DEADEYE

Chapter 7

As they reached the boys' bathroom, Lamar let go of Ava. "I'll be right back," he said, heading inside. "I gotta use the bathroom." Ava nodded silently, and Lamar walked into the restroom.

Inside, he went to the wall furthest from the door, the stalls on his left and the sinks and mirror on his right. He began to punch the wall with all his might, letting out the anger and frustration that had been building up inside him. He wanted to scream, but knowing Ava was outside, he kept his anger contained. If she hadn't been there, he would have fought without caring about his own safety or the outcome, but with her presence, he was concerned she might get hurt.

After a few more punches, the skin on his knuckles was gone, and a small part of the wall was stained with his blood. "You must be really stupid, really crazy, or really angry," a voice rang out behind him.

Lamar turned around to see a boy half a foot shorter than he was. Lamar recognized him from his art class—the boy was slightly feminine-looking, so petite he could almost be mistaken for a girl. The boy looked at Lamar's now-bleeding hand.

"I can take care of that for you if you don't want to go to the nurse," the boy said. "I took a first aid class and have a first aid kit in my bag."

Lamar nodded, not saying anything. The boy grabbed his backpack, pulled out some gauze and medical tape, and began to disinfect Lamar's hand before expertly and skillfully wrapping it. While working, the boy glanced up, meeting Lamar's gaze. Lamar, feeling self-conscious, turned his head slightly to hide his injured eye.

Once the boy finished, he put away his materials and pulled out a temporary eyepatch, handing it to Lamar. "I don't know where yours went, but you can use this one until the end of the day."

Lamar accepted the eyepatch and nodded in thanks. As the boy was about to leave, Lamar stopped him. "Hey, uh, thanks for that. What's your name?"

The boy paused, turning to face Lamar. "I'm Jamie," he said with a small smile. "Don't mention it."

Lamar offered a genuine smile in return. "I really appreciate it, Jamie. I owe you one." he noticed Jamie's gentle demeanor and thought to himself that he was kind of cute. As his mind wandered briefly, he shook himself out of it.

Jamie nodded and gave a reassuring smile. "Just take care of yourself, okay?" With that, he walked out of the bathroom, As Jamie walked out, Lamar heard him bump into Ava. "Sorry," Jamie said.

"No, it's okay," Ava replied before the door closed behind Jamie. Lamar had almost forgotten about Ava. He took a deep breath, calming himself as he looked at his reflection in the mirror before putting on the temporary eyepatch.

When he walked out of the bathroom, Ava noticed the eyepatch but didn't say anything about it. Lamar slipped his hand into his pocket to hide the bandages around it. They walked silently to their next class, sharing the same period.

During the class, the atmosphere was more subdued than usual. Ava occasionally glanced at Lamar, noticing his pensive mood. Lamar, focused on the lesson, tried to push away the thoughts of the morning's events, concentrating on getting through the rest of the day.

The rest of the class went by quietly, and as the bell rang, signaling the end of the period, Ava turned to Lamar. "You okay? You seemed pretty out of it."

Lamar forced a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a rough start to the day. Thanks for asking."

Ava nodded, sensing there was more to it but respecting Lamar's reluctance to discuss it further. They gathered their things and headed out of the classroom, preparing for the next part of their school day.