Demon: Book 1

Chapter 30: A Picture

My mom opened the front door to the high school for me. "I'm going to the office to excuse you for missing class. Go and get your homework, and I'll meet you at Mr. Phillips' room."

I nodded and headed off down the hallway. My energy for the day was gone. As soon as I got home, I was going to bed. Opening my locker, I unzipped my backpack and started filling it with the books I needed, and took out the things I didn't. I zipped it up and swung my locker closed. Fitting my arms through the straps, I walked toward the math room. My mom wasn't there yet, so I leaned against the wall to wait.

The bell rang. I took out my phone and checked the time. There was one more class until the end of the day. Mine was over, though. If I could have it my way, I'd never come back to school again. Homeschooling sounded great.

Doors opened, and students spilled into the halls. I was receiving far more attention than what I was used to, or maybe I was paranoid. Bowing my head, I prayed my mom would hurry up so we could go home.

"Aden, there you are."

My eyes snapped up as Chris walked toward me with a group of his buddies right behind him. Katy was giggling with her friends nearby.

I didn't reply.

"So you made it back. That was quite a walk."

"Go away," I muttered.

He looked me up and down. "Oh, I see; you called your mom to come and save you."

"Go away," I stated.

"Fine, fine, I get it." He turned to leave but stopped. "Oh, heads up, someone sent this picture of you around."

My breath caught.

"I have no idea who it could have been, but I thought you should know." He took out his phone. "It's a pretty good one—high quality. You can tell that it's you right away."

He turned the screen to me, and my stomach dropped. I could clearly be seen sitting with Titus with my arms wrapped around his neck as we kissed.

"Disgusting, right?" Chris said, shaking his head. "Too bad it's being passed around the school."

My eyes met his. "Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean, Aden? Anyone could have sent it." He smiled at me. "The caption is pretty good." He scrolled down and showed me. 'Fags,' was typed in bold letters.

"With that Titus guy, too. Man, you do have low taste in men."

My fist connected with Chris's face, sending him stumbling into the hall.

"Aden!" screamed my mother, standing feet from us. She covered her mouth.

Chris had blood dripping through his fingers. Katy was yelling for someone to get a teacher. They were all fake, backstabbing bastards. I wanted nothing to do with any of them. My mother grabbed my hand as the vice principal arrived to see to Chris. She led me through the hall. News of what I had done was traveling quickly. Groups of people were running to see the great Chris Harper with a bloody nose, given to him by the gay kid. I didn't care. I'd hit him again if given the chance.

She led me outside and straight to the car. We climbed into the vehicle, and she backed out. The way home was silent. I glanced at my hand to see that two of my knuckles were bleeding. I had punched him harder than I thought.

"Why would you do that, Aden?" my mom whispered. "You can't just hit people. I know what Chris did was wrong."

I sank into my seat. "He sent around a picture of me kissing Titus. He called me a fag." I folded my arms. "I just reacted."

She took in a steadying breath. "I take it back. You're still grounded, though." She glanced my way. "Fighting in school is still fighting, even if they deserve it."

"Yes, ma'am," I sighed.

"How bad is your hand?"

I wiggled my fingers. "It'll be fine."

My mom pulled into the garage, and we headed inside.

"I'll get the first aid kit." She went to her room.

I walked to the sink and rinsed my hands off.

My mom returned. "Let me see." She grabbed my wrist. "Your father is going to be furious." She took some peroxide and dumped it over the cut.

I jerked my hand back. That stuff burned like hell. "Mom, it's fine." I washed it off.

"This is what happens when you hit people." She eyed me and started bandaging the cuts.

I could tell she was starting to get upset. "Sorry, school is hard enough, and now this. I shouldn't have hit him."

She cupped my cheek. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"Mom, don't, please," I begged. "I'm exaggerating. I'm fine." I hugged her.

"If anything happens, promise me you'll say something."

I tightened my hold on her. "I promise."

***

I couldn't sink any lower into the couch as my father paced the floor. My mother was sitting with Demon in a chair by the fireplace.

"It's a two-day suspension, Quint. It'll be better for Aden anyway. He can start fresh next week after all this has died down."

"He hit someone, Karen," he stated firmly. "He bloodied the Harper boy's nose." My dad looked at me, confused. "He's your best friend, Aden. What happened to make you want to break his nose?"

"Was," I replied softly.

"What?"

"Was," I said louder. "Ever since the Titus thing, we haven't been talking."

Rubbing his forehead, he turned to my mom. "That boy." He took a deep breath. "I should have let you sit in your room all summer. Making you take that job has caused nothing but one problem after another."

I folded my arms and stared out the window. "Chris called me a fag."

My father's expression softened. "He called you what?"

I shifted in my seat and kept my eyes pointed outside. "Chris said I was disgusting. He kept saying I was a fag, and it happened. I'm sorry."

"How did he find out?" My dad looked between my mother and me.

My mother stood and placed the dog on the floor. "Quint, can we talk in the other room?"

His head snapped in my direction. "Aden."

"Quint." She pulled on his arm. "Please, come into the kitchen. He's had a bad enough day."

My father nodded. "Aden, go upstairs. We will talk about this later."

"Yes, sir," I said with a sigh.

I slowly rose out of the dent in the couch and dragged myself upstairs. Going to my room, I lay down and tucked a pillow over my head. Everything was going wrong for me today.

My phone buzzed. I took it out of my pocket. My eyes grew wide at the grotesque message. Another one came in, and then another. I turned my phone off and tossed it onto the floor. Curling into a ball, I closed my eyes. I didn't understand why Chris was doing this to me. I just wanted to be left alone.