Il libro di Jaylos

Promises Broken - Chapter 2

The Tourney player didn't take a single note all lesson so as the bell went for next class Carlos saw highly skilled, thieving fingers reaching for his notes.
Carlos swiftly took them away, pushing them deep into his pockets but couldn't get passed the taller boy; he tried to tell Jay to move but his throat closed up.
"aw come on dude, let me copy your notes." Jay said with a lopsided grin.
Gripping his books tightly to his chest Carlos didn't know what to do, there was no way he could get passed Jay but he wasn't about to hand over his notes when he knew he wouldn't get them back.
"leave him alone Jay." Evie snapped, her pretty painted face in a scowl, she reached across the older boy with glittery nails and grabbed Carlos's bicep.
Jay jumped back as Evie pulled the younger boy passed him, Carlos stumbling slightly and she didn't let him go till they arrived at the next class.
"thank you E." Carlos practically whispered.
Evie gave him a beautiful smile and stroked his face affectionally, "any time sweetie." And with that she swished away to her seat next to Doug.
The only problem was that Jay followed Carlos to his desk, looking a little annoyed, but he still smiled, "I didn't mean to scare you."
"everything scares me." Carlos thought bitterly, slowly he opened his textbook, ignoring Jay again.
The older boy turned his seat towards Carlos, knocking their knees together, "it just looks like you need a friend." Jay whispered.
Carlos shifted uncomfortably, so close to the wall there was no escape from the taller boy, his heart still hammering in his chest he finally found his voice, "no thank you."
A smug looking grin spread across Jay's handsome face, "so you can talk."
Carlos tried to take notes but his hand was shaking badly so he placed down his pen, jamming his hands tightly between his thighs and felt his fair, freckled face flush hot under Jay's gaze, "please leave me alone." He whispered quickly.
The older boy seemed a little taken aback, his face fell slightly and he moved away, "okay." Jay said slowly.
For the rest of the lesson Jay didn't say a word, he even seemed to be paying attention at times and when the bell went the older boy allowed Carlos to escape without a single word; for that Carlos was grateful.
Getting through the rest of the day was less of a struggle, Jay stopped following him to his desk but he did keep sending him strange looks across the room and every time it made Carlos's heart thump heavily.
That night, as Carlos washed one of his mother's many ash trays, his thoughts wondered to Jay, about how close he sat to him and how normally he been spoken to him.
A funny tingling feeling appeared in Carlos's stomach and he felt himself flush at the stupid idea that Jay could possibly want to be his friend.
The next day Carlos opened his locker to see a small box waiting for him, cautiously he slipped his book from under it and eyed the box suspiciously; it was a small black box with a red heart printed on top, perfectly innocently enough but it was in his locked locker and he didn't trust it.
Slamming the locker shut he was surprised to see Jay leaning on the locker two down from his, wearing a confused look, "didn't you want your gift?" he asked.
Carlos frowned, he wasn't used to attention but he knew when he didn't want it, especially from someone who had bullied him in the past, "no. stay out of my locker please." He said firmly and brushed quickly passed the older boy.
However, there on his desk was another little box, white with a gold star this time, so he pushed it with the edge of his book to the end of the desk and ignored it for the whole lesson.
"they're not going to explode you know." Jay said near the end of the day, he sounded weary.
Carlos had found a little box every lesson and even one during lunch, but he hadn't touched a single one; he had seen Evie collect them and was stashing them back in his locker.
Carlos couldn't stop the sigh escaping his lips, "why are you doing this?" he finally asked, still not looking at Jay.
"why not?" Jay laughed lightly.
Looking at the latest box Carlos regarded it as if it would poison him; he may have been younger than all of them but he knew when not to trust something and he definitely didn't trust anything from Jay.
"just open one." Jay told him, holding out a flat rectangle shaped box covered in spotted paper.
Trying his best to steady his hand Carlos reached out for the box but he spotted a tiny, smug grin on Jay's face and he pulled away, "I don't want it." He said turning away.
In a matter of seconds Carlos found himself being pinned to the closed lockers by his throat, Jay's handsome face twisted in anger, the box abandoned on the floor; the older boy's solid forearm was pushing hard against his windpipe and was making it hard to breath.
It wasn't the first time the young De Vil had been pinned to a wall by his throat, his mother often did so whenever he had displeased her but her long, thin, sharp fingers were nothing compared to Jay's strong arm that continued to push.
There was a fire in Jay's eyes, every muscle tensed, his teeth bared savagely, "is it so hard to accept a gift from me." He snarled.
Carlos's was beginning to see spots, he was gasping for air and nobody was helping, only watching; lungs burning and eyes stinging the young De Vil wasn't sure what he should do, fighting back would be useless because Jay was at least twice his size.
"all you had to do was accept the gifts." Jay pressed harder, causing Carlos's vision to blur.
"what are you doing?" Came Evie's voice, it seemed so far away but her treasure chest shaped bag appeared and struck Jay hard on the shoulder.
Jay flinched back and Carlos dropped to the floor as a gasping mess; sucking in air he hadn't realised that his hands had gone numb from lack of oxygen and tears began to pour down his face.
Evie continued to beat the Tourney player back with her bag, causing bruises on his tanned skin, her face blotched red, "you're the lowest of the low Jay Jafar!" she shouted at him before stopping, "you all are." She added to the gather crowd.
Carlos tried to control his breathing and stand but his legs wouldn't work; his whole throat felt tight and bruised.
Suddenly he felt Evie's soft hands pulling him up, for a girl who barely carried her own bag she was strong and easily held him upright, "I've got you now sweetie." She whispered kindly.
Carlos could hear the sharp click of her high heels as she took him through the crowd and into an empty classroom.
"do you want me to get a teacher?" Evie asked softly.
Finally Carlos's senses were coming back to him, he shook his head, "no, it's fine." He said breathlessly.
"but..." Evie started only to have the younger boy cut her off.
"it's fine E." Carlos gave her the best smile he could and she looked like she didn't want to argue so Evie simply nodded.
That night Carlos spotted a dark bruise on his windpipe, it was hot and tender to the touch and part of him wished he'd just accepted Jay's gifts but he knew he couldn't give the older boy the satisfaction.