TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3RD, 2006 (1914 WORDS)
RILEY WALKER WAS ON THEIR WAY back to their house from school with the familiar feeling of dread they knew all too well hanging over them when they felt someone tug at the handle of their backpack.
"Hey look, it's the fag!" A boy in Riley's class started walking up behind him with his friends.
"What do you want, Oliver?" Riley sighs as he turns around to look at Oliver, taking the right earbud out of their ear.
"Watch this!" He yelled, before punching Riley in the face.
"What the hell-" Riley mumbles under their breath. Then, he sees it, the shine on the blade of Oliver's pocket knife just barely sticking out of the pocket of his jeans.
"How about we y'know, not do that, please?" They plead, looking between Oliver and the knife.
Oliver laughs sarcastically, "Freaks of nature like you shouldn't exist. It's unnatural. It goes against the bible."
Riley's eyebrows furrow, a clear look of confusion evident on their face. "But doesn't trying to stab someone also go against the bible? I mean I've never really read it in full but I'm pretty sure one of the commandments is 'Thou shall not kill' or something like that." They explain as they run a hand through their platinum blonde hair.
Oliver doesn't even stop to think before he lept at Riley, pinning them to the ground of the alleyway.
After getting the wind knocked out of them, Riley smirks and wiggles their eyebrows. "Woah- I didn't know you swung that way, Sloan."
"I don't! Shut up you tranny!" Oliver yells as he repeatedly punches the teen below him in the face.
After 5 minutes of Riley being beaten, someone grabs Oliver's wrist.
The person wasn't visible to Riley, but the first thing they heard was a rough, raucous voice. "Oliver. You said we only followed them to scare them. Not beat them senseless."
Oliver rolls his eyes at the mysterious figure. "Shut up Noah, I'm not here to beat them senseless. I'm here to kill them."
Riley's breath hitches when they hear the last words to leave Oliver's mouth. "Uhm- Okay, Oliver, I know you don't like me very much, but I think we can agree that trying to actually end my life is a little much. We can agree on that, right?"
The figure comes out of the dark and stands under the streetlight the two other teens were under.
The taller boy sighs as he grabs the collar of Oliver's shirt and throws him into the wall of the alley.
"I know your views on people and the world as a whole are terrible, but that doesn't mean you can just go around literally committing murders in alleyways. And especially not my exes. C'mon dude, Riley and I are fine anyway." Noah looks down at Riley.
"Dude- Run away!" He commands. "I can't hold him forever!"
Riley nods and quickly jumps to their feet and starts running down the street.
However, they knew they couldn't run forever. They ran into the first building they saw and pulled out their phone. Tears were freely flowing from their eyes. They just received a text from Noah. "Couldn't hold him down. He followed you. Run."
With shaky hands they pressed the 'call' button on the first contact in their contact list.
"Come on, pick up, please pick up." They mumble as they listen to the ringing of the phone.
Then, the ringing stops. Riley hears a small, soft voice on the other line. "Hey, Ri, what's up?"
"Aves, oh my god, you have to help me. Oliver said he's going to kill me, just because of my gender and- And Noah just texted me saying that he's following me- And- I just really, really, really don't want to die!" Their voice came out hoarse and wobbly.
