Violet Nights

Chapter 21

Monday, 8:45am--

Keith wasn't usually quite "chipper" in the mornings. This morning was no exception. In fact, he was past grumpy and more of pissed off than anything. Mostly because he could practically hear his neighbors through the paper-thin walls going at it like a pair of rabbits. And because of that, Keith was awake all night trying to muffle the sound with music. That helped for a while--but only with metal music--which he couldn't sleep to. He hoped that he ruined their session just like they did his sleep.

Keith arrived at school only a few minutes ago and already, he ran into a familiar face in the hallway. It was none other than Lance oh-fucking McClain. The thing was that Keith perfectly remembered the night before and how Lance willingly publicly masturbated in front of him. By the look on Lance's face, he clearly didn't remember it-- or, at least, he just found out about it. Keith figured this because the first contact between them when Lance saw him was to violently shove him out of his way with his bony shoulder. Keith wouldn't have been too angry if the Cuban boy wasn't wearing that ugly sneer of a glare on his pretty tan face. 

Keith whipped around the second Lance's back was turned on him and opened his mouth to politely ask what his problem was. Unfortunately for Keith, his morning mood decided his tone for him and the sentence came out as not much less of a violet and offended shout.

"Hey! What's your damn problem?!" he growled, standing where he was, facing Lance's back and clutching his textbook under his left arm. Lance didn't move from where he was. Neither did he even turn his head. But the voice that came out of him sounded like the growl of an angry jaguar.

"What was that?"

Keith swallowed hard. Even if he barely knew this guy, of all the times he managed to hear him talk--which wasn't difficult; he was very loud-- he'd never heard him sound like this before. 

"I asked what your damn problem was. Why the hell'd you shove me?" Keith answered, trying his hardest not to stutter one bit. He didn't feel weak when he learned how to stand up for himself. He'd never done it before, but it wasn't taking it this time. He'd been pushed right and left for every little thing he did. He wasn't standing for that anymore. He was sick and tired of feeling vulnerable to everything. His vulnerability was what got him raped. 

Lance finally turned to face him. The whole transition of him taking one step to the right, then turning on his left foot seemed like it was being played in slow motion. He shot Keith a deadly glare, his navy eyes dark and filled with hatred.

"The hell, I shoved you because you-know-why, jackass!" he snarled, taking an intimidating step forward. Seeing Lance this way for the first time made Keith question if his whole innocent, popular, playboy personality was just a mask. With his hands pushed into his jean pockets, he took another step toward Keith, advancing so close to him that their foreheads almost touched.

"You know what happened at the party and you made me look like an idiot!" 

"You even remember that?" Keith asked, one eyebrow tilted up in confusion.

Lance chuckled softly. But the way he did it had a sense of mock in it. It was almost scary. But Keith could be scarier.

"Fuck no, I don't remember it!" He retorted, a wide sneer across his cheeks. 

"So you just let dudes masturbate in front of you and you see it as normal? What was your name again?"

"Keith--"

"I don't give a shit!"

"But you--"

"Shut the fuck up, Mr. Emo Mullet! I'm not letting some dumb piece of shit like you ruin my rep at this school-- or any school."

Keith was more than confused. Lance was angry because Keith didn't say anything about him jerking off in front of him? And how did he learn this information? From a friend maybe? Whatever it was, he couldn't play Mr.Nice, Innocent guy now. The only way to deal with this was to be strong.

"Listen, McClain," Keith said in a flat tone, placing his hand on Lance's chest and pushing him away a foot or two. "Sorry that you were too drunk to remember that you fucked your hand in front of a dude. But that's not my fault. You've yourself to blame for the shit you put yourself in. I'm sorry that I  made you look gay or something, but I just so happened to be there when he decided to publicly display your dick. For the record, I didn't look at you the entire time you were having your little 'moment.'" He made a quotation motion with his hands. "I'm not the one to blame for this, so maybe think twice about getting wasted at parties and blaming that on someone else." 

Lance seemed to have been knocked speechless. Good. At least for a moment of hesitation he was until he began to open his mouth to speak again, which only received Keith's index finger over it as a response to silence him.

"Now if you'll excuse me. I have to go study."

Keith turned to leave; Lance didn't stop him. The quiet morning halls only echoed of his own footsteps as he headed to the library. It was only that he was at least 10 feet from the library doors that he heard Lance walk away.