What I Didn’t Know – Chapter 8: I’ll Help You Anyway

The bright Saturday morning sunlight streamed into Colby’s unkempt room to wake the lazy inhabitant. However, it would eventually find that the teen was already awake and merely lying in bed. One of the things he hated was when he woke up early on days he was supposed to be able to sleep in. Like today… why couldn’t he sleep in on a Saturday. Karma was cruel.

Once he had actually gotten up, the day sped by quicker than he expected. Soon enough he was spun into the same dilemma he met every Saturday: having absolutely nothing to do. Taking course to the only solution he knew, he began cruising through the address book on his cell phone. All of the girls were busy with something or another (or just probably not up yet…) which left Colby staring at the one number he wanted to talk to the most and yet not at all.

Deciding it was better not to, he went to walk around the house for a while. Larry sat at the bar window that connected the dining area and kitchen, a plate of French toast sitting next to a cup of coffee. “Morning,” the man said tiredly through a yawn. “Breakfast?”

“Thanks,” Colby said gratefully, taking a considerable amount of the giant heap of food. Fetching a glass of milk, he joined his caretaker on the high stools and began eating at once dousing the pieces of fried bread in syrup.

“What ya got planned today?” Larry mumbled, gazing into his now empty coffee cup sadly.

“Nothing I guess,” Colby replied through his chewing.

“Not working on your project?”

“We’ve got plenty of time, I think,” Colby wondered if that was true. “I mean, we’ve been at a pretty quick pace so I don’t think we have to be in a rush or anything now.”

“Why not get the last of the supplies you said you’d need?” Larry said from his new position by the coffeepot. “Get it out of the way. Then you’ll already be in town and you can go do… whatever.”

Savoring the last piece of French toast, Colby decided that probably wasn’t too bad an idea. Then he and Markus could talk or something…

--

It seemed so awkward to be sitting alone in the coffee shop connected to BAM. Taking another sip of his frozen cappuccino, Colby allowed his eyes to wander across the random people currently inhabiting the large store. As it was Saturday, a large group of various card game players were lined in various places trading off or dueling. Colby looked back at his watch and frowned. Markus was quickly growing on being half an hour late.

Almost as if to contradict him purposely, the guy in question shuffled in through the large glass entrance to sit silently across from Colby. No greeting was offered, leaving a stiff silence hanging in the air. “Hello to you too,” Colby finally grumbled over his straw.

“So why am I here,” Markus grunted, slouching in his chair.

Colby held back the urge to slap the boy. “We’re going to finish getting the last few things we need for the project. Then I figured we could start putting it together next weekend.”

“We have an away game next weekend.”

“Uhm… so?” Colby couldn’t help but ask, not seeing a point in the statement.

“So I don’t know how much I’ll be able to work.”

“Isn’t that what Sunday is for?”

“You try playing a full game and then driving two and a half hours back home that night,” Markus sniffed. “Not to mention I’ll probably get dragged off again to some awful party.”

“So why not just say, ‘No.’?” Colby snapped. “Say you’re tired from the game and want to go home and go sleep.” The look Colby received was far from agreement.

“You don’t understand the situation,” Markus finally retorted. “Leave it at that.”

“Dude, what is your problem?” Colby decided a frank statement would be the best way to handle the current attitude Markus seemed to be in. “I mean, no offense, but you’re acting like… well, Ken and them.”

“ ‘Ken and them’…?” Markus inquired.

“Yes,” Colby stated, not about to regret the truth he had spoken. “You know, the little Kingpin wanna bes that follow you around and act like they own the school? You’re a lot nicer than any of them but right now you’re just acting like a jerk.”

Markus just snorted in haughty amusement. “Really? Well… I’m sure you’d know all about that. But don’t worry,” he added on as he stood up and took out his wallet, “I’m sure it’s nothing you need concern yourself with.” He tossed a twenty onto the table. “Use that to get the rest of the supplies,” he said without any real emotion before turning and leaving the store.

Colby watched with almost complete disgust as Markus got into his fancy car and sped out of the parking lot. He had to suppress the urge to rip the piece of money into millions of tiny pieces for what seemed like an insanely long time. So besides the fact that it was glaringly obvious that Markus was still pissed about the not-talking thing, he seemed to have reverted into the distanced heavenly-revered pop he had seemed to be before the past month. Colby was trying his hardest not to allow anger to win over his mind, but it was proving difficult.

The shrill sound of his phone cut through his silent fuming, extracting an infuriated sigh. It was barely past two in the afternoon and his phone was already proving unhelpful. The invitation that it brought from the girls on the other end to see a movie lightened his day considerably though.

After the night with his friends, Sunday proved to be murderously boring. His phone didn’t even ring once. The day was spent alone, even when he forced himself to Wal-Mart to get the last of those supplies. He considered not even using Markus’s ‘gift’ to purchase the stuff, but then decided why waste his own money? The fact that some candy and a chilled coffee drink were not on his supply list didn’t matter either.

As Monday hit, the amount of rumors and talk concerning the mysterious out-of-nowhere mascot made him wonder if it was really such a big deal. It seemed everyone was talking about it, even the pops. Especially the pops. They seemed to be devising some kind of plan to find out who was behind the mask, but there was a lack of discussion about what would happen depending on who ended up behind it.

Monday eventually turned into Tuesday, which was just as long but less filled with speculation of the ‘prowling panther’ as some cheerleader had deemed it. Most of Colby’s day seemed to be spent on trying to not think about how Markus had completely ignored him for almost three days straight. It made him mad that the pop had the gall to act like this, but the fact that it made him somewhat sad made him even angrier with himself. He was falling back into the stupid mindgames.

Seeing as the first two days of the week had left him feeling less than happy, Wednesday was sure to be no exception. Thanks to karate the night before, Colby was now sporting a bruise on his right cheek along with a cracked rib and sore foot. He scratched at the wrapping that covered his entire torso beneath his shirt not for the first time, wondering if he should have just stayed home today. Right before the tournament in Cranstill this weekend too… great. Guess he wouldn’t be going to that.

Elizabeth, ever the helper, was fiddling with the lock on Colby’s locker, muttering something about complicated numbers. She made it perfectly clear she saw him in no condition to be worrying with something that required holding your arms up for so long, let alone shuffling books around all day from class to class. When she finally had the door open, she spoke over her shoulder to him as she searched for his Spanish things.

“I can’t believe Martin did that to you,” she named the brown belt of their dojo, second only to Colby who was a black. “That no good, uncontrolled, jealous little…”

“Comon Elizabeth,” he teased, trying to calm her down. She’d been so upset over the whole ordeal, she’d almost forgotten she was below Martin in ranking and tried to drop him. “You know he didn’t mean to do it.”

“Yes he did, too!” she griped, tossing something back into the locker. “And you know it Colby! You know he’s been bitter towards you ever since he started for being ahead of him. Or something. He’s always trying to cause trouble for you, just because you two are the same age but you’re a belt higher.”

“But its not very sportsman like to accuse him of doing it on purpose,” he tried to put forward, hoping her sense of honor and respect would wash away the justice that was being overplayed.

“Well it was rather unsportsman like of him to not ONLY hit you in the face, but stomp your foot and pin it to the ground while he body slammed you in the rib!” she almost yelled.

“Face hits are perfectly legal on black belt level…”

“He is not a blackbelt!” she countered.

“No, but he will be when he takes his test next summer. As an almost completed brown, he needs to get used to the change of rules and it is therefore…”

“Bull!” she griped again. “Even if it may be somewhat legal, there was no reason he should have hit you hard enough for a bruise like that!” she pointed as the purpled spot on his cheek. “If he is such an up-and-coming brown, then where the hell was his control, hmm? I’m a senior green, and even I have better control than that! Control is the first thing you learn! And even if it had been an accident, why did he sneer at you and make that dirty comment about not being able to take a hit? Your rib is CRACKED!”

Knowing he had lost, Colby just sighed. Finally he smiled at his friend; somewhat touched she was bothered by the whole thing. Of course, when the rest of the girls had found out they had been fit to be tied too. He knew it was a silly thing to be happy over, but he was.

A sudden jarring pain stung through his chest, the cracked rib aching horribly. Colby’s face paled as he leaned forward, Elizabeth dropping the Spanish books to keep him upright. It was especially sore today after sleeping all night, but he hadn’t moved or anything. Familiar laughter and taunting reached his ears, giving him an idea of what had happened.

“Hahaha, look at the little unwantable holding up her precious boyfriend,” Ken’s voice jeered from nearby.

“How dare you run into him purposefully like that!” she screamed back at him, holding Colby against the lockers to catch his balance. “He’s injured!”

“Touchy,” Cortarius sneered. “If he’s so weak, then why is he even at school?”

Ken stepped forward and picked up Colby’s abandoned Spanish book that Elizabeth had unceremoniously dropped in order to catch him a moment ago. “Here Colby, you seemed to have dropped this,” he laughed again as he threw the book like a football at Colby’s chest. To Colby, and apparently the boys’ surprise, Elizabeth moved just enough to block the textbook with a raised forearm. Grabbing it, she handed it to Colby, whom she let go.

“What, girl, you wanna play?” Ken sneered. “You’re too heavy to take me on.”

“You wanna go?” she sneered back.

“Elizabeth, don’t do anything stupid!” Colby pleaded, balancing his weight on his feet again. He suddenly became aware of the utter silence that surrounded them. Everyone that had been in the hall was now silent and unmoving, watching what might happen. Everyone loved a fight…

“Colby?” Jessica suddenly asked out of nowhere. She emerged from the nearby classroom to walk over to him. “What the hell is going on?”

The boy in front of Elizabeth laughed again, “What? The little Colby needs his gang of girls to fight for him? Aww… But only two of your four bitches seem to have shown up.”

“You fucking bastard…” Jessica growled, stepping up next to Elizabeth. “We don’t have to fight his battles. We just enjoy proving how better we are than weak and cowardly idiots like yourself.”

Ken took another step forward, the other boys behind him obviously annoyed at being talked back to by a girl. “You trying to imply something?”

Jessica snorted, folding her arms in a victorious stance. “If I were implying then I’d be dancing around the subject. I don’t mind calling you a fucking coward to your face! It’s called being straight forward and honest, something you probably would never understand…”

Elizabeth began to laugh silently, trying to keep a straight face. Others watching the scene didn’t bother keeping quiet, they just laughed. This, of course, didn’t help the boys’ moods. Colby walked forward to try to convince the two that this was not the best way to settle things. Before he opened his mouth, another familiar voice spoke.

“What is this?” Markus asked, bringing all heads to face him. He and Carl stood staring at the face-off blandly. “Ken, what did you do?”

“Me?” Ken asked incredulously.

“You must feel really accomplished, picking a fight with girls,” Markus continued, walking in front of Ken, not even acknowledging the girls or Colby. “Seriously, when are you going to learn to stop wasting your time? You go around talking about how much better you are, then you turn around and cause a big riffraff in the middle of the hallway with them. You’d do well to get to class on time. Coach said if you get another tardy this week you’ll have an extra twenty runs around the field.”

With an annoyed growl, Ken turned on his heel with a look back at them that told them this would be settled eventually. Carl ended up bringing the rear past with a sardonic smile that made Elizabeth twitch. As the pop group left, the crowd also began dispersing.

“I can’t believe he just said that,” Colby practically spat. “He didn’t even look at us.”

“He was acting pretty bitchy,” Jessica mused, arms still crossed. “Maybe that was it, he was acting?”

“If he thinks he’s going to play the split personalities card so he can still be the pop king and be our friend on the side, then he is VERY mistaken,” Colby muttered. “He wants to act like a cold-shouldered bastard? Then, fine! Two can play at that game.”

Jessica turned to Elizabeth, who was standing silently, staring at the floor, as Colby made his way slowly towards the Spanish room. “This doesn’t look good does it?” The taller girl shook her head in agreement. “Well,” Jessica continued, “I’m going to go tell Laura she just missed an almost fight. She’s gonna be pissed.”

One soft chuckle was all Elizabeth gave in reply, poking her hand up with a ‘vsssh’ sound before running towards Spanish with her and Colby’s books in tow. The curly headed girl put up a similar ‘vsssh’ hand before laughing at their silly handshake type thing and returning to her classroom.

--

A dull yet shrill sound made its way through Colby’s skull as he rolled out of his bed the next morning. Untangling himself delicately from the covers, he winced as he shuffled to his discarded pants from the day before and dug his phone from one of the pockets. Who on earth would call him this early? It was still dark…

“What?” he managed to croak, sitting on the edge of his bed, holding his side. He knew that it was normal for injuries to hurt worse the second day, but this was almost maddening.

“Colby?” Elizabeth’s voice sounded worried.

“You got him?” he heard Laura ask in the background. “Ask how he is!”

“Are you alright?” Elizabeth asked sadly.

“What do you mean?” he groaned.

“Well we’ve been kinda worried all day since you didn’t show up to-”

“All day?” he interrupted. “What do you mean all day?”

“Well we’re at lunch right now and…”

“Is that a cell phone I see?” sounded a deeper voice behind them.

“Spencer!” Laura yelled. “Stop doing that! This is important!”

Colby glanced at his clock, but it was turned away from his bed. Making his way down he turned it to find the numbers 12:47 glaring at him in red. Looking at his window, he found the curtains that he rarely used clenched together tightly enough to block any small ray of light. Someone had sabotaged his room to keep him home and asleep. He was gonna kill Larry…

“Sorry, I’ve been sleeping all day,” he said into his phone, rubbing his head.

“Well, that’s ok. We were just worried because we’ve been trying to call you periodically throughout the day, but you never answered.”

“You’re always so pessimistic,” he laughed, wincing at the effort.

The girl huffed. After a few moments of silence she asked, “Do you need anything? We can get you some lunch if you like.”

“No you don’t have to-”

“Just shut up and tell us what you want,” came Laura’s voice, suddenly louder.

“You will not buy me anything…”

“We can come make you something. You don’t need to be moving around.”

Just then Colby’s stomach growled, making him realize just how hungry he was. “I’m sure I can manage.” After arguing with them for almost another ten minutes, he convinced them that by the time they got out of school Larry would be home right after that to make or get him something to eat. And he could manage a sandwich or ramen till then.

When the bell rang signaling the end of lunch, Colby hung up after assuring them for the eighteenth time he could live on his own for a few hours. He immediately lay back down and returned to sleep.

That night he coerced Larry into admitting not only to sabotaging his room, but also to secretly sliding him sleeping pills after his pain medicine. Once Friday morning dawned, Colby was more grateful to the man than he had previously been. A day’s worth of sleep had seemed to give him newfound strength. At least enough to brave school again.

Luckily, there were no mishaps or run-ins. The football players and cheerleaders were all released from evening classes to prepare for the away game that night. Colby wanted to go, but he wasn’t too sure he could manage such a long and late night out, despite the amount of rest he had gotten the day before. Elizabeth tried to hide her disappointment at no longer having Pervis the Panther, but Colby could tell she enjoyed the idea of a mascot. Although, he couldn’t understand why it seemed such a big deal.

The girls were discussing who would drive to the game, as they had all decided previously to carpool to all away games. Colby made it clear he wanted to come, but the girls were reluctant. He eventually won them over. Therefore, around five that evening Colby tossed the panther suit, hidden in his sparring gear bag, into the back of Laura’s van before settling in the back seat and stretching out to nap for the two hour ride.

Once they had gotten to the game, Colby pulled out the head of the suit much to the girl’s surprise. Elizabeth’s sadness over the impending lack of panther was quickly replaced by worry for Colby. “You’re in no shape to go dancing around!” she griped. “The school can live without a Pervis for one game. You should get better first.”

“I’ll just follow you around while you sell gas tickets,” he said cheerfully, already slipping on the body. It was a lot harder in a car, especially with a somewhat sore side. “No dancing.”

Laura snorted. “He just wants to follow Markus around.”

“Why would I want to follow that bastard around?” he griped as he pinned the tail on. He didn’t see the look passed between the girls. “I’ve taken up the name of Pervis, I may as well take the responsibility of supporting the team that comes with it.”

The girls made sure to stick closely to him during the entire game. There seemed to never be a moment when there weren’t at least two of them at his side. They didn’t let him do anything over than wave and pat kids on the head either. And they always would stop to sit and rest after almost every ten to twenty minutes.

During half time, the cheerleaders came up and attempted to either convince the panther to come join them on the other side of the gate or to take the head off. Seeing as they were getting neither, they returned poutily to the their posts.

When the game ended, with another win for their team, everyone filed down onto the field to congratulate the team. Colby stayed away from the thrall of people, not wanting to run into people literally and figuratively. The girls stayed near the edge with him, looking for the few people they wanted to congratulate. Colby walked away from them as they talked to Spencer, trying to act like he was looking for people while keeping away from the crowded areas. He found himself stationed near Ken and some of the other pops.

“Did you bring it?” Ken was asking someone who looked similar to him. Colby guessed it was his older brother who had graduated almost two years ago.

“Yeah, here,” he tossed a bottle at his brother.

“Great. That oh-so-great Captain of ours thinks he’s so high and mighty… We’ll make him loosen up tonight. Whether he knows it or not. Pisses me off how he always refuses to drink or have any fun. Like it proves he’s better than us.”

“This stuff is safe right though?” asked Paco.

“Safe on girls, safe on guys,” Ken laughed. Colby frowned, feeling sick at the horrid statement.

“Just don’t get carried away,” his brother said drolly, uninterested. “I know you and your pranks. And I know you find other people’s embarrassment funny. I keep hoping you’ll grow out of it.”

“Whatever,” Ken sneered, dropping the stuff in his helmet. “I just wanna see the great and exalted Captain loosen up a little. He needs fun. It’s a service I’m doing, a service.”

Colby gave up listening, trying to find the girls. He may be mad at Markus right now, but he couldn’t just let this go. He needed to tell someone…

“Have ya’ll seen Markus?” he asked when he found the girls.

“Yeah,” Jessica answered while the others nodded. “He came and asked us if you were here.”

“I said you were at home because of your rib,” Elizabeth said quietly. “But he glared at me.”

“I’m telling you,” SaVanna started before Colby interrupted her.

“Look, it’s fine. I need you to tell him not to go to the party tonight. I overheard Ken and some of the pops talking. Something bad is probably going to happen, I think they’re planning…”

“So decided to come out to a game, huh?” was an unnaturally jovial voice. Carl appeared, smirking down at Elizabeth who looked torn between being mad or just being unaffected. “How nice of you.”

“Carl,” Elizabeth started, but then took a breath. “Can you do me a favor?” He looked somewhat surprised, not giving an answer. “Can you tell Markus not to go to the party tonight?”

Carl blinked at her, his grin disappearing. “Why?”

“I uh… I overheard some people talking. I think something bad might happen, but I can’t find him. You’ll see him on the bus, right?”

“…Maybe,” Carl said, his usual serious face coming into focus. “What do you mean something bad?”

“I just overheard… some people talking… and… I don’t think it’s a good idea…” she tried to improvise, not really knowing the whole story herself. “Just, please?”

“Yeah,” Jessica added in. “If you see him before us. Besides ya’ll are good friends so he might listen to you better than us.”

“Alright, thanks,” he said, turning to go.

“Good game by the way,” Elizabeth said drolly, not expecting him to hear.

“What?” he laughed over his shoulder. “How half-hearted. What kind of fan are you?” He laughed as he walked away.

“Woooow…” Laura mused.

“I swear… One of these days….” Elizabeth seethed, annoyance obviously winning over.

Colby slept on the way back home, gratefully removing himself from the hot panther suit to relax in the air conditioned back seat. They were discussing if they should keep up their normal Waffle House agenda even though it was almost eleven. They decided to go for it, but the girls needed to pick up their cars from the school parking lot. Colby had ridden with Jessica that day, and therefore had no car to pick up.

Elizabeth was talking through the window to Colby and Laura before getting into her own car when she suddenly stopped and stared at something behind them. The two looked to find Carl sprinting across the field connecting the school and field house, his gear and bookbag in tow. Colby go out of the van as Carl got closer. He slowed as he approached the van, pulling out his own keys to the car a few spaces down from Laura’s.

“Something the matter?” Colby asked when Carl was in hearing distance.

“You…” Carl looked at him quizzically. “Where you at the game?”

“We picked him up on the way in to go to Waffle House,” Elizabeth supplied.

Carl’s attention was turned to her. “You were right,” he breathed, pushing the unlock button to his car. I was one of the last to get in the showers, but while I was in there I overheard some juniors talking about whatever you heard. By the time I got out Markus had left…”

“Why didn’t you talk to him on the bus?” she asked.

“He was talking with the coaches for the first hour, then we were all asleep after that!” he sighed.

“But what exactly is going on?” Colby asked.

“I don’t have time to explain,” Carl started walking for his car. “I’ve gotta get to the party and get Markus. His car is still at the field house which means he rode with someone.”

“Wait…” Colby started, but stopped.

“Go!” Elizabeth nudged him.

“What?”

“You can miss out on Waffle House this once,” she said seriously. “Something is obviously happening. You should go help.”

“I might need help actually,” Carl muttered, shutting the trunk of his car.

Colby, somewhat confused on what to do, decided to simply go with his friend’s suggestion and jogged towards Carl’s truck and hopped in when the guy unlocked the door. As soon as he was in, Carl hit the gas, speeding out of the parking lot and into the street.

“So… what do you think is going on?” Laura mused, her chin resting on her wheel.

“Not sure,” Elizabeth replied, opening her door. “I would say we could follow them and help but… kinda hard when you don’t know where you’re going and the other person has a couple mile head start.”

--

Colby gripped the side of the door as they took a rather sharp curve a little too quickly. “So… why are we in such a rush?” he asked.

“I’m not positive what’s going on,” Carl said, his mind half on the road, “but apparently some guys don’t like the idea that Markus doesn’t drink…. Or something like that. I think they’re going to trick him into something, but knowing them they’ll make sure they’re completely sober with camera phones in hand.”

“So it’s kind of like… they’re trying to get him to do something embarrassing?”

Carl seemed to stay quiet for a few moments. “There are… reasons… that Markus doesn’t like alcohol.”

“…Ok?” Colby asked when no explanation came.

Carl sighed. “He tends to get rather violent, or something. I’ve never actually seen it, only had his word for it. And I don’t trust Ken and the others to leave him alone enough for him to not do something that could get him in trouble.”

For some reason, Colby seemed to be having trouble grasping why this situation why was so bad. Sure, he wanted to help Markus and make sure that nothing happened, but at the same time… things like this happened in high school. Carl seemed to be more worried than people normally would… then again, he probably knew something Colby didn’t. He’d probably know soon enough….

A line of cars appeared on the side of the road that led to an empty patch of land behind a small neighborhood. A small fire sat in the middle of a sandpit, surrounded by a large group of people. Carl didn’t bother parking on the side like everyone else, he drove straight up to the group before slamming the brakes which spat a few grass patches a group of nearby cheerleaders. They climbed out.

Colby decided that nothing was really going on until he followed Ken through the wall of people. He guessed he was looking for Ken. He suddenly stopped, as if confused. Colby came up behind him, looking for whatever they seemed to be looking for.

“What’s wrong?” Colby had to repeat his question over the somewhat loud music playing from the surrounding trucks that all had the same station on.

“I don’t see them,” Carl replied, his eyes scanning the masses. “Maybe that means nothing’s happened. We still need to find them though.”

A bout of laughter brought Colby’s attention to the other side of the fire. He poked Carl in the arm and pointed to where he saw Paco and Cortarius standing on the edge of a slowly growing group. They walked over, pushing their way to the center.

Markus stood against a lone random tree, his head bowed as if thinking. Ken walked up from behind the tree, kicking around an empty soda bottle. “What’s a matter Cap’n?” he laughed, walking up to Markus. “Can’t handle a soda?”

Carl immediately turned to the person next to him. “What happened?” The kid looked at him, then turned back to the scene, obviously ignoring him. Carl grabbed the kid, forcing him to look up. “I said, what happened?”

“Dude, calm down! Ken challenged Markus to a soda chugging contest is all. He’s been kinda woozy afterwards. That’s all I know!”

Carl let go of the kid and walked forwards toward Ken. Ken noticed him, but not Colby who followed from behind. “Hey Carl,” he said, obviously perfectly in his right mind. “You just missed our little contest.”

Carl merely walked past Ken and over to Markus. “Mark? You ok?” Markus merely groaned, standing up. He seemed fine, but there was an odd glaze to his eyes. Carl picked up the discarded bottle and sniffed. “This wasn’t soda,” he accused, glaring at Ken.

“Aw comon Carl!” Ken laughed. “We were just kidding around. Markus needs to loosen up some, you know? We were just helping out.”

“They practically made him drink it,” came an extremely deep voice. Xavier, a dark skinned junior, walked forward from the group. “The rules where you had your hands held and someone else poured the drink while they drank it. That was about twenty minutes ago.”

“Thanks Xavier,” Carl sighed. He took one of Markus’s arms and put it around his shoulders to carry him back to the car.

Ken snorted. “Little snot. Didn’t you ever learn not to rat people out?”

“You touch him and you won’t like the consequences,” Carl stated. “Colby, help me?”

Colby stepped forward from his previous unnoticed position to make his way over and take Markus’s other side. Ken stepped in his way. “What’s this? The little injured boy has come out to play?”

“Excuse me,” Colby said, sidestepping around him.

Ken turned, grabbing the front of Colby’s shirt. “Don’t walk by me when I’m talking to you! Why are you even here?”

Colby merely blinked at the slightly taller boy. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t even feel threatened. It was more like he felt embarrassed for Ken for some reason. “Please let me go,” he asked.

“Aww, what? Can’t fight without your bitches around?” Colby could now smell a small tint of alcohol on his breath. So Ken wasn’t completely sober after all. “I mean,” he laughed as he continued. “You’ve got fucking four of em. Guess even you’ve got needs, eh?”

Colby frowned as he grabbed Ken’s wrist and dug his thumbnail into the soft skin around the veins of the boy’s wrist. Ken let go with a yelp, holding his hurting hand. “Don’t talk about my friends,” Colby sneered. “Just because they’re more than you’ll ever amount to.” He continued his walk towards Carl and Markus, moving just enough so Ken’s newly outreached hand missed his hair and got the back of his shirt instead.

“That’s some talk you’ve got there asshole,” Ken sneered. Colby was unprepared when Ken punched him from behind on his hurt side, making him double over to clutch his chest. Laughing, Ken tossed Colby onto the dirt, “What? What happened to mister super karate kid? You’re so pathetic!”

A fist suddenly collided with Ken’s face, sending him backwards but nonetheless shutting him up. Paco and a few others ran over to help him up. Everyone looked up surprisedly to find Markus standing there, his knuckles spotted with blood from Ken’s nose. Carl was working his way up from the ground where he had obviously been discarded by the friend he had been trying to help.

“What the fuck is your problem?!” Ken screamed at Markus.

“My problem?” Markus smiled, a slight slur in his speech. “My problem?” He walked forward, smile turning into a somewhat scary grin. “You,” he stated simply, throwing another punch at Ken that connected with his eye.

Colby got into a sitting position, holding his side. He watched as Markus tossed a lazy kick at Ken’s side, who rolled away and got up, holding the right side of his face.

“You bastard!” he yelled as blood gushed down the bottom half of his face. “You think you can just get away with this cause you’ve got the world wrapped around your little finger?”

“Wrapped around my finger?” Markus chuckled. “It just tied itself that way. Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

Ken growled as he raised his fists in challenge. “Fucking asshole. Think you can get everything you want… You think you’re so much better than everyone else, don’t you?”

“Think?” Markus stepped forward, an unwarranted slap striking Ken across the face. “I don’t have to think to know I’m better than you.”

Ken held his now red cheek, staring at his football captain oddly. Markus never talked like this. Markus never acted like this. He was the nice popular kid that stopped fights and spoke words of encouragement and wisdom to everyone else. He took everything without the bat of an eye, never retaliated. It seemed what little effect of alcohol was left in Ken evaporated with this unexpected display from the guy he both hated and respected in odd ways.

Colby finally made it to his feet. He knew he should try to stop Markus, but he was somewhat afraid this newfound… hostility might direct itself at anyone. He had been stupid enough to turn his back on Ken, but he pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to hold anything against someone of Markus’s build with his rib the way it was. He looked over at Carl, who was obviously also at a loss of what to do.

“You…” Ken sneered.

“What?” Markus laughed. “You gonna fight me? I thought you only went after people you thought lower than you.”

“Shut up,” Ken sneered again. “Think you’re so fucking perfect…”

“Perfect?” Markus looked somewhat surprised. Colby got to his feet, trying to figure out the best way to intervene. “Hell, no one’s perfect,” he mumbled. He seemed somewhat confused and only making some sense.

“Ha! There you go with you’re spill again. You think you know everything, and what you say goes. You’re so fucking self-righteous,” he yelled as he threw another punch. Markus grabbed his arm and pulled the boy forward, kneeing him in the stomach.

“Self-righteous…?” Markus mused. “Riiiight. I’m so self-righteous. And prideful. And I’m just better than everyone, right? Are you sure you’re not talking about you?” he grinned as he threw a lazy kick at Ken’s back.

A sudden movement behind him brought his attention around just in time to move out of the way of Cortarius, who held a glass bottle by the neck, like a weapon. Colby was shocked Markus even had enough of his wits about him to dodge like that, but then wondered if it was just luck. Cortarius turned to charge back at him, but choked as Markus locked a hand around his throat.

“What’s this?” Markus spoke blandly into the boy’s face. “Everyone’s just coming at me today,” he smiled a somewhat scary grin as he tossed Cortarius backwards. He stepped on the boy’s stomach as he walked forward to pick up the discarded glass bottle. He looked at the tree he was still standing by and suddenly hit the bottle across it, shattering the bottom half. He chuckled, “Wouldn’t this make a better weapon, you think?”

Colby stepped forward, Carl coming up as well. “Markus,” Carl called, his serious face back in tact. “You’ve done enough.”

Markus didn’t reply, but he did drop the now sharp bottle uninterestedly onto the grass and staggered backwards a few steps from loss of balance. Carl picked Cortarius up, and urged him back towards where the other guys were. Colby offered a hand to Ken, whose face was rather bloody now.

“Get the fuck away from me,” Ken sneered, getting up on his own.

“I was just trying to help,” Colby blinked at him. Carl was once again trying to steer Markus towards the car. He grimaced as Ken spit a bloody wad of saliva on his shirt. “That’s just disgusting,” he stated.

Ken growled and moved as if to hit Colby again, but Markus appeared next to him at the last second, making him rethink his action. He pulled his hands up and stepped backwards towards the tree. “Chill man, I wasn’t doing anything…”

“Come on,” Colby coerced Markus to turn back to Carl. “It’s fine.”

“Off to fuck the bitches again no doubt,” Ken murmured just enough to reach the somewhat dumbed ears of Markus. The taller boy turned around almost impossibly quickly and grabbed the front of Ken’s shirt, pressing his back into the tree painfully.

“You have something to say?” Markus seethed under his breath in a heated whisper, his eyes glaring with hate. When Ken didn’t answer he pressed his fist into the base of his throat, bringing out an strangled, “N-no…”

“Markus, let go!” Colby said firmly. The murderous look Markus held was making him nervous… the last thing he needed was a casualty or a badly injured football player. “He’s not worth it!”

Markus let go with a look of bland uninterested disgust. This time they finally made it back to Carl’s car with no mishaps or distractions. Although Markus did seem to be getting dizzier and kept making comments he didn’t feel well. They laid him down in the back seat, Carl making a comment on how he better not throw up in his car, and finally made their way out of the party area.

After a few minutes, deep breathing betrayed Markus’s unconsciousness. Colby sighed and glanced at Carl. “Well. Nothing bad happened.”

Carl snorted. “Ken and his lackeys are going to be pissed for a long time, if not the rest of this year.”

“Well they started it,” Colby muttered. “But I meant it wasn’t so bad. It could have been worse.”

Carl sighed. “Don’t… Don’t tell Markus I told you but…” Colby waited. Another sigh, “You know Markus came here from a super dorm-style private school, right?”

“Everyone knows that,” Colby mused.

“He came here cause he got expelled.”

“….Markus?”

“That’s what he told me,” Carl sighed again. “He apparently hospitalized three guys while drunk.”

Colby blinked. “Three?”

“One was a teacher who tried to stop him apparently.”

“But he came here freshman year!”

“Look, I know it doesn’t make much sense…” Carl turned off the highway. “But when you’re drunk off your ass people do things you wouldn’t really think possible. I’m not saying it didn’t happen but… Markus isn’t one to lie.”

After another few minutes, they pulled into Markus’s driveway. “Are his keys in his pocket?”

“I don’t know!” Colby exclaimed.

“Well check!” Carl got out and ran up to the door to see if it might be unlocked.

Colby stared at Markus’s sleeping form for what seemed like forever before he shut his eyes. “Please forgive me for this,” he pleaded softly before digging into his pockets for a key. Of course, it was in the second one. Thanks a lot karma, Colby thought annoyedly.

“Doors unlocked,” Carl stated as he came back. Thanks twice over karma! He frowned.

They had finally managed to get Markus up to the door when a loud jingle pierced the rather silent air. Carl opened his phone hurriedly. After a quick argument, he snapped his phone shut. “Crap, my mother is pissed as hell. Where do you live?”

“Uhm, I live back over on the other side of the school. In the subdivision behind the trees,” Colby murmured as they worked their way up the stairs.

Carl groaned. “I don’t have time to take you home and make it back before midnight,” he muttered. “Crap. Can you stay here?”

“What?” Colby tried to stay quiet.

“If you want I will come get you in the morning, and we can take Markus to get his truck. But I have to be home in under eight minutes or … well, you don’t want to know.”

“Grounded?”

“Forced into more date meetings,” Carl groaned again.

“Date meetings?”

“It’s a long story,” he sighed as they dropped Markus onto his bed. “My mother thinks I should be dating proper girls who’ve grown up without any influence from today’s society. It’s… not fun.”

“Uh…huh…” Colby raised an eyebrow. “Well get home then.”

“Thank you Colby,” Carl looked at him earnestly. “I owe you.”

“Yeah. So does Markus,” Colby muttered, more to himself as Carl had already run down the stairs and out of the house.

Observing the sleeping boy, Colby found his clothes extremely dirty from having been on the ground. He wrestled with the obvious decision for almost twenty minutes. He could either let him sleep in the dirty clothes… but that was not healthy. Especially since he seemed to be damp. Ken must have poured some kind of drink on him while he had been first reeling from the alcohol. If it was alcohol.

Ok, he decided, I can just… cover him up with covers rather than trying to completely change him.

With this plan of action, he attempted to work on removing Markus’s shirt first. The task proved much more difficult than he originally thought, especially because he knew he was blushing and hated himself for it.

One thing was that Markus kept trying to roll onto his back, which Colby knew from Health Ed class, was the worst position for a sleeping drunk. If they tried to throw up in their sleep, they wouldn’t be able to wake up and turn over, and the vomit would suffocate them to death.

Colby just simply could not bring himself to do anything other than the shirt. He shook Markus’s shoulder, trying to wake him up. He tried to roll over again, but went the wrong way and tumbled off the bed, taking Colby down with him.

Clutching his aching side, Colby managed to roll onto his back to try to see what had happened. If Markus was sleeping on the floor, then he’d just leave him that way. This entire situation was making him embarrassed. Instead, he found Markus glancing lazily around the room. Perhaps the fall had woken him.

“Markus,” Colby gasped, holding his side as he sat up. “Listen, you need to change.” Markus stared at him. “You need to change into pajamas so you don’t get sick or anything.”

Markus got to his knees, and Colby immediately looked away, assuming he would start to change. But a warm presence brought his attention back forward where he almost yelled as Markus’s face filled his vision. “Colby…” he murmured. “Why are you here?”

Colby blinked. Markus was the oddest drunken person he’d ever seen. “I was helping you,” he answered, trying to back away. His knee hit Markus’s arm that was keeping him upright, and easily knocked it over, causing Markus to topple onto him.

Do not scream… Do not scream… Do not scream… Do not scream… Colby ordered himself over and over. The soft thought that he was just upset at overreacting passed through his mind, but he tried to ignore it as much as possible. His face was flushed enough that normally he’d wonder if he was sick from a high fever. This was definitely not good.

“I thought you were mad at me…” Markus muttered.

“No… No I’m not.” He grabbed Markus’s shoulders. “Time to get up…” Something soft wrapped behind him. Panic rose in his mind before he realized it was just Markus’s arms, which brought the panic back three-fold.

“I’m sorry,” Markus breathed. “Not a … good person sometimes…”

“M-Markus… c-come on… you gotta let me go…” Colby tried to convince him weakly.

“I can hear your heart,” the boy murmured sleepily, his head on Colby’s chest. “Makes my headache go away…” He seemed to fall asleep again after that.

Colby looked down and blinked. At least he was staying face down this way. He mentally brandished himself. What kind of a thought was that? He had to fix this before something else happened, or worse, someone walked in. This would be hard to talk out of.

Do not play with his hair… he told himself. Do not play… he frowned as his fingers began working their way through the strawberry blonde strands on their own accord. His hair was unnaturally soft.

The heavy blush returned as Colby realized what he was doing. After waiting a while, (Only to make Markus’s headache go away, he told himself!) he finally was able to get Markus up and back on the bed. If he was stuck here all night he was not going to do anything… that could lead to trouble.

He took his phone into the restroom and, after calling his dad and explaining the situation, agreed to have Larry come pick him up the next morning. Returning the bedroom, he found Markus much too close to the edge of the bed again. While avoiding random clutching hands, he fixed him back far enough away so he wouldn’t fall any time soon. He was most likely not getting any sleep tonight. Wonderful. He watched Markus’s face as he continued to sleep heavily.

Woke up early, can’t afford to sleep… thank you karma, he thought annoyed. But… it wasn’t everyday he got to see Markus sleep either. Maybe some good was coming out of this. He rolled his eyes at himself. He was starting to think like the girls.

--

So. Yeah, after staying up till 6 am working on this... I have been caught and am in trouble. Now I probably get to go to a physciatrist again. Hope you're all happy. (Ok I'm kind of kidding... don't take me seriously.)

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I worked very hard on this chapter, and it is rather long. I wanted the ending to be cute too. But it wasn't too much of a cliffie so... hopefully peoples wont get mad at me. Thank you for reading! I appreciate it very much. Please be kind enough to leave a comment.

NOTE: I think it is only fair to warn you, I will soon be going to college. It is looking like I will not have a computer for the first little while. If I do not, then there will most likely not be many updates. Please be patient with me. I do apologize. Thank you.