Ribbons Academy for Boys

“Thanks.” I rested my head on his shoulder and yawned.

“You should sleep.”

“What about dinner? I was going to make cookies.”

“We’ll think of something I’m sure.” he got up and I slipped under the covers. Braxton stayed there.

“Are you going to stand there like a creeper and watch me?” I asked.

“No. Sorry, sweet dreams.” he said and left. He was so weird. How could I sleep though? I had too much to think about. I kept pushing it out of my mind and think of something else, but I had nothing to think about that didn’t have Will, Braxton, Hank, my mom, Seth, or my gang in it. All topics brought me pain.



I woke up to darkness. I looked at my alarm clock and it read 3:28. I sighed and tried to go back to sleep, but my stomach growled. I groaned and went to the kitchen. I turned the light on and looked in the fridge. There was a Tupperware bowl with my name on it. I took it out and saw spaghetti. I smiled to myself and stuck it in the microwave.

“Hero?” I jumped and spun around.

“Hey Braxton.” I said. He was standing in the doorway in his boxers.

“You scared me.” he admitted.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I said and the microwave went off. “Thanks for leaving me food.”

“No problem.” I took it out and walked to the table. He followed and sat across from me.

“What are you doing up?”

“I haven’t been sleeping well lately and I heard noises so I came to investigate.”

“With a baseball bat?” I asked, noticing it on the floor by the entryway.

“Shut up. I was worried.” I laughed quietly. A few minutes went by that we sat in silence.

“Why do you get paranoid when I’m alone with Hank?” I asked.

“Because I know his story. And what he can do.”

“What’s his story?”

“Its not mine to tell. If you want to know, you should ask him. You should ask all of the boys really. Know what exactly you’re dealing with.

“Okay. I’ll do that.” I said and took a bite of food.

“Do you just know mine?”

“No. Tanner told me his.”

“Which one did he tell you?” he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his fine chest.

“That he was in bed with a guy and his dad walked in on him and he tried to kill himself because he couldn’t handle it. Why?”

“He’s told a few different ones to the guys. You and I are the only ones that know he’s gay.”

“Him and Parker would make a cute couple, wouldn’t they?” I asked, with a cheeky grin.

“Adorable.” he said sarcastically. I brushed if off and finished my spaghetti.

“There’s going to be a ceremony in the gym for Will tomorrow at 10.” he said, out of the blue.

“Oh, okay. Thanks.”

“Are you going to go?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“Do you want me to go with you?” he asked softly.

“You don’t have to. I know you didn’t like him.”

“Its not for that. I don’t want there to be another attack, and you get hurt.” a smile crept onto my face. He was so sweet in a weird way.

“Okay. I’ll see if anyone else wants to go too.”

“Hero? Do you want to know how he-”

“No!” I said quickly. “I don’t want to know. I’ve heard too many tragedies.”

“Alright. You should go to bed.”

“I’m not tired. I’ve been sleeping since like, 5.” I frowned.

“Fine. I’m going back to bed. If you watch TV, keep it down.” I walked to the sink and walked back to him. “And if someone comes to the door, get me. Officers aren’t doing checks at night.”

“Got it.” I said. He pulled me into a side hug and kissed the tome of my head.

“Night.” he said.

“Night hot stuff.” I laughed. He pushed me and he went to his room. I went to the living room and turned on the TV. 5 hours of mindless shit. Yay.



“Hero.” I heard someone sing.

“What?” I grumbled.

“Its 9 am. You have an hour to get ready.” I groaned and opened my eyes. Hank was standing over me.

“Help me.” I said, lifting my arms up. He picked me up bridal style and took me to my room. He laid me on my bed but I didn’t let go. He got on the bed on top of me. He almost fell and I giggled. I looked at him and he was staring at me. Hank started to close the gap between us.

Something inside of me was screaming ‘NO!’, but the only voice I could hear clearly was the one screaming, ‘YES!’. He lips met mine and the kiss was soft and sweet. He pulled away and looked at me. I reached up and pulled him back to me. Our lips crashed and the kiss got more intense. One of his hands trailed down my side to my leg and it sent chills through my body. Hank moaned lightly and pushed his tongue into my mouth. I was getting into the kiss when Hank pulled away and I felt the weight off my bed.

My eyes flew open when I saw Braxton dragging Hank out of my room. What had I done? I shouldn’t have done that. I should have given in.

~BRAXTON’S P.O.V.

I drug Hank to his room. I didn’t know what to think. Only that I think Mr. Rhyder is right. I’m jealous.

“What the hell just happened?” I asked.

“I honestly don’t know! And why did you ruin it?”

“I didn’t want you to rape Hero! That’s why! She’s about to go to a funeral! Do you think she needs you on her mind?” I yelled.

“Oh but she needs to be thinking about you, right? Its all about you, isn’t it? Hero’s not your property! Stop trying to protect her like she’s your, diamond or something! She’s no ones to claim!” he yelled back.

“At least I haven’t tried anything! She’s our dorm mate, not a sex toy!” Hank stared at me.

“Dude, calm down. I’m sorry, it wont happen again.” he said. I was surprised he calmed down so easily.

“Thank you.” I muttered.

“You really like her, don’t you?”

“I don’t know. I’m just trying to protect her. I want her to feel safe. When we were in Minnesota, she said she felt really safe here. Imagine thinking your going to die at any minute, that’s what she felt there. I’m just trying to help her feel more at home.”

“I think you love her.”

“Whatever.” I said and walked out. I saw Hero in the main room with Tanner and Chase. Was Hank right? Did I love her? I watched her talk tot Tanner. The way her pink lips move. Her pale skin looked so soft and I loved the way her eyes sparkled. She was wearing blue jeans and a black v-neck shirt. Her hair fell in her eyes a little. that’s when I realized how beautiful she is.

“We should go.” Tanner announced. I looked at the clock, it was 9:40. When I caught eyes with Hero, she glared at me. I didn’t blame her, but it hurt. I let the officer by our door, know that we were ready, and he led Tanner, Parker, Jasper, Fye, Gerald, Hero and I to the gym. The gym wasn’t very full. About half of the school was there. I sat next to Hero. She looked up at me. She looked hurt. Maybe it was because of Will, but I was sure some of it was me.

~HERO’S P.O.V.

Will’s body wasn’t at the memorial. I was kind of glad. I think I would have broken down if I saw him. I was a little mad at Braxton. Mad that he was so protective of me when he didn’t have to be. He wasn’t letting me have any fun.

At the same time, I was glad because I was making a terrible choice kissing hank. He was like a brother, but I guess I got caught in the moment.

I noticed everyone from Dorm M was there, but Oliver. When the ceremony was over(It was beautiful, I cried.), I ran to one of the boys in Dorm M.

“Hey Hero.”

“Hi. Was Oliver at lunch the day Will died?” I asked.

“Nope,” he said after a minute. What a dumbass! Cant he put two and two together? I walked back my boys and an officer led us back to the dorm. On the way, I saw Oliver. I lost it and started to run after him, yelling,

“You bastard! Why would you do it? I hope you die and burn in hell!” someone tackled me before I could get to him. “Let go! He killed Will!”

“Hero, stop right now.” Braxton hissed in my ear. “You could get kicked out.”

“Let go of her, boy. I’ll take her to the principal.” an officer said. He put me in handcuffs and led me away.



“Have you anything to say for yourself?” the principal asked. I shook my head. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to send you home and see what the judge wants to do for you.”

“No! Please! I cant go home! I’ll die! I really will! My gang leader will find out I’m there and kill me!”

“Almost attacking and yelling nonsense at another student is crazy. I cant believe you’d do that.”

“He killed Will! I know he did. They hated each other and Oliver wasn’t at lunch the day he died.”

“I’ll check into that. Now, there is a single dorm at the end of your hallway, I think that I will have you move in there.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I think that will be better for you.”

“But I’m really close to my dorm mates.” I protested.

“I don’t care. I’ll send an officer up in 2 hours to take you.” I left and an officer escorted me to Dorm F.

“Hero!” they said. I stood there. I couldn’t believe what was going to happen.

“What’s wrong?” Tanner asked.

“They… He… I’m switching dorms.” I croaked out.

“What?”

“Why?”

“He thinks it will be better for me. it’s the single dorm at the end of the hall.”

“There has to be something you can do!” Gerald said.

“It’s the dorm or jail! I’d rather be here then jail for the next 10 years!” I started crying.

“They cant do that.” Tanner said.

“I have to go pack.” I said, pushing past them I locked myself in my room and packed.

I was done in about 45 minutes. I dragged my bags out. The boys were sitting there.

“Maybe after its over, you can secretly movie back in.” Chase said. I shrugged.

“I’ll still see you guys in classes.” I said quietly.

“Not me!” Chase and Jasper said. I sighed. They weren’t making this easy.

“Sorry.” I said a little harshly. We talked about random things to lighten the mood, and the next thing I knew, there was a cop to take me away. I hugged all the boys and dragged my bags down the hall to Dorm 3.

I went in and saw the main room and kitchen, squished as 1 room. There was 2 other doors. One was a closet and the other was my room with a bathroom and shower. I sat down on my bed and broke down crying. I missed my boys already. How did they expect me to do this?
There was a knock on my door. I wiped my eyes and nose and ran to open it and I saw John.

“Hey Hero. Are you okay?”

“Does it look like it?” he pursed his lips and pushed past me. I shut the door and he took a seat on my only beige couch.

“I thought you wanted this.”