Cities Made of Starlight [BoyxBoy]

One

Collin

The boy slams him against the concrete wall.

"Didn't you hear me, freak? I said WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?"

Collin curls into the corner, pulling his knees up towards his chest and trying his best to dissolve into the cold wall behind him. 

"Aww look, he's cwying. Didn't your mommy ever tell you it wasn't nice to IGNORE someone, retard?"

"He probably can't even talk, how stupid!" The boys snicker, something Collin has grown used to by now. It's the third week of school and summer is hitting the small town with its full force, but the stone walls are still cold from last night and they make him shiver.

"What was that, freak? You cold? What's wrong with you, are you broken or something?" The first kick comes out from his left. He tries to dodge it, but, caught between two perpendicular walls, there isn't anywhere for him to go. He feels the boy's foot connect with his knee and bites his lip to keep from crying out. The rancid taste of iron explodes through his teeth. 

Shit.

The boys laugh, continuing to kick him against the walls. He curls in on himself, wanting nothing more than to disappear. A voice calls out from somewhere nearby, but he doesn't dare to look up.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Uh... putting the retard in his place. What does it fucking look like we're doing?"

"Why don't you go pick on someone your own size?"

"Why don't you back the fuck off, New Boy?"

"You want to get your ugly face bashed in? I can't promise it will make it look any better, but at least it can't make it look any worse."

"The fuck you just said?"

"You heard me. Now scram, before I make you."

Collin hears people running, fast, in his direction. He curls farther in on himself, but the footsteps keep running past him until they fade up the stairs to the second floor. Still, he stays curled in the corner, afraid to look up.

"Hey," The voice is closer now. Collin squeezes his eyes shut and tries to curl farther into the corner, bracing himself, protecting his head, waiting for the punch or kick, but nothing happens. A gentle hand rests on his shoulder suddenly, and he flinches away, startled, unsettled by the sudden contact. The hand quickly retreats, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?"

Collin can feel himself shaking, but he lifts his head slightly to look at the other boy. Cautious, big, brown eyes blink back at him from beneath tousled, soft-looking, brown hair. A perfect mouth twists into a worried frown and long-looking legs are folded to sit the boy closer to Collin. The boy reaches out his hand again, but once more Collin flinches back.

"Are you okay?" the boy repeats, but it's not the way people usually talk to Collin. It's quiet, like he's a normal human being, and not half-deaf. It confuses him, and his head starts to spin.

"Can you say something, anything? I'm worried about you."

Collin looks straight into the boy's eyes, feeling his own welling up with tears again. The boy reaches toward him slowly to brush away an escaped tear, but a voice from above them makes them both jump.

"PLEASE EXCUSE THIS INTERRUPTION. WILL CALVIN MARNER PLEASE COME TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE IMMEDIATELY. THANK YOU." The boy frowns, standing. He looks apologetically at Collin before jogging off in the direction of the office, leaving Collin to wonder who Calvin Marner is, and why his face won't leave Collin's head. The bell rings a few minutes later, and Collin shakily stands, fully intending walking straight home and skipping PE, but the PA system crackles to life again.