Rosalyn managed to remain silent while we waited for our food and I took a few calls, one from my dad and the other from Keiran, who called to inform me that he made it back home from Hawaii but would only be home for a short while since Lake’s classes started next week.
Keiran had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. I barely remember life without him in it, though he didn’t come to Six Forks until he was eight. He had been this scary and standoffish kid that wore anger as if it were normal. No one wanted to deal with him because he was so cold and thought violence was the answer to everything. I still remember the day I met him as if it happened just yesterday…
*
FOURTEEN YEARS AGO
I left the bathroom thinking about the hundred marks I received on my math test and thought about how proud my dad was going to be when I showed him. He never accepted anything below an A, and if my twin sister or I ever brought a grade lower home, we’d spend playtime with a tutor he’d hire until our grades were up to par. My sister brought home a B+ once and spent the rest of the school semester with Mrs. Grandall after school and on weekends.
On my way back to class, I entered the hallway where my classroom was located just in time to see two other boys standing in the hallway. I frowned, wondering why they weren’t in class, and then stood frozen when the boy with his back to me punched the other in the shoulder, knocking him down.
“Stand up and fight me.” The angry voice of the kid with the dark hair filled the hallway and sent chills down my back.
“But, I don’t want to fight you. I didn’t do anything,” the little blond boy cried. The next second, the bully moved so swiftly, before I even noticed his foot was on his throat pressing hard.
“Hey!” The shout left my mouth before I could think better of it, and for a second, I’d hoped he wouldn’t hear me, but that died when he turned around.
He assessed me long and hard while never bothering to remove his foot. The little boy was silent now and had gone pale. “Go away.”
“If I go away, I’ll tell a teacher, and then you’ll be in a lot of trouble, so you better stop.” The warning didn’t appear to faze him, but he did remove his foot only to stalk me. I wanted to back away, but somehow, I knew if I showed fear, I would be just like the kid on the ground who had yet to move.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Y–yeah,” I stammered.
“How do I know you won’t tell anyway?”
“I won’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want you to get in trouble.” Now that he was facing me, I realized I’d seen him around and recognized him as Keiran Masters. The one everyone feared. He didn’t have friends and the only person he ever talked to was Keenan Masters, his cousin, and even then, he barely spoke. Keenan was the exact opposite of Keiran. He was the class clown and always seen making people laugh though I got the feeling he was a little sad.
“Why do you care?”
I shrugged and met his stare. When I refused to look away, he nodded and walked back over to the boy who, thankfully, now sat up with his hand on his throat.
“Stay away from her,” was the only thing Keiran said before disappearing down the hall. I helped the boy to his feet and watched as he fought to catch his breath.
“Thank you,” he panted. “That was so cool. How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Make him go away.”
“I don’t know.” It was the truth, at least. I didn’t know why the most feared boy in our school listened to me, but I would soon learn that I would be the only person he would listen to. “Why did he want to hurt you?”
“I—I don’t know. I was just walking to the bathroom and he came out of nowhere. I think he was waiting for me. Do you think he’ll beat me up again?”
“That depends… who’s she?”
“She?”
“The girl he told you to stay away from.”
“I don’t know. I talk to lots of girls. I mean… not like that, ‘cause girls are gross but—”