Natalie sat down next to her cousin by marriage, and placed a hand on his back. A weak breath escaped from the tiny squirrel boy, as his body seemed to relax a bit from the female's touch.
"I'll wait with you." The hedgehog female whispered while looking away from her best friend. She was more than aware that he hated any attention when in such predicaments. She didn't want him to feel embarrassed for being a weak male, but also wasn't about to leave him alone and far easier prey. The fact that she was now seated next to him on the ground would likely cause the other boys not to try anything physical again if they returned. Picking on another male, even a far smaller one, was seen as free game, but hitting a girl was still off limits.
"God, you're such a pain in the ass." Richard groaned as he started to try and push himself up. Natalie helped him up and acted like she didn't notice the sharp whine the boy let out when trying to stand up straight. He quickly half hunched over and she grabbed one of his arms and helped him limp out of the building they'd entered not so long ago.
"And you aren't?" The teen girl laughed right before they finally started to push through the doors as the late summer breeze greeted them. They finally took a seat on the grass once coming around the side of the building. She couldn't hold back her relief, using another laugh, as she was able to stop propping Richard up. The squirrel was short of stature but extremely heavy due to his weekly strength training with his father. The fact that she had to lean down extra low to support his small body didn't help either.
"I don't see any lockers." Richard mumbled after a few minutes of silence. As the boy was finally able to push himself up to lean against the wall, his friend was propped up on. He fiddled with on of his white hearing aids that had shifted out of place from his tumble.
"Of course not." She smiled while she let herself slump over and rest her head on the top of his. "We're better than lockers."
"Maybe…" He pretended to agree as the focus on his pain was replaced with a far stronger, yet complex, feeling took hold of him. "But I'm pretty sure Russ will need help with his, so…" He let his exhaling breath linger a while as he took in the weight of her body against his. "We should…" Unfortunately, the young male got lost in what he was trying to focus on, as his mind was being torn two different ways. "We need to find him." Was the easiest thing for him to get out as his brain fought between too many things at once.
"You're right." Natalie agreed with a light sigh as she squeezed his forearm that he hadn't noticed she was still holding on to. "We can't leave Russ alone in the halls, even if he's got those Special Ed assholes watching him."
"Mom pushed for us to be at the same lunch and some other classes." Richard spoke as if he was trying to put her mind at ease. "I hope they listened." A frown crossed the male's face as he recalled times before that Russel had some meltdowns and became violent. The larger twin boy was usually cheerful despite, or due to, his large mental setbacks. However, when under stress, he easily lashed out and it took time and certain people to calm him down. In a school setting, that person who was required to aid him, from himself, was his far smaller twin brother.
"I hope we all have lunch, and some classes together." The female let out showing off her high spirits once again while moving her other arm to clasp one of his hands.
"Me too." Richard responded as he stayed motionless despite fully wanting to return her embrace as he was unsure of how.
"I'll just skip class to hang out with you at lunch if I have to." Natalie giggled, causing Richard to roll his eyes.
"You're never going to stop blaming me for your bullshit, are you?" Richard scoffed as he pulled away barely enough to look at her. Her smile quickly infected him, causing him to look away and snicker as she released her grip from him to push him playfully.
"Never!" She declared with glee.
The two friends' laughter faded fast after hearing the double doors, they'd just exited, swing open again as the males that'd just assaulted Richard spoke loudly while making their way to the other building. The cousins stayed silent for a good minute after the aggressive males finally strolled to the other building.
"Assholes." The female hedgehog hissed once the trouble makers were finally far enough away, to no longer be able to deal out further repercussions.
"My dad says that high school only gets you ready for the worst of life, so when you get a job you don't notice how bad your boss is. He'll be awful, but not as bad as the bullies in school. Gee, I can't wait to get a job!" Richard spoke the last sentence with overwhelming sarcasm.
"Making money sounds nice." The female spoke while pushing herself up to her feet. " We get nothing for all of this. Just a promise of maybe looking better for some college… or so they say." The young woman smiled as she helped her friend to his feet. " Let's go head back and find our lockers with Russ before my mom flips out and thinks that we ran off to elope."
"Your parents are stupid."
"And your mom's a workaholic because your dad's a drunk. Adults are awful." She sang while nodding her head in agreement with him. "We'll be better."
He glanced at her as they continued their relaxed pace now through a hallway full of redish-brown lockers. Richard hoped she was correct and they wouldn't end up the pathetic souls that were their parents.