silence speaks in volumes {karlnap}

chapter 2

TW: bullying, downgrading comments

(Karl POV)

Nick is walking up to me again.

I mean, I'm not complaining, but I don't know why he's talking to me of all people.

"Good morning!" he says. I smile weakly as I glance over his shoulder to glance at his friends. They're all glaring at me like they want to kill me. Nick has been talking to me for the past week, and his friends have been bullying me even more than usual for just as long. I doubt he knows. 

"How's your morning going so far?" he asks. I don't know why he's constantly asking me questions I can't answer, but I try my best. So I just shrug.

"Did something happen?"

Yes. I forgot my phone and my lunch, plus I'm broke, so I can't buy lunch today. My foster family's car broke down, so I had to walk, my wrist is sprained from when Keith pushed me a week ago, and the anniversary of my dad's death is coming up. I still need to buy flowers and figure out how to get to his grave.

But I shake my head and grab my things from my locker. "What's your first class?" he asks as I close the door. I sigh. Again with the damn questions.

I open my communication notebook and grab the pencil that's always tucked behind my ear. I write english class in my terrible writing and show it to him. 

"Can I walk you? I'm going that way anyway," he says, smiling bigger. I nod and start walking towards class. He easily falls into step with me. My cheeks start heating up. I cast a side glance up at him.

He isn't much taller than me, and I'm 5'7". I wonder how he can dunk practically every game when some of the taller players can't, and they're almost 6'6". Weird. 

"You write stories, right?" Nick asks. I look up at him and nod. He smiles bigger. Somehow. I think his face is stretching. "Can I read one of them sometime?"

crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap-

I never let anyone but my English teacher read my stories. My school ones at least. My personal ones? No chance. I'm too scared someone will think they're babyish or terribly written. Maybe they have bad plots or terrible characters. Awful build up. An even worse climax. I don't know. I don't want to take the risk, though. 

I look at my feet and shake my head, clutching my notebooks closer to my chest. 

"Okay, I was just wondering. I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to." I look up at him and he's smiling. Still. It's so genuine and nice, it makes me smile. 

"Did he finally turn you down, Nicky?" someone says behind us. Before I can turn around, they slap me on the back, knocking the air out of me. I stumble forward.

"Piss off, Keith," Nick says. I feel a gentle hand settle on my shoulder, and a second one supports my elbow. Nick walks me over to the lockers, where I slide down to sit on the floor and catch my breath. 

I look up to see a tall boy with dark skin and black hair and eyes so blue they're almost purple and an evil smile. His arms are crossed over his basketball team jersy. I recognize him immediately; he's one of my worst bullies. It's honestly hard not to recognize him, given our history.

A senior who is rumored to have stayed back twice, but it's just a rumor. He's on the basketball team with Nick, and I guess they're kind of friends? I can't tell.

I suck in another deep breath before standing up. Nick lightly grips my arm as I frown at Keith. He sneers. Nick starts to lead me away.

"What? Poor little nerd boy can't defend himself?" Keith calls. 

"Keith, leave him alone," Nick snaps. 

"He's always got to get someone to defend him because he just can't talk." 

"Keith, shut the fuck up."

"Chill out, Nick. It's not like he's worth anything. Just a lonely nerd who can't fucking talk," Keith yells. 

I freeze. I may be used to these comments, but it still stings. Especially from him.

Nick stops next to me. He drops my arm and slowly turns around. Uh oh. I grab at his sleeve, trying to turn his attention to me. It works and we make eye contact. I accidentally blush at the sudden ocurrence, but focus, Karl. I shake my head. 

Thankfully, he listens to me and doesn't do whatever he was going to do. He just glares at Keith, who's laughing his ass off. I flip him off as we walk down the hallway. 

Nick notices and giggles. It's a nice sound, something I know it probably now permanently stuck in my eardrums. He high fives me as we round the corner. 

"Hey, can I sit with you at lunch?" he asks. 

Can he sit with... with me? 

I nod, smiling. He grins back at me. "Where do you sit?" He asks.

I open my communication notebook again and write the library next to my earlier note. I'm surprised he hasn't found my spot yet, because I see him pass almost every day at lunch. 

"Oh. You're allowed to eat in there?"

I am, I write.

"Oh, that's cool," he says. I nod and close the book as we reach my class. "Okay, here's your stop," he says. I smile and wave as I walk in. He waves and walks away. 

I'm sitting with Nick Snap at lunch.

Word Count 933

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