Dread seeped into my eyes. I look at my bully's stained shirt. The chocolate drink, clearly imprinted on his spotless white uniform.
"You have guts, fag. I'll give you that," he said calmly.
"It w-was an accident. I swear--"
He put his index finger in his lips to shush me.
I knew he wasn't calm at all. I could feel it. The familiar, oppressive atmosphere was pressing down on me once again. I made a mistake. I just wanted to get it over with, and so I was hasty. The drink splashed on Mark's shirt. Now, the consequences will follow.
Mark raised his hand; I flinched. Thankfully, his arm stopped midway for some unknown reason. I looked at him. I could practically see the gears on his mind turn to think of a better way to make me suffer. His eyes shone as he spoke, "You know what? I have a better punishment for your sorry ass."
He patted my back gently and said, "You're not leaving today. Stay in this classroom and wait for the other people to fucking leave. I'll show you what's what then."
And he left. I sighed in relief. It was short-sighted of me to do so, considering the punishment he issued were always worse when I had to wait for it.
I couldn't help it though. I'd give anything to escape his punches even in the meantime. Well, obviously not everything. But you know what I mean.
"Hey, babe." Shocked at the proximity of the voice, I immediately turned around at the familiar tone and phrase as it broke my messy thoughts in two. Selena. My girlfriend of two years. I hid my anxiety and smiled as brightly as I could.
"Hi. You got physics today?"
"Nope. I just came to check up on you," she said, wrapping her arms around me. I wasn't that tall, so her head easily reached up to my nose. I could smell her hair directly. I was grateful for having a girlfriend so clingy. I was clingy too after all.
But she didn't know about Mark, my bully. I tried to keep her away from that, and I guess that was successful. She mever caught on. Plus, it wasn't as if Mark bullied me every day. It was actually worse before. It's kind of mellowed down a bit this past year. These days, all I had to do was follow his orders to the tee and I usually have nothing to worry about. It helped that Selena usually wasn't in the same classes as mine.
So was my sister, because they both had the same major. That made hiding things a lot more convenient.
"Listen, are you free later? I was thinking of going out for some street food. It's been awhile since we hung out," she said with a smile.
God, I wanted to. But considering the punishment I had to endure with Mark? She might notice something if I decided to go with her after he beats me up. A bruise of some sort. I don't think he was going to leave it at a single slap or something.
I suddenly gained a sense of clarity. I didn't have to take it lying down, do I? Why was I adamant on following him and his unreasonable punishments? He had no right to do whatever he wanted to me in the first place. Wasn't I letting my fear affect my decisions too much?
Should I go?
I took a deep breath and decided.
"Yeah. Let's go. We haven't been properly together for a month now."
Selena beamed; she looked even more beautiful these days. Her skin glowed brighter, for one. Her eyes shined too. Looking at her objectively, you'll just instant know that she's a happy woman. Content, satisfied, put-together.
Honestly, I don't know how I pulled thi gorgeous upperclassman. Selena was way above my league, but she was surprisingly the one who initiated. Two years ago, she confessed and said she liked me. I went to bed pretty high on that fact that day.
And almost every other day after that.
Since then, we've been dating casually. We also both agree it was going so great. We haven't....done it yet. Anything sexual was off the table for us until we were legal. She turned 18 last year.
I turned 18 two months ago. I shook my head at the thought. I've been constantly thinking about it since my birthday, but I didn't want to just ask her. I wanted to do it when the time is right. When the mood was romantic or something. So a date is exactly what we both needed to take the next step.
"Great! See you after class?"
I steeled my heart and replied, "Yeah."
She hugged me before leaving.
I smiled. I knew my "punishment" was just going to get worse if I stood up Mark, but I'll deal with that when I have to. For now, I'm going on a date with my beautiful girlfriend. Selena looked so happy. How could I say no to her?
Plus, spending time with her is one of my favorite things to do. My parents loved her. My nitpicky sister loved her too--which is a very rare occurrence. Selena was just perfect for me.
This might even be the day we...make love to each other too. It's way more important than whatever my petty bully had to dish out.
After class, I headed straight towards Selena's class. Just outside the door, waiting for her. A girl walked out. It wasn't her.
"Hey, bro." She turned to me, surprised that I was there. It was Hanna, my sister.
"You heading home?" I asked.
She nodded in response before asking back, "You're not?"
"I've got a date with Selena."
"Can I come?" she joked.
I laughed as I said, "Obviously not."
She rolled her eyes. She was about to say something else when her phone rang.
I watched her expression immediately turn giddy, biting her lip as she replied to the text. Curiously, I teased, "Is that a boyfriend I see?"
Hanna flushed furiously. It surprised me. I've never seen her this flustered.
"Wow. I didn't expect to be right on the mark," I teasingly joked.
She replied, "It's not like that."
"Uh-huh. Sure. Anyway, do you want me to drop you off at home? I got my bike today."
Hanna seemed to hesitate about telling me something before saying, "Nah. I'm just going to...go home by myself."
I nodded. That was fine. She probably didn't want to bother me or something. I asked, "Is Selena here?"
"Yep. She's about to head outside. Just wait here. Listen, I gotta go."
She hugged me goodbye and immediately left, almost sprinting across the halls. She seemed fine and dandy at first. I wonder why she seemed hurried all of the sudden.
Exactly as my sister said, Selena walked out shortly after.