Cole dragged himself through the hallway. He was desperately trying to get back to his dorm, hoping that Zane would still be at the computer Science club. And that he'd have time to clean this blood off.
Cole had gotten caught up with some bullies after class. He heard rumors were being spread about him being gay from Jay. Not like he wasn't, but not many people knew. Mainly Zane, Jay, and that other kid with the spiked-up hair from his science class. Kai was his name, he had rarely talked to him, but they usually got along. He was a hothead, but he wasn't homophobic,Right? If anything, the word about Cole being gay must have slipped out of his mouth.
At times like this, Cole wished he was back home with his father. He'd know how to soothe him from the pain and tell Cole that he's just as normal as everyone else. But Cole was stuck at Destiny's Bounty Boarding school. He missed his father singing his barber shop songs as he cooked dinner, and he definitely missed the small village he had grown up in. Cole did love boarding school, though, don't get him wrong. He'd met two of his best friends at school. He loved studying with Zane and playing Video games in Jay's dorm. It was nice having real friends for the first time in his life. Unlike in the village, many neighborhood kids would ignore Cole when he was younger.
Cole fumbled with the keys in his hand, hoping no one would pop up in the hallway. After physically fighting with the door, he finally got it open.
"Holy shit, what the hell happened to you!?"
Jay was sitting on the floor; textbooks and loose papers littered the floor. Jay had the cap of his pen in his mouth, almost choking on it as he yelled. Zane was at his desk, looking at Cole with wide eyes. He had his studying sweater on, the one his father gave him before moving to the school. He shifted in his seat, waiting for Cole to answer with an eager look in his eyes.
"I...uhh, fell down the stairs." Cole cringed at his white lie. Technically he did fall down the stairs since he was kicked and pushed down them.
Jay began to laugh uncontrollably. Zane glared at him for a moment, but Jay couldn't help but scream like a Hyena.
"I'm fine, though. Nothing a little band-aid won't fix." Cole jokingly said.
"Sure hope so. You look like someone threw a bowling ball at your face." Jay jokes.
"Your eye is black and blue," Zane says calmly. His eyes are ice gray as they graze over Cole's whole body.
"You look like someone hit you with a frying pan, like a cartoon character." Jay laughed more
"Haha, very funny, the stairs had it out to get me." Cole had forgotten just how much blood he had on his clothes. Jay may have bought the lie, but Zane was not convinced. He'd have to deal with his questions later.
"I just came to drop off some things. I'm heading to the bathroom." Cole drops his bag onto his desk chair, checking his face in his little desk mirror. He was all banged up. It's not like he could do anything about it anyway. Maybe he deserved it. Perhaps the last couple of months had been too good to be true, and all his good luck was used up.
He lets out a sigh before grabbing his bandaids and alcohol wipes. Opening the door with his other hand, he pokes his head from behind the door.
"I'll be back" Cole shuts the door.
He didn't want to stay in the room longer with Zane staring at him like that. Even though he knew Zane was just concerned for him. He couldn't help but blush. Zane was the most perfect guy he'd ever met. He'd wake Cole up if he slept in too late. When Cole was sick, he'd take care of him. He'd study with Cole and bring him cake without him asking sometimes. Zane was everything he could ever want in a boyfriend. But there was no way in Ninjago that Zane Julian liked him. Even if Zane was gay, there's no way he'd be interested in Cole. Cole was just Cole. He was a meathead at times, and sure, he could be smart too. But he'd get giddy over the cake like it was a million dollars.
Cole opened the dorm bathroom door, relieved that no one was occupying it. He could take a shower, but he decided to clean himself up. He didn't want to take too long. Cole pulled his long hair out of his face revealing the color-changing area around his left eye. They did a number on him this time. The most he would get is vague remarks spat at him, but never a fight. This had been the first time any of them had put their hands on him. His scalp was bleeding as well. Before returning to the dorms, he'd stopped at a bathroom to try and wipe all the blood from his nose. There was nothing he could do about the blood all over his clothes at the time.
Cole used most of his alcohol wipes to disinfect the needed areas. It hurt like a bitch, but he got it done quickly. Looking at himself in the mirror, he finally started looking at himself again.
Cole started to make his way back to the room. He spotted Jay coming leaving his room from down the hall. He had to be going because his bag was packed with everything. Jay was easy to overthink what he would need for class, even though he lives on school grounds. So he'd always pack everything just in case, which was handy for Cole and the others at times.
"You leaving already?" Cole said.
Cole stopped to see the smug grin on Jay's face. Jay gave Cole a half-assed chuckle.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Jay joked.
"Gotta date with that cute girl, the one who works at the mall." Jay sighed to himself. It seemed like he was paying Cole no mind.
"Who, Nya, there's no way?" Cole was genuinely shocked. She agreed? Nya worked at the macaroon kiosk and often gave Cole free samples if he was there. She also happened to be that Kai guy's sister. But he hardly ever talked to her when he saw her other than to ask for macaroons.
"Yes way, now if you excuse me, I'll be leaving." Jay began to walk once more.
"Also, Zane seems a little pissed at the moment. Good luck with that, buddy." Jay laughed.
"Yeah, the power of positive thinking and all that good shit." Cole blew him off, opening the door to his shared room. Not prepared for whatever Zane was going to say to him.
When he entered the room, Zane was now changed into his sleep clothes. His soft blue cotton shorts and a fitted white T-shirt. Cole often thought about how opposite they were. That only made him like Zane more, though. Zane was taller and lankier than Cole. While Cole was pretty built for his age, he had some muscle mass, but it was nothing crazy. He listened to dad rock, and Zane listened to jazz and classical. Cole usually only wore black clothes, but Zane was always in something blue or white. It was refreshing in a way, and they never butted heads.
Zane sat on the edge of his bed, quickly swiping through his phone. Cole leisurely walked to his closet, picking out the clothes he'd hit the hay in. Getting beat up sure does make you tired, and Cole was ready for bed. He faced away from Zane, but he could hear him shifting around on his bed.
"You lied, didn't you?" Zane said.
Cole froze. He already had his shirt over his head. He would throw it out anyway now that it had blood all over it.
"Dude, what the hell are you on? Like I said, I wasn't watching where I was walking. I just took a little tumble. I'll be fine." Cole avoided eye contact with Zane as he put his new shirt on. Cole couldn't take lying to Zane to his face. Lying to Jay was easy. But Zane always looked like he was analyzing your every word.
"Cole, there's no way falling down some stairs would cause a black eye like that," Zane stated.
"You expected me to see you walk in here with blood all over your uniform and face and not say a word," Zane said.
They stood in silence. Cole felt like his head was going to explode. The room air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Zane got up from his bed and approached Cole. Cole wasn't sure what would happen next. It's not like he was scared of Zane. But at the same time, he hated all the attention on him. So what if he got beat up? Things happen. And now he just wanted to go to sleep and probably cry about it for an hour or two.
"Listen, I don't know what you want," Cole said. Cole cringed at how the words tumbled out his mouth like a broken box of crayons. But he wanted Zane off his back and fast. Before he said anything, he would regret it.
He turned around, facing Zane correctly now.
"I get it. You care about me. You want to know what's wrong or going on with me. But stop being sympathetic. It's not worth it. I'll cry it off, and I'll be back to the same old Cole by tomorrow." Cole pulled a fake smile and flashed it at Zane. But Zane wasn't buying it at all.
"You think you're not worth caring about?" Zane said. There was a fire in his eyes now. Cole had really gone and done it this time. The man of his dreams was mad at him.
"Why would anyone care about me other than my father? My life holds no meaning." Cole was looking down now, and he couldn't take the stares anymore.
"How could you say that about yourself?" Zane said. Zane looked frustrated, and Cole was ruining everything once again.
"Because I'm nobody-."
"You're not nobody," Zane said.
"I am nobody. I'm just some guy who happens to like guys. And that people think they can pick on me because of the simple fact that I like men. Who wouldn't want to beat me up!" Tears were running down his eyes now. He hadn't realized it yet, but he'd started crying.
Zane stood still, he hadn't spoken yet, and Cole had just blown up in his face.
"Do you truly feel that way?" Zane's voice was strained. Cole had yet to look at him, but he opened his mouth to answer.
"Yeah, I mean, I don't know?" Cole said.
"People didn't like me for being gay in the village, even though the first few months here with you guys have been paradise. I knew it was about time for something like this to happen ." Cole finally looked up then. He was hoping to see something within Zane's eyes, anything.
Zane looked saddened and even a little frustrated. Cole could see the gears turning in Zane's eyes. And Cole waited patiently. It was the least he could do after yelling at him. He left like he was becoming a burden to Zane, which wasn't fair.
"Come sit with me." Zane guided them both to his side of the room. Sitting on his neat gray sheet bed. Zane took both Cole's hands in his. He was holding them together and pressing Cole's hands to his like head like he was going to pray.
"What are you-?" Cole said.
"I want you never to talk or think about yourself like that again. You're a wonderful person and an even better friend. You care about the people around you to the point you spread yourself thin. Your face always lights up when you talk about what you're passionate about, to the point where I could listen to you talk for hours. And you're the coolest person I've ever met. You may not realize it, but you keep me grounded. There are times when I feel so homesick and alone in my mind that I want to run away. But you have this light in you that brightens up any room. I wouldn't want to have met you any other way." Zane finished.
Cole was shaking now; he didn't know what to say. And his hands were still pressed to Zane's forehead. This all felt like a fever dream.
"I want you to forget all those bad things others have said about you. And only think about what I've told you today because that is how I truly see you. Gay or not, you are you. And I'll always be here for you." Zane moved Cole's hands from his face. Zane still held them firmly in place on his lap.
Cole had begun to cry again, not knowing what to do with himself. He liked Zane, loved Zane even. And as much as his words fueled him, it hurt still. It hurt to know that there was a chance that Zane could be bluffing. Or that he meant all those beautiful words in a friendship way.
Zane pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back, trying to calm Cole down.
"I was so scared, Zane. I didn't know what they'd do to me." Cole let out in a raspy voice.
"They corned me in the stairwell, yelling and pushing me around. I fought back, but they ended up kicking me down the stairs." Cole choked out.
"I least I wasn't lying about one thing." Cole joked, face covered in tears and cheeks red as a rose.
"Cole." Zane frowned at the joke. But he didn't say much else. Zane took his thumbs to wipe the tears from Cole's eyes.
"We need to report those people who did this to you. It's not fair if they get away with this." Zane said.
"If you want, I'll take you to the headmaster's office. I know it might be hard for you to spill all this to him. It's a difficult topic to talk about with just anyone, but you need Justice ." Zane said.
"You sound like a super before." Cole chucked.
"Who knows, maybe I am." Zane sighed, still rubbing Cole's back to calm him down. They stayed like that for a while.
Cole had calmed down after He and Zane talked over what they'd say to the Head Master. He could fall asleep on Zane like this, to be honest. It seemed like Zane had already begun to doze off while waiting for Cole to calm down. Cole didn't make haste to part ways with the boy. Instead, he laid them both down slowly. He was hoping not to wake up Zane.
"You're the best thing to happen in my life, and I'm honored to have met you this way too." Cole caressed Zane's cheek as he slept. He was taking a risk being this close to Zane while he slept. But he'd instead take the chance while he got it. They'd never slept or cuddled together since school started. It wasn't like Cole excepted this to happen anyway.
"I love you," Cole said.
He scanned over Zane's face one more time before dozing off himself, dreading what was next to come that week. But he had Zane on his side to help him.