The Boy That Stole My Heart

CHAPTER TWO

           I was tired and wet, my baseball uniform covered in mud. The school was unusually active after hours since everyone's practice had been rained out, baseball, football, and soccer players alike all congregating throughout the halls with the band nerds mixed in for good measure. My mom would be late so I had plenty of time but still I hurried in an attempt to peel the soaked clothing from my flesh, glad it was Friday and that I had three weeks of spring break ahead of me.
          As I approached the door, I heard a symphony of laughter coming from inside, sighing softly to myself, in no mood for whatever the upperclassmen were up to but school hierarchy often dictated what one would or would not put up with. Highschool, like in the movies, was unforgiving and never forgot. What I did now in the ninth grade could follow me until the day I graduated so I had to check my attitude, of which I had one... A bad one, and think hard about decisions that could affect the rest of my life. Sometimes however, there is nothing to think about and it turned out that this was one of those times.
          As I used my shoulder to shove the door open I froze momentarily at what I saw. Several members of the football team had a boy around my age hemmed up in a corner, which was nothing unusual, but what was different was the fact that the boy's pants were around his ankles and around his waist, instead of underwear, he wore a goodnite, which was usually reserved for older kids who still had accidents during the night. He offered no fight, standing there frozen like a baby deer, trembling slightly with unfocused eyes, staring off into the distance.
            In front of him stood Daryl Hanes, a nasty piece of work and possibly the biggest asshole in the school. He was a senior who was much larger than me and dwarfed the boy he terrorized. It was then I realized he had pulled his phone out and was attempting to record the incident.
           So no, I didn't think, lunging forward in a fury unlike anything I had ever felt, tearing the phone from his hand. Before he could react, while surprise was still my advantage, six years of karate torqued my body and smashed my elbow into the bridge of his nose, earning me a satisfying crunch and an even more satisfying scream. With a group, nature dictates that once you take out the leader then you will only have to deal with one or two others before they break and run. Unfortunately this was not the case on this occasion.
          I lay on the ground, the concrete cold and rough against my cheek, panting hard, with a mouth that tasted of pennies and a nose that poured a steady dream of blood, splattering onto the floor. I don't know how long they beat me, only stopping when the weakest amongst them feared I would die and begged them to stop. Everything hurt but I doubted anything would prove fatal though I was moderately certain my arm was broken.
           Through the foggy haze that drifted across my mind, I saw a small figure approach, kneeling next to me, his little hand reaching out to touch my arm. "Are you okay?"
           He was kind of beautiful despite being a bit pale, small and delicate, with pretty golden hair and eyes the color of ice. I pushed myself up and he helped me into a sitting position, gently leaning me against the wall. I gave him a smile, sure my teeth were pink with blood, and opened my hand to reveal the phone clenched in my fist, still recording. I would have died before I surrendered it and I think that they knew that, unwilling to go as far as they would have to in order to retrieve it, and deciding to just let it go.
          "Keep it," I told him with a satisfied sigh, pushing it into his hands.
           He looked at me strangely, partly in awe and partly as if he thought I was an idiot, shaking his head softly and sending his curls bouncing across his face. "That was so stupid.... So stupid... And gallant."
           I burst out laughing even though it hurt to do so, unable to help myself. He was maybe the first person to pay me such a compliment. Gallant... Me... Not asshole.. not jerk...but Gallant. Like I was some kind of white knight in shining armor. Well... At least he had thrown a stupid in there.