Under the Same Sky [BOYXBOY]

CHAPTER 42

Sweat began to trickle down Samuel's bare torso as the loud thumps of his fists connecting sharply with the punching bag echoed in the gym. The powerful muscles of his back and arms rippled with pent-up energy as his attacks grew more and more ferocious. There was a dark glower on his face and anger roiled off him in waves.

'Should we do something?' Paul asked Leo with concern on his features as they watched Samuel from the back of the gym.

Leo shook his head. 'No, it's better for him to get all that anger out trust me.' He winced as Samuel delivered a particularly powerful blow. 'Remind me to never get on his bad side.'

Samuel's attacks continued to grow even more vicious and his arms became a blur. He delivered a successive round of violent blows that suddenly tore the punching bag from its hook and sent it flying to the other side of the gym.

Paul and Leo sprang into action as Samuel followed the bag and continued to rain blows on it.

'Okay, that's enough buddy,' Paul stated as he and Leo hooked arms around Samuel's and dragged him away from the bag.

'Yeah,' Leo added as he glanced at the bag which lay forlornly on its side. 'I think you got em good. Next time it'll think twice before messing with you.'

Samuel sighed as Paul and Leo deposited him on a bench. He grabbed the bottle of water Leo handed to him and took a sip. Paul studied him closely before taking a seat beside him.

'So,' he began as he handed him a towel. 'Want to talk about it?'

Samuel's eyes were dark as he shook his head.

Paul sighed. 'You've been like this since this morning when you came to class. What's wrong?'

Samuel stood up and slung the towel over his shoulder. 'I need to take a shower.'

Paul watched as he walked away. Leo slid into the space beside him and frowned worriedly at their friend's retreating figure. 'What's up with him?'

He shrugged as they watched him disappear into the showers.

Samuel stepped out of the showers a few minutes later and together they made their way out of the gym. He paid half attention to Leo's chatter beside him, his mind occupied with something else.

At the other side of the school, Noel stepped out of the music room and walked across the lawn to the wall where Jayden sat waiting patiently for him.

He took one look at his friend's face and demanded, 'What happened?'

Jayden hopped down from the wall. 'Nothing happened. How was choir practice?'

'Don't change the subject. It was okay now tell me what happened.'

'What makes you think something happened?' Jayden asked as they began to stroll across the grounds.

'You look more impassive than usual which means you're trying extra hard to hide your emotions. You usually don't need to try hard to conceal them it comes naturally to you. Which leads me to conclude that something huge must have happened to frazzle even you.'

Jayden hummed. 'An acute observation but a faulty one.'

Noel huffed impatiently. 'Don't try to play coy. Now spill!'

'So commanding,' Jayden drawled but he gave up when Noel shot him a glare. 'Fine, Samuel and I got into a fight.'

Noel shot him a worried look. 'What? How?'

'Doesn't matter. It was just a mistake. We'll get over it.'

Noel frowned and grabbed his arm, pulling them both to a halt. 'Was it? Was it really a mistake? Jayden, I'm your best friend and I say this with love but you have a tendency to push people away when they get too close to you. You did that with me and you started with Samuel and now it looks like you've succeeded.'