BOYS (boy×boy)

31. The day after

A bit over a week has passed.

Things have changed.

It's the only conclusion Genny can come to as he's sitting on a bed that's not his own, but Andy's.

He kept his promise to Cameron. He contacted Andy, he left his uncle. And now he's sitting on Andy's bed, listening to Andy blabber at the laptop screen where Blue is on a video call, rolling his eyes every time Andy says something scandalous.

He's been ignoring them, staring at the knitted blanket underneath him. Andy apparently knitted it, and he didn't do an outstanding job since Genny can stick his fingers through some loose stitches and unknit them. His mind is somewhere else, reaching out and trying to grasp at his current situation.

A whole week has passed.

And it's been full of events Genny hoped to avoid. It started the day after Cameron and Genny separated. Genny and his two friends made their way down the hall, Genny trying to hide himself as much as possible in case he suddenly bumps into Cameron. The whole way Andy kept scoffing and rolling his eyes, insisting that Genny made a stupid decision because by his words 'Cameron is a total catch'.

It's much more complicated than that. To Genny, family is important. He realized that after he lost his and entered the disfunctional one of his uncle. He doesn't want Cameron to destroy what he has left of his family life. Even if what he has left is cold and strict parents, he still has left something.

Genny found out that day that Cameron has left nothing. Maybe he is just a bottomless pit of numbness. Or more to say, violence, because that day rumors and news spread that the infamous Cameron Howard got into a fight with another helpless and innocent student.

It happened during lunch when Genny heard about it. At first, he didn't believe it. Cameron wouldn't hurt someone who hasn't wronged him, but as the dark-haired male stepped through the cafeteria doors, Genny wasn't so sure of that. He was absolutely disheveled.

His hair was slightly wet, as if he accidentally wetted it when he tried to clean of the blood of his victim off his face. To prove that further, he had dry blood across his cheeks, barely visible, as if he tried to scrub it off, but he couldn't.

Genny noticed a few new piercings in his face, one in his lip, and a few more in his ear. How could someone get so many holes in their skin in such a short amount of time? But this wasn't just someone, this was Cameron. The 'bad boy' as cliche as that seems, the one who was rumored to get into fights before Genny arrived, the one who was in a gang, enemy of Aiden who is a legit psychopath. Cameron who killed someone. Genny shuddered as he remembered all that.

He knows Cameron is dangerous; he has proved that many times before. Not a threat to Genny himself, but to people other than Genny, actually, to everyone except Genny. So why did Genny feel so surprised the day he heard the rumors?

Maybe because for Genny, Cameron was still Cameron. Yes, he differed from the gentle and funny one Genny got to know, but still Cameron.

Then why did he get blood on his hands? Did he really hurt someone helpless, or was that just another rumour to dehumanize Cameron? Genny wasn't sure anymore. How could he? That day, Cameron was bloody, his eyes surrounded by black eyeliner, his lip busted, but not as busted as his knuckles who were completely torn apart. Rumors say the victim was taken home because of massive injuries.

But Cameron didn't seem to care. He walked like he usually does. Nonchalant, superior. He looked at everyone in the cafeteria like he wanted to skin them alive, and went as far as to glare at Genny with the same murderous stare which made Genny literally flinch and avert his eyes.