My Lion. || BXB

chapter seventeen.

i was currently standing in the changing rooms for pe, with my normal cubicle mates. isaac and finn were talking about this girl finn's talking to, and archie is listening quietly. i was more focused on how i was supposed to get changed knowing the top half of my body was covered in hickeys... i had already changed my school trousers to the shorts i wore for pe, but i guess i'll just keep my hoodie on for the lesson. there was no way i was taking it off for the whole world to see my abused neck.

"what about you hunter?" and the mention of my name made me flinch in surprise.
"what?"
"do you have a girl you're currently talking to?" and my mind went blank at isaac's question.
"uh—" was i currently talking to anyone? i don't know if mine and lionel's frequent making out counted as 'talking'. "i don't know, i guess."
"really? who!" archie said excitedly, and i could tell this guy lived for gossip. his dark blue hair flopped around as he clapped his hands enthusiastically.

"i can't say." i laughed, watching as archie's wide grin turned into an unhappy frown.
"boring." finn rolled his eyes, but i wasn't necessarily bothered. it was my secret, and in my opinion that just made it more fun.

as we all walked into the gym, my anxiety was higher than ever. i hated having people watch me exercise, it made me feel so insecure for some reason. i tried thinking about something else to distract me, but the only thing in my mind was lionel.

i can't believe i didn't know he was a senior. although, this did explain a lot. i was never in his classes, and barely ever saw him around school except in-between classes and after school at the gates. it kinda sucked, really.

"so today we're doing badminton again, get into groups of four now." mr chadwick said, his voice echoing through the high-ceilinged gym. last lesson, i was in isaac, finn and archie's group but i saw archie and finn talking to two other lads i haven't spoken to before so i assumed this time it'd be different. i scanned the room for archie and saw he was happily chatting with a different group of boys.

this was one of my biggest fears; not having a partner in pe. in primary school i was always the last one to be picked, and i was genuinely experiencing PTSD. i begged for someone to come over and talk to me, to ask for me to be in their group but nobody did.

moments later, everyone was sitting down in their groups of four with only me and a few others still standing. i sighed, making my way over to where mr chadwick was writing something down on a post-it-note.
"uhm, sir" god this was humiliating, "i don't have a group."

he rolled his eyes at me, but got up to his feet nonetheless. "who isn't in a complete group?" he asked simply with me standing by his side.

a trio of three unfamiliar boys raised their hands and i glanced to them, walking over awkwardly. when i approached their little group, we all sat down silently. i had never felt so uncomfortable in my life.

after sir explained what we were doing, which was the exact same we had done the last lesson, all groups got to their feet and to a court. the three boys i was with were discussing who was on a team with who and i never felt so unwanted in my life. my heart raced, and i wondered if i was actually going to start crying in this moment.

"i wanna go with you, jack." one of the boys said.
"okay, we can be on a team. harvey you're with him." the other boy, who i assumed was called jack, said bluntly. harvey turned to look at me, rolled his eyes at my awkward stance and looked back at jack.
"no way. you be with him jack and i'll go with evan." atleast now i knew all their names, but fuck this was unbearable.

"i can just spectate." i spoke up for the first time, and now i had three set of judging eyes on me.
"we can't do badminton with three on one team and one on the other." harvey said in an obvious tone, and then he sighed in defeat. "okay i'll be on his team."

i nodded wordlessly, following harvey to the other side of the net. "what's your name then, bro?" he said to me, and finally he tone seemed a bit more friendly.
"hunter, and i assume your harvey?"
"yeah. let's win this game alright?" and thankfully, he smiled at me. i returned the gesture and nodded in agreement. then, the game started.

well, we lost. evan and jack completely thrashed us, but i wasn't mad. every time they got a point me and harvey burst into laughter and i didn't feel so unwanted anymore.

harvey and i walked side by side back to the changing rooms, chatting about how horribly we lost at that game. only now did i get a proper look at him and observe his appearance. he had platinum blonde hair that was gelled up in individual spikes and dark blue judgey eyes. he looked pretty intimidating, but now that he and i were laughing and joking i wasn't scared of him anymore.

when i returned to the cubicle, isaac was waiting for me. "bro i am so sorry for not being in your group!" he said instantly, and i could tell he felt guilty for leaving me on my own. but i didn't really mind anymore as i made a new friend from it. sure, at first it was a bit humiliating but i'm over it.

"its chill isa, don't worry." i said, patting his black curly hair, "i made a new friend, that harvey guy, so i'm fine."
"oh, fair enough. yeah harvey's alright." he nodded and i smiled in agreement.