Chapter 5

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(TW: metion of abuse)

"Ray! What happened?" Emma ran over to him.

"I fell down the stairs," he replied without hesitation. There was no emotion in his face, nor in his voice- just like he practiced.

Emma got that stupid worried look on her face, "Oh no!"

"I'm alright. Don't forget your damn classes again." Ray hissed.

"That was once-" Ray's glare stopped her. Clearly, he wasn't having it today.

"Bye, Emma." Ray walked past her, barely avoiding her shoulder.

"See you at lunch, Ray!" Emma waved, but Ray didn't turn around. This concerned her. He was more moody than usual moody.

When Ray got to class, everyone immediately started asking what happened to him. He sighed and replied, "I fell down the stairs."

A chorus of loud people started asking again, "What? What happened?"

The chattering wouldn't die down, though the teacher was trying his best to calm them. It was starting to make Ray's ears hurt. Nonchalantly, he stood up and cleared his throat.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!!"

The class quieted and looked at him with confused eyes. Ray was always quiet. Some people have actually never heard him speak before. Ray calmly sat back down and motioned for the teacher to continue talking. He wondered for a split second if his mom, the queen of screaming, would be proud of him. He smiled, not understanding why he thought that was so funny.

Norman rushed in, late, and slid into his seat.

"What happended to your arm?!" he whisper-yelled.

"I fell down the stairs." Ray lied, keeping his eyes averted. He didn't want to lie to Norman, but he was scared to tell him. He already knew, so there shouldn't be a problem, but he was just so scared.

Norman gave him a look, "No, you didn't."

Ray fiddled with his hands under the desk, keeping his eyes away still. Norman grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly, "Was it her?" he whispered.

Ray nodded softly. Norman's eyes filled with tears, as did Ray's. Ray tilted his head back, and wiped his eyes with the hand Norman wasn't holding.

"This is surprisingly comforting," Ray laughed, sort of. He squeezed Norman's hand. Norman smiled sadly.

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After his only class with Norman, he was on autopilot the rest of the day until lunch. He was laying on his arms at a lunch table by himself, almost falling asleep. Emma came up behind him, putting her hands over his eyes.

Using her best Darth Vader voice, she asked, "Guess who?"

"Probably some annoying redhead." Ray responded, not moving.

Emma laughed, "Mean!" She fell into the seat beside him.

Norman snuck up behind Ray and put his hands over Ray's eyes, copying Emma, "GUESS WHO?" he coughed, unable to make his voice deep.
Emma laughed.

"Probably some pretty albino." Ray said, almost choking in realization afterwards. What if Norman was weirded out by him calling him "pretty"?

"What?! He gets 'pretty' but I'm 'annoying'?!" Emma complained, getting a laugh from Norman.

Ray yawned and nestled his head deeper into his arms. The only time he slept yesterday or last night was when he passed out from pain. He wondered for a minute when Emma and Norman met each other. It must have been lunch yesterday. He was asleep before either of them sat by him.

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