That’sdefinitelynot Professor Kendall’s voice.
I look up to see Pierce Grant standing a few feet away with two of his dipshit friends behind him, all of them with smug smirks that I’d really like to punch off their stupid faces.
Instead, I force a stiff smile. “I’m bi, actually.”
Pierce rolls his eyes. They’re the same light brown ones as his father’s. In fact, he looks like a spitting image of Professor Grant, only younger.
I hate them both.
Not that there’s anything really wrong with Professor Grant, I guess. He taught my technical writing class when I took it a couple years ago, and I hated the class itself. However, he also spawned this piece of shit, so I figure that’s enough to hate him too.
Pierce was one of Bodie’s biggest bullies when we were all in high school. Bodie was always pretty good at letting shit roll off his back, at least in front of everyone else. He’d keep his head up at school and then tell me how much it sucked when we talked on the phone or hung out in the afternoons. He rarely let me see him cry, but I know he did.
One day senior year, something happened that made him a complete wreck. He showed up to my house a couple hours after school, his eyes rimmed red and glassy. He wouldn’t tell me what happened. We sat in my room in complete silence while he refused to speak, and he didn’t go home until well after his curfew. I tried to get him to open up for a while after that, but he never did. He stayed closed off for weeks. To this day, I don’t know what happened. I noticed Bodie was more afraid of Pierce after that, but he wouldn’t confirm it was him.
If I knew for sure Pierce was the one responsible, I probably would’ve put him in the hospital.
“Whatever you say, Ellis,” Pierce retorts. “I’m curious how you figured it out though. You and Thompson been spending too much time sucking each other’s dicks, huh?”
“Not any more than you suck your dad’s dick.”
“The fuck did you just say?”
As Pierce crosses the room, I stand, my book falling to the floor. He reaches me just as I get to my feet and shoves me hard. I stumble backward and barely keep myself from falling into the chair. Once I get my footing, I shove him back, my pulse already thrumming in my ears. His buddies stand behind him, ready to help in case I get the upper hand. Because of course the spineless rat is too much of a coward to fight his own senseless battles. He’s never fought a fair fight in his life.
“You’re fucking disgusting.” Pierce spits the words as he stands his ground. “We’re all hoping you’ll be the next Dylan Ross, you know. The poor gay boy who disappeared without a trace.”
“You really keep tabs on all the missing gay boys, huh? Closet getting a little tight?”
Pierce swings.
His punch comes fast, connecting with my mouth.
Fuck, that hurt.
I was in several shoving matches with Pierce back in high school, especially when it came to him bullying Bodie. However, it was always stopped by a teacher before it could escalate. I’ve never been in a fight like this before and definitely underestimated how much a punch to the face fucking hurts.
Adrenaline carries me through the sting long enough to return the favor.
My fist catches him in the eye hard, and he goes stumbling backward into his friends.
Yup, that fucking hurt too.
At least the pain in my hand momentarily distracts me from the one in my face. I can already feel a trickle of blood making its way down my chin.
The bigger of Pierce’s two backups starts rushing toward me while the other moves to check on their friend who shoves him away while cursing.
“What the hell is going on here?!”
The shout cuts through the room like a blade.
Everyone freezes before our heads snap toward the entrance of the study hall to see Professor Kendall standing there, the hard lines of his face set in fury, the kind that can silence an entire room. His bag hangs over his shoulder like he was just leaving for the day.
Pierce’s friends take several steps away, distancing themselves and selling us both out. Of course, it’s pretty clear which two of us were fighting.
“Mr. Grant. Mr. Ellis. My office. Now.”
Fucking perfect.
