worth [naib/eli]

chapter 10

The bell rang, and the crowd had dispersed. Norton glowered at Eli and William, before walking off, leaving the two in silence. Eli's shoulders drooped, "Naib," was all he whispered as he stumbled off in the direction Naib ran in. William followed along, hoping he'd get an explanation soon.

Eli stumbled around, looking in rooms, before making his way into the toilet. Sure enough, Naib was stationed in one of the stalls, hands over his head and curled in a ball. When Eli opened the door he looked up, his eyes wide and frenzied. They relaxed when he realized it was Eli, and turned into concern when he saw Eli's bruised and bleeding state. "Eli... I'm so sorry..." Naib choked, tears streaking down his face. Eli pulled Naib into a hug and he gripped Eli tightly.

William stood by, watching silently. "Do you wanna get patched up?" He asked Naib after a few moments. Naib shook his head. "I'll bring some clothes for you on the way to the nurse's office," He motioned for Eli to follow. He pulled away from Naib, giving him a last concerned glance before walking out of the toilet, trailing behind William.

"What happened?" William asked, slowing down so that he was walking beside Eli. He shook his head. "I think... Norton raped Naib," Eli looked up at William like he was waiting for William to disagree and defend Norton but all William did was look away. "Yeah... I thought so, with the marks and all. It makes sense now." The two of them walked to the nurse's office in silence.

When they returned, Naib was standing at the sinks, splashing his face repeatedly. "Here," William pushed a black shirt and a pair of denim jeans to Naib. He nodded silently and changed into them. They were silent all the way back to class. "Be careful," William nodded to Naib. He decided maybe Naib wasn't bad company. Eli put his hand on Naib's shoulder. "I'll see you after school."

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Eli smiled when he saw Naib running towards him. William gave Naib a curt nod as well. Glad to see they're okay with each other now. Eli grinned to himself as they headed down the street. He had invited Naib over to his house. Naib had been coming home with Eli a few times now since Naib's parents were barely home and anyway, Eli's mom loved having Naib over. Naib liked to help out in the kitchen. Eli's dad was okay with Naib coming over, but he thinks Naib could do some training. Eli promised he'd teach Naib some self-defense.

After waving William goodbye, Eli and Naib walked further down, towards Eli's home. He lived in a two-story house, painted white. His backyard was fairly empty, but there was plenty of space to lay on the grass. Eli's mom smiled at Naib when they walked in, and Eli led Naib to his room. They liked to do homework together, or just relax until Eli's mom called them down for dinner.

"Hey Brooke," Naib gave the owl- who was perched on his hand now- a ruffle of her head. Brooke hooted in response and flew away to another corner of Eli's room. His room was pretty huge, but he only had a bed, a desk with a computer and a bookshelf with a big, blue beanbag in front of it. The rest of the room was mostly filled with owl toys and branches for Brooke to sit on. "She probably likes you more than me," Eli laughed. "Are you kidding? Brooke only has eyes for you." Naib shook his head, pulling his work out of his bag.

Well, I only have eyes for you. Eli blushed. He turned away, back facing Naib before he caught Eli's blush. Eli took out his own work and the two of them studied until Eli's mom called them down for dinner.