Well, I'm updating this from my Papa's computer up here in Scotland, so I apologise for any spelling mistakes. I wasn't intending to update until I got back, but this story seems to be getting quite a good reaction, so I thought I'd update now. The next one might be a little slower in coming though, and the one after it certainly will. Thank you to though i choose death instead of pointless pain, hikari0205, Feathers of Fire and Kirdari for reviewing!
Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: Not doing it; can't be bothered. Don't own.
Kai opened his eyes and slowly got out of bed. As he got dressed, he became aware of the slow thud of a migraine over his right temple. He swore softly and rubbed ineffectually at it.
"Oh damn, why now?" he muttered angrily.
Five ibuprofen later, he walked out of his flat, already doubting the wisdom of going out like this. Oh well, the boys were gonna suffer today, that was all.
I walked towards the place where I met up with Ray each day. Ray and his brother and sister were already there. I waved. Ray saw me and waved back. Neither of the two either side of him moved, Lee because he fancies me and was too busy trying to check out my arse, and Mariah because she thinks I'm nuts. She's probably right, but still!I debated with the idea of flirting with Lee, just to tease him and drive Mariah up the wall, but decided against it. Mariah's got lo-ong nails.
"Hi, Max. You look pleased with yourself today!" Ray commented, grinning at me. I grinned back and hummed a quick tune, nodding in agreement. It's strange how easily I go from talking normally again to not talking at all. It's just easier, though. At least, that's the way I see it. Ray and I walked side by side in silence for a few seconds. Suddenly, a thought struck me. I stopped walking, then, when I had Ray's attention, tilted my head to the side, reaching out to touch him lightly on the arm. Ray read what was in effect sign language with practised ease. "Fine." he said tightly. I held his arm tighter as he tried to pull away and shook my head once. "I'm fine!" he repeated, knowing that I knew he wasn't.
"Him?" I asked, annoyance at his stubbornness making me address him directly. He nodded once, his face crumpling. With a sympathetic noise, I patted him lightly on the shoulder. He let out a small, choked sob and hugged me tightly, resting his head on mine, his long black hair dangling in my eyes. I kept my arms round him for a minute or so, then pulled away, looking questioningly in the direction of the school.
"Yeah, I'm going to school." He hid his face for a few seconds, then looked up, face set and determined. He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Can't let him beat me, can I?" I shook my head, smiling broadly. He started walking again, amber eyes bright with unshed tears. With an surge of pride for my courageous friend, I followed him.
"Dykes! Fucking clit lickers! Lezzie slags!" The hate-filled chants filled the playground. I winced and wondered which poor girls were the target this time. Ray, who was about seven centimetres taller than me, went on tiptoe for a better look. When he turned to me again, his face was tight with anger. I was about to ask who was being bullied this time, but just then we came in sight of the victims. A muscle under my eye started twitching involuntarily. The two girls who were cowering under the stares of most of the school were only fourteen and fifteen. The youngest gays in the school. The older girl, Ming-Ming, who looked the same age as her girlfriend most of the time, was holding Matilda protectively, her crimson eyes gleaming with fear and anger as she stared down kids up to four years older than her, a black eye and split lip proof to her defiance. The mood was getting ugly.
"Max, be careful. Don't do anything stupid." Ray hissed, placing a warning hand on my arm. I shook it off, my temper rising even faster as I saw a spit ball hit Matilda on the cheek and stay there, provoking a fresh outburst from Ming-Ming. A soft hum of rage escaped my throat, then suddenly I stated running towards them. I pushed the smaller, younger kids round the edge aside and shoved my way through the tightly packed crowd, the smell of unholy excitement hanging in the air, sour with the stink of sweat. Abruptly, I ran into what felt like a brick wall. I stumbled backwards, looking up into the bloodshot eyes of Eric, Rick to most people, the school's resident coke dealer and homophobe.
"You got a problem with this, blondie?" he said softly. I nodded angrily and tried to push past him. A hand the size of a dustbin lid blocked my path. "Why you got a problem with this?" I tried to speak, but anger had blocked my vocal chords up, and all that came out was a furious breathy buzz. He looked me up and down. Inwardly I cringed, although outwardly I stood perfectly still, waiting for the blow that would send me flying. His glare diminished a fraction. "You got guts, kid. You might be halfway to Australia by now, y' know that?" I nodded shortly. He appeared to be thinking, his eyes glazing over with the effort. "Okay. You want it to stop, it'll stop." He turned round and bellowed at the crowd, who began to disperse. He turned back to me, his eyes hard again, glittering chips of glass in his tanned face. "You do that again, blondie, it won't just be your voice that gets fucked up." With that last threat, he stomped away. I ran quickly to the two girls, swallowing few times to get my voice working again, knowing that Ming-Ming couldn't decipher my sign language, although Matilda, who I knew quite well, knew a little.
"Are you two okay?" Matilda looked up fearfully, saw it was me and relaxed.
"Yes, thank you Max." she said politely. She smiled suddenly. "You were brave, facing up to Rick like that. I'd never have dared."
"Good." I answered dryly. Sipping accidentally into sign language again, I gestured in the direction that Rick had taken and punched one fist into the other hand, pointing at myself. Matilda's brow creased as she tried to figure it out.
"Rick threatened to beat you up?" she gasped eventually. Ming-Ming raised her perfectly-pluckedeyebrows questioningly as I nodded and grimaced. "Oh, Max doesn't like talking." Matilda explained to her.
"What the hell's going on here?" Ijumped at Mr Hiwatari's voice.
"He's our new teacher." I told them quickly.
"Doesn't look happy, does he?" Ming Ming commented quietly. Her voice, along with Matilda's was high-pitched, although hers was piercing while Matilda's was softer. "Watch your back." Matilda shrank back as the teacher's tall form towered over the three of us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ray running over to us.
"What's been going on?" the teacher repeated harshly.
"We were being bullied." Matilda piped up, blushing furiously at her own nerve. Mr Hiwatari's amethyst eyes locked with mine. Matilda let out a short gasp as she realised her mistake. Ming-Ming put her head in her hands in defeat. "Oh, it wasn't Max, sir! He helped us! It was really sca-"
"Shut up." Matilda stopped mid-sentence with a frightened squeak. Ming-Ming bristled indignantly, but had the sense to keep her mouth shut. "Max, I'll see you at lunch. Don't skip it, or it'll be an after school." he snapped, striding away. Ming-Minglet outa soft hiss of anger.
"Strict teacher. Is he like this normally?"
"No, not at all." Ray cut in, running up to the little group that was us. "He must be in a really bad mood today. You okay, Max?" I nodded and stood up, gesturing that we should start heading towards our form room. "Yeah, okay." Ray agreed. I waved at the two girls, who waved back, after only the slightest hesitation on Ming-Ming's part. "Why do you always get involved like that?" Ray sighed. I shrugged. I always helped the underdogs. Never helped myself, though… A sharp jab in my ribs jolted me back to reality. "Hey, no zoning-out-and-blaming-yourself again. I had enough of that the day before yesterday." Ray scolded, casting a discreet glance at my wrists. I gave him a shrewd, accusing gaze and rolled my sleeves up, baring the scabbed-over cuts, just the newest in a whole host.
"Satisfied?" I said sharply. Ray had the grace to look embarrassed.
"Sorry, Max." he mumbled. I shrugged and punched him lightly on the upper arm, my signal for "lighten up". He smiled thinly. "I am lightened up. You wanna see me in a bad mood?" I shook my head quickly. A disturbing memory flashed into my mind.
"Ray," I pleaded, looking up at the suddenly distant figure of my best friend. "Tell me what's wrong." He shook his head, stamping on his eleventh cigarette in five minutes. "Ray-" He turned to me, hisgolden eyes dark and haunted.
"Shut up. Now."
"But Ray, come on," Talking was becoming progressively harder as my distress went to its normal place, my throat. "Please, why won't you-"
"SHUT UP!" he yelled, punching me hard round the face. Seemingly unable to stop himself, he carried on punching the wall, unaware of the blood trickling from his split knuckles and my cut lip. "It's my problem! Not yours! So just…fuck off!"
I shivered involuntarily. Ray saw it and his face tightened.
"Three guesses at what you were thinking about." he said softly. His eyes glazed over. "Jesus, I was such a bastard that day…" I touched a hand lightly to his cheek, then flashed him a thumbs-up, indicating that it was fine, the memory having temporarily blocked my voice again. He returned the sign weakly, then pulled me to him, crushing my mouth against his. I let him kiss me, feeling the dampness of tears on his cheeks, knowing that he didn't know any other way to get rid of all the crap bottled up inside him. Slowly, I drew away. He blinked, seemingly disappointed, then grinned and ran a hand playfully over my hair. I returned the caress, both of us knowing that it meant nothing, that the kiss was just that, a kiss, nothing more. Our good moods restored, we walked into our form room, chatting amiably, and instantly shut up as we felt the atmosphere in the small room.
Mr Hiwatari was sitting at his desk, the same as on the previous two days, glaring at anyone who so much as breathed too loudly.
"You two are late." he said harshly. "Sit down." Keeping my eyes down, I signed an apology and hurried to my seat, Ray doing the same. My temper was boiling quietly at the abrupt order. If he wanted a hard day, then by God he was going to get one!
Kai took a deep breath, fighting down the pain in his head. He had survived it for four lessons, now he had lunchtime in which to overdose on painkillers again. The class had thundered from the room a few minutes ago, and he was trying to psyche himself into standing up and going to the staff room, where he could lie down for a few minutes.
He rubbed gently at his temples. The class had been intolerable today. Perhaps sensing his weakness, they had disobeyed his every command, started fighting, or, in the case of Brooklyn and Bryan, started making out... Jesus Christ help him…
Max hadn't spoken once, a strangely combative glint in his eyes as he signed so quickly that Kai couldn't make head or tail of it. Ray had smugly refused to translate. He could count on the fingers of one hand how much work had actually been done, and he didn't even use up all the fingers. With a quiet sigh, he pulled himself from his chair. A wave of blinding pain swept through his entire body.
It left him clinging to the wall for balance, whimpering helplessly, glad beyond belief that none of the class were here to witness his suffering. His line of vision shrinking and enlarging dizzyingly, he waited with gritted teeth for the agony to become bearable.
I walked into the classroom, chin up defiantly, prepared for a fight. What I wasn't prepared for was a shaking, faintly moaning teacher, clinging onto the wall for dear life. I swore loudly, recognising the glazed, agonised eyes instantly. My dad had been an expert at migraines for a year or so. Habit kicking in, I hurried over and gently tried to pull him from the wall.
"Sir, you need to sit down." I explained, my voice as quiet as it could go. He blinked slowly, then staggered over to the desk, collapsing into his chair and putting his head down on the hard wood. I shook his shoulder gently. "Sir? Do you want me to fetch someone?"
"No." His voice was weak but definite. "I'll be okay in a minute." I doubted it, personally. He was gonna be in agony until he could get home and pass out. I shrugged and rested a comforting hand on his arm, reminded that he was only four years older than me. His skin was cold and damp with sweat. As his breathing slowed a little, I left the room. Looked like we'd be getting another sub for the last lesson.
Kai stumbled into the flat and downed three moreibuprofen, before sprawling on the sofa. He had survived the last lesson, although he wasn't too sure how, or what they'd done. Max had clearly sent round a "give him a break" message since nothing had gone badly wrong. Just before his brain finally shut down, he remembered Max's light touch on his arm. A faint smile curved his sleeping lips.
Well? What do you think? It's got a long way to go before the Kai/Max kicks in, though. Ray/Max begins next chapter.
By the way, if anybody's looked at the bottom of my profile recently, they'll noticeI've made a promise to stop swearing in my stories. All of this so far and one more chapter is prewritten from before the time when my dad clamped down on the language we were using, so the chapter after next might seem a bit strange, what with no swearing. .
Anyway, please review!