You Are Golden
CreepyCoat
Dedicates this chapter to: - Fran Liddell, sparklespepper & StalkSongGo55. Thank you for following!
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Chapter 4
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Need warning tags for this chapter? They're listed at the bottom. (To prevent spoilers)
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Sitting in the front certainly made all the difference.
For one, a better view of the scenery which was essentially just fields and sheep. Rather tedious and dull if not for him sat just inches from me. I could reach out and touch him on a whim. His hand was clasped around the knob of the gear stick; his eyes focused ahead, the picture of concentration. Honestly this journey to the college every morning would be tiresome if not for him: Death the Kid.
For thirty glorious minutes we were alone in a compact space, a bottle full of lighting. I sighed long and deep, my chest rising languidly as I melted into the soft seat. Rain pelted down onto the windshield, the wipers striking aside the drops. The heating system in the car generated a cosy environment, perfect for dozing off. I lay my head back indolently at a slight tilt allowing my gaze to rest on Kid.
He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes. A furtive glance. How quickly his beautiful amber eyes darted to me and away again. I got the feeling he hoped I hadn't noticed and I granted him that luxury by keeping my eyes downcast to feign unawareness. Even though I had.
I flexed my hands, cracking my knuckles as a habit. This time his chin jerked towards me- so blatant –his eyes wide in what might have been alarm. I guessed he found the sound off putting. I offered him a small smile, looking coyly up though my eye lashes. For a minute he looked skittish his mouth working its way into an awkward smile. Truly adorable! My fingers twitched with the urge to place my hand on his thigh, gripping the meat of it and massaging.
He turned away, his gaze back out to the outside world. The moment was gone.
I had hoped after our electrifying exchange in the kitchen, things would begin to heat up between us but today he was just as cold and cut off as ever. It seemed to be a one step forward two steps back thing with him. A less resilient man would grow weary of this behaviour but not me. I was willing to see it out till the end. I tenderly brushed my hand over the bandages on my arm, wincing slightly. No matter what the cost.
I observed how quiet he was this morning and by quiet I meant deathly still, no fidgeting or fumbling. I remarked the dark bags under his eyes, his skin sallow and sickly in colour. Something was plaguing his thoughts, most likely it was Crona related. I pulled my mouth into a grimace at the notion that Kid was currently thinking about him and not me. I did suffer from some jealousy issues. It wasn't every day that you laid eyes on a person and felt an instantaneous click. It was as if all the planets in the galaxy had aligned in one moment allowing me to meet him. That was what I had felt the first day I had met Kid in his father's office. Imagine my vexation and devastation when I later discovered that he was –taken- in a relationship with someone else.
I scolded myself mentally; only the other night I had promised to change my ways about Crona. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Crona held significance to Kid and Kid held a significant importance to me. Therefore to unlock Kid's heart, treating Crona right would be the key. I would have to mend bridges. Breakfast the other day had been a good start and Crona had shown a positive reaction to it. Yet unexpectantly here I was sat in the front seat. Crona's seat. There had been no mention as to us stopping to pick him up either. In fact we had already driven by the necessary turn off for his house. Had there been some fallout between them? That would render befriending Crona pointless, if he were in fact no longer Kids significant other! A truly despicable thought, no?
As though reading my thoughts, Kid hung his head, his mouth slipping into a frown. He exhaled desponded, not that I could hear it, through my earphones. No I saw and watched his mouth stretch open, his lips plump and light pink, a hint of tooth paste on his breath. I shifted in my seat leaning slightly closer to him, wondering the nature of his thoughts.
I didn't ask and he never spoke.
Talking while he was driving would be a challenging feat, potentially resulting in a car crash. Considering Kid would have to face me and not the road to enable my comprehension of him. Still, I wanted him to talk to me. I wanted him to connect with me that way. My eyes ran along his profile and I admired his new hair style. I had to compliment his friend Liz at some point; she had done a fabulous job. I badly wanted to run my hands through the longer strands of his undercut, stroking and petting till the hairs stood on end with static electricity.
His lips moved, forming words. From this angle I couldn't understand.
"Sorry?" I said quietly, my eyes watching his lips.
He turned to face me briefly looking annoyed. He spoke again quickly. I watched in wonder as his lips curved around the short syllables spelling and printing words into my brain.
"You're staring."
I blinked and smiled warmly, "Of course I am."
He shook his head and returned his gaze to the road.
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The rain continued to heave, a multitude of its tears flowing haphazardly on the metallic skin of the car's hood. I trailed my fingers along them, the cold sensation seeping into my skin. Kid stood next to me unbothered by the rain, presumably waiting for his friends, his thumb skimming along the screen of his phone. He wasn't paying me any notice, his attention absorbed in text. I held my hand out towards him, hovering in the air just mere fingertips from his arm. Waiting for him to react but he didn't. I captured the sleeve of his jacket, the collected drops of rain imprinting the shape of my hand onto the material. He turned towards me, eyeing the offending hand on his arm curiously. I waited with baited breath for his lips to form words. Static was building in the air; the beginning of a thunder storm.
The phone in his hand vibrated and the screen flashed white. It commandeered his attention, the name tag CRONA blinking insufferably. He turned away. I felt my chest constrict as I was ignored. My hand dropped like a stone from his arm.
I left without saying goodbye. Only my print remained, not that he was even aware.
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It was an event later that day at college that set things into motion.
I peered round the corner of the back area of the college building. The two large dumpsters implied that this was not the normal place for me to be hanging out, yet here I was. Initially bored during a free period, I had decided to take a stroll around the grounds despite the rain. Normally I never would have stopped or took an interest in what was clearly a Janitorial area except for the fact that Crona was there.
I hadn't seen him all day apart from that annoying text from him to Kid in the car park. Upon spying him, I decided I should have a word with him. A non-threatening, friendly word I reminded myself. As much as I would've liked to have beaten him to a pulp the first time I'd met him, I had vowed to change my ways. However it seemed that someone had already beaten me to it. Well a small group actually: three guys and a girl. I think the girl was the leader. She stood back with an intimidating posture watching the situation unfold with a critical eye. The three guys were shoving Crona around, his bag tossed aside, contents bled out onto the dirty ground. Judging by the angry shape of their mouths they were yelling at him. I assumed they weren't being complimentary.
I crossed my arms leaning on the wall, watching from my vantage point. To intervene or not that was the question. Before I would have loved to simply spectate but this was Kid's Crona. Kid would not be pleased at all if his little boyfriend had his head smashed in and I had done nothing to prevent it. In fact I could maybe spin this unfortunate situation to suit me; the valiant Justin rescues poor Crona! Kid would have to pay plenty of attention to me then and Crona would be grateful. It sounded like a win-win scenario.
Of course things don't always turn out the way you expect.
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Wiping the blood from my busted lip with the back of my hand – damn that girl could punch- I took stock off the situation.
Crona was on his hands and knees hurriedly scooping his belongings back into his bag. His hair was soaked and stuck to his head like soggy pink spaghetti.
The gang had retreated. I had hoped a few intimidating words would have sufficed but no I had to resort to full on violence. A couple of hard kicks to the back of their legs and they fell like rocks, amateurs. The leader though, she was tough and skilled. She fought with her fists, her knuckles spilt and bleeding from the punches she landed. I had to resort to dirty tactics including ripping out a tuft of her hair to defeat her. I still had the strands twisted tight like elastic bands around my fingers. I yanked them off, tossing them aside to the wind.
I knelt down next to Crona, picking up a couple of books for him. They were sullied and most likely ruined. My earphones had been ripped out from my ears and dangled around my throat. The blood was still smeared on the back of my hand, a couple of knuckles busted as well. Crona made no comment. He'd yet to speak actually… where was my thank you?
He stood up, his knees shaking. Quite a lanky guy I noted, my eyes wandering the length of his legs, they went on forever! His dress or smock or whatever that thing he wore was torn creating a makeshift side spilt. It was soaked and clung to his frame. He looked kinda sexy if I was being totally honest… and I was immediately confused as to where that thought came from and I wasn't going to think about it ever again. Thought erased.
Crona clutched his bag to his chest like a makeshift shield; the flap hanging open waiting for the final items which I was holding. I shifted from my crouched position, pulling up to my full height. I dropped the damp icky items into the sapping bag and waited expectantly for a response, a thank you or anything. He still hadn't made even simple eye contact with me. Instead he kept his head down, his bottom lip quivering. When he finally spoke -well actually he stuttered- it occurred to me that this was the first time I was hearing him speak. His words fell clumsy and jumbled from his mouth like gloop, "T-t-thank you, I don't know what w-would have h-happened if you, "he pulled his arm up rubbing it across his face, "if you hadn't of s-shown up."
I nodded and promptly realized he couldn't see me as his arm was blocking his sight. I gripped his arm gently and lowered it. He nearly jumped out of his skin as upon opening his eyes he was greeted to my face inches from his. I had bent down slightly to his height to check his face for any damage. What was personal space again? His nose was bleeding but it didn't look like it was broken. His cheeks were wet from tears and rain, his skin blotchy and red. A mess really.
"Come on," I said tugging the arm that I hadn't released yet. I began to lead him towards what looked like the janitor's back entrance to the college.
"W-what? Uh w-where are we going?" He asked stupidly.
"To get cleaned up," I said obviously.
He tried arguing, refusing or some combination of both. How idiotic and tiring.
I turned to him and made my voice hard like thunder, "You can't go back to class bloody now, can you?"
"N-no, you're right. I-I'm sorry," he conceded whimpering.
Great, there went my hero status and my promise to be nicer to him. I face palmed, my lip stinging at the contact and I felt frustration building. This was beginning to feel like a lot more effort than it was worth. But I would do it, for Kid's sake.
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We managed to make it unseen to the boy's bathroom, probably because it was class time now. Meaning we were late. Did I mention yet sarcastically about how great I was finding all this?
"Wait here," I said slowly to Crona. I tried my best to make my tone soft and calm, like when speaking to a small child so I wouldn't frighten him. I was also trying to reclaim some semblance of hero or protector status. Said status had been murdered unintentionally by me earlier.
He seemed to be complying, nodding his head frantically/terrified. Yeah I wasn't making any real progress on this befriending him thing was I?
"I'll be back," I said somewhat defeated.
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I returned to the bathroom with my backpack. Luckily I was the sort of guy who planned for anything and always kept a set of spare clothes in my locker.
Crona was stood in the exact spot I had left him. It appeared he hadn't even moved a muscle which was rather weird and concerning. He could have sat down against the wall or something. I wasn't that scary, was I? His behaviour seemed to hint at a victim of abuse in my mind like someone had been exceptionally bad to him -bullies or worse maybe even his family- to the point where he was petrified of disobeying other people's orders.
A puddle of water had gathered around his feet from the rainwater dripping off his body. His dress thing had surpassed the term soaked, it was saturated. It had to feel really uncomfortable and freezing having it clinging to his body like that. Did his parents really let him leave the house without something sensible to wear like a coat? Maybe he was the rebellious type who wore what he wanted. On second thought he was far too wimpy and nervy for that to be true. Did his parents dress him like that? Talk about weird.
"You need to take that off," I said sorting through the stuff in my backpack in an effort to locate the small hand towel that I swore I had packed.
Crona's eyes bugged out on his head and his mouth screwed up funny on one side like he had just suffered a mini stroke, "W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what!?"
"I said take off your-," I gestured to his being, still unsure as to just what exactly that thing he was wearing was called. I mean it looked like a dress but he was guy, not that a guy couldn't wear a dress. It just wasn't pretty like a dress should be. It was plain and drab and didn't do anything for him. If he was going to wear a dress it should be one that accentuated his figure. Huh, I just got a new idea on how to bond with Crona. Did someone say shopping trip? I had brilliant taste in clothing, Id have him looking fabulous in no time.
"N-no," he squeaked.
I fixed him with my best serious look, furrowing my eyebrows for better effect, "Take it off, it's soaked and it's trash now," I pulled distastefully at the damp black material. Crona's arms flung out and crossed tightly up around his chest, clinging to his nasty wet dress-smock. He shook his head madly in refusal, rainwater shooting off his wet locks like little pin missiles. Yuck.
"Look," I said, irritation prickling in my veins, "We're both guys and you can't walk around in wet clothes." I tried to use reason, "you'll catch pneumonia and that outfit is way past repair," I set a hand gently on his upper arm like I'd seen Kid do before and I instantly felt calm. Which was insanely freaky… this nervy bundle of a being had a calming effect about him and up this close I noticed he smelled like lavender and rain water. A beautiful combination that I inhaled deeply and then I stopped. I jerked back dramatically, letting go off his arm like I had been burned. What the hell was I doing, sniffing him?!
He ceased his flapping and blinked up at me with these huge confused doe eyes. They were so dark like deep chocolate buttons. I stared into them without blinking; it was like I was being sucked in. At the back of my mind a thought registered that this was maybe be the reason Kid was dating this guy. He had this strange pull like a planet pulling in everything and anything into its orbit and I was on a collision course. I shook my head; I needed to get out of his proximity and quick. I flung the hand towel at him and it thwacked him in the face, blocking those creepy huge eyeballs.
"Dry your hair with that," my throat felt hoarse all of a sudden.
He pulled the towel down and hugged it around his neck and the image was not cute, not cute at all.
"There's a spare set of clothes in my bag there," I said limply.
"D-d-don't look," he said his voice muffled by the towel.
I scoffed ready to reiterate that we were both guys when he pinned me with his eyes. The words died in my throat, my eyebrows popping up. There was such a sudden fierceness in his eyes, like an animal that was ready to lash out because it was cornered.
"P-please."
I did as he asked and turned my back to him. Feeling incredibly uncomfortable, this was so not like me. I tucked my earphones up and back into their home. The instant the music hit my ear drums I was filled with relief. They helped to block out the outside world and right now I needed calming. I had a lot of weird thoughts swimming around my brain about Crona of all people. I peeked over my shoulder, which I shouldn't have done but I did.
Crona had the hem of his dress/smock-thing-whatever and was heaving it up to pull over his head. He had it raised up to the top of his thighs when I quickly looked away again, the tips of my ears feeling hot. What the fuck was I doing? Peeking at another guy like some blushing virgin and to make matters worse the guy was Crona!? This was not happening; clearly that girl had scrambled my brains earlier. I better book an appointment with the doctor, I needed my head checked.
I peeked again, not because I was a pervert but because I had to double check for my own sanity that this was not happening. I was not developing some weird crush on Crona. He currently had his dress/top thing hiked up around his shoulders. His stomach and damp thighs unclothed and on show. Flimsy lacy panties covered his privates. My eyeballs imploded at the sight, my brain disintegrating into jelly from shock. I was utterly gobsmacked. The saying was true! It really was the quiet ones you had to watch! Crona wearing girly underwear, unbelievable! I thought he was way too vanilla for something that kinky!
I was blatantly staring now, not even discreetly peeking. My mouth might as well been dragging along the floor. The black garb that Crona called an outfit was wrapped up and around his head and he seemed to be stuck. Shit. And abruptly I was hyper aware of everything. The flush on my face, the wet patch between my shoulder blades that had nothing to do with being outside in the rain, it had to be a nervous sweat. Lavender filled the air, drawing me in, my heart rate was increasing. My feet were moving stealthily to stand right in front of him. His exposed skin glistened with the sheen of the rain water, his panties hiding nothing. Bruises decorated his ribcage. Wait… BRUISES?
I stopped appalled. The rose tint fell from my vision. Crona was still unaware that I could see, struggling with his garb. I saw what he had not wanted me to. Littered over his torso were numerous bruises. At first my mind tried to supply they were from the fight earlier but some of these marks were old, yellowing and green. There were bizarre cuts and wounds grated into his flesh as well. He hadn't even made any effort to clean them… one was still fresh, blood black, crusting and oozing slightly. These weren't accidental. These were inflicted. Was he hurting himself or was someone else? Rapidly a lot of things clicked into place: Crona's jittery and anxiety ridden personality, his constant fear of everyone and that stutter. All of it was signs of abuse… but by whose hand? And why hadn't I or even Kid noticed. What if Kid was the abuser? No, no he couldn't be. He wasn't capable of something that horrid.
I needed answers from Crona stat.
I yanked the garb off his head in one swift motion and chucked it to the side.
He shrieked -which I had expected- so I jammed a hand over his mouth making a shushing motion with my other. I waited, feeling his hot breath on my palm, his skin cool and damp. His eyes were huge and roving over my face frenetically. With such close proximity I noticed that they weren't a deep brown/black colour at all. There was a thin slip of a silver colour which had to be the iris. Normal eyeballs had a perfect circular pupil. His was misshapen, irregular and abnormally large. It engulfed his iris, like a dominating black hole. The effect was unsettling; like I was locking eyes with a supernatural creature.
Thinking he had quietened down, I released my hand but the shrieking started up again immediately as he jumped back, bumping into the bathroom sink. I hurried forward and clamped my hands on either side of his upper arms, trying to still him. He freaked and shoved me hard. I fell back –shocking, he actually had some fight in him- onto my ass on the dirty tiled floor and for a second time that day my earphones were knocked from my ears.
"W-W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He screeched one arm wrapped around his flat chest and the other desperately attempting to cover his crotch area. His face beetroot red, "Y-you said y-you wouldn't look!"
I staggered back up to my feet, my tailbone sore, "I know I did," I said breathing heavily, the wind knocked from me. I held out my hands in what I hoped was a placating manner, "Crona what on earth is all that?" I said with an edge of anguish to my voice, pointing to the bruises marring his body.
He glanced down hastily like he had forgotten they were even there and then he just stopped. He hung his head, his fringe covering his eyes as rainwater dripped off the tips. He changed instantly from this fierce panicking person to someone so small and pathetic looking; standing mostly naked in the boys' bathroom, the putrid smell of ammonia stinking up the air. His arms fell defeated to his sides and his knees stopped shaking. He was motionless.
Instantly I regretted even mentioning it. I should have just kept my mouth shut. I took a hesitant step towards him, tentatively holding out the dry spare shirt as a peace offering. He didn't acknowledge it. I pushed the shirt towards him, pressing it lightly against his chest, "hey," I spoke cautiously "you need to put this on."
He didn't make any response almost like he was catatonic or immobile.
My stomach plummeted and I started to feel incredibly nauseous. He was broken like an old wind up doll and I had caused it. Guilt stabbed my gut as remembered instinctually that awful day when I had jealously shoved him to the ground because he was holding hands with Kid. I hadn't meant to do it, I just saw red and before I knew it I had barrelled into him. And all the while he was being abused by someone and I had added to his pain. When was I going to stop torturing this poor guy?
"I, I'm sorry," I whispered and I was for everything. For this horrible moment in the bathroom; discovering his secret, coming between him and his boyfriend; jeopardising the one good thing he had and for attacking him, "I am so sorry."
He finally made a sign of life and looked up at me, moving his head incrementally. I stumbled back, horrified. His eyes were dead. Dull, lifeless. It was like his soul was no longer there and his body had moved on auto pilot. The bathroom became void of sound and I had this crazy notion that Crona was screaming internally. It was haunting. I needed to resolve this situation quick before I freaked out. I tentatively flapped out the white shirt in an attempt to dress him since he seemed incapable of doing it himself. I lifted up his arm, it moved like a marionette, hollow and empty. I slid the crisp shirt sleeve on and pulled it till it reached his shoulder. It was way too big and hung off his wrist. I draped the shirt around his back, pulling the other sleeve around to his adjacent side. Dressing someone else was gruelling. I managed to slot the other arm in. Good, I was some making progress. I pulled both sides of the shirt over to greet each other in front of his chest. I tried not to focus on the countless bruises on his chest, swallowing my guilt and averting my eyes. I delicately began the tricky process of buttoning the shirt, mindful of his cuts. I had just got the second button done when-
-the bathroom door slammed open and I jerked my head round, my heart beating frantically.
Some guy ambled into the bathroom, hands in his pockets; he was just going about his own business. The moment he spotted us was painfully obvious. He tripped over his own feet, slipping in the puddle of water. His mouth of shark like teeth was agape in a huge exclamation of scandal. He clutched the bathroom sink; trying to steady himself his eyes sweeping distraught over the sight before him: Crona trembling in his underwear, clothing tossed aside and torn. I (a creepy older looking guy) looming over him and it looked awfully like I was stripping him button by button.
The guy made an assumption from the scene (either I was a molester or Crona and I were getting it on in the college bathroom) and his face went so pale it matched the shock of white hair on his head.
Despite my normally cool composure my face went flame red in an instant, "It's not what it looks like," I hammered out, Crona's shirt fisted in my hand incriminatingly. I also belatedly realised that the guy looked awfully familiar. I had seen him before at Mack's party maybe? I mentally skimmed through a list of names, Zack, Zoul? No that wasn't it…. Zeke?
The guy smacked a hand over his face, "I don't wanna know, I didn't see anything," he walked with his spare arm outstretched before him, comically sliding in the puddle again as he stumbled back towards the exit, blind. He fumbled with the door handle struggling to open it. He grunted, and raised his leg, booting the door open. It swung shut behind him and I released the breath I didn't know I had been holding. My head felt faint from all the sudden stress. I huffed in thick mouthfuls of stale bathroom air, how did things like this even happen in real life?
The disturbance seemed to have roused Crona somewhat. His eyes were no longer dead but he had a spaced out look to him like he was sleepwalking. Raindrops glided down his face untouched, pooling into his collar bone. My stomach sunk when I spotted the remnants of Kid's love bites on his neck. Now blue in colour they adorned either side of his throat and I was pathetically jealous. I wanted to sink my teeth into his flesh and rip his throat asunder. Envy stung and prickled violently under my skin. I could feel it crawling and clawing for purchase in my ribcage, my heart under attack.
"Button yourself up," I hissed reeling to control myself from lashing out.
He looked dazedly at his chest, and thankfully his trembling hands rose up and he finished buttoning the shirt. I turned my back to him offering him some privacy which was rather pointless at this moment – I had unforgivably seen everything- and lifted up the spare jeans, handing them backwards to him without looking. My ribcage throbbed as I clutched at my chest. I waited, begging my emotions and heart to stop the beseeching agony.
I turned around to face him, my insides still palpitating. The jeans were rather large on him, hanging baggy and loose on his thighs but it would do. We stared at each other and it felt so unspeakably horribly awkward. I had no words. All my questions had died the moment Crona had turned catatonic. This was none of my business. He hadn't wanted me to know and I had butted in anyway and now I was paying the price.
"D-Don't tell anyone," he said solemn and final.
I acquiesced slotting my earphones back into place.
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Several Days Later
It was an unusual day. Unusual in that all Kid's friends had a free period at the exact same time. Eyeing the two girls Liz & Cassie -or whatever the shorter blonde was called- I doubted that was the case. Skiving or ditching class seemed a lot more likely. But to top all that, the fact that I had even been invited to this little get together was unusual. I got the feeling that Liz & Cassie weren't too keen on me since I was determined to break up Kid and Crona.
Nonetheless we were collectively sat together on a picnic table in the school grounds. It was still drizzling lightly; the rainclouds had yet to break. Word was that a thunder storm was heading our way and we only experiencing the tail end of it at the moment. Personally I loved storms and thunder and lightning just enhanced the experience.
I was sat next to Kid. Our bodies pressed together every now and then, creating a nice thrum and undercurrent of electricity. I had no real explanation to this sensation that we experienced upon contact. Although I did have a theory but I wasn't going to get into it right now. No there were more important matters at hand or so I was gathering. My earphones in as usual, I garnered information reading the lips of everyone present, which was difficult as they tended to talk all at once. Also Cassie had an annoying penchant for interjecting random phrases of no relevance. Such things included giraffes for some unfathomable reason. I supposed I could give in to curiosity and remove my earphones… oh but my favourite guitar rift was starting.
I glanced at the sensible looking girl sat across me. I was sure her name was Mack. Her mouth had a superior quip to it when she spoke. Reading her lips, it came to my attention that there was an actual purpose to this meeting. I was concentrating on deciphering her words when the guy next to her with crazy blue hair ejected himself from the bench and crash landed on the table top causing a mini catastrophe. His boots splattered mucky water onto the table's contents and knocked over everything in his tirade. His mouth was huge and flapping grossly. I looked away, my eyes rolling in my head. I had absolutely no desire to know what nonsense he was spewing.
A rather plain looking girl with dark hair finally managed to coax him down off the table top. She had been quiet during the exchange. Actually I had only really become aware of her presence just there now.
Kid was talking again beside me; I could feel the motions of his jaw and vocal cords sending vibrations throughout my body. It felt amazing and amplified the electric sensation, I found myself leaning into his side.
Then I spotted the various expressions of dismay on everyone's faces. What? Were those directed at me? I straightened up trying to right myself. It took a second but it clicked that they were actually looking at Kid. I reluctantly gave in; removing one ear bud to hear this apparent conversation just to know what had everyone in such a tizzy.
"Who was the last to see him?" Mack said quietly, her voice riddled with concern, her fingers scrunching up her neat white gloves. Her pigtails dangled listlessly on either side of her head.
"At this point I think it was myself and the girls," Kid spoke, his words quiet and serious. He was folded into himself, shoulders slanted and small. The bags under his eyes had only gotten darker.
I felt my stomach drop. Were they talking about Crona? Sure I hadn't seen him since the bathroom incident but I figured he was just avoiding me since it would be painfully awkward between us now.
Then a guy with shocking white hair ambled up towards the group.
My eyes widened in horror as recognition flashed through me. It was that guy from the bathroom incident, Zack or something!
"Hey," he greeted sitting down on the vacant spot on the bench next to Mack. The blue haired guy had gotten bored and was exercising aggressively on the damp grass just behind us. The rain water sprayed off his back as he did push-ups relentlessly. The quiet girl was stood next to him holding an umbrella delicately over her head. Her face held a resigned expression that said she was used to these kinds of antics. I almost pitied her, almost.
I discretely tugged the hood of my raincoat down in a hapless attempt to hide myself from Zack. A mantra of no, no, no played on loop in my head as various escape options ran through my mind, each more ridiculous than the last. Merely standing up from the bench would draw this Zack guy's attention to me. I had to play it cool and wait it out. The last thing I needed was for him to spill the story about Crona and me in the bathroom. For one, the guy had completely gotten the wrong end of the stick. I was 90% positive that he thought I had been molesting Crona. Kid would most likely react to that story by bludgeoning me to death with the picnic table.
"Hey so why did you call a group meeting, Kid?" Zack asked the question I had been trying to figure out the answer to since the get together had started.
"Crona is missing," Kid said an edge to his voice. His hands clenched into fists, his knuckles bone white.
"Missing?" Zack exclaimed.
"Well not missing exactly," Mack interrupted holding herself primly, a drop of rainwater running down her brow, "he's been absent for a confirmed number of days."
"What do you mean confirmed?" Zack asked. His posture was terrible in contrast to Mack's as he slumped against the table.
"I checked with the office and role register. He hasn't attended college the past four days," Kid informed. His hood hung abandoned on his back, his hair was soaked and stuck to his scalp. It was a massive red flag for him to neglect his usually immaculate appearance. Crona's absence was seriously worrying him. Judging by his eyes I doubted he was even sleeping.
"Well maybe he's just unwell," Zack tried to supply helpfully, he dropped down, resting his chin on the damp table.
"He's not answering our calls or texts Soul," Liz said her voice breaking with concern. Her hair hung like a damp tattered curtain about her face. Her usual glam perky personality was dour and sullen.
Zack, or actually Soul as his name appeared to be made an 'O' shape with his mouth. I found my eyes drawn to the horde of pointy teeth. There was no way that was natural.
"Plan. Plan. Plan." Cassie punctuated the words by slamming a yellow crayon down onto the picnic table. Her college work books were covered in doodles of a deformed long necked creature. I assumed it was a giraffe. Despite her childish antics, there was an air of distress to her as the crayon snapped in half. She blinked morosely at its demise.
"You guys have a plan ready?" Soul asked, adjusting the black hair band on his head. It wasn't sitting properly, as his hair was flattened with the weight of rain water.
Without asking, Mack removed the hair band and reapplied it, cupping his cheek as she pushed back the damp strands of hair on his forehead, till it was all held neatly on top of his head. It was clear she did this many times for him as he had leaned into her to make the application easier. He grinned at her, his large teeth prominent and goofy. I had to admit it was endearing to watch. I glanced at Kid, sitting stiff beside me and wondered if it would be too much to slick back his wet fringe for him too. He eyed me warily, his face scrunching in mild disgust as he guessed my intentions, effectively shooting down my hair touching plans.
"Nothing concrete apart from visiting his house," Liz said, pulling a hair bobble off her wrist as she gathered her wet hair into a loose ponytail.
"I doubt we'd even get to see him."Kid replied desponded.
"Why?" The word slipped from my mouth before I could stop myself. Suddenly every pair of eyes was on me and I had just blown my own cover.
Kid leaned back to get a better look at my face. His dark eyes searched mine. I don't know whether he found what he was looking for or not but he eventually spoke, his voice glum and each word was like a ton of bricks collapsing onto my chest, "Crona's mother is abusive to him."
Images of the bruises and the cuts sprang into my mind with sickeningly clarity. My mind spun drawing horrifying conclusions. Crona's mother beating him, Crona locked in a room, Crona crying out for help or worse Crona lying dead in his house at the hands of his mother.
My chest constricted and my vision swam. I grabbed at the picnic table, heaving myself up and out from it. I needed to go now! I spun around panicked, stumbling in my steps.
"Justin, are you ok?" asked a murky voice sounding like it was underwater.
Crona was in danger! I had had the opportunity to tell someone what Id saw but I hadn't! I was a disgusting person. I should have helped him!
I felt a hand grip my arm, holding me back from fleeing. I looked back startled at the group. All their eyes were fixed on me, burning holes into my being. I tried to pull out from the grip just as a gust of wind blew the hood off my head revealing my face.
Instantly the guy Soul cocked his head in puzzlement. He held a thumb up to his mouth, chewing on it, his eyes glued to my face. I could see the gears grinding and groaning into place in his idiotic brain.
No. No. No. The mantra in my head was screaming. I didn't have time for a misunderstanding. I had to go now before it was too late!
I saw it happen in slow motion. Soul's eyes lit up, his pupils dilating then constricting to tiny slits. His tooth punctured into the flesh of his thumb, blood spilling. His mouth shuddered open, blood smearing on his lip. In an agonisingly slow fashion he gathered himself up to his feet.
Unanimously the group of eyeballs pinning me in place slid collectively to look at Soul.
He had his hand outstretched, finger furiously pointing me out.
The eyeballs slid back to me, sticking imaginary pins into my feet. I couldn't move. I was rooted to the spot. The rain had picked up, the drizzle long gone and replaced with heavy pelts slapping my skin.
Soul's mouth opened and I closed my eyes, my hand coming up to return my lone ear bud to my ear out of sheer desperation. I couldn't bear to hear his accusation.
What if it was already too late? What if Crona was dead?
I felt something sharp dig into my arms and shake me frantically. I kept my eyes scrunched closed, focusing on the beat of the music in my ears. Drown everything out. Drown it out.
Something or someone grabbed either side of my face, yanking me forward. Their nails dug into the tender skin under my jaw line. I yelped opening my eyes.
Kid stood right in front of me, his eyes piercing like a wild animals and frightening. Rain drops clung to his eyelashes, the water sliding down his face. His hair was drenched and stuck to his skin like black tentacles and the bags under his eye gave the illusion that his face was a skull. An embodiment of Death.
I made to shut my eyes again but his grip tightened around my throat.
Alarmed by it all my breath hitched as electricity buzzed dangerously under my skin. I struggled to breathe, his hands constricting tighter.
His lips snarled and curled violently with each word as his teeth clacked together with sharp barely contained fury, "What Did You Do To Crona?"
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End of Chapter 4
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A/N: The condition Crona has is called Aniridia, meaning without iris. In this fic he has a partial iris. With partial Aniridia, part of the iris is missing, and the affected individual will have large, misshapen pupils surrounded by a thin ring of colour; these partial irides will not contract and expand in the way that a normal iris does. It is a genetic condition that almost always affects both eyes and only one if attained by injury. With this condition affected persons will sometimes have better vision of 20/30 and sensitivity to light. There is also a higher change of them developing glaucoma and cataracts earlier in life than a normal person.
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A/N: This chapter was from Justin's POV. Feel free to let me know if you preferred Justin's or Kid's POV. Also look up pictures of Aniridia if you're not too squeamish.
Any comments, reviews, follows or favourites are greatly appreciated! 3
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Chapter Warning Tags listed Below
*Mentions of abuse
* Physical Signs of abuse
*Mentions of Violence
*Bullying
*Voyeurism/kinda
*Mentions of Strangulation
*Aniridia
*Mild cross-dressing
