Inside The House

VI

- Max, get a grip!

Elizabeth was right, of course, but at this point rational thinking was not an option. A few bitter tears ran down my cheeks. My life at this school was over with the pairing and the selection of the play to be performed by Professor Isabella Alterford, the fucking cultural studies teacher.
I was broken, ruined, and exhausted. Worst of all, physical education was about to start. I'll have to face off alone against a bunch of boxers who won't forgive me for being paired with Rayan. Aside from the fact that we'll both fail this project, that's not important at this point. What to do?

The final pairs were matched. Out of the corner of my ear I heard that Roxana was paired with Alex. On the other hand, if I had been matched with Alex it might have been even worse. The problem is that the students at school were much more likely to take Rayan's opinion than Alex's. It was Rayan who could turn everyone against me. Such are the benefits of being the pride of the school in the field of athletic achievement. I felt like I was about to throw up. "In the Night at Midnight," the title alone already sounded corny. Act ten, scene nine. Sounds worse than Romeo and Juliet. Yeah, well...

- Elizabeth, is "In the Night at Midnight" as "romantic" as "Romeo and Juliet?" - I wiped my eyes of tears and looked at my friend sitting next to me.

- Well... "In the Night at Midnight" is much more corny and romantic... I'm very sorry. - She said.

This is exactly the answer I expected. Everything is going wrong.

The bell sounded announcing recess. In about ten minutes, physical education would begin. Everyone started to quickly gather their things. Everyone except me. I turned to the back. Rayan was also in no hurry for physical education. He was clearly in as much shock as I was. Maybe
I should go up to him and say something? Although that's a bad idea. Worst case scenario, if we don't pass it, I'll be repeating an entire year of classes next year and he'll be out of school. I'm not sure he cares about school. I do care a little bit, though. I also care about my mental and physical health. Now both are at risk from Rayan. How am I even supposed to talk to him about this? Maybe we can just hook up on Messenger somehow...maybe it won't be so bad?

The students in my group began to make their way toward the locker room located right next to the sports hall. I exchanged one last look with Elizabeth filled with despondency and regret. She went to the girls' locker room and I went to the one for boys. The locker room itself looked ordinary, there were showers, some lockers and benches to sit on. I went inside. The boys from my class were there, some of them looking at me suspiciously, others indifferently. I first saw Randal, who was looking in my direction. There were no classmates around him... However,
I quickly realized that the other two were standing behind me. They must have just arrived.
I turned around and swallowed my saliva nervously. Alex, a tall athletic fangirl stood with a wry expression with his arms folded across his chest. His ears perked up as if he was starting a fight. Half a second later, I looked at Rayan, who stepped out from behind Alex's back. I had never seen either boy this close. Instinctively I took a nervous step back. My arms and legs trembled as I looked into Rayan's brown eyes. They were the color of dark chocolate. So was his fur which went from light brown to dark. There was an earring above his eyebrow and another in his lip. He was taller than Alex, not much, however, he had a much more developed chest, which gave the impression that he was much bigger than Alex. A two-day stubble could be seen on his massive jaw, which seemed to be razor sharp. Just like his gaze. Chocolate eyes that might have been beautiful, at that moment, made me shiver.

- Out of the way faggot. - Rayan whined at me and bared his sharp teeth.

I stepped back and jumped up almost bumping into the wall next to me. I knew I had no chance. No chance at all. It would be better to not even speak and pray for the imminent end of physical education.