Day 78
3/09/2016 - Wednesday
It's the book night for the juniors in Bakura's class today. Not that I have anything to do with that.
Ugh, I miss school.
And it's a free day from work!
Bakura isn't home yet. I don't even know why I still care. He still hasn't been out with me, despite his promise. And tomorrow is pizza day. Will he forget it again?
I do my usual chores and eat breakfast. And wait for Bakura. I know I shouldn't. I know I should care less, but I cannot. I always find myself waiting for him when we're not together. I constantly ask myself: Where is he? Is he okay? How is his mood? When will we see each other again?
I got a bit fat. Not really fat, like getting bigger, but my six-pack is less defined, as well as my other muscles. It's only so much I can do with my improvised training here. Plus I eat too much pizza.
Finally, late in the afternoon, I hear Zorc's car pulling up. Bakura jumps out of it. Yey, he's back! So he went to school directly after being at 'K.'? How long was he there? How long can you visit your lover, I mean, you can't do it all night long, can you? You get tired. Does he sleep next to him in his bed? Ughh.
He's heading for the door instead of the fire escape. Why? Oh, he probably locked his window or something.
I head down. I haven't eaten much yet, so maybe we can eat together, if he's hungry.
I'm the first to arrive in the apartment. The shower is running. Must be Kefia. I try to go into Bakura's room, but it's locked. Uh, dammit. Come on up, what's taking you so long?
I wait in the kitchen, leaning against the wall in the door frame. Bakura does take a long time to come up. I hear his steps, but he's slow and making breaks. Probably hung up on his phone, surfing or chatting.
Then it happens: The apartment door and the bathroom door open at the same time. Bakura and Akefia look up and face each other for one long second. I freeze, not daring to greet Bakura. Fuck. It's rare for Akefia to shower so late. Normally, he gets up before we do.
Bakura breaks off the eye contact and rushes into his room, but Akefia grabs his hand. "What's this?" he asks, talking about the backpack hanging over Bakura's shoulder. It's white and newly bought. You can clearly tell by the insensitivity of the color.
"Uh, nothing." Bakura pulls his arms out of his father's grip and fiddles with his keys, searching for the right one.
I move closer to them. I don't like to get involved, I might make things worse. Hopefully Bakura can quickly hush into his room.
"I told you to stop doing this!" blares Akefia, pulling at the backpack. "Where do you got it from?"
"Nowhere, a friend gave it to me!" Bakura pulls his shoulder back, finally looking up again. "Leave me alone!"
"'A friend gave it to me'," Akefia repeats, mocking Bakura.
Bakura huffs and turns away with a strong swing, bringing the backpack in front of himself.
"You will immediately tell me where you got it from!" Akefia tries again, pulling at his son.
"No! Fuck you!"
"Hey!" I say.
"Bakura!" Slap. Akefia hits Bakura's cheek.
"Stop it!" I say and step between them, holding my arms up, palms to Akefia. "Violence won't resolve anything!" Our eyes lock. His features are hardened, mine are too. I clench my teeth together and breathe loudly through my nose.
Bakura finally opens up the door. He grabs me by my joggers and drags me inside. I maintain eye contact with Akefia until the door closes between us.
"Idiot, stop putting your nose in things that aren't your business!" Bakura tells me. I can't see him, it's too dark in here. I huff, but before I can answer, he grabs my wrist and puts his face near mine. "I'm acting," he whispers. Oh. Then he let's go off me and steps away. "Now fuck off to your room, before I kick your ass!" he yells.
He opens the window and by the count of three he closes it again. He turns his stereo on, then he let's himself fall on his bed.
I turn on the desk lamp and sit down on my mattress.
The stereo plays some loud pop music. Not my taste, but it doesn't matter. It's only purpose it to keep Akefia's voice out. We still hear some bangs against the door, but that's okay. They don't hurt as much as words can.
Bakura lies face down on his bed, his backpack near him. Why is it so important where he got it from? I don't understand why Akefia is getting so worked up for that. Not long, and Bakura lifts his head for air, propping his chin up now. He glances at me and I glance back.
We can't talk yet, because the music is too loud.
After a good amount of time, Bakura gets up and turns the music down. We listen for Akefia, but the man seems to be gone.
"Ugh," Bakura makes and sits back down. He looks at me.
"So where do you got it from?" I ask, pointing my chin at the backpack.
"Uhh, what does it matter," he mumbles and gets up. He unzips the backpack and goes to the door with it, poking his head into the hallway. "It's a stupid color anyways."
"Why did you buy it then?" I laugh.
Bakura doesn't answer but goes to the kitchen and puts chocolate and soda from his backpack into his cupboard. Huh, so he bought food as well.
"I'm hungry," I say. "Have you eaten yet?"
He shakes his head and looks at me. "I'm going to school later, to annoy Zorc." He grins. "Wanna come and- Oh, right, you can't." He shakes his head. "Work, huh."
"As a matter of fact, I actually can," I reply. "They have some maintenance downstairs, so I have a free day!"
"Ah, that's why the old man is up so late," Bakura grumbles. "Alright, you wanna come then?"
I nod. Oh wow, he invites me to visit his best friend! Hah, I bet 'K.' doesn't know Zorc! It doesn't fit well for a twenty-something to visit the high school friends of his high school lover.
"You're hungry much?" he asks. "Or do you wanna go and eat something before we go to school?" He adds a few packages of pasta into his stock. Bananas and oranges follow.
"When do you wanna go? I'd rather eat now, I'm starving!"
"At eight." His backpack is empty and he hangs it over his shoulder. "Okay, you saw my goodies, what d'you wanna?" He looks up at me.
I heat up the pasta he bought. Okay, wrong, it's ramen, Japanese pasta. Bakura tells me there's starch in it as well, so I have to quench them after boiling and boil them again without water. Ugh, so much work. But it's alright, he bought the food, so I can at least cook it properly.
We eat. Bakura tells me how stupid Zorc is, that he thinks he'll make points by going to the book night. To impress his teacher so he can change schools.
"Why, who knows, maybe it'll help." I shrug.
Bakura rolls his eyes. "Nah, he's got miserable grades."
"You wouldn't want him to go thought, right?" I ask.
He shrugs. "He's my best friend, so no."
While sitting and eating I have time to look at Bakura for a bit. I try to be inconspicuous. Those marks from yesterday, those red marks around his neck are still a bit visible. Someone must have choked him. But why? It wasn't Akefia, was it?
"Where does that come from?" I ask. "That... red ring around your neck."
"What?" He blinks. He grazes his throat with his fingertips. "It's nothing," he mumbles and looks down at the noodles between his chopsticks.
I pout. "I'm not Akefia, you can tell me."
He glares at me. "Yeah, but you're a stupid virgin, you have no idea of anything."
"Okay," I reply, "then teach me. Tell me about your 50-shades-of-grey sex practice there! I'm not judging."
The look he gives me is a sharp one.
I stare back.
"Fuck you, it's none of your business," he says and continues eating.
"So it has something to do with sex," I mumble.
He glances away, annoyance written over his face. "Marik, I swear-"
"What?"
"I'm gonna throw you out of the fucking window if you don't stop!"
Okay, he's mad. I am almost done with my food and lean back. "I don't believe you," I say, grinning. Yup, you're angry. But you're just bluffing. We proved some time ago that you just bark but not bite. You're the one who gets hit, not the one who hits.
He realizes that he can't scare me and breathes out loudly. "You want me to take my offer back?" he then grins. "Don't wanna go out and visit Zorc later?"
"Pff, that's not out, if we're visiting Zorc. Besides you still owe me eating out with you."
He raises one eyebrow. "Wait, what does 'going out' mean for- Oh," he drops his eyelids halfway, "you don't mean 'out' as in 'date', do you?" I shrug. He groans. "Ugh, stupid Marik."
I cross my arms before my chest. "Mh. Fine, I'll stop asking. It's probably 'K.' chocking you while you fuck anyways and I don't really wanna hear anything about that," I mutter, more to myself than to him, but he seems to catch it, as he looks up surprised.
He snorts and shakes his head in defiance, but looks away, so I guess I am right. It is 'K.' who else.
A bit later we chill in Bakura's room, door closed, because Kefia is still upstairs. It's almost six, he's normally out way before that. At this hour I go downstairs and little later he comes upstairs, Bakura tells me. He has no idea where his father is going between those hours, but he's probably going to that other bar of his.
It's weird. I always assumed that people who had their own restaurant would make good money. But apparently not. And Akefia is running two establishments!
Bakura and I are sitting on his bed, playing that stupid race game against each other. This time I have fun. I still lose, but I'm happy.
We hear Akefia getting out of his room and leaving the apartment. Finally! Bakura opens the door wide.
"What do you think are they doing downstairs?" I ask.
Bakura shrugs. "I don't know. You should. Didn't you say they have maintenance?"
"Yeah, that and something else. Something about installing something."
"I have no idea."
I take a look at him. Yeah, he's never downstairs, why would he. Still... "But how come you know the names of the strip girls? I never see you downstairs."
He shrugs more, this time quicker. "I just..." He looks away. "I used to help downstairs a bit. In the kitchen," he mumbles.
Oh. "Like me?"
More shrugging. Why is he so reluctant about telling me?
"How old where you?"
"About ten."
"Why did you stop?"
"Ugh, what do you think," he grumbles. "Because he's shit."
Maybe that's where he learned to cook. Aw, isn't it cute? Little Bakura watching Mahad making food and learning from him. What did Kefia do though? Yell at him? Ugh, probably. "Was he downstairs much?" I ask.
Bakura looks back at me and nods. "Yeah."
"Huh, I never see him."
"Things change."
I nod.
What's interesting about this, is that Bakura apparently liked to work downstairs, right? 'Because he's shit' sounds as if he was the reason Bakura stopped working there and not because Bakura wanted to stop. I wonder how Mahad treated him. Just as cold as he treats me?
Not long, and it's eight. Bakura is dozing off in his bed and I shake him to wake him up. "Hey," I say, "you wanted to go visit Zorc, now come, get dressed."
"Mmm," he moans.
We had some snacks and I put the rest of the chocolate back into the cupboard. I hear steps in the hall outside, someone's coming up. Akefia.
I bolt into Bakura's room and close the door.
Bakura jolts up. "What the fuck is-"
The apartment door opens.
Bakura makes an annoyed face. I stare back at him while listening to what Kefia's doing.
He undresses, then kicks his shoes into a corner, taking longer than usual to get them off. There's a bit heavy breathing, as always when he's drunk. Bakura recognizes it too, because his expression changes. It's just a flinch in his eyebrows, but it's there. Annoyance. Anger. Because his father is a drunk asshole.
Not long, and we breathe out in relief as Kefia's door falls shut.
"Let's head out," Bakura says.
We get dressed. Bakura is a bit slow, I guess because he's tired and he takes his time ruffling his hair before the mirror.
"It'll never get better without actually combing it, you know," I say.
"Combing only makes it worse, believe me," he replies.
Kefia's door opens. We freeze for a moment, then look at each other. Bakura presses his lips together and makes a movement with his head, saying 'let's wait' and I nod in response. Akefia is making a grunt as he heads to the kitchen. The fridge opens, a beer is taken out.
"As if it wasn't enough," Bakura remarks.
Two seconds later Akefia knocks loudly at the door with his fist. "Open up, you faggot of a son!" he yells slurring.
Bakura looks away and breathes out loudly through his nose. Calmly, he goes two steps to turn on the stereo; the same pop music as before blares through the room. He sits down on the bed and puts his hands into the pockets of his coat.
Ugh. I've had enough of this. Every single time they put on this show, fighting over things that could easily get resolved if they would just talk to each other! I huff and poke Bakura's shoulder. He looks up. "I'm gonna go talk with him," I say into his ear.
He instantly grabs me by my shoulders, his jaw tightened. "Are you crazy?" he hisses, I barely hear him.
More bangs against the door. We don't even turn our heads, but stare at each other.
He's so fucking hot. Those dark eyes glaring at me intensively, his firm grip, his voice.
"You two are always angry, you need to sit down and talk with each other like human beings," I start, but I am not sure he has heard half of what I said.
He shakes his head, not loosening his grip. I like that. He comes closer, putting his mouth near my ear. "It's not just about me," he says. Huh? He pulls back and I give him an confused look. He shrugs and points to the window. "Let's just go!" he says louder.
Bakura opens the window and jumps out. I press 'Stop', then 'Off' on the stereo and follow him. What is he talking about? I need to know. I close the window behind myself.
"Where are you go-?" Akefia's voice gets cut off. Ha. It feels sort of good.
I still want to talk to Akefia. Not now, yeah, probably a bad idea. When he's sober.
"What did you just say?" I ask, running, so that I catch up with Bakura. "It's not just about you?"
He shrugs and doesn't bother to look at me, but stares straight ahead.
Okay, so much I've learned about Bakura: There are various stages of his secretiveness. The first one is when he's too tired or too sleepy to talk. He would have otherwise answered, but his body won't allow him. The second stage is when he isn't sure whether or not to tell me, because it's somehow embarrassing. (Or so he thinks.) The third one is when he's clearly angry because the topic is hurting him in some way.
Plus, the higher the stage, the louder he addresses his anger. So in stage 3 he would be the loudest.
Except when he's not. There's a fourth stage, in which he's aggressive on the outside, but doesn't talk much. That's when it's about our relationship, mostly when he has to admit in some way that he likes me.
And that's what happens now: He's walking fast, hands turned into fists, breathing loudly through his nose, and grumbling something to himself.
So naturally, I wanna know what it's about! "Hey," I say. "It's about me, right? How is it about me?" You didn't want me to get hurt by Akefia, is that it?
"You're so self-centered," he snorts.
"Eh, maybe."
We keep speeding through the evening, passing people here and there, who mostly make room for us. They too can clearly tell that Bakura is about to explode.
"So, am I right? Is it about me?" I ask.
"Ughh, yeah!" he suddenly says, still not looking at me. "You have to watch out what you're doing around him," he says, panting. "Jaden got thrown out because he had three strikes, remember? I bet you already have one or even two."
Huh, wait what? "Strikes? Yeah, I remember him mentioning it, but... Why would I have some already?"
"You have at least one for not doing the drug deliveries," Bakura explains. "And you've gotten so often between our fights, that must count as another as well."
"Are you serious? God, Kefia sure is easy to irritate."
He chuckles with despair. "Gee, really, Marik?"
So... Bakura doesn't want me to be kicked out. He prevented me from going out of the room and confront Akefia. Heh. Bakura actually wants me to stay!
We're near the park. Bakura slows down and stops before we turn at the next corner. "Okay. If somebody asks, tell them you're a new transfer student, okay?" He looks me in the eyes. "This way you can always say you don't know in which class you'll go and which teacher you got. You don't know anything." He retrieves his pack of cigarettes and takes one out.
"Yeah, sounds good." I nod. "But why am I transferring?"
He lights up his cig and chuckles. "Say you're from a private school and your parents want you to go to a public school cause you got too conceited about your abilities."
We slowly move further. "Eh? But public schools are more relaxed than private. Doesn't make much sense."
"Pff, aren't private school full of rich pricks? Everybody's getting a car for their sixteenth birthday. Here, you don't even get decent lunch."
In a way, he's right. If you can afford paying for private school, you can afford to pamper your kids. Still, they also expect you to get good grades, so it's not an easy life either.
"Actually, why weren't you going to a private school?" Bakura asks, as we approach his school.
"Hm, I wanted to go to the one Rishid and Ishizu were going," I answer. "I wanted to be with them, and be like them," I chuckle.
"Tss."
We go around the school, to the back entrance. The big older building lies quiet behind the evening's shadows, while the newer one is busy. There's light downstairs as well as in the second floor. A few groups of students linger around the entrance of the white building. A pair - girl and boy - sit on the stairs, kissing each other.
"Ew, why are they here," Bakura remarks as he spots the couple. He's done with his cigarette and throws it on the ground, then butts it out with his foot.
"Are they from your class? Uh, I mean-"
"Yeah, from my old grade."
Right. Bakura has to repeat the whole grade, while Zorc passed. I still cannot comprehend how bad one would have to do in every single class to have to repeat them all. But it seems that he's doing better now.
There's Zorc, standing near a woman, probably that teacher he wants to impress so bad. She nods while he's talking about something.
"Hey, Bakura."
A voice behind us. We turn around. Two guys come through the back entrance. I know one of them. It's the brown haired one, Joey. The other has long black hair that he wears in a ponytail. Also, he wears a sparkling earring. Dammit, and those eyes! Green eyes, my favorite.
"Hey," Bakura says, getting his next cigarette out. "Don't tell me you're joining this shit."
"No way," the black haired guy laughs. He looks at me. "Who's that?" He puts his hands into the pockets of his tight jeans. He's thin, maybe even thinner than Bakura.
"I'm Marik, hi!" I say and stretch my hand out.
There's a bit silence, as the boy looks at my hand. As if it was the weirdest thing for me to offer. Then he finally moves and pulls one hand out of his pocket. "Okay. Hey, nice to meet ya!" Instead of giving me a handshake, he gives me slap, like a high five, only low.
But okay, yeah, guess it was too lame to offer a handshake. It's not like I know how to meet new people anyways.
"Oh my fuck, what an extra," Joey remarks, putting a palm over his mouth and laughing.
"What?" I say, blinking. Is he talking about me?
"Ugh, let's go grab Zorc," Bakura says, drawing deep on his cigarette. "Mm."
I glare at Joey, who simply laughs more. I follow the group to the entrance of the new building. I still don't know the name of the black haired guy.
The female teacher Zorc is talking to, huffs and waves a finger at Bakura. "How often do I have to tell you how harmful cigarettes are for your body, Bakura!"
"Nobody fucking cares...!" Bakura says under his breath, so that only we three hear him. Joey and the other guy chuckle. Hm, is smoking allowed in this school? At my school it wasn't and the juniors and seniors smoked outside of the school property.
The teacher pushes her glasses up her nose and huffs some more. "I assume you two will not be joining us tonight?" she says, addressing the chuckling boys.
"No, ma'am!" says the black haired one and mimics a soldiers pose: his hand flat, fingertips near his temple and a sudden change into an erect stance.
The teacher laughs quietly. "That's the wrong hand, you idiot," says Zorc and everybody laughs loudly.
"Oh," says the boy, genuinely embarrassed for a moment.
"Peter!" The teacher throws a look at Zorc, because he used the word 'idiot'.
Peter? Wtf, that doesn't suit him. I'm so used to think of him as 'Zorc'.
"That's not his name, ma'am," says the black haired boy.
More laughter.
We move a bit away, Zorc coming with us, while the teacher scolds another group of students for littering.
"What you're up to?" asks Peter, uh, I mean Zorc.
Joey shrugs. "Not much."
"Came to see you lick Miss Smith's ass," Bakura grins.
Zorc rolls his eyes. "Useless, anyways."
"Yeah, you cannot escape this fine school," the black haired guy says. "Remember: You're here forever!"
"Ugh."
We laugh.
"And you're here with your date, Kura?" Zorc throws a amusing look at Bakura, who scoffs. Date? Me?
"Pff, sure." Bakura draws on his cigarette, staring ahead. "He wanted to come."
"Uhu, yeah," I say. "Except that not. You asked me, don't deny it."
"Woah, let's leave those fags alone!" Joey says, dramatically taking a step back and lifting his hands.
I cross my arms before my chest. Zorc just wants to distract the attention. And yet, why would he call me Bakura's date? Did Bakura mention me to him in that way? That surely wouldn't fit him.
The black haired guy looks at me and back at Bakura, a grin forming on his lips. "Huh, what am I missing here? Who are you anyways?"
"It's nothing, Duke. He just lives in the same building with me," Bakura says, letting out a growl. "Enjoy your miserable kindergarden, Zorc." He turns around to him, while walking backwards towards the exit. "Don't you hafta go tah sleep?" he says, mimicking children's talk. "Good nighty night! Let Miss Smith kiss you goodnight!"
We follow him while laughing. "Ew, Miss Smith will smooch Zorc all night," Joey says. "She'll crawl into his sleeping bag to hump him."
"They'll make eleven babies and move to a trailer park!" says the black haired guy, whose name is Duke. He's the one who wanted to have his birthday in a club or something. Or was it Joey? I can't say I like Joey very much, but Duke seems funny. And he's hot. Can't deny that.
Zorc turns around at some point, after showing us a middle finger. He walks back to the white building and we walk out of the school yard.
"So his name is Peter?" Joey says, expressing my thoughts.
"Eh, he's Zorc." Bakura replies. He's done with his second cigarette and gets out the third.
"Gimme one." Duke stretches his hand out.
"Isn't it enough?" I say between my teeth.
Bakura glances at me. "Nope, Mom." Ugh. He holds his pack under Duke's nose and Duke gets one cig out. He's bigger than Bakura, at least one head bigger. I am not sure, but somehow my gaydar beeps. The way Duke moves and that earring... But no, can't be, can it? There's still something missing. I don't know, all the gays on TV are much more flamboyant. But then again, Bakura's gay too and wouldn't have known either if he hadn't told me.
It's best if I don't make any assumptions.
"What now?" Duke asks, lighting up his smoke.
"Dunno." Bakura's voice sounds raspy. He clears his throat. I really wished he would stop smoking.
"Let's hit some bar?" Duke blows out some smoke. I'm near him and it hits my eyes.
"Bar? You're underage," I say, waving the smoke away. I move away from him and walk behind Bakura.
Duke turns around to me. "But I don't look like it, baby!"
"That's what you think," I grin. My heart pounds faster as he looks me in the eyes. Green eyes are rare, especially with such a vivid color. Gah. Oh no, no, no, no! I mustn't fall in love with another guy, especially not when he's probably straight! Better stick to Bakura, at least we're friends.
"Yeah," Joey pipes in, gradually walking slower, until we notice and stop as well. "I gotta go home." His expression has changed. He talks quieter and his eyes look somewhat feeble all of a sudden.
"Oh," Duke says immediately, as if he knows what it is about.
"Why?" I ask.
"Okay," says Bakura. "It's barely nine."
Joey shrugs and puts his hands into his jeans' pockets. "My sis might need help with her homework."
"His sis is fucking hot! A ten out of ten!" Duke smirks. Joey glares at him. "Have you seen her?" he elbows Bakura, who just chuckles.
"Who cares," he grunts mockingly, rolling his eyes, making Joey huff at him. Alright, so Duke and Joey really don't know that Bakura's gay.
"Aw man," Duke says, scratching his head. "I could dig out some pics of her though, you know! Her Facebook isn't even on private!" he says, earning another sharp look by Joey.
"I don't care!" Bakura sing-songs and turns around, continuing our way. "Bye, Joey."
"Yeah, bye," Joey mumbles.
I wave at him and Duke gives him a nod. "See ya."
So Duke likes girls. What a bummer. I feel somewhat disappointed. Hm, I can't really picture him with a guy anyways, it just doesn't fit.
Maybe that's a good way to tell people's sexuality? I can easily picture Bakura with guys, but not with girls. Duke goes better with girls in my head, as does Joey. Zorc? Huh, I don't know, he doesn't go well with anybody. Jaden too, he's just too cute to picture him fucking somebody.
Bakura is done smoking and throws the cigarette behind himself. I catch up and walk next to him, while Duke is a few steps before us.
"So what's about that bar, eh?" he asks.
"I have no ID, do you?" Bakura asks.
"No, I thought you have."
"We can still grab a few beers and chill somewhere."
Duke turns around, his cigarette reduced to a stump in his mouth. "Yeah? How, without ID?"
Bakura shrugs. "I know a guy."
Aha, so that's his secret. Some guy buys Bakura beer. Yeah, what else could it be, it's always some guy. Ugh, hopefully not 'K.'!
So far, we hadn't had a destination in mind and were just circling around the school. Now, Bakura takes the lead, telling us to follow him. He's going west. I wonder if we need to go into this direction or if he's just avoiding passing by the 'White Snake'.
"What guy?" Duke asks, throwing his cigarette stump away.
"Just some guy," Bakura replies, his voice showing that he's irritated.
Duke sticks his tongue out at Bakura, mocking him and rolls his eyes at me. "Bakura's full of secrets."
"Oh I know that," I chuckle.
"Yeah," Duke eyes me cautiously up and down. "How do you two know each other again?"
I shrug, but before I can reply, Bakura chimes in: "He lives in the same house, fuck off." He picks up the pace to go before us, so that we can't annoy him with more questions.
I close my mouth and shrug at Duke. I better not add anything to that, it's already weird enough. And it's Bakura who's making it weird. It's a genuine question, right? But Bakura waves it off as if there was more behind it. You have to pull every shit out of him like teeth, but usually it's because it's embarrassing to him. So what does that mean? Am I embarrassing to him?
I am right: After going a few streets into westerly direction, Bakura turns south, heading for the train station. I kind of understand it; you don't want your friend to see the strip club your father owns. Besides, Akefia shouldn't see us either, he might go nuts again.
We pass the small supermarket that closes at nine. There's still light on though. The kiosk I use to buy cigarettes for the girls is close too and still open. The poor guy sitting there has to work there almost 24/7. Even I have it better.
"You're not at our school, are you?" Duke asks me. "What grade are you? Second?"
"Nope, I'm not," I say, glancing at Bakura's back. "No, Junior."
"Oh, so you're seventeen?" Duke inspects me again, a grin lingering on his lips. "You look younger." His voice gets quieter.
"No," I reply slowly, giving him the same look back, my head a bit tilted. "I'm sixteen, but I got one year earlier in."
Maybe I'm wrong, but what are we doing here? Are we flirting? What's this smirk, he's not laughing at me, it's different.
"Oh, just like Sheldon Cooper here!" Duke points his chin at Bakura and our private bubble has burst. "So clever, so witty. Still failed all classes last year."
"Will you never shut up about this?" Bakura grunts, looking back at him, then at me. "You're not turning seventeen soon?" he asks me.
"Nope." I shake my head.
"Hm, I might really be older than you, then."
I frown. "When is your birthday, Bakura?" Just fucking tell me already! "When is it?" I quickly add, asking Duke.
"Pff, dunno." Duke shrugs.
"When is yours?" Bakura asks back. He stops at the intersection, waiting for a gap between the traffic. There's no light nearby.
I step next to him, giving him a smirk. "I tell you, if you tell yours," I say quietly, waiting for him to face me. He grins back, locking eyes with me but shakes his head. I move my lips to a pout and raise one eyebrow. He knows I want to know, but I also know that he's eager to know who's older. But I'm not gonna give in, doesn't matter how cute his grin is.
"Go, faggots! Now!" Duke, standing behind us, pushes us and we hurry to the other side of the street. We have reached the zombie plaza, the spot before the train station concourse. As usual it's crowded with people. Half of them are coming in or going to the train station, pulling suitcases, being in a hurry, while the other half stands around, looking for something or being one of the drug addicts, or 'zombies' as I call them.
"There's the liquor store," I say, pointing at it. It's open, it's always open.
"Yup, but we won't go in," Bakura says, signaling me and Duke to follow him. Right, he's gonna ask some guy to buy the beer for us.
"I'm not drinking though," I say.
"What? Aw, come on, Mark!" Duke says, putting an arm around me. "It's no fun if one is sober!"
I would like to lean into his arm, but I keep on going as if I was unaffected. I can't help but grin though. "Beer won't make me drunk," I say. "It's too light. And I'm Marik, not Mark." Ugh, he got my name wrong, how rude.
Bakura chuckles. "Aha, that's the reason?" he laughs.
Yeah, you know that I just don't like the taste, but keep that to yourself, will you?
Duke removes his arm. "Marik?" he repeats. "Alright, that's rare."
"Duke isn't really common either," I reply.
We lock eyes again and I grin. He blinks, but ultimately, he grins back, snorting.
"Kay, we're here," Bakura mumbles, stopping before an apartment building. He turns around to us, noticing our eye exchange and raises his eyebrows. "You okay?" he asks slowly, glancing at me, then to Duke and back at me.
"Yeah, sure," I mutter, biting my lip. You're not jealous, are you? Please be jealous!
Bakura gives me a knowing nod, as if he wanted to say 'I see what you're doing' or 'you're embarrassing', then turns to the buildings entrance door. He goes the two steps leading to it and presses one of the bells. I can't see the name from where I'm standing, but it's one of the upper ones, fourth or fifth floor.
A few seconds pass, then the intercom cracks: "Who?"
"Bakura." He wants to add more, but he gets cuts off.
"What d'you need?"
"Beer, but-"
"Gonna come up and pay or later?"
"Can't, I'm not alone," Bakura says quickly, standing up on his toes and biting his lip.
"Alright." Some rustling sounds. "Coming."
Bakura relaxes and goes back to standing on his heels. He breathes out and comes back to us. "He'll be right here." He puts his hands into his coats pockets. "You guys got any money? I have like ten bucks."
Duke pats his jeans' pockets, front and back. "Oh, yeah, maybe five, I guess." His phone vibrates and he checks it.
I shake my head. "I didn't got it with me."
Bakura rolls his eyes at me. "What are you good for," he grumbles.
I huff and don't know what to say at first. "Uh, yeah? Well, I-" Bakura goes a few steps away. "At least I didn't had to repeat every single class at school!" I groan.
He looks at me, breathing out through his nose, glaring. "Shut the fuck up. You missed half a year now, when you go back you'll have to repeat it as well, dimshit."
"Yeah, but I actually missed it, not failed it, like you did!" I go a step towards him.
He turns away, showing me his profile. "I missed it too, that's why I failed." He's speaking calm now and I drop my shoulders.
"You went one year earlier to school?" I ask. "At five years old?" I never noticed it but Bakura would be too young for a junior. He's sixteen just like he should be near the end of the second term, but he's repeating.
He sighs loudly, getting annoyed again. "Yeah," he begins, sounding as if he had to tell the story too often in his life, "Kefia could chose whether to send me to school or wait for another year and he chose to put me in early. To have me out as soon as possible," he adds grumpily.
"Huh, why could he chose?"
"Because." Bakura's not looking at me. I cross my arms and frown at him. Alright, he told me enough for now, I'll be quiet. Duke is still at his phone, but he puts it away as the front door opens.
The guy that comes out doesn't match with the voice we heard through the intercom. He's big and slim, his hair unwashed and unkempt and he has big dark bags under his eyes. He wears some smelly shirt and jeans and flashes a big grin, his eyes seem unfocused, even if he glances directly at me.
"Your friends from school?" he asks, grinning more, showing way too much of his gums. He goes the few steps down, his movements looking uncoordinated.
Bakura remains untouched and doesn't move. "Yeah," he says. "We have fifteen bucks. Can you get us some beer? Oh and," he points his head into my direction. "A few bottles of that red alcopop." Huh, for me or what?
"I told you, I'm not gonna drink," I comment.
"You will," Bakura says, not even looking at me.
"No, I'm not."
"Shush," says Duke, suddenly being near me. "Just taste it first."
I cross my arms before my chest. "It's not about that," I mumble. But alright, let him buy it, whatever.
Bakura and Duke give the creep their money. "Any preferences on the beer?" he asks.
"Cheapest brand," Bakura answers.
The sleazy guy goes ahead, while we take our time and follow slowly after him. We stop nearby but still far enough from the liquor store, as to not be seen.
"So you come to that guy every time to get beer?" I ask Bakura.
"Yeah, why does he help you?" Duke wonders.
Bakura sighs out frustrated. "You're annoying." Oh man, don't tell me you're sleeping with this guy. For beer? He did say something about coming up and paying. Ugh, gross. Bakura avoids all eye contact and just stares straight ahead.
I sigh back and stare towards the liquor store.
Not long and the guy comes back, carrying a six pack of beer and a few bottles. He puts everything before our feet; six cans of beer, plus three bottles of reddish alcopop. He carries one red wine bottle on his arm and grins some more. "We can go upstairs and share this fine wine here too, if you care," he says, glancing at all of us, but addressing Bakura.
"No," Bakura answers sharply and takes the six pack. "Thanks." He's using very few words when talking to this guy. It's a good idea.
I don't move, so Duke grabs the three red bottles and we quickly move away from the creep.
"Don't forget to pay me!" the guy yells behind us.
"Pay you?" Duke laughs. "You're sleeping with him or whut?"
"Lool," I chime in, as too distract Duke. "Yeah, that guy was super creepy, eyeing us like that! He's surely wandering around schools all day!"
We begin talking about creepy guys that we've seen hanging around our schools. Bakura remains quiet.
We head back towards Middleton High, with Duke asking us where Bakura is going. I say that we could go to Bakura's secret spot, but Bakura cuts me off, telling Duke to let me carry the alcopop. Woops right, maybe he doesn't want everybody to know about that place. Also we could be seen if go there now with the book night and all. Ugh, why don't I think before I speak.
I reluctantly carry the stupid alcopop and look at the paper strip wrapped around it. It displays a palm tree and the sea under it's name along with the picture of a fresh pomegranate. It does look tastier than beer.
We stop near the park and sit down on a bench near one park exit. There's a street lamp nearby. Duke climbs on the backrest of the bench, puts his feet between Bakura and me on the bench and begins to sip his first beer.
"Here," Bakura hands me his bottle opener.
I take it. "You carry it around with you?" I chuckle.
He shrugs.
"I got mine on my key ring," comes Duke's voice from above.
"Not a bad idea," Bakura mumbles.
I open my bottle and take a sip. "Hey, this tastes good!" It's fruity and sweet. It's a bit like that shandy beer Bakura bought me once, except that there's no beer in it at all. It's just soda, but with alcohol.
"Told ya," Bakura grins.
Duke starts to talk about Joey's sister again, telling us she's fourteen but hot. He searches for pictures of her but can't find them. "I got this one awesome one just somewhere here," he mutters to himself.
Bakura and I exchange a look, grinning at each other. "Yup, take your time," Bakura says.
"I bet she has amazing boobs," I say.
"And such a hot pussy," Bakura continues.
We look at each other again and start laughing.
"Hey, what the fuck is so funny?" Duke asks.
Bakura finishes his beer first and begins his second one. Duke wonders if Zorc and his class are already going to sleep. I ask why Duke and Joey didn't went to the book night. Duke looks at me as if I asked him why he didn't went to get his arms removed and tells me "because it sucks." Fine. I'm not even mad. Everything is kinda funny now. I feel a bit sleepy.
I wonder loudly why Joey really went home early. Duke tells me that it's not our business, again making me think he knows more about it. Well, he and Joey were in the same class before Bakura arrived there, so they do know each other a bit better. Bakura yawns loudly, then let's out a burp.
"Red!" Duke says.
"Huh, what? Uh, blue!" I add quickly.
There's this stupid game in my school. And in Bakura's school apparently too. When somebody burps, you have to say a color. Whoever says the same color (and if it's only by a quarter second later) or doesn't respond, gets to be punched. I rarely participated in that game though. You mostly do it with friends and I don't really had friends at school.
"Green," Duke continues.
"Pff, wait, Marik was too slow," Bakura grins and throws his gaze at me. "You already lost."
Eh? "What? I said 'blue' right after-"
"Purple! Double kill!" Duke shouts. "Lost!"
"Lost!" agrees Bakura.
They both lean closer and start hitting my arm. "H-Hey, stop it!" I laugh and bend away. They aren't hurting me really, just a bit. "Okay, okay, it's enough!" I shout and they stop. Bakura gives me a last blow, followed by a short stroke on the same spot. I look at him and he glances back, having his flirtatious expression turned on: Eyelids halfway down, a small smirk starting to form on his lips.
Then he takes a sip of his beer and turns his face away.
"Have you guys heard of 'No Man's Sky'?" Duke asks.
"Huh?" I pull my eyes off Bakura and glance up at Duke. "Eh, no? What is it? A movie?"
"Nope, a game!" Duke's eyes widen. "It's new on Steam! You can buy it in June and it will be awesome!" he yells.
I chuckle. Duke's cute when he's so enthusiastic. "Okay, but what is it about?" Bakura glances again at me.
"It's a survival game. Awesome shit, you gotta check it out!" He points his finger at me, waving it.
"Is it an mmo?" Bakura asks.
"No, no, that not. But it's crazy awesome, I swear!"
"Alright," Bakura chuckles.
We continue talking about games. I learn that Bakura likes horror games like slenderman, though he didn't find that one scary. Duke is all about simulation world building, like Sim City and Minecraft. I like mmo's but only cute ones from Asia, not the World Of Warcraft type, for which I get eyerolls from both sides.
I think I hear some music coming from the park, but I am not sure.
I finish my first bottle of that pomegranate alcopop and feel kind of dizzy. Not dizzy like when I'm sick, but a good kind of dizzy. Whatever Duke says now is hilarious and I chuckle to myself. I feel hotter and unzip my jacket. Bakura gets quieter and doesn't reply much.
Not long, and we're all down to our last can or bottle. Duke starts humming some familiar melody. Bakura grabs the last can from the ground but it slips out off his fingers and lands sideways on the ground. "Uh," he grunts and picks it up.
That music I heard is louder now. Steady beats and someone rapping. I frown and look at Bakura, who frowns as well. He looks up and stares ahead, his expression changing. Huh? I turn my head.
"Yo, cowboys."
Suddenly we're surrounded by five- no, six guys. From one second to the other they are suddenly standing in front of us. One is carrying a boombox, like in some gangster movie. He turns it off and puts it in front of himself, right before our feet. I instinctively pull my feet closer to the bench. Bakura doesn't flinch one bit, still gripping the beer can. Only his eyes wander from one guy to the other. I can't tell what Duke's doing.
The sudden silence is eerie.
The boombox guy seems to be the leader. He's young and looks Hispanic. He grins, making his little mustache move.
The other five stand slightly behind him, forming a circle around us, as if to prevent us from fleeing. They are all dressed in jeans and black jackets. Some wear bandanas on their heads. One guy is standing a few feet away, playing with a knife in his hand.
Ookay, this is fucking creepy, what the fuck do they want from us? Money?
"What are you doing so late, ladies?" the leader muses, putting his hands into the pockets of his oversized jeans.
I check my watch. "It's barely after ten," I mutter. The guy nearest of me gives me a warning look, chewing his gum with a open mouth.
"Fuck off, okay?" Duke shouts, aggression in his voice. Not good. Better keep calm, Duke. Bakura heaves a quiet breath at Duke's outburst.
The leader's grin drops. "Children shouldn't drink alcohol!" he says loudly, snatching my bottle out of my hand. He throws it over me; I hear it shatter far behind us. A few of his companions flash smirks.
I hear Duke making a movement and huffing.
"Ugh." I let my hand sink and bite my lip. I breathe out through my nose, trying to be quiet, even though I want to get up punch that stupid guy right on his mustache!
"Fucking suckers," Duke murmurs.
"Gimme your wallet." The leader's eyes are fixed on Duke now, who's flinching.
I lean forward and glance at Duke. The guy nearest to me comes closer, giving me no room to escape or even get up.
"Fuck off, no!" is Duke's answer.
I see Bakura tense up in the corner of my eye.
"I'm not repeating myself," the leader says. "The wallet or your life."
The guy next to him and close to Bakura fishes a knife out of his back pocket, his eyes on Duke as well. They all stare at Duke now, except for the guy at the far end, who's turning away. I don't dare to move. I don't even have a damn wallet; will they believe me if I tell them that I have no money with me?
"Hurry up, I gotta catch the dragon," the guy at the back mumbles, his voice sounding off. Catch the dragon? He's snapping his pocket knife shut and flips it open again; shut, open, shut, open, shut, open-
"Hey," Bakura says calmly. "Here, take a sip first." He moves his hand slowly forward, holding out his last can of beer. Yeah, good idea! Maybe he'll relax and we can somehow escape.
The sudden offer helps to ease the tension. The leader gives Bakura a skeptical look, but grabs the can out of his hand. "Heh," he chuckles. He takes a look at the can, because it might be a trap, but it's closed, so it's alright.
The moment he puts his thumb and index finger at the can ring thingy, I feel Bakura grabbing my wrist. His eyes are fixed on the leaders hands, his lips are pressed together. Huh, what is he-
Click- PPHLOSHHHHHHHh...!
Bakura yanks me onto my feet and we're suddenly running, pushing through the guys, who are too perplexed to react. "They try to rabbit!" one of them yells. The one at the far end turns around, but his deep red eyes tell me he's either too high or too tired to tell what's going on. He just stands there with his mouth opened.
Bakura doesn't let go of me and I keep on running. "Oh my god, what the fuck happened?!" I yell. The beer can burst, right?
"What the fuck, what the fuck," Duke repeats over and over again.
"Just keep going!" Bakura shouts, releasing us. He's in front of us. He glances behind himself. "They don't seem to follow us."
"Still! Run!" I yell, gasping in between.
We race from one street lamp to the next, barely meeting people on the sidewalk. I don't know which way we're going, but it doesn't matter. Bakura just runs straight ahead and we follow him. The panic in our run vanishes, it's more like a jog now. We're still going fast. The only thing I can hear is our loud steps and our pants. Wind blows through my jacket, making me cold.
"Fucking assholes!" Duke shouts.
"Yeah!" I agree.
Bakura turns his head around again. "They aren't... following us," he wheezes. He gets slower and I catch up to him.
"Let's be sure!" I reply.
He looks at me and nods. "We're... near the... school."
We bolt into the schoolyard. It's all dark, except for a single light near the white building. Zorc's class must have curfew now.
Duke bends down, hands on his tights. Bakura even drops onto his knees and retches a bit, but nothing comes out. I am standing, but pant just as loud as Bakura and Duke. Our breathing seems so loud compared to the silence of the schoolyard. I zip up my jacket.
"Fuck!" Duke yells.
"Yeah," I agree. I feel dizzy, the schoolyard is moving a bit before my eyes.
Bakura sits up, legs under his butt, and grunts loudly. "That could have ended differently."
I step to him. "Yes, but you saved us!" I smile. Bakura is friggin clever! "When did you shake the can? I didn't even see."
Bakura looks tiredly up to me, hands in his lap. "It fell down before. But yes, I did shake it while they were staring at Duke."
"You're a genius!" I beam. I can't help but grin at him proudly. "You saved our lives!"
"Damn, I wished I had seen the look on their faces," Duke grins.
I nod. Yeah, too bad. It went all so fast.
Bakura rolls his eyes and snorts. Yet there's a smile on his lips. "Get me up," he mumbles, stretching out his hands to me.
I grab them and heave him up to me. He jolts way too close into my face and we both gasp. I let go of his hands. He grabs my arms, so he won't fall against me. I grab his too, but let go of them again as soon as he's standing steady.
He stares into my eyes, lips slightly ajar. His hands move down from my upper arms to my elbow. I can't breathe. He isn't either I think. Our legs are touching, one of his is a bit between mine. He doesn't move it away. "Mm, thanks," he whispers and steps away. Finally, I dare to breathe again.
"Woah, get a room you two!" Duke laughs.
"Um," I make, but never start a sentence. What was that? Bakura is drunk, alright, but he's been drunk before. He's different tonight.
"Shut up!" Bakura groans. "Duke, where's your beer? Can I get a sip?"
"Left it there!" Duke puts his palms in the air and turns his wrists. "Where do you see me having a beer?"
"Ugh, dammit." Bakura moves a bit away. "Stupid tacos! We weren't even in their fucking park! Argh!" He's loud and I fear the book night people might hear him.
"They weren't all Mexicans," I comment. "That weird one in the back was white." It's also not political correct to address them as 'tacos' but I'll led it slide for now.
"Who the fuck cares," Duke murmurs.
"What was he talking about 'catching his dragon' anyways?" I wonder.
Bakura comes back to us, arms crossed before his chest. "Dragon? Eh, probably some drug slang." He's huffing and puffing like that wolf in the story about the three pigs. I couldn't help but to be mad as them as well as they were there, but now I'm just glad we could escape.
"What now?" Duke asks. "Call it a night?"
Bakura shrugs. "Yes, I guess."
We say goodbye to Duke, who heads into the other direction and make our own way back home. We agree to avoid the park area and make a detour to the west.
"Where does he live?" I ask Bakura.
"Duke? Dunno. Not far I guess. He's always walking home."
We're walking faster than usual. There's no pedestrian to be seen. I try to remember how many of them are out on other nights, but I can't. I am not afraid though, not with Bakura by my side. He's super intelligent!
After a bit Bakura begins to pant. "Okay, why are we running." He slows down.
I chuckle. "I'm still a bit riled up."
"See now why I didn't want you to go into the park?" Bakura glances at me.
I nod. "Yeah." I give him a pout. "Still unfair, but ugh, yeah, they have knives."
We head down south, then east. More and more people appear on the street and our pace slows down even more.
"I only finished one alcopop," I say. "Stupid asshole throw the second one away, before I even opened it and the third one is probably still standing next to the bench."
"You only drank one bottle? Pff, you're slow."
"I wanted to enjoy it, not get drunk!"
"As if you'd get drunk by that."
"What, and you're not drunk?" I stare at Bakura. "You're a bit drunk, admit it!"
"I'm noot!" he moans.
"You are!"
"No!"
"Bakura!"
"Shut up!"
We arrive at the White Snake. There's no light downstairs. Maintenance must be over. We go around to the backyard and climb up the fire escape.
Bakura hiccups.
"Ha! See, you're drunk!" I shout.
"Shut the fuck up!" he whispers loudly.
We climb inside his room. It's quiet, Akefia either didn't hear us, doesn't care or isn't at home.
Bakura sits down on his bed and sighs. He has his hands in his coat's pockets and stares just in front of himself.
I undress. Phew, as much as I love the jacket, it is a bit bulky and I'm glad when I'm out of it. I am not as drunk as Bakura seems to be, but the world is still a bit shaky. I sit down on my mattress and poke Bakura's leg. "Hey, strip off."
He flashes a grin at me. "Oh yeah, that's what you'd like to see, eh?" He giggles to himself. He kicks off his shoes, then tries to get out of his coat without having to remove his hands out of the pockets. This of course doesn't work and he falls on his back, groaning. "Stupid thing."
"You're the stupid thing," I laugh and climb next to him.
Bakura is beautiful. I didn't close the curtains completely, so there's some light coming from outside, a wide strip falling right over his face. His hair is spread out into all directions, his eyes partially hidden under his big fringe. He hiccups, making his chest jolt up for a moment. He puts his hand on the middle of his body and moans annoyed. "What?" he mumbles, his eyes falling on me.
I lean down and plant a kiss on his mouth.
He doesn't move at first, letting it happen. I don't move either, I'm not sure what to do next. Firmly, my lips press against his.
But only one second passes, before he grunts and shoves me off. "Marik," he grouses in his deep voice.
I land next to him, on my back and lick my lips. Bakura tastes like beer.
He turns his face to me, glaring. "Fuck you, I'm not your kissing toy!"
"I never said you were," I reply confused. "But um, yeah, sorry, I guess." I look away.
"Idiot." Bakura gets up. He throws his coat onto his pile of clothes and stomps the two steps to his TV.
I listen to Bakura playing his games until the ceiling stops spinning.
How stupid of me to kiss him. But he looked so cute, I didn't think, I just did it.
He's hiccuping again. I stand up and bring him a glass of water, which he reluctantly takes. He gulps it down and gives it back to me. We don't exchange words during this, we're in the awkward phase again. When I come back into his room, I hear him hiccuping still.
"Dammit," I say and suddenly the awkward spell is broken.
"Come here," Bakura says, followed by a hiccup. "It'll go away if I distract myself."
I sit down next to him and he hands me the controller. We race against each other and this time we both suck, never reaching beyond third place. His hiccup indeed vanishes at some point.
"Are you still drunk?" I ask him. "I think I'm getting sober again."
"You drank one bottle of that kiddie wine, how drunk can you be?" he asks.
I shrug. "I'm not used to it."
"Though that would explain the kiss," he grunts. He heaves a sigh, then puts one hand to the floor. He leans closer to me. "Don't do ever dare to do that again, okay, Marik?" he hisses between his teeth. "We both know I'm not gonna hit you or anything, but I can ban you from my room. And ignore you. Do you want that?"
"No!" I shake my head, biting my lip. "No, I won't, I promise. Look," I chuckle, "it was wrong, I know that, I-"
"It's not about right or wrong," Bakura moans. "You and your 'moral' values." He sits up straight and faces the TV again. "It's simply that I don't want that and that's all."
"Alright, I got that," I say quietly.
I still feel kind of bad though. Or do I? To be honest, I just want to do it again. But it's not okay, if the other person doesn't want it!
We don't stay up for long. We're both tired. At two, Bakura turns off the PlayStation and the TV and we climb into our beds. He doesn't talk to me, because he's still pissed about the kiss. Goddammit, as if nobody ever kissed him or what? He was my first real kiss, but for him-
Oh. He was my first.
I did kiss a few girls, but those don't count. It was all a mere experiment, I was simply curious how it would feel. But Bakura does count, he's a guy. We just touched lips, not tongues, but it counts. Heh. I kissed Bakura.
He's probably mad, because I violated something of his again. If I had asked, he might even have said yes- Eh... Oh dammit, could that be? He was fairly drunk tonight, so who knows? I do think I know how he works: Ask, then it's ok. Don't ask and he spits fire at you. Oh man, I should have asked first! But who asks, you don't do it, you just know when the time comes, when the other gazes into your eyes...
Yeah, and what was all that staring tonight? And that touching when I helped him up? He's attracted to me, but won't admit it! Ughh, stupid Bakura, who cares if we're living together, it could work, we could work, why won't you give it a shot!
My head spins a bit as we're lying there in complete darkness. I lose grip of my thoughts and fall asleep fast.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews! ^_^ Hope you liked this chapter.
