Lover Boy

Tears

      The school day finally ends. I rush into the crowd and step out the large school doors. I trudge over to my car, but I don't see Willow yet. Where is that girl? I need to get home now. I wait a few minutes and I still don't see her. Another minute passes, by now most of the students have gotten on their buses. What was taking her so long? I decide to head back into the school building and look for Willow. I roam the halls and don't see her. Where are you Will? I see one of the teachers and run up to her.

      "Have you seen my sister, Willow Creek?", I beg.

      The teacher looks at me wide eyed then averts her eyes from my gaze. She starts to shift her feet nervously.

      "Err... Your sister is in the principal's office right now. She uh... got into a bit of trouble. Don't worry, we've already contacted your mother", she murmurs.

      "Why did no one tell me!", I exclaim. The women winces. I run down to the office. What kind of trouble is Willow in? She wouldn't pick a fight, I knew she wouldn't. She's a good kid, I can't imagine her getting in trouble with one of her teachers or one of her classmates. I reach the office door and see the principal lecturing two girls. One with bright pink hair and the other my sister.

     The girl with pink hair had her bright blue eyes glaring and Willow's black eye watering. Black eye. Oh this can't be happening. Willow's hair is a mess, there's a scratch across her face, and her lip is bleeding. The pink haired girl hurt Will. No matter her reason, this girl better have a good excuse. Otherwise I was gonna leave her in worse shape than Willow was. Infuriated, I slam open the door and everyone jumped.

      "Why did you hurt Will!", I yell.

      "Hunter. Please calm down", the principal warns.

      "You want me to calm down when this girl hurt Will!", I shout.

      "Hunter, stop yelling. Calm down", Willow begs. I soften at her words. I see the tears that have stained her cheeks and I don't want fresh ones to fall. I finally manage to steady my breath. I relax my fists and the anger seeps from my face.

      "Explain what happened", I say calmly. The pink haired girl turns toward me.

      "This chick was hitting on my man and needed to learn that she can not go around and taking everyone's man, just cause she can", she retorts. Will? Hitting on a guy? Will is way too shy to do that. Seems like this girl's boyfriend was into Willow and Pinky here was jealous. Besides that gives her no reason to beat Will. Heck, if I was dating Pinky I would try to get away, but I would dump her not cheat. Cheating is stupid, choose one or the other. You can't have both and you will always get caught. Always.

      "How did you find out Will was hitting on your boyfriend?", I ask.

      "Will and my boyfriend have been talking a lot, like, to each other. I didn't think anything of it until he called me Willow. So I asked what was happening between him and Willow. His response was that he likes Will, like, like likes Willow. When I asked how he came to think of Willow that way, he said Will had wooed him with her words.", she replies hastily.

      "Don't you think he just loves her for who she is? He doesn't want you anymore and he is too much of a coward to tell you. You're just jealous, mad that your boyfriend left you for my sister. Jealousy is no reason to do what you did to my sister and if you act like this, then I understand why your boyfriend left you. I would you leave you.", I reply with a steel edge to my voice. The girl looks utterly shocked. That's right, the truth hurts.

      I grab Will by the shoulders and lead her out of there. These people's idiocy and jealousy will not harm my sister anymore. I lead her out of the school building and into the school parking lot.

      "Thanks for taking me out of there", Willow whispers.

      "Why are you thanking me? Those people shouldn't have done that to you, I was doing what I was supposed to do", I reply coolly. I turn and smile at Will. She pulls me into a hug and presses her head on my chest, I can feel her tears streaming down her face.

      "Hunter"

      "Yes?"

      "I love you"

      "I love you too, Will"

      I take us into the car and turn the engine on.

...

      When we head into the house we see our mom asleep on the couch. Must have been another tiring day at work. I take a deep breath. It's time I tell Willow. I pull Willow into the hall and point towards my room. She follows me into the room and sits herself at the edge of the bed. I'm too nervous sit down.

      "Will I need to tell you something"

      She looks up at me.

      "You should put some ice on that, it looks like it hurts"

      She gingerly touches the bruise on her face. I grab an ice pack and hand it to her. As she takes it I pull her into warm and comforting hug, not paying attention to my sleeve wet from tears.