"Stupid, stupid, stupid." Mike cursed himself under his breath as he stomped home.
'Why can't I tell him how I feel?' he wondered.
Plonking himself on the sofa, he sank into the cushions, wishing he could disappear completely; fall into the cracks and become forever lost.
'I know I've blown it,' Mike thought. 'So why can't I just let it go?'
He loaded up his social media, searching Sammy in profiles.
Nothing.
'He doesn't even have a profile?' Mike frowned. He wondered if he was partly responsible for that before challenging himself with the very real possibility he was the sole reason. Sammy didn't have any friends until Caine turned up. The friend's he'd bought over from primary school had been quick to abandon him when Mike and his friends had singled him out as their victim.
'I ruined his childho
Belle re-applied her make-up using the works bathroom mirror. She kept her eyes low until it was time to apply the kohl liner and she was forced to look herself in the eye.Memories of that boy flooded her brain. Every time she looked at her face, she saw his, crumbling as she issued her crushing rejection.Each time she tried to think about something else, anything else, but his face would always appear. His sad blue eyes, messy dyed-black hair, and stereotypical snake-bite piercings.When he'd asked her out, her response had been laughter followed a verbal bashing.She'd been trying to make her workmates laugh. And they had. Vigorously.'I need to apologise,' she realised. She'd been meaning to, but the boy hadn't returned since and she had no way to contact him. She didn't even have as much as a first name.Giving her lips a last coating of burgun
Jess dithered at the front of the queue, taking in what remained of the school's meagre offerings with an audible grimace. A pile of green beans, steamed fish portions and some grain that was probably quinoa. It was always quinoa.She grabbed a banana from the fruit tray and placed it on her tray beside her apple juice.'A healthy meal indeed,' she thought.Out of habit, Jess scanned the cafeteria for a vacant table before remembering she had a group to sit with now. Walking over to their table, she almost tripped when Ricky threw his hefty arm into her path."Sit here," he grunted, kicking out the plastic chair opposite.Jess felt the eyes of his friends sizing her up as she slid into the chair. She tried to ignore them, concentrating on the tiny meal in front of her. Every move she made felt deliberate and robotic, as though she were under scrutiny; a bug bene
The final lesson of the day was Religious Education. A waste of time by all accounts. Occasionally it was interesting, but having the class taught by a devout Christian meant the discussions were often one-sided.Today the teacher was reviewing the scientific evidence for creation. Mr Porter finally turned their attention to the football sitting in the centre of his table. The class had been wondering about its purpose since they piled in and took their seats."Can anyone hazard a guess at how this ball came to be here?" he asked the class."Erm... you put it there?" Cat said."Any other guesses?" Mr Porter pressed."That somebody else put it there," someone spoke up."So we can agree that somebody put the ball on the table. Where would you place the mathematical probability that someone sat the ball on the table?""One," Damien said. "Or
Mike was captain of both the school football and the basketball team. Blessed with a muscular built, limber form and the surefootedness of a mountain goat, he rarely stumbled. It had to be today of all days that Mike managed to trip, and over his own feet no less.He ducked as Sammy turned, looking over his shoulder a few times before turning back on himself to inspect the bushes."Erm... why are you following me?" Sammy asked."I was just..." Mike tried to dream up an excuse but drew a blank."Please stop following me," Sammy said before spinning on his heels and rushing off."Wait," Mike called. He fished himself from the brambles and underbrush, wiping away the 'sticky willy' seeds as he pursued his target.He caught up to the smaller boy with ease."What?" Sammy cried, stopping dead. "What do you want?""Did you t
Sammy watched the captain of his own high-school basketball team from the window of his flat. The guy was hurting, that much was obvious. But did he deserve this level of punishment?He hated to admit it, but Mike's company hadn't been awful. Though he wasn't exactly sparkling with wit, there was something almost cute about him. A childlike innocence. And it wasn't as if the guy was unattractive. His body was near perfect; all in proportion and with tight, neat little muscles.'I'm a pervert for noticing that,' Sammy scolded himself. To be fair, Mike had been checking him out almost constantly for the past few hours. He hadn't even been sneaky about it.The memory of Mike's eyes on his body caused his blood to rush in the opposite direction of his brain. He considered sacking off homework and relieving himself instead.Knock knock knock...The door creaked as his mother
Zonked out in front of the television as the movie credits rolled, the name 'Damien' travelled down the screen, breaking her trance.She looked away from the TV to her issue of Kerrang magazine. The singer slashed across the front cover had piercing blue eyes, dark hair and facial piercings.'He looks a little like...'"Damien!" Belle cried, swiping the magazine from the coffee table and making her roommate jump. "He's everywhere I look.""Erm... who is Damien?" Kalpna asked.Belle wondered how she was going to explain the Damien situation. Coming up empty, she shook her head and told her roommate and friend that it didn't matter."I'm here if you need to talk about anything," Kalpna offered, her pretty face creased with concern.The reason for her concern became clear when Belle caught sight of herself in the mirror above the fi
*** Authors note - this chapter contains sexually explicit content ***When Damien turned to his computer, scrolling through his playlists to find a suitable song for such an occasion, Belle noted the pair of handcuffs hooked onto the back of his belt.'Is he kinky, or is it all for show?' she wondered.Seeing his expression when he turned back to her, Belle guessed she was going to find out.He actually licked his lips as he stared down at her."You know, I've thought a lot about what I'd like to do to you, but now I have the opportunity, I just..." Damien sighed. "I just don't know."As music began to play, Belle recognised the song."Sellouts by Breathe California," she said. "This is like their only decent song, but it's really good."Damien's eyes narrowed as he nodded in agreement.
As soon as Sammy stepped one foot through the school gates, he was there, loping over like a greyhound with the sad but hopeful look upon his face."So? Did you think about it?" Mike asked, wiping sweaty hair from his forehead.A glance over at the basketball court revealed he was practising with his friend. Eddy, now abandoned on the court, dropped the ball when a group of girls sauntered past."Come play me," Mike suggested with too much enthusiasm. "We'll be like Kuroko and Kazuma."Sammy laughed, genuinely warmed that Mike had remembered the characters names even though he wasn't even an anime fan."I'm no good," Sammy said."So?" Mike shrugged. "I'll go easy on you."This made Sammy smile. He'd never played basketball in school before, but he'd played with his sister plenty on the court by the park. It belonged to the middle school a