Avoiding August (ONGOING)

Chapter 15

"Are you okay?!" I immediately rushed to Louis, taking in his less crooked, but swollen, nose. He was holding an ice pack on it, and the red stream from his nose had stopped after his time in the school's infirmary.

"Yeah, I'm okay." He sighed.

I gingerly reached up to his face, but I didn't touch it. A big, nasty bruise from August was already starting to show in the centre of his face. "I can't believe he did that to you."

"Well, he did." Thandiwe spoke up, studying Louis' face closely. "He got a good hit in, didn't he?"

Gabriel leaned up against the wall, arms crossed, head down. His dark fringe covered his face as he stared at the floor, muscles tight with anger.

He hadn't said anything since Louis was punched, brooding silently.

"I'm really sorry that he punched you, Louis." I said, looking up at Louis.

He waved his hand a bit my way. "It's not your fault he did it, Quinn, don't worry about it. My nose will be good as new in a little bit." He exhaled through his mouth. "But hey, it's Friday. Maybe we could celebrate by finishing our movie marathon after school." He smiled at us three gingerly. We could feel him trying to change the topic and lighten the mood, so we decided to give in and forget about his bruised, swollen nose for now.

"Sounds good to me, maybe my father can take us to Gabe's. He's not working today." Thandiwe said, gently poking Gabriel's arm, testing the waters, seeing if Gabe would explode.

To all our relief, he didn't. "Yeah, sure. Antonio's home today, but he won't mind is being here." He gave Thandiwe a small smile. It didn't reach his eyes, but it was better than his frighteningly silent brooding. "Call your dad and let's finish our marathon."

To my surprise, Thandiwe's dad didn't question us as to why we were signing out so early during the day, only taking in our ginger demeanours and Louis' ice pack he held up to his face.

"To Gabe's?" He asked, giving us all a smile that looked remarkably a lot like Thandiwe's. He was a tall man, and had a bald, smooth head, with stunningly dark skin.

"Yes please." Louis said. His voice was nasally and strained as he spoke, getting into the back with me and Thandiwe while Gabriel took the passenger seat at the front.

"Not the bests of days today, huh, kids?" The man said, his voice even and soothing, calm as he glanced over at us.

"Not really." Thandiwe said quietly.

"Hmmm." He hummed in acknowledgment, then fixed his eyes on me in the rear view mirror as he turned into the main road. "You're new. I don't believe I've seen you before."

"I'm Quinn." I offered as he shifted his gaze to focus on the road. "I came here during the summer break."

"I see. These boys are good company, you know. They'll treat you like family." He stated, and turned into Gabe's street. "You seem kind, and I'm glad they have a new friend. Feel free to come over and visit any time you like, okay?"

He pulled into Gabe's driveway, behind Antonio's flashy orange sports car. "And by the way, you can all me Jabari." He held out a hand to me, and I shook hands with him with a smile. "Now go and finish that Star Wars marathon."

We all hopped out of the car and walked up the porch, and I couldn't help but admire Ms. Tenaz's beautiful garden again before walking in after the boys.