Post Hollow Syndrome: Chapter 10- Resolves

,.~*~.,

Chilling, passionate eyes bore into the back of Kai's neck all through his next class. Yet Kai's anger continued to burn and melt away the ice that was Spud's furious gaze. The redhead was still too focused on Adam's behavior to care. He could only hope he'd taught the guy a lesson- and that maybe, MAYBE, Adam would do something about his guilt soon.

If not, he figured he'd be better off alone for now. Maybe this was the way he was meant to be. He'd never had friends growing up. In junior high he'd had people he would hang out with, but he was only a chew toy to them. Adam and Mira were the first friends he'd ever had who seemed to genuinely enjoy his company, but now... now he'd blown it. While trying to do the exact opposite, no less.

So he was a bad friend and a bad mediator. How could he be such a failure on all these fronts?

As much as he enjoyed math and its applications to mechanics, he was having a hard time paying attention to the lesson through all the thoughts that were running about in his head, trampling over any thoughts about mathematics. He couldn't focus. He couldn't take notes. All he could think about was his failure and the cold stare of his enemy.

...And apparently, the call of his bladder.

Kai waved his hand in the air. "Mr. Aguilliard? I need to go to the bathroom!"

The teacher gave the go-ahead and Kai was off. On his way through the halls toward the restrooms, Kai swore he heard a pair of footsteps echoing behind him down the empty halls. He peeked over his shoulder but saw nothing. He continued onward, finally feeling a little bit of worry. He choked it down.

While washing his hands in the restroom, the feeling returned- this time edged with dread. He peeked over his shoulder. Nothing. Nobody else was in there with him. Kai muttered to himself about how stupid he was and that there was no-one here and that he needed to stop imagining things. He didn't notice the faucet handle flicker after he turned off the water. He continued to mutter to himself as he dried his hands and made his way out the door. A massive 6-foot wall stood in his way- what? How'd that get there?

Kai balked. That wall was Spud- and Kai'd nearly walked right into him. He looked up at the face of his bully, whose eyes seemed to steam with cold ice. His lip was set in a subtle sneer as he peered down at the smaller boy from above. "So. We meet again."

Kai felt the flame ignite once more. "Out of my way, Spud," he spoke.

Spud set a massive hand on Kai's slight shoulder. A creepy smile pulled his lip upwards. "No. I can't just leave you to go off on your own." He squeezed Kai's shoulder and leaned in closer. Kai felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise. "Here you are again, Kai. Friendless. Alone. Just like you were the day we first met. You thought you could get away from me with those two clowns?"

"Seems to have worked, yeah," said Kai. His fists were clenched in defiance.

Spud softly pressed the redhead against the wall, his grip becoming even tighter. "Well, I got news for you. They're gone. You only have me now. You need me."

Kai pulled his fists to his chest. He could feel the fire warming and growing within, filling him with a courage he'd never known he'd had before. "No. I don't need you, Spud," he spat. The bully's brow deepened. Kai raised his head and stared straight into the eyes of the one who had terrified him for so long. "I don't need anyone. Especially not someone like you."

Spud growled and grabbed Kai's other shoulder and began forcing him back toward the bathroom. Kai planted his shoes firmly into the ground and pushed back against Spud's chest. The harder he pushed, the stronger he felt, though Spud was still moving him with his sheer size. Kai's shoulders were beginning to throb, but he pressed on. As far as he was concerned, it was fight or die. Finally, when Spud reached the bathroom door, Kai locked his foot into place on the doorframe before the monster could force him back inside.

"Well aren't you the feisty one?" Spud rumbled beside Kai's ear. He began to force the smaller boy sideways, into the bathroom door.

Kai felt a momentary panic. No... not this again! But just as quickly as the panic had come, the raging wildfire that had become of his emotions overtook it. "Get... back... Spud," he huffed. He raised his voice. "You aren't gonna do that to me again!" He lifted his free foot and, utilizing Spud's own force against him, pinned himself against the wall and kicked with all his might.

Spud let out a pained wheeze and reflexively released Kai to tend to his stricken groin. The redhead let out an adrenaline-soaked laugh just as the bell for the real fight rang. He struck out at Spud's face, which the bigger teen backed away from at first. But Kai's second swing hit Spud dead in the eye. He continued to back away from Kai's other punches.

"What? You scared?" Kai prodded the bully.

A pair of firm hands gripped his shoulders from behind. "Stop."

The fire extinguished as Kai was brought back down to the earth. He saw Spud, still hunched over and groaning. Then he saw students pouring out of the classrooms, several with their mouths agape at the sight they had beheld. A few even whooped joyously. The class-out bell had rung and a host of witnesses had just seen him wipe the floor with the school's most notorious villain!

And, if the person who owned the hands which gripped his aching shoulders had anything to say about it, Kai would not be going to his next class any time soon. But as he saw it, after what he'd done, detention- or anything else they sentenced him to- was a small price to pay.

So on the way to the office, he couldn't help but smile.

,.~*~.,

Adam hadn't been sure what to think of Kai's outburst at the time. He'd known he'd been walking on eggs with the volatile redhead for a few days now, but he hadn't expected Kai to crack as soon as he did. But then, Kai was emotional and unpredictable, and Adam wasn't sure if he liked or hated that about him.

OK, so he definitely disliked it. But somewhere deep inside, despite his reservations, Adam knew he probably needed that outburst. He was by himself again and he'd pushed both Mira and Kai away, his guilt now his sole companion. And it was that realization that had painfully shaken some sense back into his head.

At first he'd blamed his social awkwardness. He'd told himself he didn't know how to apologize correctly- that he was afraid of getting it all wrong. And though there may have been some truth to that statement, it wasn't the whole story. Kai was right. Maybe he'd held his reputation to others in such high regard that he'd neglected how his apathetic guise must have appeared to Mira. All he needed to do was tell her why he'd acted the way he had. He needed to lay it all out and let her know he wanted her friendship still. Yet something held him back.

In the hall near his locker, Adam could hear a couple of students talking.

"Did you hear what Kai did?"

"Kai? He's the short guy with the red hair, right?"

"Yeah, him. Guy from the Hollow."

Adam gulped in renewed embarrassment. He opened his locker and ducked his head behind the open door to hide his face from the two students. They were talking about Kai's outburst earlier, he was sure of it. Just what he needed- more rumors about his integrity.

"So, freshman science class was getting out and they saw him in a fight with Spud. Had the big guy cowering."

"Really?" Laughter.

OK, so they weren't discussing the incident at lunch. Good. Wait... Kai fought Spud and won? What?

"I found it hard to believe myself at first," said the first student. "But I saw both of them leaving with their moms last period and Spud had a black eye. And I thought he was a beast in the Hollow! Turns out he's got it in real life too."

"Kai got sent home for hitting Spud? Come on. Everybody knows that guy's a bully."

"Yeah. Both of them are suspended for tomorrow and next week, I heard. At least we won't have to see Spud next week..."

Suspended? Well, that explained why he hadn't seen Kai since lunch. A smile crept onto his lips with the initial feeling of excitement- but it faded away as the excitement turned into discouragement and self-blame. This encounter was his fault, and it could have turned out much worse.

He'd pretty much known that Kai was terrified of being away from his friends. He just hadn't known why. Now it seemed so obvious. He had been hiding from Spud. If anything, his younger friend had lashed out in self-defense. Had he gotten hurt? Probably.

Adam knocked his locker door shut, clamped the lock and headed down the hall. He kept his eyes low to the ground. This fight was his fault and he'd have to deal with that now, on top of his troubles with Mira. Knowing that only made his guilt even worse. Was there any way to make it up to either Kai or Mira at this point? How could he have let himself become so isolated from them, so in the dark about their feelings that it had come to this? Was there any way out of this situation at all?

Just be honest!

Kai's words remained. He held them and rolled them over in his mind. The solution sounded so simple put that way. All he needed to do was talk to them and tell them he was sorry. That he recognized he'd wronged them and wanted to make it right. What was the worst that could possibly happen? More embarrassment? Not much of a change, was it?

The root of the issue was with him and he knew he had to start somewhere. And that somewhere was standing by herself in front of her locker, looking sadder than she had all week. She had been faking stoicism just as he had been. He took a long breath and straightened his jacket. This was it. He would have to make this right, here and now, before he talked himself out of it again.

Adam shuffled up to Mira. She pretended not to notice him until he stopped right beside her. "Hey."

Mira lifted her head. She brushed a bang aside as she turned to face him, her sullen expression taking on some semblance of hope.

Adam nervously rubbed his arm. "Mira, I'm... I'm... sorry. For how I've been treating you this week. I've just been too embarrassed about... yelling at you." He paused to search her eyes for any sign of forgiveness. They'd softened considerably. Adam gave her a small smile. "I really messed up, huh?"

"Yeah," said Mira. She tried to keep her serious expression, but a grin burst onto her face within seconds. She hugged him around the neck, laughing joyously.

Surprised, it took Adam a moment to figure out what to do. But his heart lifted when he recognized that with that one gesture, all had been made right. He awkwardly accepted the hug, his smile broadening. "So... we're good now?"

Mira released him from her embrace and smiled up at him. "You're forgiven."

Half the weight immediately dropped from Adam's shoulders. "Wanna walk home together?"

Her genuine smile lit him up on the inside. "Of course."

,.~*~.,

"So I guess you heard about Kai."

Mira nodded knowingly. "Yeah. I'm surprised he didn't run away. You know how nasty Spud is." She grimaced. "He's not afraid to hurt people if he wants something. Don't know what he wanted from Kai but it must have been something serious."

Adam shrugged, remembering Monday's incident. "Revenge, maybe?"

Mira gasped and stopped in her tracks. Her hands shot up to her mouth. "Oh! Oh, I'll bet that's why he's been acting so jumpy!"

"You've noticed too, huh?" Adam's heart sank. So he did only stick with me because of Spud.

"How could I have not seen this?" Mira lamented, her eyes wide. "The signs were everywhere!"

"I think we've both been blind this week," said Adam. He sighed remorsefully. "This whole thing is my fault. I yelled at you, and then... avoiding you got Kai upset. If I'd known it was going to lead to this I would have convinced myself to apologize to begin with."

"You've apologized now," said Mira. She sent him a gentle smile. "Just drop it, OK?"

"Look. You and Kai both got hurt because of me." Adam lowered his head. "I can't just drop that and move on."

"You can and you should," Mira determined. She set a firm hand on his shoulder. "We can text Kai later and let him know we made up. Then he'll have nothing to be angry about."

Adam nodded. "Yeah. Guess so."

He still wasn't sure he could move on quite yet, but this was a start. And despite his lingering worry, he found himself with a smile on his face the rest of the way home.

,.~*~.,

This chapter has CHAPTER FUEL! "Fire" by Farewell to Fear. Awesome rock song.

I chose "Resolves" as the chapter title because of the dual meaning of the word. I spent a while thinking of a word that could apply to both situations and I'm satisfied with the final choice.

-Cy