i like you but i cant say it

CHAPTER 2: something's happening (page 6)

Caleb eyed Kenji from a distance. He sat alone in the cafeteria, ignoring the pain at his side as he rubbed his other hand against his red knuckles.

His eyes were glued to the back of Kenji's short and black hair.

He sighed and leaned back against the cafeteria wall. His gaze left the boy for a moment as he felt something inside of him, but he looked back not even two seconds later, "No, I'll make him pay."

ding

The sound of a notification came from his pocket as he pulled out an old and cracked phone.

[Asshole: Same place as yesterday, you know what'll happen if you don't show.]

Caleb stared at the text silently.

He placed a hand over his left arm, rubbing the bruises that were concealed under the sleeve of his jersey as his mind started to fog a bit before coming back to his senses.

"One way or another." Caleb thought as he looked back up at Kenji, who's now facing slightly to the side, revealing his pale skin and thin face as he chewed on his food, "I'll show you why to never mess with me again."

[...]

The bell rang in the distance and Kenji put his phone away. He's resulted to calling his older sister, Atsuko, to pick him up after school. Even though he didn't want to, whatever Caleb is planning won't ever be worth it.

He checked around outside the bathroom stall before leaving.

"She does have impressive muscles under all those big sweaters and jackets she wears." Kenji thought while walking back to his locker. A memory of how Atsuko had gotten into a full-on fight with a kid who bullied him flashed by. Some kid had teared apart his 8 year old drawings in class once, and Atsuko only being 10 at the time, didn't let it slide at all as she came the next day looking for the kid.

Kenji awkwardly smiled to himself as he remembered how the kid left school with bruises and a bite mark on his hand.

Kenji peacefully picked out the books for the next subject, reminiscing on past memories from his childhood with a smile he failed to hold back, not even realizing Caleb's unending attention on him from a distance.

Caleb watched the black haired boy, the smile on Kenji's face only made Caleb feel angrier.

"Why is he smilling? Does he find this amusing?" Caleb asked himself as he pressed his teeth together, a feeling stirred up inside him that soon turned into fury.

But suddenly, the feeling took over that fury.

It was no longer outrage that he felt, but a strong case of jelousy, want, longingness that was left instead.

Caleb watched as Kenji chuckled, everything turned quiet. That chuckle was warm. The blonde boy searched deep within himself but found nothing that made him feel the same way.

He pressed his lips tightly together, and all of a sudden, something warm slid down Caleb's cheek.

He rubbed under his right eye, and the moist feeling of a tear stained his fingers.