My friend, Demise

Chapter 2

When I arrived home, I shut myself in my room and pulled my hoodie off. I also pulled off the two thick t-shirts beneath it, as well as the chest binder beneath those. To clarify, I was brown a guy. I wear the chest binder to protect my body in fights. The thicker the clothing I have on, the less punches will hurt. Hard to breathe though.

Despite fighting all the time, I hardly ever win. I'm pretty lanky and people at school treat me like a punching bag. But that's good for me because fighting back helps me let out my emotions.

I swallowed gently, laying down on my squeaky bed and taking I'm a deep but shaky breath. I let it out slowly, trying to relax my body and kick that boy out from under my skin.

I wish I could just be like Mom. She's nice and shit.

Though that boy had bothered me, I felt a bit more calm than usual when he was beside me. Now that he wasn't, I was angry again. Beneath all of this anger though, I'm really just a little kid who hates the world for what it did to me.

You don't get to know about that yet, sorry. I'm not close enough to ya, no offense.

Anyway, my name is Azriel but my mother calls me Rhi. Azriel Smith. My dad is a white dude, kinda stuck up and pretentious but whatever. My mom however, is one of the most beautiful dark skinned people I've ever met. She's kind and outgoing, unlike my dad. Unfortunately for me, I didn't get much of her beautiful, dark skin. My own is closer to my father's tone. Don't worry, I don't mind much. Just jealous.

I've been asked out a bunch of times but I never said yes, which made me feel a little bad. I don't like making girls sad but I'm not going to date someone I have no interest in. I've never had an interest in anyone. At least not like that.

"You only come in here right away when you're hiding something." My mom opened my door and walked up to me with her box. It's a wooden box that she keeps stocked with medical supplies. Specifically for when I come home hurt.

It's too hard to hide from her, so I relax and sit up. "Yeah. Sorry. I'll be okay."

She smiled brightly, her cheerful voice making my chest warmer than usual. "I know you will! But come here, you're bleeding, Darling."

She held a wet rag in her other hand, setting the box down and grabbing my chin. She gently cleaned the blood from my face, afterwards working on removing it from my knuckles. "Mom, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Does it cause trouble for you?...The things I do?"

"Are you asking if my own child burdens me? Of course you don't. I just wish you'd be a little more safe."

"Oh."

"People get under your skin too easy." She gently pressed her thumb into the deepest bruise on my knuckles. I didn't flinch, knowing the gesture was for comfort. "You should try to make a friend."

"Not gonna happen."

"I saw you talking to a boy down the street. Who was that?"

"An annoying pervert."

"A pervert huh?", my dad peered into the room, laughing. "To think you'd attract such a thing."

"You're no catch yourself, Dad."

"Let me see the damage." He sighed and walked in, turning my face to him and sucking in air through his teeth. "Did you win?"

"This time. I don't think I will next time."

"Good."

"Caleb!" My mom glared at him.

"What?! As long as he won, who cares?!"

"He's right." I grabbed my mom's hand gently. "I'm okay, so there's no need to worry." This is one of those times where I start to feel lonely. My chest caves in and my eyes feel wet, tongue dry and hands too shaky to do anything about it. "I'm gonna go back outside if that's okay. I miss the air."

"Be careful. Please."

"Yeah."

I left the house, jogging just out of view to sit with my back against a lamppost. It's starting to get dark but I don't mind.

"Miss me?" The same boy from early stepped directly in front of me, crouching down to my level with a grin. "Or did you just get in another fight?"

"Shut up..."

"Look, if you don't feel like going home yet...you can come to my place."

"Yeah uh....no thanks."

"You look kinda upset. Is everything okay?"

"Not really."

"Oh....wanna talk about it."

"Definitely not."

He sighed and sat beside me. "Ok." We sat in silence for what was about two hours, just enjoying each other's presence. "You must like this. You're not running away like earlier."

"When you're not talking, I don't hate you as much."

He smiled at that, "So you like the quiet? How cute."

"It's a personal thing. You wouldn't understand."

"No. I actually do." He laughed a bit. "I'm like that sometimes too."

"You know, maybe you're not the worst."

"I'm pretty damn awesome."