The Boy A Life Away

Bra Boy

My head quickly snapped in the direction where the noise came from and saw Arin on the ground, with his green drink spilling all over his shirt. There were a couple guys standing right in front of him which I recognized instantly as the basketball team in our university

"Are you not going to get up bra boy?" The tallest one of then snickered

"Come on take off your shirt, show the entire fucking school that you're wearing a bra." Another one added

"Don't you think it's fucking disgusting for a guy to wear a bra?" The tall one ridiculed while kicking Arin in the stomach as he was trying to get up

"What a fucking creep." Commented a random girl

"I bet he's a fucking pervert." Commented another

I couldn't stand this anymore. I can see the tears swelling up on Arin's face as he tried his hardest to hold them back. I could sense the pain that he was in as last year I and many others was also once a victim of this inhumane bullying.

"Are you going to fucking cry? You fucking creep. I'll give you something to cry about." He said as he was about to kick Rin in the stomach again when I don't know what came over me as I quickly sprinted between Arin and the bully blocked the kick with my legs and used all of my might to punch him in the face.

There was a slam, due to the bully falling ass-first onto the floor. I clocked him in the face so hard, I can still feel the imprint of his disgusting face on my fist. Not to mention my fist also hurt like hell.

. . .

There was a few seconds of silence where I felt that every pair of eyes in the cafeteria was staring at us.

"What the hell do you thi-" the knocked down bully growled when I held Arin by the hand and shouted

"Run!"

I held his hand and the both of us bolted out of there fearing what they'll do in retaliation. I can't believe what I just did. Was I not thinking about the consequences? At best they'll beat me to a pulp. At worst, I'll be called into the dean's office and get expelled.

What in the hell was I thinking?

I heard the clapping of feet behind us and took a right turn when I saw the janitor's closet and quickly checked to see if it was unlocked.

"In here." I yelled as I dragged Arin into the closet and waited for footsteps to pass us by

"That was close." I sighed in relief as I looked around us and saw that it was pretty spacious for a janitor's closet, we were surrounded by cleaning supplies and what I assume to be the smell of chlorine is lingering in the room.

That's when I noticed I was clutching Arin in my arms and he was clinging tightly to me as well, his head lying on my chest.

"Uh, sorry about that." I blushed as I quickly let go of him as he did the same.

"Why did you do that?" He asked, looking at me with a sparkle in his emerald eyes.

"I'm sorry, I did it out of instinct, I didn't mean to hug you for that long." I answered, a bit embarassed.

"No, I mean why did you save me from them." He asked again as he was putting both his hands together in front of his chest as he got closer to me.

"Oh, that... I honestly don't know. I just thought that you didn't deserve any of that and I guess I did it without thinking too much about it." I admitted as I backed up a bit afraid what close contact will do to my crotch.

"Well, whatever your reason... thank you... a lot..." he said as the tears started flowing from his eyes as he tried to wipe them off with his sleeves.

"Hey, it's okay... here." I said, embracing him, not knowing what else to do. He cried in my chest for some time before opening his mouth again

"I don't know why this always happen to me. People always treat me like this. I try and I try but it's never enough..." he cried out as I patted him on the back, speechless.

"I don't even want them to treat me well or nicely, I just want to be left alone." He continued crying into my chest as those words he said stuck with me. I... honestly... I understand the feeling.

"I understand, sometimes I just want to be left alone too whenever the worlds treat me like shit." I said as I tried to comfort him as he continued crying into my chest.

"You're the first person ever in my life to treat me like a another human being." He said as he clinged onto me tighter. I can feel the pain from his words and just wanted to protect him from everything wrong in this world.

We just held each other for a few minutes and hugging Arin just felt really warm, I felt like as if a warmth I never knew existed was right in front of me. I felt like someone sitting in front of a warm campfire during the cold winter.

"Can't believe my shirt is ruined too..." he said as he let go of me and tried to wipe the new stains out off his white v-neck shirt

"Wait, here you can wear this." I said as I took off my jacket and the white shirt I was wearing inside and handed it to him. He stared at my body for a while as if in amazement. At that moment I felt kind of self-conscious and thought that he was staring out of shock.

"Come on just take it already!" I ordered as my face turned red

"T-then what will you wear?" He said in shock as it seemed like he was thinking of something else entirely.

"I'll just keep wearing my jacket, no one will suspect a thing." I replied, assuring him that he doesn't need to worry about me. After a bit of back and forth he finally decided to wear my shirt and I wore my jacket again after he put on my t-shirt.

"What if someone finds out that you're not wearing anything under your jacket?" He asked, clearly worried about me

"Nobody will, because it'll be our little secret." I answered confidently holding a finger in front of my mouth gesutring the 'sshhhhh' motion.

"Well, thank you David. You're really a great guy you know that." He said hugging me again

"Not really." I rebuttled as I thought that the only reason I was doing this was because of my strange feelings for him.

"Anyway, we have class soon. We should go." I said backing up while opening the door trying to hide my boner from him. We soon
went to class after that and we finished without anything of note happening, suprisingly. I thought for sure that I would get called into the dean's office or something. Now that classes were over I offered to walk Arin home but he declined saying that he has basketball practice today.

"What? You know the same guys who bullied you will be there right?" I said not wanting him to get hurt

"Well, I'm bound to meet them again anyway. Besides, coach will be there." He reassured me

"I'm going with you." I demanded as I was still afraid of what would happen to him

"Jeez, I'm a man too alright, even if I'm wearing something like a bra." He said holding my hand with his two soft ones

"Trust me, alright?" He said looking at me with that cute face and glimmering eyes of his.

"Alright. But you should have my number so if anything happens you can call me." I said as I took out my phone and let go of his hands

"Sure." He said taking out his phone as well when I saw a big crack on the screen of his phone.

"Did they do this as well?" I asked, pointing at the big crack

"Oh, no I broke it a few years back and just don't have the money to buy a new one. Besides I can still use it." He said as we exchanged phone numbers and he tried calling me as my phone rang

"See? still works." He said as he put his old phone back into his pocket

"Well, just stay safe alright?" I said still worried about Arin

"Of course." He grinned and winked at me while he walked off.

I walked home alone and arrived at my house which was completely empty. But something was different today. My house may be devoid of any people but I was filled with joy just thinking about Arin. Is this love? Am I gay? Is this just a friendship thing? What will I do if he doesn't like guys? About a million questions were racing in my head as I hopped onto the living room sofa as I turned on the t.v. to drown out my thoughts...