After his parents' sudden death, Chester Covington leaves everything behind and moves in with his aunt.
But nobody knows what is going on behind the facadé of a traumatized boy who has watched his parents die that he puts up ever single day of his...
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I push open the doors of the school building, slipping into the buzzing hallways of a normal monday morning at my high school. I can feel Riku's presence behind me as I walk down the hallway, trying to keep my anxiety at bay as more and more eyes turn to look my way. Thoughts about my aunt cross my mind, the guilt that didn't want to come out two days ago finally surfacing.
I just hope she didn't call the police.
I sent her a message yesterday morning, telling her that I was fine and that she didn't have to worry about me, and then I turned my phone off again, not ready for the on-storm of unread messages from my aunt. So, I don't know how she reacted to it, or if she even read it, and that worries me.
"Chase!" My head snaps up as Kai's voice fills my ears, the worry in it tugging at my heart strings. He races towards me and embraces me in a hug before I can get a word out, his arms crushing my fragile bones as they wrap around me tightly. My bruises scream at me in agony but I keep the yelp that wants to come out in and stay quiet, enduring the worry and the anger that Kai's hug conveys to me.
After a few moments, his grip starts loosening and he pulls away, his face displaying a variety of different emotions. "Fuck, you can't just always disappear. At least tell me when you do, okay? You worried the shit out of me." I lower my head as that long anticipated feeling of guilt finally crawls up my spine.
"I'm sorry."
When I don't hear an answer and feel Kai's arms disappear, I raise my head, being met with a look of fear on his face, his eyes trained on something behind me. Realization dawns on me when an arm snakes around my waist from behind me, its intentions displaying possessiveness.
"What on-" Kai's eyes widen to the size of saucers, almost popping out of their sockets, as they jump between me and Riku's arm, confusion and shock swirling around in them. "You, and... Hamming... ?" I sink my teeth into my lower lip, his reaction spiking my nervosity.
"Look, Kai, I-" Before I can get another word out, however, Kai turns around and storms off. I attempt to follow him, to try and calm him down, to try and explain it to him, but the hand that shoots out and grabs ahold of my upper arm prevents me from doing so. I spin my head around, my mouth already opened to tell Riku to let go of me, but, again, I don't get a sound out before I'm interrupted. This time, though, by a pair of lips that slams into mine.
Right in the middle of the hallway, with everybody's eyes turning to look our way.
But, surprisingly, it doesn't bother me as much as I had anticipated. Because as Riku's lips move on mine, his taste sneaking into my mouth, I feel rather calm than freaked out. Reaching around my waist, he pulls me closer to him before he disconnects our lips and looks me right in the eye.
"Let him calm down," he mutters quietly enough for only me to hear.
I nod my head, slowly, his touch overpowering the urge to follow my best friend. "Ok," I whisper.
