Book Girl and Chestnut Boy

Chapter Six

The guys from Sam Murphy's gang came by several times. Each time they did and Layton was with May, he told her to walk on like she had just happened to be walking with him, with a loud and clear, "See you later, Darcy!" But even the dumbest idiot would know that they were friends when they were seen hanging out during every spare moment. They must have remarked on it to Layton because the next time they walked up the road towards the square after college and they caught sight of a familiar group waiting by the preferred alley, he just said, "I think you should take the long way around."

"What are they going to say to me?" she asked. "I've got no business with them."

"No, but they're stubborn and will use whatever they can to get me to comply. That might include harassing you. Please, May. Just go."

"...All right." She looked over at the group. A few of them leered at her and she quickly looked away. They usually came in a pack of six or seven. Six or seven, every time, against one guy, and they still hadn't made any headway. Layton hadn't sported any fresh bruises or injuries since the first week so she was hopeful that it would end soon. Maybe he was slowly convincing them that he couldn't come back. Maybe he was threatening them by tattling to the police. Maybe they had something else on him and he was barely holding out...What if he caved in? What would happen then?

"Be careful." she said. "And don't fight."

He smiled. "I'm always careful."

She headed back towards college, intending to pass between the two main buildings and weave between the roads after them until she was back on track. It would cost her extra minutes that she didn't have to spare and the bus would either be at the stop right about now or it would have already left. The boys' after school club ended at half four and most of the time, she barely made it.

She looked back as the road curved where the college buildings were situated. She could hardly tell where the alley was from here and the boys were nowhere in sight. She sighed and walked on. Maybe she ought to be a bit more cautious about who she made friends with. Ah, well. It had only been a few weeks but she was already too invested in his wellbeing. He was a decent guy and despite his slouchy behaviour, he was a hard-working student and he made her feel at ease.

She was about to cross the road outside the college, with a whole bunch of other students, when someone came up beside her, standing way closer than anyone else. "Hi."

"Hi." she replied.

He looked about the same age as her but she couldn't see a college ID around his neck. Maybe it interfered with his neat designer outfit so he'd taken it off at the earliest opportunity. He looked well turned out, with black hair that was parted at the side of his head and brushed back out of his face and spotless, immaculate clothing with brand names prominently displayed. He was big, easily six feet tall at least and broad in the chest.

As she walked on, he kept pace beside her. She was starting to grow alarmed. "Um...Are you following me?"

"No, I'm walking beside you." he said.

"...You know what I mean. Why are you after me?"

He frowned and then put both hands up and gestured at her and then moved his hands to gesture next to the space. "Again. Next to. Not the same thing," he peered at her ID, "May."

He was beginning to freak her out. "Well, can you not?"

"Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"Yes."

He laughed. "Sorry. But that was kind of the idea." To add to her mounting uneasiness, he put an arm around her shoulder. "Now then, you don't want to cause a scene, do you?"