Tongue-Tied (Boyxboy)

Chapter Two

TODD'S POV

Snickers erupted throughout the hallway as the sound of books clattering on the floor caught everyone's attention. Rolling my eyes, I walked up to the small guy that was on his knees trying to quickly pick up all of his books, his ears turning a bright red in embarrassment. I scanned his body as I knelt beside him. He was tiny, would only be fourteen years old at the most.

"Hey buddy. Are you okay? What's your name?" I asked gently, picking up a few of the books that were just beyond his reach. His grey eyes shot up to mine in shock before darting away quickly again.

"L-Luka." He stuttered, his eyes focussed on his books. I stood up and brushed off my knees before leaning down and offering him a hand up with a gentle smile. Blushing, he hesitantly placed his small hand in mine and I pulled him to his feet.

"Is this your first day? Do you need a hand finding classrooms or your locker?" I said as I neatened his books before handing them back to him.

Luka went bright red, "Oh, n-no. I'm a j-junior." He mumbled. I looked at him in shock. Standing next to me, he was so short he barely made it to my chest, and from the way his baggy clothes hung on him you'd think he was underfed.

"Be careful Luka. Toad here is the type to be nice to you now and then beat the crap out of you behind the dumpster later." Miles sneered as he walked past. Luka's eyes widened as he stared at me fearfully. I stiffened. I'm not that much of a monster. I glared at Miles and then turned back around to tell Luka that it wasn't true but he'd already darted down the hallway.

"What was that about?" Parker asked, slinging his muscular arm around my shoulder and tugging me towards the cafeteria.

"Miles is being his usual hateful self." I scowled, shrugging his arm off me.

"Uh oh. Jennifer alert." Parker muttered and I glanced up to see her following Ryder down the hallway. My blue eyes met his brown ones and he gave an apologetic wince and shrugged. I sighed, feeling a headache coming on.

"Hey baby. Where have you been? I've missed you." Jennifer said coyly, her hand reaching out to catch mine.

"Around." I shrugged. Discreetly, I tried to twist my fingers around to see if she'd let go. No luck. I glanced back to throw a look at Ryder and Parker to see if I'd get any help from them. Parker avoided my eyes, lifting an arm to flatten to down the top of his dark brown hair anxiously, and Ryder just raised one shoulder into a shrug and gave me a helpless look. Both of them are useless. Tuning back in as we entered the cafeteria, I listened with one ear as she blabbered on beside me about some girl in her class. Glancing down, I mentally rolled my eyes as I saw that she was twirling her hair and blinking up at me and I forced my face into a smile. She grinned back.

I could feel someone watching me so I looked away from Jennifer and glanced across the cafeteria to where Jesse and his friends normally sit. I frowned as I felt an unfamiliar tug in my stomach as my eyes met his. His grey eyes widened before his head dropped and I was left looking at a head of curly blonde hair. My eyes wandered to the right of Jesse to see Miles scowling at me and Julian and Sebastian twisted around in their seats to look at me. Miles must be talking about me behind my back again. I sneered and stuck my finger up at him. Sebastian and Julian turned back around as Miles said something, making Jesse's lips pull up into a fraction of smile.

My attention was torn away as Ryder knocked Parkers lunch out of his hand, making his tray go clattering to the ground. Jennifer shook her head disapprovingly as she watched them start to play fight, and finally Parker won, yanking Ryder's head down and gripped him in a tight headlock. I looked back up to see Miles still scowling at me and I glared back at him, holding his gaze challengingly.