Only the Heart Knows Why, Quax's Days

Only the Heart Knows Why, Quax's Days
Three: To the Rescue

The weekend had been very long, and very tiring, I cleaned out the basement as my father had instructed, and spent the rest of the weekend sleeping. The place wasn't near finished, so he expected me to finish cleaning it next weekend, with a firm 'or else' warning tailing it. There wasn't much to think going on at home, either. My parents had a bit of a family get together on Saturday night, but since I was busy and/or sleeping, I couldn't join them. It was better off, anyway. I wasn't in any mood to entertain. By that night, my back ached, I was covered in a film of disgusting, slick sweat, and my hair had gone all poofy. Not to mention that pain in my shoulder was steadily growing worse. I couldn't lift my arm higher than horizontally. I was in a right mess. And I still had to do the same the next day.

So Monday morning was a welcome time. I woke up early to take a longer shower and get all the grime from the basement off me. It took a while, but I eventually got myself all clean (I spent about an hour just cleaning my hair). I tried to dress a bit more conservatively, but since all my clothes were very feminine, I had to make do with a light blue t-shirt, some black skinny jeans and a pair of shoes that matched my shirt. Hopefully today I'll fit in a bit more, but this look still always got me stared at. They seem to be attracted to more than just my choices of clothes.

School was a welcome break from home life, as usual. I vowed that today would be different from Friday. I would pay attention in class, and then all my teachers will like me and I'll have a great time, and I can delve into homework and my father will get off my back.

Of course, the opposite extreme could work just as well. Maybe I should be a bad kid. Get myself detention after school everyday from now until the end of the semester. That way I won't have to go until it's time to go to work. Of course, my father probably would kill me if I did that; and it wouldn't be a threat that time.

I don't think I'd have it in me, anyway. I'm just a big softie, I guess.

After I'd thrown a little make up on over my bruised eye, and had myself a yoghurt and fruit juice combo for breakfast, I made my way to school with way more than enough time to get there before my first class started. I checked my schedule on the way, and saw I had my Social Studies class first. I wasn't sure how to feel about that one.

On the first hand, it was the class with Kanau, and those deep, thoughtful eyes... But on the other, after that blunder I made on Friday night, I'm sure he'll be as apprehensive to sit next to me as I am to see him. I'm sure that for today I could make do with sitting across the room and staring at him lustfully. I just hope my eyes won't look as hungry as my appetite seems to be when I see him.

But then my walk was cut short when I bumped into someone. My attention broken, I mumbled a quick "sorry" and looked up to see Aleniya, one of the girls I'd met with Hika at lunch on Friday. She seemed to remember me, and smiled.

"Hey, Quax right?" she asked, smiling a little, then absolutely beaming as I nodded to her. "How was your weekend then?"

"It was alright," I lied, "I helped my father clean out our basement." That part was only a partial lie.

"Ah, good work," she said softly as she looked out down the street, "I had a great time with Hiro, but I'm sure I don't need to bore you with the details."

I laughed a little while I was watching her. "No, I get what you mean," I said, smiling for the first time in a few days. "Are you waiting for him?"

"Yeah," she said, still staring down the road, "the school doesn't like him riding it, so he has to park here and walk in the rest of the way."

"Isn't that a bit risky," I asked her, quizzically raising an eyebrow, "people around here aren't exactly above stealing a motorbike, even if it is locked."

"Hm," she mused, "let's just say that Hiro's got a bit of a reputation around here. No one would dare touch his bike."

"A reputation?" I parroted, now sounding a little worried, "he's not dangerous, is he?"

"Oh, of course not, he's an absolute sweetheart." She smiled broadly and wrapped her arms around herself, "just don't get him really pissed."

I grinned sheepishly and we continued to talk for a few more minutes, then, when we heard the rumbling of an engine off in the distance, she lost all interest in me. I shook my head and bid my farewell as I continued my way to school. My thoughts drifted back to the weekend somewhat as I went, but now that the process of depression was broken by human interaction that I could enjoy, I found it hard for these dwellings to stick.

When I reached the school yard, I made my way inside and headed down the hall, wanting to get to class early to see if I could remember the way.

I'm sure I walked in a few circles, multiple times in fact, but my stubbornness about it kept me from asking others for help. Eventually, when I thought I'd finally found the right hall, I was once again interrupted in my walk by someone. This time, though, it was someone I wasn't happy to see.

It was those jocks from last week. Sure, just the icing on the little cake I've got going here.

He had those same guys behind him and he leaned closer, until our faces were almost touching. "Well well, look who it is," he said condescendingly, "and how was our weekend, fag?"

I looked at the group and tried to back away, but they slowly spread around me, until the only thing behind me was a wall. I glanced back, and then back at them. "It was fine," I said softly. Why couldn't they just leave me alone? Wait until after lunch, or better yet, wait until tomorrow. Just let me get over the weekend first.

He reached out and put his hands onto my shoulders. Pain jolted through me and I flinched back, slamming into the wall. I managed to stop myself from crying out, but I had to put my hand on my shoulder to stop myself from crying. "Please," I said weakly and through bleary eyes, "please, don't touch me."

"No," he said with a malicious grin, stepping closer slowly, "I guess you're the one who wants to touch me."

"Hey, Rufus."

We both look over to see a blonde guy walking over to us, with Kanau just behind him. I looked between the two, but my eyes lingered on Kanau just that little bit more. "What the hell do you want," the jock guy said glaringly, looking between them with venom in his eyes.

"Why don't you leave the poor kid alone?" he said, waving his hand in my direction.

Kid?

"Why don't you mind your own fucking business, Kaddar? Go back to your boy toy over there." That must have hit a sore spot for Kanau, since his eyes changed suddenly. He was oozing with anger and he stepped in front of blondie and slugged the jock in the chin. He mustn’t be an expert at violence, since he reeled back and massaged his knuckles.

It didn't seem to go as planned though, as Rufus reeled back a step, then reached out and grabbed Kanau by his throat and lifted him off his feet. Blondie jumped around and punched him in the back of his head with enough strength to knock him out. Kanau got back to his feet and stepped behind Kaddar.

"Do the rest of you wanna fight too?" he snapped, glaring at the other jocks. They all looked pissed off, but the all turned and left, leaving their leader right where he was. He turned back to Kanau and said something I couldn't hear, then looked over at me. "You alright there?" he asked me.

"Uh... Y-yeah, thanks." I looked down slowly, shifting my weight a little.

"Good, well, I got to get to class," he said, leaning in and giving Kanau a kiss on the cheek. I suddenly feel very alone. "See you at lunch, Kanau," he said, heading off down the hall.

"Well..." Kanau's eyes lingered after him for a moment, then he turns to me, "let's get to class."

"Right..." I watch him for a moment and slowly release my grip on my shoulder, to see if the pain is manageable. It was, so I played it off as brushing dust off my shirt and adjusted my bag.

He led the way down the hall and we both walked in silence. I guess he'd gotten over what happened on Friday now, the memory trumped by what just happened now. It suited me just fine, and I let out a loud sigh. He turned back to me and I grinned nervously. He shrugged it off and kept walking.

We reached class later than others after all of that, and the only two seats left were the two we sat in last time. I had to sit with him, apparently, so we made our way across the room and sat down. He took out his text book just as the teacher dropped a new one in front of me. I jumped back a little from the surprise of it, and looked up to the teacher. I smiled a little and thanked him for it, turning to the right page.