A Match Into Water (Fuenciado)

Chapter One

"That all you got, faggot?"

My back slammed into the hard metal of the locker behind me. I fell to the ground, my knees hitting the tiled floor. I could already feel the purple bruises spreading. I tried to stand, but fell back to all fours after receiving a sharp kick to my side. 

"Yeah, you get on your knees. Just like you do when you're sucking your faggot boyfriend's dick." I tilted my head up, my eyes catching the snakelike ones of the face glaring down at me with cold amusement. I could almost see the venom behind his smirking lips. Always ready to strike. 

I struggled to my feet, still feeling small at my full height. "Just fuck off, Ben," I said, trying to turn and leave. No such luck.

A hand grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around. A fist slammed into my gut. "What'd you say, you worthless little shit?" Ben spat in my face.

I struggled to wriggle out of his grip, but he shoved me to the floor. I could hear the crack as my body connected with the floor. A groan escaped my lips.

Ben grinned. "Maybe I will go fuck off. Or maybe I'll just go screw your mom, bet she'd like that after the fuckup that her fat homo son turned out to be."

A chorus of laughter erupted throughout the hallway, mostly from the group of stoners that followed Ben around. The final bell rang, interrupting the awful sound, and Ben stalked off toward the parking lot. On their way past me, a member of their group going by the name of Danny paused to kick me in the side once again, hissing "fag" under his breath. He then scampered off laughing crazily to join the rest of his buddies. Even though I knew that Danny was buzzed out of his mind, the comment still stung.

Clutching at my side, I once again pushed myself to my feet. I groped for my bag on the ground, searched for where it had skidded off to. My ribs felt like they were on fire, and if Danny hadn't broken one last year I might've suspected that was what happened. I bit down on my lip, trying to keep the  pain under control. Trying to distract myself from the insults raging through my head, replaying over and over again. Trying to prevent the tears stinging my eyes from falling into the open.

I scooped up my bag, slinging it over my aching shoulder. The hallways were quickly clearing out, everybody anxious to leave the school far behind. That is, until they were forced to come back the next day. Nobody took any notice to my staggering form, limping toward the parking lot. If they did, they knew better than to interfere. I couldn't blame them. Who wanted to be on Ben's bad side? More importantly, who gave a shit about the pathetic Junior who couldn't go a day without fucking things up?

I made it out the doors, heading straight toward the beat-up gray Subaru parked in the corner. I rooted in my bag for keys, unlocking the doors with the click of a button. I learned a while ago that leaving keys in your pocket made for some pretty nasty cuts when you were constantly being shoved to the ground. 

Sliding into the driver seat, I thanked God once again that I had my liscence. The anxiety and lonliness bubbling in the pit of my stomach was nearly unbearable, and being forced to sit on the bus with it was torture. Every second like a lifetime, staring out the window, just wishing that I could disappear. To make matters worse, James, another of Ben's followers, also rode on my bus. He lived across the street from me, and I couldn't go outside without feeling a stab of fear.

I slammed the car door behind me, pulling out of the parking space. I joined the line of cars waiting to turn onto the street, thrumming my fingers against the wheel. My stomach was doing gymnastics, and I wanted nothing more than to be home. To be alone. To lock myself in my room, where nobody could see my every move through a transparent car window.  

My fingers thrummed against the steering wheel, my mind screaming at the cars in front of me to pick up their crawling pace. That is, when it wasn't chiding me for being such a failure. Whispering in my ear to do the one thing I knew that I wanted to do more than anything else. The only thing that might make me feel better. The one thing that I craved almost every second at school and layed awake thinking about at night.