The Fragile the Broken and the Brave

19. Vent

8.03.20

"ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, SHOOT!" we both shouted in unison, and I contorted my hand to show paper. I watched as his two fingers stuck out and split apart, and I felt nerves press in my chest. We always play to 3, so I still had a chance.

"You two are the weirdest people on this planet," Will quipped, but we were both too in the zone to reply.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" I made a fist, and he played scissors again. It's tied between the two of us; one game left for my freedom. We both gave intense, calculating stares to each other, and I felt like he was staring into my soul. "Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock," I thought just in case he was staring into my soul, and we shared a smirk before calling it one more time. Of course, I wasn't actually going to pick rock, and I selected scissors assuming that he was staring into me a few moments ago. Sure enough, he chose paper, and I dramatically used my fingers to "cut his paper".

"I guess I'll be going now," Connor commented true to the deal, and I stepped back towards Will. The boy walked back towards his territory with a lot of difficulty, and we found ourselves alone once more in the cold, quiet woods.

"Did you seriously just decide something that serious over a game of rock paper scissors?"

"Yes we did. What did you want to tell me earlier?"

"We can talk about this later!"

"No, I want to know now!"

"Fine, Benji! You want to know now?"

"Yes."

"Benji, I learned I was gay from you! I have this rediculous attraction to you even though you're never going to love me back because you aren't even gay! I'm sorry if this weirds you out, but it's just a me problem. Don't think less of me please..."

"William... I don't feel the same way."

"I know you don't feel the same way, that's why I didn't want to tell you. Now it's just going to be awkward!"

"Will... I'm not going to lie, it is awkward. I don't know how I feel about this."

"You don't have to feel anything. Just don't think about me differently–"

"But I feel like I'm hurting you!"

"Benji you are hurting me! I love you, but you don't love you back! Can't you see how long I've been waiting to tell you this!?"

"Why does everyone assume I'm a homosexual! I'm not!"

"I know you aren't!"

"Do you? Do you really?"

A gust of wind rushed over us, and I looked up into his wild hazel eyes. His black hair drifted in the wind, and his sun-kissed skin shone in the morning light. He stepped closer to me, and I walked backwards until my back hit the tree behind me. However, his approach never faltered, and he leaned towards me. Suddenly, I felt his warm lips press against mine, and I panicked slightly. My hands pushed against his chest to get him away, and I quickly spun around to run from him. I said that I didn't like him; why did he try to make me kiss him! "Benji! Wait!" His feet pounded against the ground, and I increased my speed to get away. Suddenly, I recalled one of the spells from my book, and I spun around to hit him with a ray of water that struck him down. However, my magic slipped again with my focus on the forest ahead of me, and I accidentally added a lot more water than I wanted to.

When William flew back through the forest faster than a cheetah, I felt alarm wash over my chest. However, I could afford to stop or slow down. It didn't register in my mind that I was sprinting towards pack territory until I was suddenly grabbed by Papa, and he gripped me tightly so that I couldn't scrabble free. "Let me go let me go let me go!" I screamed, but he threw me over his shoulder like a rag doll. My fists pounded on his back roughly, but he didn't care as he dragged me into the house. "Put me down!"

"I'm not putting you down!"

A whole bunch of shouts fell from my lips, and the thousands of profanities that were flowing from my mouth drew so much attention from others passing that rumors were flying in our wake. My body wiggled around in his grip, but he was too strong for me to get out without injuring myself horribly. Once we got to the second floor he threw me into a room, and I bounced off of a carpet. "Ow!" The door slammed closed, and I sat up while rubbing my arm. When I looked up, I jumped in my skin when I saw dad. The temperature in here feels like it's below freezing, and I wanted to turn around and run.

"Care to explain why you've run away from the academy designed to help you?"

"I don't belong anywhere! I'm so lonely and afraid, and everything's changing so quickly!"

"I don't understand! We try to give you the world, and you throw it back in our faces! Why, Benjamin? Why are you doing this to us?"

"I'm trying to find my real place in the world. Less than a week ago I was a normal human with a normal life, and now I'm a warlock with insane powers that need to be monitored. I need some stability in my life; whether it's my friends, or my school. I need something that I can hold onto as the entire rest of my world crashes down around me. You have to understand that there are some things that even the strongest people can't handle. I'm crashing down, and there isn't even a hope of catching something because there's nothing there. No light at the end of the tunnel for me to hope for. When I was in that school, I had friends, sure, but nothing was the same. Everything was spiralling farther down, and I felt myself being swallowed up by my own self doubt. I didn't want that to happen to me, so I ran. I got away from all of that fast living and hoped that maybe some time alone would make me feel a bit better.

"Then, I come to find out that my friend is actually in love with me, and I got him kicked out of his home! He tried to kiss me; he did kiss me. I didn't want it, and he knew that. However, he still ended up backing me into a tree in the woods and kissing me. I had my first kiss taken by a man, and I don't even know if I'm gay or not yet. I've never get the chance to explore my sexuality because I've never been attracted to a human. I'm tried of everything changing so quickly!"

"That's a lot to take in..."

"Tell me about it."

"I guess you can stay her for another week, but after that, you're going back to Riverside. You're dangerous, and o can't have you running around."

"I guess I can live with that."

"Good. Now get into the car, school car is leaving soon."