Alex strolled through the hallways a few days after he and Mike had first made love.
He glowed happily and for once the glares and whispers he got from strangers as he passed really didn't bother him. He hummed quietly to himself and quickly put his books into his locker before heading to Mrs. Travers class. He sat down in his spot and turned to face Mike.
"Hi." He said and smiled his brightest smile at Mike.
"Hey babe." Mike said. He looked pale and tired.
"What's wrong? You don't look so good." Alex frowned.
"I'm sick." Mike said as he leaned in for his good morning kiss.
Alex covered his mouth with one hand and pushed Mike away with the other.
"Don't you dare try and kiss me sick-o." Alex laughed. Mike frowned.
"I thought I could handle coming to school but I don't think I can. I think I'm going to go home." Mike coughed. Alex put his hand to Mike's head.
"You do feel a little warm. Go home, baby, and get some rest. The sooner your better, the sooner you can have your good morning kiss." Alex smiled.
"Hmmm. Definitely motive to get better." Mike laughed. He stood and grabbed his stuff before walking to Mrs. Travers desk. He said a few words and then Mrs. Travers nodded and returned to what she was doing.
Mike smiled one more time at Alex and blew a kiss to him before leaving. Alex smiled and turned down to his work.
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Alex wondered what he would do for lunch since Mike wasn't there but figured he could survive a day of eating alone.
He decided that he would eat outside. He liked being outside much more than being inside but Mike had allergies so he
kept quiet about his preference to make Mike happy. He was very much willing to sacrifice something to make Mike happy.
"Hey." Ethan said from behind Alex.
"Oh, hi." Alex replied. He was startled Ethan was talking to him. He remembered the hurtful things the other boy had said to him.
"Look, I wanted to apologize. I said some stuff that day that I really didn't mean. I guess I was just jealous and worried my best friend was trading me in for a new one." Ethan smiled.
Alex sensed something wrong here but couldn't place it.
"It's alright. A lot of people are uncomfortable with my kind." Alex said. He sat down at the base of the tree trunk. Ethan followed without being invited. Alex felt uncomfortable around him but said nothing.
"I was wondering if we could start again. I want to keep being friends with Mike, and if that means we got to be cool then I can live with that." Ethan said.
It wasn't quite a 'lets be friends' but more of a ' I'll tolerate you for now.'
"Sure." Alex smiled, but the grin didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Hey, did you do the English homework?" Ethan asked.
"Yeah, it's in my locker." Alex said.
"Man, can I get it from you? I'm nearly failing that class and I don't have time to do it." Ethan reasoned. Alex hesitated but agreed.
"Yeah, I can get it for you after lunch." He said.
"I kind of need it now. I said I would turn it in right after lunch." Ethan said.
Alex sighed, slightly annoyed.
"Ok, I'll go get it." He stood and after picking up his bag, began walking towards the hallway with the lockers in it.
"Cool." Ethan got up and followed him. The hallways were empty and quiet. The lockers were far from where most people
eat lunch so they were usually pretty barren. Alex began unlocking his locker.
"Look what we got here." He heard from behind him. He turned and saw a large beefy guy with a jersey on.
Alex looked him up and down quickly before ignoring the boy, if you could call him that, and turning back to open his locker.
He finished fiddling with the lock and opened it. The guy with the jersey leaned against the door and it slammed shut.
Alex barely moved his slender fingers away in time.
"Alex, this is Randall. He's a new friend of mine." Ethan said. He had a smug grin on his face that looked more natural then the friendly one he tried to fake earlier.
Alex felt his feathers shift uneasily and wanted to be back outside where people could see him.
"Hi, I just remembered I have to go." Alex said and turned away walking towards the door that lead out to the courtyard.
"What's the rush, bird-boy." Randall snarled. He cut off Alex's exit and crossed his meaty arms over his chest.
"I have to get to class." Alex said.
"We still got awhile left for lunch don't we, Eric?" Randall turned to one of his slightly less beefy friends.
"Yup." Eric replied pretending to look at his watch.
"Come on. Hang out with us a bit." Randall put his arm around Alex's shoulder. The gesture, which Mike did often, didn't seem friendly this time. It was full of menace and brute strength.
"I really have to go. Extra credit for history." Alex said and spun under Randall's arm and headed back to the door. He felt a large beefy hand grab the base of his left wing and pull him back.
"Jumpy little bitch, aren't YA?" Randall laughed as Alex screamed at the delicate wings, being handled so roughly.
"Just let me go, please." Alex tried to lessen the pressure on his wing by moving closer to Randall.
"Hmm. No, I don't think I will. But I tell you what I will do. I'll beat you into such a bloody pulp, no infected piece of shit will come near this school ever again." Randall's threatening playfulness disappeared quickly and was replaced with real threats.
Alex looked up at him, eyes wide with fear. Randall squeezed the base of his wing tighter before turning his wrist sharply.
Alex squawked loudly and fell to his knees in pain. He screamed hoping someone would hear him but the only other sounds were the snap of his wing and the laughing of Randall and his goons.
"Please..." He begged.
"Please what, scum?" Randall laughed at the crumpled mass of feathers that used to be Alex's large proud wings.
"Please, let me go." Alex begged louder.
"Again. No." Randall pulled back his foot and kicked Alex hard in his side. Alex swore he heard bone crack under the heavy boot of his assailant.
He screamed and curled around his wounded rib. Randall grasped a handful of hair and pulled him up to a kneeling position.
He pulled back his right hand and punched Alex in the nose. Alex felt warm blood gush out his nose and onto the white speckled tile of the hallway,
and soak into and stain the blue jacket Mike had given him.
Alex raised his hand to cover his nose and left his stomach wide open. Randall threw a lower punch into Alex's stomach and smiled and Alex grunted.
He fell to the ground once more and didn't see the heavy boot swing down towards his face before he blacked out.
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Mike tried for the fifth time to call Alex on his cell. He hadn't been answering all day. there was no answer the day before either, the day he had gone home sick.
'Why isn't he answering? He always answers.' Mike thought to himself before hanging up once he reached Alex's voice mail. He had already left three messages and figured a fourth one wouldn't make a difference. Something felt wrong and Mike didn't like it.
He shoved his phone into his pocket and began walking to his third class of the day.
He sat down and saw Ethan wasn't in the room. The feeling of dread got worse.He had a enough and walked up to the teachers desk.
"Excuse me, where's Alex?" Mike asked.
"He's in the hospital. He was found in the hallway beaten up pretty badly." The teacher said and returned to her work.
