A Moment Too Late (Yaoi boyxboy)

2-Nowaki

I hadn't really noticed him much. I mean, I knew his name...I also knew he got teased a lot about being gay. That was it though. Most days when he walked over to his desk, I'd just glance up for a moment, but today I found my eyes locked on his arms.

I was sure that if he had taken off his jacket before I would have noticed all of those cuts in a heartbeat. They extended from his wrists almost all the way up his forearms. The skin looked irritated and painful around them. Some people in the hallways must have yanked it off of him to annoy him...the cuts were so exposed now, and they scared me. I couldn't help but feel curious, even though I knew it was none of my business.

I watched him frantically pull on his jacket as he sat down in his chair. After managing to straighten it out, he sat motionless at his desk silently. He didn't glance up even once, but instead kept his eyes on the books in front of him. I held my gaze on him, and out of the corner of my eye I watched something fly across the room. Whatever it was came into contact sharply with the kid's face. Instinctively, his hand reached up and touched the spot where it hit him. He turned his head slightly in the direction of where the object came from. When his eyes found the group of snickering students across the room, they began to gloss over with tears. As he looked away, I felt my chest begin to ache a little. Poor kid...

The morning bell rang then and the students began making their way to the seats in the room. As a student passed him, the books and other things he had stacked in front of him were shoved off the desk. The word 'fag' was muttered and I watched his fists clench in his lap as the other guy continued walking to his own desk. When he passed, the boy turned and began to pick his belongings up off of the ground. I noticed that his notebook had slid closer to where I was, and I picked it up. When he looked up and saw it in my hands, he didn't reach for it. I held it out to him.

"Here." I smiled. As he stared at me, I examined his face momentarily. At first glance, he had a seemingly generic appearance. However, when I really looked, he was actually quite better looking than I thought. The first thing I noticed was the contrast between his hair and eyes. The color of his hair was a simple brown, but his eyes were a pretty blue. The small nose he had complimented his looks, giving him an innocent look.

Something I picked up in his eyes though, was that they swam with darkness. They seemed full to the brim with a dull and exhausted pain that I couldn't understand. His eyes lifted from the notebook back to me. The expression he wore was screaming with apology. I tried to offer it again.

"Take it." I kept the smile on my face as he slowly took the notebook from my hands.

"I'm sorry..." His voice was nearly impossible to hear, and shame crossed his face as he pulled it back towards him,

"It's alright." I reassured him. He turned back around and placed his hands back into his lap. I forced my eyes away as he clutched his sleeve and looked to the board.