Tongue-Tied (Boyxboy)

Chapter Five

JAYDN'S POV

Luka stiffened and whirled around to face me as I grabbed his arm, his face going slack in relief as he realised it was just me.

"Don't grab me like that Jaydn. You know I don't like it." Luka said quietly, his soft grey eyes scanning the school hallway warily before returning to look at me.

"Sorry Luka" I grimaced before grinning at him and ruffling his light brown hair playfully, making him scowl and yank his head back out of reach. I glanced up and saw Christopher coming towards us, a scowl prominent on his handsome face. Wearing a pair of faded jeans and a bright green hoodie that complimented his dark skin tone, Christopher was rather attractive with his normally friendly brown eyes and short black hair. Rarely seen without a smile, today he looked like he was a mixture of exasperated and annoyed.

"Hey guys. Do you know if Logan is here today? He's going to fail if he keeps missing so many classes." Christopher asked, his light brown eyes dark with concern. Luka frowned in thought before shaking his head, and I stared at the floor, trying to remember if I'd glimpsed Logan today.

"I don't think I have Chris, sorry. Have you tried calling him?" Chris sighed and leaned backwards, resting against the lockers.

"Of course I have. He's not answering my phone calls. We've been best friends since we were five Jay. He's never ignored me before, and I don't know what I've done." Chris mumbled. I frowned at that, before looking at him and shrugging helplessly.

"Maybe he has something going on that he needs to sort out on his own." Luka suggested softly. Chris scowled at him.

"He's never kept secrets from me. We don't do secrets. He knows that if he needs anything he can ask me," Chris scuffed his show along the floor "Doesn't he?" He asked me in a small voice. I winced and rubbed his arm reassuringly.

"I'm sure he's fine Chris. He's probably just busy. His mother would let us know if anything had happened to him." I said comfortingly.

I turned around and opened my locker, sighing at the mess in there before yanking my legal studies book out from the middle. The action starts a miniature paper avalanche and I watch sadly as half my locker tumbles to the hallway floor. I place a hand over my heart and sniff.

"Farewell sweet homework. I hardly knew ye." Chris rolls his eyes as a smile tugs at his lips. Luka kneels down and begins to pick up the mess I made.

"You're such a drama queen." Chris mutters from his place against the lockers and I grin up at him as I kneel down beside Luka.

"That's Mr Drama King to you." I joke lamely. Luka huffs a laugh beside me. I glance at him, the grin sliding away from my face as I see that his jumper sleeves had ridden up, showing a ring of dark bruises that contrasted starkly with the pale skin of his forearms.

"Luka... what happened to your arm?" I blurt out, interrupting Chris in the middle of a rant about Logan that obviously no one was listening to. Luka paled and yanked his sleeves down so they covered all of his arms and his hands. Looking down, I could barely see the tips of his fingers poking out of the end. In the baggy jumper, it made him look smaller than usual, more vulnerable than usual. I wasn't exactly tall myself. In fact I was pretty short, but something about Luka always made me feel like I needed to protect him. Against what, I'm not entirely sure. I could barely fight my way out of a plastic bag. Chris was the muscly and tough one in our little group.

"I tripped and someone grabbed my arm to stop me from face-planting the ground." Luka muttered, glaring at the floor. I frowned at that, picking up my books that he had made into a neat pile and standing up, placing them in my locker. I was just about to ask who when Logan came up to us, breathing as though he had just run a marathon.