Wednesday
When Roman got to the school he noticed something sprayed across Seth's locker, a couple words actually. Looking around he saw Bray and his two brothers Rowan and Luke laughing. "Hey?" He says going over to the trio.
"What's up Mr. Regins?" Bray says. "You like the art work my brothers and I did."
"No I don't so why don't you and your brothers clean it off." Roman says.
Bray smiled but it quickly disappeared when he saw that he wasn't kidding. "There's no way I'm cleaning that off."
Roman smiled. "Then I'll see you and your brothers in detention for the next three weeks and you are aware that means no football."
"This is bull!" Rowan yelled, causing others to eye them.
"I don't care, clean it up." Replied Roman. "And it better not happen again." After watching the group clean up the locker he headed to his office. When he got there Seth was sitting outside the door. "Mr. Rollins, what are you doing here?"
Seth stood up and reached into his book bag. "Mrs. Gates wanted me to get your signature after our session yesterday and I forgot. I guess she's wants proof that I'm coming here."
Roman took notice of Seth's posture, how one arm hugged his waist and how he avoided his eyes. "Are you okay, you look like you haven't had a good night's slept in days."
"I'm fine." Seth lied. Truth was he didn't get any sleep last night because his of his dad. He really didn't want to go to school but he knew that if he missed it the school would inform his dad and that's the last thing he wanted. He was pulled from his thoughts when he felt a hard on his shoulder. Looking up he was met with Roman's steel gray eyes and that's when he realized that he was crying. He wiped his eyes before pulling out the sheet of paper. "Here's the paper you need to sign."
Roman could call the sighs a mile away. For years he studied abuse, trying to find ways he could help. Seth was showing some of the same signs that Evan was and that made him nervous. "Seth-"
"I'm fine Mr. Regins." Seth says but his shaky voice told otherwise. "Can you please just sign it before I be late for class."
Roman sighed but took and signed the paper before handing it back to Seth.
"Thank you." After taking the paper Seth stood there looking down at his feet.
Roman studied him. "Is there something else you wanted to talk about?"
'Yes' Seth said in his head. "No, I have to go." He quickly left the room. As soon as he entered the hallway he ran smack into Bray.
"Hey freak." Bray says slapping him on the back as he walked pass him. "All done talking about your feelings I see."
Seth winced and remained motionless, hands gripping his backpack as he looked anywhere but at Bray.
"Is there a problem here?" Roman says in the doorway of his office.
Bray smiled. "No problem I was just saying hello, I'll see you later Rollins." He smacked Seth's chest before running off.
Roman noticed the grimace on Seth's face but before he could say anything Seth walked away from him.
...
Later that day
Randy found himself sitting by himself in the lunchroom watching Seth as he played in his food. Every sense in his body was telling him that something was seriously wrong with Seth. A few of his teammates sat down but his eyes and attention were still on Seth.
"Earth to Randy." Phil says. "Dude why are you staring at seth?"
"Nothing." Randy says looking away.
"Awe are you still upset because he stopped being your BFF?" Dolph joked.
"Shut up Zig." Randy says.
Dolph laughed and went back to his food. "So have you manned up and asked out Ashley yet?"
"What I do about my feelings for Ashley is none of your business so butt out." Replied Randy.
"You still think something's going on at his house?" John whispered so no one else at the table could hear.
Randy turned to John. "Yeah I do but he won't talk to me about it. I doubt he's going to tell Roman anything anyway either." He frowned when he saw Bray and his brothers going over to Seth. "Why won't they just fuck off?" He jumped up, stormed across the lunchroom and got in front of the brothers before they could reach Seth's table. "Fuck off Bray." He snapped.
"Awe somebody's protecting his little boyfriend." Rowan says.
Bray smiled. "I didn't know you swung that way."
"Hey, why don't you guys just leave before it gets ugly." Brooks says walking up next to Randy, John and Dolph beside him. Tilting his head he looked square at Rowan and smiled. "Too late."
"Oh you're so funny." Rowan yelled starting to move forward but Bray's arm reached across his, stopping him.
"Relax." Bray says. "We both know they don't stand a chance against us."
"Try me." Randy growled, nails digging into his skin as he clutched his fist to his side.
Bray patted Rowan on the chest. "Let's go."
Randy watched them go then turned to Phil and the others. "Thanks for having my back."
"That's what friends are for." Phil says heading back to the table with John.
Sighing he turned and found Seth staring at him. "What?"
"I don't need you to stick up for me Randy." Seth snaps.
"Well if you would stand up for yourself he wouldn't have too." Dolph snaps back.
"Dolph...go back with the others." When Dolph left he sat across from Seth. "So how's it going?"
"It's okay Randy you don't have to do this." Seth says silently before sitting up.
Randy went to say something else but he saw something on Seth's neck, red marks. They weren't hickeys, no they looked more like finger prints. Seth seemed to notice him starting because the teen zipped up his jacket and folded his arms over his chest. "Seth?"
"Don't Randy...please just stay out of it." Seth got up and left the table.
Randy sat there before running his fingers through his hair. The pit in his stomach growing bigger and bigger, something was wrong.
...
After school
Seth found himself pacing back and forth in the bathroom. He had another session with Roman and he was even more nervous about now. The first time they just talked about his interest and he was okay with that but he also knew that the more serious questions are soon to come. Finally deciding he left the bathroom and headed to Roman's office. The door was open so he just stepped inside and sat down.
"Hello Seth." Roman says. "How was your day?"
Seth shrugged. "Okay I guess."
Roman nodded. "That's good."
They started off slow and Seth appreciated it but he knew the tough questions were on their way.
"Seth can I ask you a question?"
Seth nodded.
"Can you tell me about your home life?" Roman asked hopefully.
Seth swallowed, looking anywhere but at Roman. "Why do you want to know about my home life?"
"I just want to make sure that you're okay." Roman says. "A lot of people are worried about you Seth."
Seth looked down. "I'm fine, my home life is fine, everything is fine."
Roman nodded. The last thing he wanted to do was push Seth further away. "Then why don't you tell me about your mother. I know she left when you were 13 but what else do you remember about her."
Seth smiled. "I remember everything about her, the way she smelled, how she use to read me a story every night before I go to bed, tuck me in. Sometimes we would camp out in the living room, make smores by the fireplace. We did everything together, I miss her."
"What about your dad?"
Seth stayed silent a few seconds. "He was never there for me or my mom. There were nights where I couldn't sleep because they were screaming at eachother. Mornings where I'd wake up to find my mom crying. She would always tell me not to worry, that everything was okay. I could tell that it wasn't but I never said anything."
"Tell me about the day she left."
"It was a few days after my 13 birthday. I was just getting home from school and she was sitting at the kitchen table. She sat me down and told me that she loved me. She said that she could no longer stay because my dad kept hurting her. Then she told me that she was leaving and I wanted to go with her but she told me I had to stay. She told me that she left my birthday present under my bed and that was it. She kissed me on the head and then she was gone." He used his sleeves to wipe away his tears.
"Seth...has your father ever hurt you?"
Seth's eyes grew wide and his whole body started shaking. "I don't want to talk about it anymore." His voice was low and he didn't think Roman heard him so he looked up at him.
"Okay why don't we talk about some ways you could get involved into school activities." Roman says. "I think getting out there will be good for you."
Seth sniffed. "I'm not good at anything."
"Well have you ever tried anything." Roman asked. "I mean you said that you enjoyed football, why don't you give that a shot. Maybe you could reconnect with others and make some friends." He watched as Seth slumped down even more in his chair, his arms hugging his waist. "Okay I think this is enough for today. Why don't we end it here and start fresh tomorrow."
Seth nodded. "Okay." After Roman sighed his papers he got to his feet and slung his bag over his shoulder.
"Before you go I want you to know that my door is always open." Roman says. "If you ever need anything or just need someone to talk too, I'm here."
Seth gave him a small smile. "Thanks Mr. Regins."
"You're welcome." Roman says. "Are you okay to get home?"
"Yeah I'm okay." Seth left the room and headed out of the school. There were still a few cars in the parking lot but the only one that looked familiar was Randy's. He stood there as Randy pulled up in front of him and rolled down the window. "Have you been sitting out here since schools been out?"
"I thought you could use a ride home." Randy says. "I won't ask you anymore questions I promise, just let me give you a ride."
Seth looked around but getting into the car. The ride to his house was quiet and he was thankful for it. When Randy pulled into his driveway he was releaved not to see his dad's car. The two of them sat in silence for nearly three minutes before Seth looked over at Randy.
Randy looked back at him and sat back in his seat, hands falling from the wheel. "Let me see your phone."
Seth frowned but reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone and handed it too Randy. He watched as Randy programs his number into it before handing it back to him.
"I want you to call me, whenever you're in trouble, whenever you need a friend or just want to talk, day or night I'll be here." Randy says. "I'm your friend, you can trust me."
Seth nodded. "Thank you." Grabbing his book bag he climbed out of the car and headed inside.
...
Coming up...
Seth starts to open up more to Roman in their next season and the two grow closer while Randy's intentions to help Seth puts him in harm's way.