Darker Than Sin (BoyxBoy) Book 2

Chapter 8

James

''Were you crying?'' I asked him. He pulled his gaze away from me at the question, leaning up against the sink as I closed the bathroom door behind me. He shook his head, letting out a sniffle and bringing his hand up to his nose afterward.

I don't think I've ever seen him cry... besides that one time in Kindergarten. Not even when he got tased or when I was hurt. He stayed strong, no matter what happened.

It was recess time. I was sitting in the sandbox with Avery, the sound of the rest of my class laughing in giggling in the distance filling my ears. Avery and I were making a sandcastle together in silence, a soft smile plastered on his lips as he patted the sand around the sides of it. I couldn't help but sigh as I broke my eyes off of the sandcastle and onto our class in the distance, guilt washing over me as I looked over at Avery.

''Are you sure you don't want to go play on the swings?''  I asked him. He suddenly looked up in my direction, furrowing his eyes as he crossed his arms across his chest.

''Is that what you want to do, James? I don't care that much.'' He told me. I shrugged my shoulders, shaking my head as the curls on the top of my head began following my movements. He let out a soft sigh as he suddenly moved closer to me, resting his hand on top of my own hand.

''They were being really mean to you. I want to stay over here with you.''

The boys in my grade really liked to pick on me because I was smaller and skinner. I didn't like it when they did that. They would make fun of my skin color too, which wasn't really cool. Dad always says that I have beautiful skin, but... I can't help but wonder if he's lying to me. I'm darker than I should be. Papa is mixed himself, but he's darker like me. Dad is really pale. I wish I was pale. Maybe they wouldn't pick on me. I wish I had straight hair like the other boys in my grade.

''Tell me what you're thinking about!'' Avery exclaimed. I shrugged my shoulders as he threw his arms around me, a laugh escaping my throat as he pulled me in for a hug. I hugged him back, the thought still stuck in my mind as I suddenly felt guilty.

Avery is darker than me. He has really pretty long hair. He gets picked on too.

''Why do we get picked on?'' I whispered to him. I rested my head against him as I looked up at him, his smile slowly fading from his lips as he broke his gaze away from me. He looked at the rest of our class at the playground, a sigh escaping him before he replied.

''My mama says it's not their fault. It's because their parents are teaching them bad things. That one day... we might even be friends with them.''

''Why do they care what we look like? Is there something wrong with us?'' I asked him. He suddenly began to hold me tighter, running his hand up and down in a comforting motion. A few boys stopped to stare at us while pointing. I tried to escape his grasp as I finally noticed them- but he held me closer to him.

''I promise I'm going to protect both of us. I don't care what they say about us. I know you care, but I don't.'' He said to me.

We eventually began building our sandcastle again. He pulled away from me and handed me a hand shovel, directing me to dig around the sides of it so we can put water in it and make a cute bridge. I did as he told me to do, occasionally looking up at him when I felt his eyes burning into me. Every time I looked up he was staring at me for some reason... it was kind of weird. He does that a lot.

''You know that thing that parents do? that thing with their mouths?'' Avery asked me. I looked up, meeting his brown eyes. I furrowed my eyes as he asked me, kneeling in the sandbox as I thought about it.