Letters To Shay||✓

chapter nine.

I met Duke on the floor outside room 303. He shot up immediately, his eyes red and nose running. We mirrored each other's looks, except he didn't have a swelling jaw that caused him searing pain. We didn't say anything, just stared at each other for a long time. I almost got lost in his handsome grey eyes that resembled the ones shedding heavy tears outside. "Ohma..." I was unable to say more and he nodded understandingly. "I'll come with. Let's go."

The class wasn't hard to locate. It was where we often gathered to discuss Literature with Ms. Lara. By the time I got there, Ohma was struggling to stand up with the aid of a nearby chair. Duke ran to her side and lifted her arm over his shoulder, which made her hiss in pain. She was sporting a black eye, a swollen cheek, bleeding nose and busted lips. She looked awful. I couldn't imagine how much more under her sweatshirt.

For a brief moment we shared eye contact. Everything else faded away and it was just us, standing alone. Her eyes were dark like an angry cloud, waiting to burst. Obviously she was mad. But her injuries didn't let her speak. I rushed to her side to help but she raised her hands to stop me. Her hands were the only parts of her body that wasn't really harmed. Her left foot looked broken and she could barely stand on the right foot. Duke offered to carry her on his back but she refused. "Just help me walk," she croaked.

"Ohma... Let m-" Her angry face was enough to tell me to back off, but I was stubborn and put her other hand over my shoulder. She dragged it off and leaned on Duke.

"Get me out of here."

"But we're not on good terms," Duke tried reasoning.

She scoffed. "Better you than her," she told him, giving me a dirty one-over. I dropped my face and waited for the tears to come. All I got was the pain from my jaw. I had never felt so much guilt.

Duke and Ohma walked in front towards the school's other exit. I trailed slowly at the back, my eyes focused on my shoes. The only sounds that could be heard were Ohma's grunt of pain, coupled with the pitter-patter of the rain against the roof. Duke broke the silence. "Ohma, it's raining. How will you get home?"

She grunted as she rested on her right foot. "My brother... he's outside. Thanks."

I recollected her telling me about her brother, Jeff, twenty one year old, great basketball player. She spoke about him with the same awe I saw Keith in. She made us speak a couple of times and he was a cool guy. He really loved Ohma as if she was his blood. Only he had this bad stammering habit. But that was then. I could bet that Ohma was regretting ever telling me anything, the same way I regretted not being stronger for Ohma.

Once we got outside, we met Jeff standing outside his parked car with an umbrella and grey blankets. He didn't say a word; only a nod of appreciation at Duke, before wrapping her in the blankets and carrying her bridal style to the car. The moment he put her in the back seat his eyes shot to me. He simply shook his head, and broke eye contact, before entering the car and driving away.

It was Duke and I left, standing in the pouring rain, clouds and silver-grey as Duke's eyes.

Gah! What's with this boy's eyes?

He slid his fingers into mine and squeezed. "Let's go home," he whispered. He fished for his keys in his pockets with his free hand and gave them to me. "Wait for me in the car. I'll join you soon." He placed a light kiss on my wet hair and went outside.

**************

The roads were deserted, so it seemed, because not a single car had passed by. Duke was quiet but his teeth weren't. His nose was pink, evident he'd caught a cold. He kept pressing his fingers lightly on the steering wheel, probably because he couldn't feel them. I quickly turned on the heater, blasting it to full heat. He gave me an appreciative smile, which I returned with a nod.