Reverse Rivalry

Cry Me A River

Skylar's fists at his sides clenched. He stared down at Greg over Jale's shoulders, grimacing at the pathetic mess he was on the floor. His glasses were damn near falling off his face, and unwarranted tears drained down his chin. He looked unnaturally terrified, but what really irritated Skylar was the relentless defiance in his eyes.

His eyebrows ticked in annoyance when Jale laid his hands on Greg's shoulders and squeezed.

"I know what you're feeling," Jale said, moving his other hand to slip the glasses off the boy's face.

“You feel powerless, you feel lost, you don't even know where the anger or the sadness started,"

"Jale," Greg hiccuped, leaning into the boy's chest. Skylar's heartstrings tightened. He didn't even know how to react. His mind was sizzling at the exchange in front of him, but what was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? He felt lost and just utterly confused. His fingernails sunk into his palm, skewering him with pain.

This was Jale's self-righteousness at fucking play. He knew it and that made it hurt all the fucking more. It was just a bad case of pity Jale had for the insufferable pest but it was hard to watch. It's always been hard to watch.

"It's okay, this won't make you feel better even if you take revenge, because you want to, it fucking won’t," Jale said.

"So hand over the tape and let's forget about this,"

Greg stared at Jale for a second with more tears coming to life at the corner of his eyes, and then they flickered up to Skylar's face. Skylar returned it with malicious coldness brewing in his gut. He glared down with not even a hint of remorse. If it was an apology the little bastard wanted, he was going to have to cry harder, beg harder, or he would die knowing whatever this last ditch effort was useless.

Greg's face hardened, and he threw Jale off. A fire seemed to light in his body and he lifted himself from the ground to stand on his two feet.

"You don't understand, for fuck sake. I deserve to do everything back to him that he's done to me. I have to ruin his life!" Greg shouted then pointed at Skylar.

"You don't even care about me! You're just taking up for him! Can't you see he's a piece of shit! Can't you?"

"Greg-," Jale started but that was the last fucking second of Skylar's patience.

"Why would he care about you?" Skylar spoke as he walked around Jale's body to stop right in front of Greg. He peered down into the boy's soul wondering what crack he was smoking to act like this all of a sudden.

"Because-," Greg stuttered as he stepped back in fright but Skylar took one with him. The deadly calm he was feeling was just a chain he tied around the anger he was suppressing. The control he was exercising was agonizing. He just wanted to slap him. He was pissed. He was livid. His eyes kept glancing at the shoulder Jale touched.

"Let's hear it. Why would he? Because he saved you so many times?"

Greg's lips trembled but he spoke.

"Because he cared. He was the only one who saved me. He was the only one who tried to help me from you. Nobody else."

Skylar stepped closer, holding the boy's quivering stare.

"Explain, while he was saving you Malcolm, did you ever think about who was saving Jale from your battles?"

"So, did you only like him because it benefited you? What if he didn't? What if he never even looked at you? Would you still love him?"

Skylar knew the answer to his questions. Greg might have been a result of his plans, but they only went accordingly because he knew the internal clockwork of people just like him. There was no way it would have worked if Darwin had simply reported him to any teacher or the principal. None of this would have happened if they didn't prioritize themselves.