Artistic Love

Chapter 11-Jezelle

Sitting on the bus alone was a low blow, almost as bad as being alone ignoring everyone else. I had been so used to talking to Felie on the bus that not having her was just lonelier than anything. Not even Jennifer took pity on me by sitting next to me. I put my legs up to lean against the side of the bus, making due with all the free space that Felie not being here granted me.

When we got off the bus I kept my head down and walked into the school. Usually I had Felie right by my side until we heard the bell ring. But of course, I couldn't really have her by me unless she was there, which she wasn't.

Someone bumped into my shoulder so I looked up from my distant gaze. Bailee Tibbs.

"Hey," I said with a fake smile that I knew Bailee had grown to hate, "Beat up any ninth graders lately?" I asked her. She knew sarcasm was my specialty, so I had to give her a taste of what I was feeling in the moment.

She gave me a death glare, "You don't have the right to talk to me like that." She pushed me to the ground so suddenly my brain didn't even process it in time to dodge her. I looked at her and she kicked me in the knee with all her might, "Watch out next time." She walked away with her friends following her. I saw Jennifer behind her, who looked like she just got hit in the gut. As much as she saw me get bullied, she knew that if she stepped in she would have the exact same fate.

From a few feet away, Trevor ran over to me and pulled me up off the ground before any of the teachers or students could see, "What just happened? I saw Bailee shove you!"

"Bailee is just being a piece of crap as usual," I mumbled under my breath so only he could hear me, "She shoved me down and kicked my knee. I might just kill her one of these days."

Trevor flipped head around looking for someone, "I can get Mr. Thatcher if you want me to-"

"No!" I immediately responded, "He'll tell Felie and I just know that Felie will freak out if she knows what Bailee did to me today. This is just gotta be a little secret we hold back from her, no matter what happens. Even from Felie and the teachers."

I could tell Trevor was against it just by his stance while I said it, but he nodded and walked with me to the first period of the day. It was clear the teacher noticed I had a bit of a limp for a second, but clearly didn't care enough to investigate. High school teachers wouldn't be able to help anyway, but Felie could. That's why I couldn't tell her.

She wouldn't have been able to hold back. And that might've gotten us in a deeper hole.

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Over the next few days Felie was still sick with her lovely high fever so she wasn't at school. Those few days were a complete nightmare, almost worse than my ninth grade year. Every morning, Bailee would either punch me or kick me then tell me that loving women was a sin. And every morning, I took it more and more to heart.

Trevor was my only defense to Bailee. He would be there during lunch and before school, making sure that he was protecting me. Although he was there, he couldn't do much. Nor did I let him. I didn't want him to get involved with my own problems. During lunch, Bailee would come to the art room when Mr. Thatcher was gone and either hit me or kicked me. The art room wasn't even safe anymore, and I didn't feel like I could leave my room at home.

Jennifer was with Bailee all the time and she even came to our house! I hid in my room everyday, Trevor coming over to hide with me. Trevor was my only reason that I kept going through the week.

On Friday it was the worst day of Bailee's bullying. Trevor finally stood up for me on a psychical level, and it didn't go well for him. He got in front of me before Bailee's punch could hit me and punched him in the nose. As much as I hated Bailee, her right hook was fantastic. She shoved him aside as his nose started to bleed and she grabbed me closer to her. "Stop avoiding me!" she punched me in the eye, and that wasn't the worst part. It was the fact that I just accepted it that was the most disappointing.

I didn't fight back...and I regretted it more than anything.

She stared at me after she punched me, and I saw something different within her eyes. Almost a bit of regret for me, which I had never seen before. She pushed me away a little bit, having something going on in her brain that might be a turning point.

Probably not.

I backed away from her, holding my good eye up knowing my own strength I held while I had a hand on the other one. "I..." she stomped out of the room, her friends following her. Layla threw me a look, one of pure sadness. Jennifer did too.

"Such a piece of crap," Trevor mumbled as he grabbed some tissues and started wiping the blood off his face so nobody could ask any questions, "Do you need any?" He offered me a few tissues.

I took my hand off my eye and didn't see any clear signs of blood. If I popped a blood vessel in my eye though, there wasn't much I could do about that. "No."

Trevor sat down and let out a groan, "Is this how it is coming out to people?" I looked at him, and he was crying. What does he mean? I put my hand on his back and started to gently rub it up and down, trying my best to comfort him. "Honestly yes." I told him, remembering all my pa.

"Your coming out was blown up in your face terribly. I can't even imagine how you were dealing with that with everything with your mom as well. It's just..." he looked at me with a bit of sympathy, not just for me but also for himself.

I backed up a little bit, seeing the bigger picture that could be happening from this conversation. "Just what?"

A knock rang through the room and Trevor and I turned to see Tyson in the doorway. I didn't realize he was already at our school. I thought he was starting next week. I was also surprised he knew where the art room was. "Did I miss all of lunch?" I jumped up and he saw my eye. "Oh goodness, what happened?"

"Bailee's a butt, that's what happened." Tyson knew all about Bailee, she was one of the main girls who bullied me last year. He had to stand up for me a lot last year, even though he wasn't even in my school. I turned to Trevor and he was wiping away his tears. "Trevor took a blow today too."

Tyson walked up to Trevor and brushed his thumb over his nose more gently than a mother could have, "Oh poor baby." I could see the moment he realized he was blowing up their secret that wasn't even that hard to tell. He turned to me and then back to Trevor. "Are we...?"

Trevor looked at me and nodded with one of the most bright smiles on his face. Tyson kissed the tip of Trevor's nose and I couldn't hold back my squeals that were brewing in my gut. "I knew it!"

They both got really flustered and turned back to me, "How?" Tyson asked as he held Trevor in his arms. "I barely even knew!"

I giggled so much I thought I was going to combust, "Felie and I talked about how you wanted to know all about Trevor in the ice cream shop. It's just an ongoing joke about how there were lots of crushes floating through that table, even if they weren't apparent in the moment."

"Fair..." Tyson blushed harder than a tomato.

The pain in my eye started to grow, so I excused myself from my room and went into the hall. I grabbed my phone and called my dad, "Can you check me out today? Please..."

It's going to get intense, but I know you guys are going to love Trevor and Tyson. Did you guys see them coming? I didn't at first, but my friend who was reading it for fun suggested it to me. I love hearing comments for my story, so if you have anything I'd love to hear it! -Jayo_3