It Happens in April

Five

I missed all the signs, I know that now, but back then I had been peacefully - even willfully - oblivious.

Luke came to school with hickeys again on the 16th. It was a Thursday and I'd been at his house until 10 o'clock that past night.

I opened my mouth, whether to make a joke or an accusation I don't remember, but he shut me down rather quickly. He didn't want to talk about it, I should've known as much, he never wanted to talk about it.

So, I kept my mouth shut. I did my best to keep my eyes away from the purpling skin around his neck and jaw. I didn't let my mind wander to the bruises I knew were smattered along his torso, I'd seen them all before.

He took my silence as an invitation to slide his math work across the table to me, "Do you know how to do this?" He distracted me, "Hillman just puts me to sleep." Speaking of an elderly teacher.

I did so I tried to explain, once I was positive I'd lost his attention to his salad bowl I finished the paper wordlessly.

As usual, I offered him half of the candy bar I had bought from the vending machine before the lunch block, and in some strange turn of events , he took it. I guess there's a first time for everything, but - besides the ice cream, which I was still trying to forget about - I'd never seen him eat anything sweeter than an apple.

Luke packed up his meal and rushed from the cafeteria with the herd of teenagers at the sound of the school bell. I'd followed him halfway down the hall to where he'd paused at his locker before he noticed my presence. I gave him his math book, and completed work, back and turned to head for my own class. He called his thanks down the hall, Hillman's class was his next.

I caught his eye during warmup stretches. He was sat in the middle of the small set of bleachers. I spared a glanced to the baseball team's practice field beside of ours when I got the chance. It was empty, which meant an off day for the players and an off day in the school week could only mean one thing, 'tomorrow is game day'.

Now, at that point in my life, I'd been to a fair few baseball games. A couple with my father in large stadiums and double that with friends from my old school, making high school memories and supporting the school team.

I'd promised Luke long before that Thursday that I'd attend at least his first few games on the Bakerville home field. He'd complained that none of his - other - friends thought it had been an import enough waste of time to watch him play.

There were a few others on the bleachers where he sat, some siblings and a significant-other or two, still he kept mostly to himself. Waiting for me to pack up and take him home for the day.

Luke hopped off of the metal seats audibly once myself and the other runners had taken a seat on the track. I pulled my practice bag closer to me in preparation to leave as the coached talked about our schedule for the next week and ended practice.

I shoved myself off the ground and took a water bottle Luke offered to me. One of the underclassmen I'd ran with fame up right beside me, she was so close I could smell her shampoo when she removed her hair from its ponytail. Which she did as she grappled for Luke's attention, "hey, Luke!"

"Hi, Rachael," I just grabbed my car keys and headed towards my vehicle. I had planned to wait for Luke to finish talking but he followed after me, matching my pace, with Rachael stumbling to catch up behind us.

"Do you wanna work on that sediment project together?" She called.

"I'm already with Matt for that," Luke declined gently. "I'm sure Ms. Clay will work something out for you if your partners not helping."