Instructors Love

3

I tried to pass him, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to him, My eyes widened, he reeked of alcohol and ash. “Let go!” I squirmed. My bag fell to the ground as he grabbed both my wrists.

    “For a twink, you’re pretty cute.” I tried to kick at the man, but my strength was nothing compared to his build. As I struggled and yelled, the sound of speeding wheels grew close. I closed my eyes when I heard a loud thud and the man's grip loosened. Small tears formed and fell from my eyes. I don’t think I had ever been so scared. I flinched and opened my eyes fully when I tapped on the shoulder. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.” Mr. Kain?

    He handed me my things and waited for the bar security to come collect the man. “Are you ok,” he stood in silence for a minute, thinking. “Um, sorry, I never caught your name.”

    “Dylan.” I replied in a fragile tone.

    “Right, are you ok Dylan?” I nodded. I had noticed I was still crying. I’ll walk you home, no objections.” He was being sweet, but still cold and stern as ever. 

    He walked alongside me, his board pressed against his side. The entire time we walked I was glancing around, jumping at every noise. Mr. Kain seemed to pick up on this, for he would ask if I was ok everytime. 

    He walked me all the way up to my dorm, but when we got there I didn’t open the door. My room was all soft and pastel and he was so...so...not soft and pastel. “Are you going to go in?” 

    “Um, yeah, but you should leave first. It’s getting really late.” I stood in front of the door.

    “What are you hiding in there Dylan?” He tried jokingly getting past me. “A girl? A dead body? 8 man eating dogs?” 

    “No, nothing like that! It’s getting dark!”

    “A man?” I got flustered.

    “NO!”

    “Oh it's definitely a man, lemme see.” He ended up pushing the door open before I could stop him. Low and behold, my pink and blue fluffy room. Stuffed animals everywhere and clothing scattered around the floor. I quickly rushed over to my wardrobe, seeing that the bottom drawer was open. I used my foot to sneak it shut. “Wow, so no man.”

    “Mr. Kain, please leave so I can die of embarrassment in peace and solidarity.” I laid face down on my bed as the sheets muffled my words. 

    “Why would you be embarrassed?” The question caught me off guard. I rolled over to look at him, but I ended up just rolling off my bed. “Well, that was embarrassing.” He chuckled.

    “You’re not making it easier on me here.” I sat up. “Usually people are embarrassed by me or poke fun at my lifestyle.”

    He sat there and looked at me. His smile was gone, he looked like he was examining me again. “This is nothing to be embarrassed about, Dylan.” He sat down next to me on the floor. “So what? You like colors. They’re just colors, why would you be embarrassed? Other people can go suck it!” I was surprised by his language.

    “Don’t talk like that!” I put a hand over his mouth, but as soon as I realized what I had done I pulled away. “Sorry,”

    He just giggled. “Wow.”

    “Wow?”

    “You really are as innocent as you look.” My face went red. He grabbed his board and walked back over to the door. “You should get some rest, and hey,” I looked up at him. “Be a good boy and clean your room.” And with that being said, he closed my door and left. 

    I sat on my floor, legs crossed, mind flooded with those last words. He was my instructor at the workshop, was it ok for us to interact like this? I mean he didn’t look that old, and I’m 19- wait, WHAT AM I THINKING ABOUT? Whatever, maybe he didn’t mean anything by it. 

    I stepped out of my jeans and crawled into bed. Carefully, I pulled out my hair clips and set them on my night stand.