On The Hill (GiriPan)

9

"What's the matter, you little bitch?"

Mattie fell off his chair, warranting a laugh from Gilbert and his cronies.

"Wh-what?"

"You heard me. What're you staring at?"

"N-nothing. I wasn't staring at anything."

"What?" Gilbert mocked astonishment, "Are you calling me nothing? A nobody?"

"Yeah, I think he is, Gil!" replied Francis, one of his douchebag minions.

"I'm not! I swear I'm not!"

"Well, what were you doing, you little creep?" asked Antonio, crony #2.

"Nothing, I swear!"

"Didn't look like nothing to me."

"I bet he was checking your ass out, Gil." Francis laughed.

"Well?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well? Were you checking out my awesome ass?"

"What? No! Of course I wasn't!"

"I think he's lying, don't you, Tony-o?"

"Si!" he answered, laughing like a madman. They loomed over Mattie like citadels.

"Why are you lying, you little fag? We all know you were checking out my ass, so why are you denying it?"

"I-I'm not!"

Francis laughed again, a cruel onhonhon that echoed through Mattie's ears. "He's not denying it."

"So you were checking out my ass?"

"N-no! Of course I wasn't!"

"Gil doesn't like being objectified, Mattie."

"I wasn't looking at his ass! I swear I wasn't!"

"Liar!"

They pushed him and shoved him and kicked him until they'd had their fun and finally walked away, laughing. Always laughing...

.oOo.

"Matthew-kun," said a familiar voice, "Are you okay?"

"Nnng... Whu-?"

A splash of cold water covered his face, as sudden as lightning. Spluttering, he sat up slowly. Kiku knelt on one side of him, a teacher on the other. Kiku held an empty water bottle in his hand, the contents of which were dripping from his hair and nose.

"Sorry. I had to wake you up. You were out for a while."

"Th-thanks, Kiku."

"It was nothing."

"Do you know how you passed out?" asked the teacher.

What to say? If I tell them, he thought, they wouldn't let me off with a concussion. They'd kill me.

"No. I was just walking around and, I don't know, I woke up here."

Kiku's face was like a theatrical mask: blank, emotionless and not showing a glimmer of what lay beneath. Even so, he had a definite air of "this is bullshit." Mattie could tell he knew. But he trusted him. He wouldn't tell anyone. Not if he told him not to. He was a good friend.