Sunflowers and Tulips

Today was Monday, and I was finally back in school. To be honest, I missed the place slightly—but only slightly. Besides the fact that I get to see my friends for the first time in a long time, I freaking hate this place. It feels like a prison cell filled with horny inmates. Oh so fun. It’s like all you do is see people fucking each other around every corner. At homecoming, I saw this girl just throw her leg up around the guy, he whipped it out, and they did it right then. Nasty. Even Braedon and I have more sense to do it in private. Not that we’ve even done it, but still. I’m under the impression that we’re sensible enough…hopefully.

I crutched down the main hallway, feeling the accusing eyes of my peers practically burn a hole in my back. It was as if they knew that I was in love with Braedon, and that was pretty scary. Luckily, we knew for a fact that no one knew about us, unless my grandparents decided to be douchebags and tell everyone. I wouldn’t put it past them, honestly, and that was kind of scary.

“Yo, Guy!” one of my friends, Jerome, called out. He was a 6’2 tall guy that weighed around 285 pounds of pure muscle. Even though he looked extremely intimidating, I knew that he was a teddy bear on the inside. After all, I did have to help him kill a spider while he was sitting on his bed bawling his eyes out. He was cute, in a black guy sort of way, but to me, Braedon was cuter. Sexier, even.

I nodded my head and yelled back, “Hey Jay! What’s up?” A wide smile spread across my friends face, and I instantly knew that something was up. “C’mon. Tell me now.”

He shook his head and chuckled, loving the torture he was causing me. “Nope. Guess, man.”

“Or how ‘bout you tell me or else I’ll ‘accidentally’ let slip that you have this stuffed teddy bear conveniently named ‘Lil Jaybear’?” I retaliated, holding up a little brown teddy bear that had little pieces of cotton spilling out of assorted holes. Of course, it was my teddy bear, but he didn’t know that.

“You wouldn’t,” he challenged, his eyes shifting nervously from one place to another.

My eyebrow raised and I smirked, whispering, “Try me.”

He lunged for the bear, but missed because I pulled it out of his unusually large reach. “Aw, c’mon man!” he pouted, stomping his foot on the ground. “Fine…Word has it that Clark is stuck in a locker somewhere.”

My ears immediately perked up at my love’s name, but then a rage filled me, and all I saw red. “What do you mean, ‘stuck in a locker’?”

Jerome raised his hands in defense, “I dunno, man. But all I know is that people are sayin’ he’s gay.” I froze, shocked at what he just said. “Is he…gay?”

I didn’t reply. Instead, I strode (or rather crutched) down the large hallway, letting my anger get the best of me. Tears of pure rage were spilling onto my cheeks, and anyone who I passed by instantly knew that I was pissed beyond belief. Going into the guys’ football locker room, I screamed, “Where’s Braedon!?”

Someone walking by, probably on the JV team, replied, “D hall. Second floor. Locker D2176.”

My hands somehow found this boy’s boy shoulders, and I shook him. “How did you know this?!”
He stared at me, wide eyed, until I shook him again. “Tell me!”

“Hey, I dunno, man. I just heard it from one of the Varsity guys! Anyways, the guy deserves it. We don’t need any of that gay filth running around our locker room.” In the next second, I punched him, and he was knocked out cold, blood pouring out of his nose.

As I made my way towards the D hall, I prayed to God that my Margherita was fine, especially since he recently got out of the hospital. My nostrils were flaring in and out and my lips were pursed into a thin line as I practically ran down the hall, forgetting the fact that I had crutches. Everyone that was passing through moved out of my way; the wave of pure fury I emitted told people to not mess with me.

“Get out of my fucking way,” I growled, practically biting the heads off of people. A puny freshman tried to squeak her rights into my ear, but I merely brushed her off and continued on my way, calling out for my love. “Braedon! Brae?!”

A small squeal escaped from a locker to my left, and I quickly turned towards it. “James? Is that you Girasole?”

“Baby it’s me. Don’t worry; I’ll get you out, I promise.” My voice cracked, and tears were slightly spilling from my eyes out of pure rage. “Who did this to you?”

Sniffing, I heard him shift, making the locker echo with his movements. “I…can’t say…I’m sorry.”

“You can tell me, Braedon. I promise you, they won’t hurt you anymore. I’ll protect you, okay? Please, just tell me,” I begged, my teeth grinding together. “Please…”

“L-Landon Fergeson,” my baby whimpered.

If it was possibly, I got even angrier at the fact that it was Landon-fucking-Fergeson. He was a dick to everybody and always tried to take my quarterback position even though he sucked. I tried putting that cocky bastard in his place, but he’s too stubborn for his own good. That, and I didn’t really have the will to actually beat the living shit out of him.

I guess I do now.

“Alright. Listen to me for a second, Brae…I am going to get a janitor to unlock this locker, okay? It’ll just take me a few seconds; I’ll be back before you know it, I promise,” I said, trying to keep calm and not scare him even further.

My baby squeaked, but replied shakily, “O-okay…”

Immediately, I ran—well, crutched—to the nearest janitor. “Sir! Excuse me!” I yelled, grabbing his attention. “My boy-…my best friend got locked in a locker. Can you help me?”

The janitor nodded, and immediately ran past me, yelling over his shoulder, “What locker?”

“D2176. Hurry! He’s claustrophobic!”

It was true; Braedon was claustrophobic, which was why I was freaking out so much. If Margherita doesn’t get out of there soon, he could possibly pass out, which isn’t good due to his recent waking-up-from-a-coma adventure. If he passed out…I was just terrified that he’d fall back into that coma, and not wake up.

The thought of that alone drove me to just forgetting about the crutches and running, which hurt like a bitch, but was so worth it. My thigh was on fire by the time I got to the locker, and the janitor was just about to open it by the time I got there. He was talking calmly to Braedon, trying to soothe him.

“It’s alright, son. I’ll have you out of here in a jiffy. Then, we might be able to get you something like ice cream from the cafeteria, yeah?”

It was a move that adults used on little children, not high schoolers, but it seemed to work on Braedon, because he was muttering “Alright” the whole time.

With a pop, the locker opened, and my baby fell. I got there in time to reach my arms out and catch him, holding him in my arms. His bright blue eyes looked up at me, bloodshot, and his lips were chapped and pale. All the color from his face was gone, making him look like an angelic ghost. My hand rested on his cheek, my thumb stroking it and wiping away the tears. I completely forgot I was in school, but I didn’t care; my Braedon was okay.

His arms wrapped around my neck, and I picked him up bridal style, grimacing slightly at the pain that shot up my leg. Tears pricked my eyes, but I pushed them back.

“C’mon, Margherita. Let’s get you to a nurse,” I mumbled softly.

He curled up into my chest, and hummed, closing his eyes. The poor baby was exhausted; he must’ve been absolutely terrified. “Alright, Girasole…can I get a kiss, please?”

I turned my head around to try and see if there were any people, and besides the janitor, there were none. So, I quickly leaned over and pressed my lips to his for a second, then broke the kiss. It saddened me that I had to stop touching my baby’s lips, but I didn’t want people to see and have him get hurt again. At least I could fend for my own; my Braedon, even though he’s fiery, wouldn't be able to take a guy my size.

His eyes started to droop, and I got scared; it felt like someone kicked me in the stomach and I was winded. “Baby, please stay awake. Please...don’t fall asleep on me,” I whispered frantically, my voice shaking.

“But why,” he whined, scrunching up his nose.

“Because I wanna see your pretty blue eyes,” I cooed, trying to coax him.

I looked at his face until he managed to open his eyes, revealing those two beautiful blue orbs. “Happy now?” he grumbled.

“Very happy,” I replied, smiling.

We soon got to the nurses office, and I set him on one of the beds. His arms were still wrapped around my neck, so I looked at him and gave him a “what are you doing?” look. He smiled and pecked my lips, then let go. It took all my will to not kiss him full force, so instead I just blushed and said, “I’ll be back soon.”

Turning around, I walked of the office, trusting that no one saw how Braedon and I acted. It’s not like I was ashamed—I’m not. I just don’t want people going after my baby.

It clicked in my head just exactly where I needed to go, and slowly but surely, my anger began to rise. Screw crutches, from now on I’m walking. And from now on, no one will mess with my baby.

A certain guy named Landon Fergeson was soon going to learn that.