As the week progressed, life continued as normal. Blink's father was spending less and less time at home, and when he was home, he rarely spoke to Blink. Regardless of the promises that his mother had made, there was still no word on whether or not Blink would be allowed to go to Columbia. Blink spent most of his evenings online, talking to Bumlets and making plans for their big date on Friday night. After he had learned the truth about Mush's feelings, it was suddenly a lot easier to feel more secure with the idea of actually dating someone.
The one thing that was hurting Blink more than anything was school. He no longer felt safe there, even slightly. Blink had never exactly felt comfortable in the school, but at least he could usually go to classes without fearing that someone was going to jump him in the hallways. But recently, he'd started being more and more careful to make sure he was always in public view, and that he was never alone in the hallways. He wasn't sure what it was that was making him nervous, he should have been used to it all by now, but things still seemed to be getting worse at school. Becca seemed to have noticed as well, and usually met Blink outside his last class to drive him home.
He wasn't sure exactly what it was, it may have been the increased glares he was getting in class, or the increased amount of people who accidentally bumped into him in the hallways, or the amount of whispered slurs that he heard in the halls. All Blink knew was that he hadn't felt this nervous being in school since Marie had found out about the planned bashing.
By Friday, Blink had even gotten to the point where he was considering reporting the harassment to the administration. However, based on previous experience, he was pretty sure that they would tell him that he was overreacting, and that the members of the wrestling team were all fine upstanding citizens, who had the best interest of the school in mind. They would never actively harass a student.
Most likely, it would only increase the amount of bad feelings that the general student population had towards Blink. But still, the idea of getting them to pay for the way that they were treating him was just so utterly tempting.
At least the day was almost over, and he had an actual date with Bumlets to look forward to. His first date ever. It was kind of ridiculous, to have his first date at age eighteen. Everyone else he knew had been dating since freshman year of high school, or even before. But then again, most people didn't have his parents or his problems. At least that was how Blink was trying to rationalize it.
He didn't even know how to act on a date. He and Bumlets had been talking every night since they had met at the bar, and Bumlets was definitely nice enough, and Blink enjoyed talking to him. He wasn't sure if he really liked him, though.
He'd tried talking about this with Racetrack, although that had had the unfortunate effect of having Race attempt to psychoanalyze him. This had happened at various other times, but usually while Race was in a happy place with his relationship. This analysis, instead of the usual, "you'll find a good boy, he'll be there once you get over Mush," theory, had turned into "all men suck, they're only good for one thing and true love doesn't exist at all."
It had taken four scoops of ice cream before Blink had found out what that one had been about, and it still hurt to think about it. With everything that had been going on, Blink had assumed that Racetrack had more sense than to pressure Spot that way. Asking him to prom? With Spot's commitment phobia?
Blink sighed. A depressed Race was absolutely no good at all. If Race was miserable, everyone else had to be miserable. And, since Racetrack was his only gay friend who was close to his age, he was the only one who understood his situation. Becca and Sari were no help at all, they just wanted to know all the details about what happened on the date, and gushed over how cute the idea of Blink dating was. Racetrack had actually experienced things.
And without Racetrack's help, Blink was left to try to figure things out on his own, which he really didn't want to do. Having someone to bounce decisions off of before making them seemed to make it easier to figure out complicated things. And at the moment, Blink didn't have anyone that he could do that with.
Which of course, left him sitting in English ignoring Mrs. Jaye's lecture on Pride & Prejudice, trying to figure out what exactly he could do to make his life make more sense. He had no idea what he was going to be doing on his date tonight; Bumlets had promised to surprise him. Blink was assuming that they would probably go to the club and then after... well, he didn't know. All he knew that he was really nervous, but kind of excited as well. He just wasn't sure if Bumlets was the right guy for him.
He sighed, and glanced in Mush's general direction. He didn't understand how Mush could have seemed like such a nice guy, but was so ignorant of what actually went on at the school. Of how Blink was treated. It made Blink wonder how he could have been so in love with him for so long.
Of course, glancing at Mush now, even knowing what Mush had said to him earlier in the week, Blink still a twinge of adoration for the wrestler. Some feelings were just difficult to get rid of. Blink hoped that one day he would be able to see Mush for what he really was, and not want him anymore. After all, he was straight. And an ass. For some reason, Blink had to keep reminding himself of that second point.
At least they weren't working on the group project today. And he wouldn't have to deal with Mush.
Instead, he had to deal with one James "Snoddy" Miller, who sat behind him and had been spending the entire class hurling whispered threats in Blink's direction. Blink had managed to tune him out for most of it, he'd been lost in his own problems; and by now he was used to it. Which was one of the saddest facts of his existence, the fact that he'd gotten used to hearing these sorts of things. Whoever said that high school was the best years of your life was a liar, at least in Blink's opinion. Or if the guy was telling the truth, he had no idea why people would want to survive to adulthood.
But as the period had progressed, Snoddy was intruding more and more. It had been bad enough when it was just the muttered threats, but now Snoddy had progressed to flicking pieces of paper at Blink's neck. This was just a minor annoyance, and Blink had to roll his eyes at the immaturity of the situation. They were seniors in high school, about to graduate, not kindergartners!
Blink stared at the clock, hoping that the minute hand would magically move and the class would end, so he could go home. Home wasn't the best place to be either, but for the first time in a long while, it was better than school.
The clock of course, wasn't cooperating. If he didn't know better, he'd swear that it was actually going backwards. Of course, that was impossible and straight out of a bad cartoon, so Blink just chalked it up to a trick of the light.
Normally, Blink would try to write to pass the time, but recently it had just seemed so difficult. Blink wasn't sure if it was stress, or what, but for some reason his muses appeared to have left him. Classes used to be his best writing time, but now he could barely turn out a scene. Writer's block was always a source of distress, but this was getting ridiculous. He hadn't written anything well... all week. Not since his argument with Mush.
Blink let out a small sigh. One person shouldn't have this much power over him. He didn't want Mush to be affecting him this way. If anyone should, it should be Bumlets. He was dating Bumlets, not Mush. If only he could remember that...
Finally, the bell rang. It was amazing how such a shrill obnoxious sound could resemble a symphony. But, when you were looking forward to hearing something, it had a tendency to fool the senses a bit.
The rest of the day passed on autopilot. He didn't pay attention at all in the rest of his classes, just stared at the clock, waiting for the day to be over so he could get home. It was so obvious that he had completely given up on paying attention, that his last period teacher kept him after class to give him a lecture about how yes, college acceptances were back, but that was no excuse to completely lose interest in school work. Blink nodded, feigning interest, and split as soon as possible.
He was halfway down the hallway when he realized that for the first time all week, he was by himself. Becca was nowhere to be found, and the hallways were deserted, since most students had already left for a day. Only a few sports teams and after school clubs remained. Blink passed the gym nervously, speeding up trying to avoid being noticed by the sports teams that were practicing. Unfortunately, he still had managed to attract one particular jock's attention, and Snoddy came out of the gym, and roughly shoved Blink into the lockers.
"Fucking fag," Snoddy spat at him. "Flaunting yourself around school."
Blink paled. "Look Snoddy, I just want to go to class. I didn't do anything –"
He was cut off by a snort from Snoddy. "You didn't do anything? You bring your fag friends with you, and they start making out in front of me, so I have to see you and your disgusting life style."
Blink opened his mouth to respond, but Snoddy shoved him against the wall. "You'll shut up now, or I'll make you regret it."
Blink followed his orders, but inside his mind was screaming in fear. If it came down to a fight, and Blink was sure it would, he knew that it would end with him losing.
"Hey, Snoddy," another voice spoke up. It was a familiar voice, friendly and calming. Blink didn't dare glance over to confirm his suspicions, and he didn't need to. He'd know Mush's voice anywhere.
"Get out of here, Mush, this isn't your business," Snoddy snapped, his arm still pressed up against Blink's throat.
"Well, yeah, it is. You're on probation for fighting already, and if he... if that fag reports you, you'll be off the team. We need you at the next meet."
Snoddy paused to consider, and Blink nervously counted the seconds. Twenty seven seconds later, Snoddy nodded, and released Blink, who sank down to the floor in shock. "Whatever," Snoddy muttered. "You tell anyone, and this'll seem like nothin'. Understand?"
Blink nodded emphatically. He wasn't going to risk anything.
"You'd better go to practice," Mush pointed out. "Probation and all."
Blink watched as Snoddy glanced away, and flinched back as Mush knelt down beside him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay, he's gone now," Mush said. The sound of his voice was helping soothe Blink's nerves, and kept him from panicking worse than he already was. Blink looked up at him in surprise.
"Why do you care? You probably think I asked for it."
"I shouldn't have said that," Mush replied, hanging his head. "If I'd known what Snoddy was... God, I'm sorry."
He extended a hand to Blink, who took it nervously, and let Mush pull him to his feet.
"Are you okay?" Mush asked, his voice filled with concern.
"Yeah," Blink spat, "just a little bruised."
"Do you need to go to see a doctor or something? The nurse is still in for sports related emergencies"
"You heard what Snoddy said," Blink informed him. "They'd just ask what happened, and nobody would ever believe a find upstanding citizen like James Miller had hurt me, even with you to back me up. Besides," Blink filled his voice with false cheer, "he didn't hurt me that badly. I'll be fine once I get home."
"Let me drive you home," Mush offered.
Blink nodded. Home was good. Home wasn't in the hallway. Home was far, far away from Snoddy. And Mush had rescued him.
Crud. His crush was definitely back in full force. Mush had re-emerged as his knight in shining armor, who was offering an arm for support as they walked together to the parking lot, and Mush's shiny new SUV.
And he was going out with a different boy tonight. Life was just full of irony.
Blink sighed. He hoped Racetrack was over his "all men suck" issues, because he really needed to talk to someone at the moment.
Author's Notes-I told you I didn't abandon this! I just got distracted by um, writing pr0n for the refuge, and reaching the fun part of Shades of Grey. And I head back to school soon, which means I can write fanfic instead of doing school work, so there will probably be more frequent updates. (I hope)
Next chapter we have The Date O' Doom.
Also, what should we call the Blink/Bumlets relationship? You've suggested both Blinklets and Blumlets. Which should it be?
Shoutouts!
B-Well, we have the beginning of Blush. You like?
Berri-You don't want to know what dinner at my house is like. It's kind of crazy. And as for Blink's dad... just wait til you see how he reacts to the idea of Blink dating.
Nani-I hope you like Mush a little more this chapter! He's not an ass for once!
Uninvisible-Blink needs some happiness. Because I like torturing him. Clearly, something is very wrong with me.
Braids-Hungover!blink is Teh Awesome. And I'm glad you're enjoying the Blink/Bumlets pairing. :-D They're growing on me a bit...
Lizzie-cuddles her sister I'm glad you like, and I updated this just for you dear.
Mondie-I'm so glad I finally got to meet you, and we got to see Jai together! And Mush is not an ass this chapter, so that should make you happy. cuddles
Gothica-I'm writing this for B. You figure out the end pairing. wink
Parkranger-A world without tummypats would be a sad thing indeed.
Emme3-Mush is too hot for his own good. cuddles
Til next time!
TSB