Chapter 1

"Something Wicked This Way Comes"
-Macbeth, Act IV, Scene I


August 5

The first day of high school. It's scary, and I don't think my lucky blue polo shirt and khakis will even be enough. Not only is it a totally new place, there's totally new people. Not to mention the so-called "Bane of Miami." Not Bane like in Batman, though. He's not that ripped. Or stupid. I heard he's actually pretty smart despite his horrible grades.

Fortunately, our district has two middle schools and three elementary schools, so I've never had to deal with him before. Unfortunately, there's only one high school, Marino High. That means we're in the same school this year, so it's only a matter of time before we meet.

I guess I should say more about myself. .Well, I'm a straight-A student with perfect attendance, and, well, that's really all I have to my name. I'm not on any sports teams nor do I participate in any extracurricular activities. I don't have many friends, in fact, my only real friend is Ally Dawson. This is further evidenced by the amount of times I'm shoved into lockers on a daily basis. If I had more friends, they would stick up for me. It's not only for being gay, but for class, too. Whenever the teacher asks a question, I always have the answer. When the teacher gets something wrong, I'm always there to correct them (I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it).

Then, there's him. Granted, all I know of him is hearsay, but it's still pretty horrible stuff. First, he's supposedly sent at least three people to the hospital just for looking at him funny. I also heard his bedroom is full of weapons. And, even though he's only 14, I've heard he's already gotten a girl pregnant. And she was a high school senior! I don't want to ever meet this kid. I'm scaring myself just thinking about him.

"Have a great day, Sweetie! Break a leg!" Mom says as she pulls up in front of the school. I had completely spaced out and had no idea we'd arrived already.

"Oh. Yeah, Mom. You too." I say. I open the door to step out of the car.

"Don't forget your inhaler." Mom says, holding it out for me. I take it in my hand. "I love you so much, sweetie." she says.

I close the door and look into the open window. "I love you, too, Mom."

"Be brave."

"I will." I turn to the school doors and hear Mom drive away. Then, I see him standing by the doors. Sure. I'd never seen him before now, but he's kind of hard to miss. I start walking towards the doors. I feel his eyes on me as I walk up the steps to the door. I clutch my book to my chest even tighter and keep my eyes glued to the floor.

"Already got a book, nerd?" he says. "School hasn't even started yet."

"I read for fun." I say, keeping my head down and not stopping. Once I'm in the door, I take out my schedule and look at my first class. English One. Room 224. This should be interesting. And boring. There is no book they could possibly have us read that I haven't already read.

I walk toward the class and go to sit down.

"Good morning." The teacher says.

"Good morning, Mrs. Johnston." I reply. We don't say anything after that. We sit there and go about our business. I read my book. A fantasy adventure about a prince and princess. The prince swoops in and rescues the princess from her boring, hum-drum life. I sigh mentally. If only that could be me.

The bell rings. I didn't realize I had been reading that long. I continue reading until the class bell rings, but then Mrs. Johnston tells me to pay attention as she puts us into an alphabetical seating chart. Once she finishes, the only seat left is the seat behind me and that's the last seat in the row. I hate being in the back. Ten minutes later, I find out who sits behind me. He walks in, the smell of leather and cologne filling the room.

"Nice of you to join us." Mrs. Johnston says. "Dallas Morgan, right?" He doesn't answer, but seeing the only empty seat, he walks over and plops down. Mrs. Johnston sighs before continuing with all that first-day junk. I can feel Dallas' eyes drilling into the back of my head.

"What are you doing after school, beautiful?" he asks, leaning into my ear.

"Please, just leave me alone." I whisper.

"Don't be like that." he says.

"I said please." I can feel him glaring at me from his seat before I hear him leaning back roughly.

"Little shit-head." I hear him mumble to himself.


After class, I meet Ally in the hallway.

Ally Dawson. My best, and, well, only friend. I've known her since the kindergarten. For those first weeks, we were inseparable. I remember one time, we didn't want to leave each other, so we just hugged and refused to let go. Then her dad came by with a crowbar and threatened to rip us apart. At that point, we did let go and were afraid to try anything like that again. We still laugh about that day all the time.

We also shared our birthday. Mine is the first of November and hers is the 30th, but we would always share a party in the middle of the month. The theme was always Music. We were always singing together and we even learned the piano together. When I figured out I was gay, she was the first person I told. Even if she hadn't been okay with it, which she totally was, nothing would've changed between us.

"Hey, Ally." I say, pushing up my glasses.

"Are you okay, Austin?" She asks worriedly.

"No. It's Dallas. He sits right behind me in English class."

"Dallas Morgan?"

"Yeah. Is there another Dallas I should know about?" I ask jokingly.

"No. But really. What's so bad about him? He's pretty cute."

"He's horrible! He beats people up on a regular basis. Plus, I'm pretty sure I saw the outline of a knife in his jacket pocket."

"So why are you bringing him up?"

"He was kind of hitting on me."

"That's great!"

"No it's not! Did you not hear what I just said?"

"Yes. But no one's ever been interested in you before!" I push my glasses up again and frown at her.

"They could've been."

"Yeah, but you've never even really talked to anyone besides me, except when you have to."

"I'm shy. I can't help that." Suddenly, she appears to see something behind me that scares her.

"Well. I'm gonna run off that way." she says frantically before running off. Confused, I turn to see what could've scared her.

It was Dallas, grinning at me. I clutch my book tighter to my chest.

"W-W-What do you w-w-want?" I stutter, backing into the lockers. He comes closer and takes the book from my hands. He scoffs at it before throwing it aside. "Hey!"

"Be quiet!" he snaps at me. I shut my mouth instantly. He takes my wrists in his large hands and pins them to the lockers over my head. My breath starts speeding up rapidly. My asthma!

"I need. My. Inhaler." I say choppily, in between gasps for air. He looks down and notices it in my pocket. He reaches in and grabs it.

"How's this thing work?" he asks, looking it over, one hand pinning my wrists.

"Just. Let go. Of my wrists. At least. One." I say. He rolls his eyes before loosening his grip just enough for me to slip one hand out and grab my inhaler from his hand. I put it in my mouth and press the button, inhaling deeply. I put it back in my pocket before he grabs my wrist again and puts it back with the other.

"What do you want from me?"

"I'll ask you again. What're you doing after school?"

"A-a-a-are you asking me out?"

"Don't think of it as asking." he says firmly. "Think of it as: We're going out."

"O-o-o-okay. Just. P-P-P-Please. Don't hurt m-m-me." He steps away and pulls out a couple of school schedules. He looks over both of them and smiles.

"I'll see you in Chemistry." he says before tossing one of them at me. I look at it and see that it's mine. He must've grabbed it when he got my inhaler.

"Hey!"

"Calm down. I gave it back, didn't I?"

I nod. "One question." I say as he begins to walk away. He turns to look at me. "Why did you let me do that?" I ask. "Why'd you let me get my inhaler? I thought you were some merciless brute."

"Oh. I am. I just don't want my toys breaking before I can play with them." A wide grin spreads across his face. I watch him as he walks away. When he rounds the corner, I slump to the floor against the lockers.

I'm a toy? And I'm his?

I don't even notice as the bell rings. I look at my hands as I wait for myself to figure out what just happened. All I can come up with is that he just likes me. I just can't figure out why. My innocence? Does he think I'm cute? Vulnerable and easy to take advantage of? It could be anyone of them. Maybe all of them. But why me? There's plenty of other guys here just like me.

On my wrist, I see my R5 bracelet with their faces on it, smiling up at me. Sure. It's a little cheesy, but it makes me feel better. I smile back at them.

I look at my watch. 8:30. I'm already late for second period. I get up slowly and walk over to retrieve my book. Its pages are all bent out of shape now. I sigh before walking to my Music Theory class.


"Mr. Moon. You're late." The teacher says.

"I got l-l-lost." I lie. Crap. I only just met Dallas and he's already got me lying!

"It's okay, Mr. Moon. I'm Mr. Havis. We were just doing introductions. Why don't you tell us your name and something about you?"

"Um. D-D-Do I have to?" I ask. He nods. "I'm Austin Moon. I play guitar, piano and drums. I also sing."

"Very good, Austin." Mr. Havis says, gesturing to the chairs. "Go ahead and take a seat."

I walk over and take a seat in the front row. Unfortunately, since it's the first day, we don't really learn anything. I take out my schedule and look at my next class. Choir and it's in this same room.

The bell rings and the other students file out as I sit there and read my book, trying to straighten the pages as I go.


The next hour passes without a hitch. Lunch is next. I go to my locker and get my lunch before going to the cafeteria and meeting Ally.

"Hey." I say, not realizing how sad I sound.

"Everything okay?" she asks. "You know, aside from the Dallas thing."

I sigh heavily as we sit down at an empty table. "He's in my fifth period, too."

"That doesn't sound like it's everything. Is something else going on, Austin?"

"After you ran and left me ALONE with Dallas, I started having an asthma attack. He actually let me use my inhaler. When I asked him why, he said he 'doesn't want his toys breaking before he can play with them.' I'm scared."

"I'm sorry." I hear a voice from behind me say. My heart start racing again. I grab for my inhaler.

"Is that the effect I have on you?" Dallas asks. "That's cute."

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"Umm. I'm gonna go now." Ally says. I give her a look saying "Don't leave me alone with him." but the look Dallas was giving her must have been more convincing, because she gets up and leaves.

"Why are you doing this to me, Dallas?" I ask without looking at him. He sits down next to me and props his feet up on the table.

"I need something to keep me entertained. Is that so wrong?"

"Why me, though? Can't you find someone else?"

"Bad boys know what they want. That doesn't mean they know why." I push my glasses back up my nose as he's causing me to sweat, making it hard for them to stay up. "I'll pick you up at 4."

"You know where I live?"

"I've got people." Dallas says, pulling his phone from his pocket and making a phone call as he walks away. Ally comes running back and sits down across from me.

"Well?"

"He's picking me up at 4." I say before gathering my trash and throwing it away. I walk out of the cafeteria to Algebra 2, scared for what this evening might bring.


What does Dallas want with Austin?

What kind of event could've changed these boys lives so dramatically?

These answers, and more, to come.

A/N: Okay. Nerdy Austin is my favorite. With the right pair of glasses, he could be the cutest nerd EVER!