Laugh with me

The next morning Frank convinces me to go back to school with him, telling me it will be worse if I stay home alone and dwell on what happened. We walk into the school together, getting a lot of strange glances but Frank brushes it off and keeps walking, his head held high and I try my best to do the same but i can't help after a few seconds when my gaze drops back to the floor, so used to just keeping my head down to avoid trouble, apparently when I look at the jocks it's because I'm eye raping them. The morning passes in the usual fashion, Frank and I go to our different classes and I am completely alone, being bombarded with spit balls and paper balls and by the time lunch comes around I am ready to go home and never come back again. I race to the cafeteria and hurry through the line, getting some disgusting looking food I probably won't eat before hurrying to the table in the back corner before too many people show up, knowing it's better to rush and be out of their way otherwise I will end up wearing whatever food I attempted to get. I keep my gaze focused on my tray, picking at the lumps of food when the smell of pizza fills my nose and someone sits down opposite me, making me jump and when I look up I see it's only Frank. "Hey" he greets me, a smile on his face as he says "How was your morning?" "The usual" I offer, turning my gaze back to my food when Frank reaches out and slides the tray away, saying "Don't eat that shit, I bought us pizza" as he opens the box between us and I see it's my favourite. "How?" I ask with a small smile on my lips and Frank smiles back and says "I cut last class, thought you might like this better." I nod in agreement before taking a slice and we share the pizza in silence while we eat, Frank ignoring all the strange stares we are getting again. At the end of lunch Frank tells me to wait outside for him at the end of the day and we can walk home together and I agree, looking forward to walking home without being beaten up for a change.

The rest of my afternoon classes pass slowly and finally it's time to go home and when I get to the front of the school Frank isn't there yet so I stand near the side of the front building out of the way and wait. A minute later a shadow blocks out the light shining on me and when I lift my head up I expect it to be Frank but it's not, it's Matt. I feel my whole body tense up and freeze as he smirks and takes the final step to close the distance between us, his hands braced on the wall either side of my head as he leans in close and hisses "What the fuck was that last night? You need to learn some fucking respect you pathetic piece of shit. If I want your body I will have your body and you won't ever lay a hand on me again, I will make sure of that" as he slides a hand down to grab my wrist, standing back up and tugging me off the wall with him. "No" I protest but Matt doesn't listen, tightening his grip to the point of pain for me and I try to struggle against him as he starts to drag me across the car park, other students looking our way but no one coming to help. "No" I protest again as I try to escape his grip when I hear "Hey, what the fuck?" And I turn my head and scream out "Frank, please." Matt turns back to face me and backhands me hard in the face with his free hand, my head snapping to the side as the whole right side of my face feels like it's split open and I let out a small sob as suddenly Matts grip on my wrist disappears and I fall, scrapping my hand and arm on the pavement as Frank tackles Matt and starts laying his fists into him over and over. I let out a soft whine as I sit back up and look over to see the fight, Matt struggling against Frank and landing a punch to Franks jaw when two other guys who are friends with Frank rush over and help him, all of them beating the hell out of Matt until I gather myself enough to stand up and say "Stop" all three of them pausing and looking over at me, Franks forehead creased in concern.

Notes