Devil's Talk

Chapter 2

It was a new day and Luce was still feeling doubt over himself over yesterday's situation. Lara stood out with her pink, ruffled top and up done hair that her mother had done for her. She was smiling as always as she called out to him.

"Luce, over here!" The soft pitched voice from across the cafeteria called out to Luce as he made his way through the crowd with his tray.

As he slowly made his way towards their table, an unexpected foot pulled out to trip Luce, but he stopped in time before he made contact. It was Railin again and his gang. Railin slammed his hand on his table that he shared with his friends and stood up over Luce with an evil smirk on his face.

"Loser's hanging out with loser's, how cute," He laughed mockingly as he moved forward on Luce, pushing him back.

"Stop it!" Lara jumped in between the two, making sure to face towards Railin to block his view on Luce.

"Move it!" Railin got in her face that showed a fierce expression, "Or you'll end up like him!"

Lara did not flinch and continued to block him from trying to make advances on to Luce, then he smirked and pushed her back, causing her to collide into Luce. He caught Lara as they both fell and his tray hit the floor as it wobbled until it was dead silent. Lara felt Luce's arms around her shoulders and felt the beat of her heart begin to pound faster as time felt like it stood still for just a moment.

Luce's black hair fell over his eyes making his eyes appear darker and sharper. Lara met his eyes as they held a moment they could not understand.

"Look at these love birds," Railin made the two a laughing stock as his laugh overpowered the cafeteria.

"I hope you get your bad karma!" Lara cursed towards him as she helped herself and Luce out of the cafeteria.

The moment for Luce felt like slow motion as she held his wrist, pulling him away from the scene and running towards the exit. He could smell the strong scent of roses from her hair as he followed her out.

"We should be safe here," Lara pulled him in towards an abandoned janitor office room.

The light was rustic and out of date, but it still had a bit of life left. Once she flipped the switch, she looked for some cleaning material to clean themselves up with from the splattered spaghetti that rained on them during the unfortunate collision. From behind, she could hear sniffling.

"Are you hurt?" Lara turned to see Luce drop to the floor in tears, "Tell me, where does it hurt?"

He pointed towards his chest.

"Let me see, it could be severe!" Lara began to feel  more worried, "I should get you to the nurse,"

Luce stopped her and he shook his head towards her, "My heart, I don't understand it, but it hurts. I wish I was stronger. I feel like I will only bring you down. Maybe... we should not be friends,"

"Stop that talk! I won't hear it!" Lara ran away from him, disappointed.

She found paper towels and cleaning liquid to help remove the stains.

He watched her with curiosity as she rummaged through the shelves again, the same as when she cared for his would on his shoulder. He felt the bandage on his shoulder and felt warmth for the first time. She was different and he was unsure of how to express the gratitude he felt from within.

"Here," Lara handed him a wash clothe with cleaning liquid already sprayed and soaked in.

As she wiped the food from her clothes, he could not take his eyes off her. In his eyes, she was becoming more and more interesting. He shook himself back to reality and began cleaning himself up.

Once they finished, they sneaked out of the room to find that their next class was beginning soon.

"Do you like bowling?" Lara asked Luce as she walked him to his next class.

"I have never played before," Luce answered.

"What? No way!" Lara frightened him, "Meet me at the school park after school. Chris will be there too!"

Luce felt like he had no option to say no, so he nodded his head. Lara giggled at him and patted him on the back, then dashed off to her next class. For the first time, Luce smiled as he watched her leave and felt every pulse in his body begin to pulsate. He grasped his chest and felt confused on why he was feeling this way.

Luce kept his eye on the clock as the end of class was nearing. He was feeling excitement that he had finally made friends he could rely on. But he still could not get rid of the feeling of uselessness. He wanted to protect the feeling within from ever escaping.

His thoughts shifted back to reality when the bell rang for dismissal. He quickly packed his bag and dashed past students to get to the exit of the classroom. When he finally made it out, he found himself unable to move forward. It was Railin again, pulling Luce from his black hoodie.

"You're coming with us!" Railin dragged him off down the hallway.

Meanwhile, Lara and Chris waited for Luce at the park. She began to feel anxious as each student that left the school entrance was not Luce. She kept questioning his whereabouts in her head and felt nervous.

"Do you think he will come?" Lara asked Chris.

"Maybe he is scared to make friends. I would hate to think he is running away from us after how much you helped him," Chris said.

Lara darted her eyes at Chris as if she may have misunderstood his tone of voice. It did not help that she was feeling like she was pushing herself on to him and crossing the line. But she felt like she could trust Luce not to ditch her invite.

"Let's go find him!" Lara pulled Chris's arm as he followed her back into the school.

They checked the classroom he was in last and saw that it was empty. They followed in the opposite direction of the path of students that came flooding in their direction. The hallways became more and more empty and Luce was no where to be seen until a strange sound from under for foot caused her to discontinue moving forward.

She moved her foot away from the piece underneath her shoe and picked up a key chain with a strange black and silversymbol on it. She examined it and began to remember it was attached to Luce's backpack.

"It's Luce. Railin has him. He's in trouble!" Lara panicked and chased her intuition on their whereabouts.

Please be okay! Lara ran as Chris chased after her. Their thoughts full of the worst possible outcome. Would he be killed?