High Moon (I don't feel human)

16 Chapter

Ryan's POV

My thoughts were filled with a new crush. He was all I had been thinking about lately. So handsome and precise, an intellectual. How I admired him for speaking his mind and standing up to Rachel.

However, imagining my life with him led me to a bigger problem. I had forgotten to do my math homework and now had to rush all the answers five minutes before the lesson. Yet my mind was set on Hiro, who hadn't attended classes yesterday, and there was no sign of him today. Same as Keith and Finn. They weren't sick. That was for certain.

Chelsea rushed through the door and sat next to me since I was good at maths, and she needed better grades.

"Morning." I caught her hand, but she looked tense. "What's wrong."

"Nothing." She shook her head and took her book out.

Tucker and a bunch of squeaking girls came in with him. He was showing off his muscles and new French words he had managed to learn. Those were bonjour and bébé. A really advanced level if I could judge...

He stopped and glanced at Chelsea, who was currently searching for the right page in her book.

"Oh, look who it is. Our little whore." Tucker pointed at Chelsea.

All the girls started giggling, but I was shocked by this pathetic attempt to bully my friend.

"Who's talking?" I confronted him.

"What you said, nerd?" He narrowed his gaze and flexed his muscles to scare me off. "Wanna taste this?" He pointed at his bicep.

"Don't start with him, Ryan." Chelsea gripped my hand. "He's not worth it."

***

The bell rang, and everyone rushed to get out after today's lesson. Only I enjoyed math classes and maybe Hiro, who wasn't here. During the lesson, I heard Rachel chatter about Keith and others playing soccer during the first period. I only hoped that the others included Hiro.

We were walking next to the door when Tucker lifted Chelsea's skirt and slapped her butt.

"You like that whore?" He cracked up.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" I hissed at him.

He flexed his muscles and intimidatingly got closer to me.

"Back away, or you're next." He pushed me. "Understood?"

This guy was always a bully, but I never had any personal problems with him, yet right now, I was considering whether starting a fight was worth getting expelled. Yes, it was, but before I could do that, I noticed that my best friend wasn't here anymore.

Chelsea ran away while Rachel encouraged Tucker to fight me, but the teacher came back to class, and they pretended as if nothing had happened.

I had to find Chelsea, and the most possible place was the girls' bathroom. Without hesitating, I opened the door, and luckily, she was there alone, struggling to breathe.

"Are you okay?" I slowly stepped in.

"No." She had been crying. "Can you please find Finn and tell him to come here?" Her request rather surprised me.

"Finn? You can talk to me." I shook my head. "Do we trust him now?"

Why would she ask for Finn out of nowhere?

"No. Please, find him. Fast." Her breathing kept increasing, and I was afraid that she might hyperventilate, so I ran to the soccer field to find him.

He was shirtless on this cold autumn morning, throwing the ball with Keith. The way he could jump this high always got me wondering if he had superpowers.