacher's parking lot.
Kev gave a shuddery sigh at the thought of the long, long walk to his car. Steeling himself against the pain, Kev made it to the car and into the driver's seat before collapsing. Most of the parking lot was empty already, so there was no one around to hear his sobs.
He let his guard drop, and Kev began sobbing. Crying from the pain, from the unfairness of it all. The sobs made the bruising on his chest burn a thousand times more. He could feel the broken rib moving with each heaving sob. Kev let the sobs die down and rested his head on the steering wheel. I went to start the engine, only to notice a bag on the hood. Someone must had put it there while he was crying, the thought making his face heat up.
He climbed out and grabbed the bag before falling back into the driver's seat. With shaking hands, Kev opened the white plastic shopping bag, afraid of what could possibly be inside. With a shocked smile, he pulled out three rolls of thick gauze, a bottle of Advil and a short note.
"Remember, wrap your torso so your ribs can be supported. It'll take a few weeks for the pain to fade, so be prepared for that. Don't give up."
There was no name signed at the end, but Kev knew who it was from. His face melted from a pained grimace to a warm smile, and his drive home wasn't as horrid as it usually was after a run in with Tony and his friends.
I've wanted to write a Keved story for a long time. I don't know why, but this hip is so adorable. I guess I have a thing for a nerdy/bad boy ship. (My OTP is PruCan haha. Quite, shy and nerdy paired with loud, obnoxious and kinda mean. I think they balance eachother out.
This shouldn't have more than five or six chapters if they stay this length. I have a general idea of how I want this to go.
If you have any ideas or suggestions, don't hesitate to let me know. I'm quite proud of the fact that I've been able to work in almost every suggestion given to me by readers in all of my stories.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you come back and read the next installment, whenever that might come out.
~Starlight~