The Silent Confession of an Emo

Gabe was scared out of his mind as he tried to prepare himself for what was coming. He watched Seth closely as he circled around the bound boy. His eyes were twinkling with malice and superiority. The jock forced the smaller teen to look at him. Gabe could tell by the look in his eyes, in his smirk that there was going to be no mercy.

"So, Gabriel..." Seth started, narrowing his eyes. "I heard you tea bagged Matt, broke Thomas' nose, bit Nathan, Mark and Jake, and spat on Matt's face."

The smaller boy bit his lip. "I may have..." He mumbled.

The jock smirked and bent down to Gabriel's level, looking deeply into his hazel eyes. "and what do you suppose we do about that? I can't have you getting away with showing disrespect to my friends. They were nice enough to carry you all the way here." Seth replied. He gulped.

Seth stepped back and unbound Gabe from the chair, only to replace the straps holding his wrists with handcuffs. Gabe's heart was thudding in his ears as he watched the stronger boy with a deer in the head lights look. Seth dragged him over to the far wall which had a pull up bar attached to it. The pull up bar was obviously intended for athletes much taller than the dark haired boy. Gabe would have to stand on his tippy toes just for his finger tips to even brush the cold metal. That's when it hit him; Seth was going to handcuff him to that. He struggled to get away, digging his heels into the worn carpet, but the football player's grip on his arms was too strong. He slammed the thin boy against the wall, his body weight holding him in place while he handcuffed his wrists.

The blond stepped back and chuckled darkly.

"You look like such a scared little girl." He said.
"I'm not a girl!" the pale boy growled, giving him the most hateful look he could muster.
"Leave me the fuck alone, Seth! I didn't do shit to you! Neither did Alli!" Seth laughed. "It seems like our timid little puppy found his voice." He purred before slapping Gabriel in the face.

Gabe bit his tongue, holding back a whimper. He could already feel the bruise forming under the skin.

"Don't talk back to me." The green eyed boy said. Gabe glared at him. " fuck you!" He spat through clinched teeth. "You'd love that wouldn't you." Seth growled back, his emerald eyes growing darker.

Gabe could almost feel the air in the room get heavier as Seth's temper rose.

"Not even if you were the last guy on earth." The boy retorted, which earned him a hard punch to the stomach.

He coughed but stood his ground. He was done being pushed around, even if it meant a harsher beating, he was going to show Seth that he wasn't afraid of him, or at least make him think he wasn't. Jerkoffs like Seth got off on the reactions of their prey. He wasn’t about to give him that satisfaction anymore.

"You're getting on my nerves, kid." The jock growled as he hit the small boy again, and again.

Gabe didn't make a sound, which only angered the other boy more. Seth wanted him to cry, whimper, beg for mercy but Gabe wasn't going to give him what he wanted, so the beating continued until Gabriel was hanging limp against his restraints, unable to hold his own weight anymore. He was in so much pain but wasn't about to voice it because that would only please Seth. Emotions swirled around in his head like a hurricane. Anger, hurt, love, hate, sympathy, mortification. They built up inside him until he couldn’t hold it in anymore. Gabriel had to know. He looked up at Seth weakly, tears forming.

"Why...?" was all that came through the pale boy's busted lips. "What did I do.... to make you so... angry with me...?"

Seth’s actions came to a halt; Gabe’s voice had startled him. The teen hadn’t spoken for about 20 minutes. The jock was breathless and his adrenaline high was waning. He examined the damage he had done; bloody lip, busted eyebrow, bruised cheekbone, the cuffs on his wrists were slick and shiny with crimson and his wrists were a rainbow of colors ranging from blue to brown to purple and red, the skin chaffed.

He sighed, shoulders sagging and uncuffed Gabriel, catching him as his weak legs gave way and gently sat him on the floor, leaning up against the lockers. The jock slid down next to him, keeping his distance. They said nothing for a while; Gabe’s ragged breathing was the only sound that broke the silence between them.

"You didn't do anything, Gabriel...." Seth finally muttered.

The pale boy, confused, looked over at him.

"Stop moving. You'll hurt yourself." Seth said, carefully pulling the broken boy over to him, laying the boy's head on his shoulder.

Gabe was confused. Very confused. This wasn't the normal Seth. Usually, as soon as he got his anger out for that moment, he left immediately. Who in the hell was this kind guy that was stroking his hair softly? He stared off in the distance; making it a point to avoid eye contact.

Gabe was a little scared about Seth's sudden change in attitude. There was no way for him to even begin to figure out how he should react. Should he push him away? Tell him off and make a run for it? Or should he just lay here, oddly comforted by his bully’s soft touch? Why didn’t he just leave him in here, handcuffed to the pull up bar? That’s what normal Seth would do. He would’ve walked out and taken the keys with him. So why was he here, laying on the floor?

The door of the locker room jiggled twice. Seth jumped up, sending Gabe crashing to the floor. Gabe yelped in surprise and pain.

"Sorry..." Seth hissed before walking over to the door and unlocking it, peaking out.
"We put the rope back up like you said. It's been an hour and a half." Gabe heard one of Seth's friends saying.

Seth nodded, motioning for his teammates to come in and walked back over to Gabe, wearing his cold emotionless expression again but this time, his eyes held hurt, sadness and surprisingly hesitation. He placed his shoe on Gabe’s shoulder and shoved the raven haired boy over, causing him to whimper and clinch his teeth as white hot pain shot through his body.

Seth and his jocks retreated, leaving Gabe alone, broken and confused. His head was reeling from the throbbing in his temples and the clusterfuck of emotions and questions running through his brain. Soon there were quick, light footsteps echoing down the hallway. Gabe recognized the sound as Alli's flats hitting the tile floors. She threw open the door.

"Gabe? Gabey?" Alli called.

Gabe groaned, pushing himself up on his arms. Alli gasped when she saw her best friend's wrecked form. His arms were littered with dark purplish splotches and red marks, streaks of blood were all over him; on his clothes, his hands, in his hair, down his chin. His clothes were torn and his lip ring was missing. The blond girl rushed over, dropping to her knees and pulling him gently so his head was on her lap. Tears formed as she saw his battered face. Dried blood was smeared from his lip and nose down to his chin, a steady stream still leaking from his nose. Alli pulled a tissue from her purse and tore a piece off before putting it up Gabe's nose to stop the bleeding.

"I'm so sorry, Gabe...." Alli cried quietly, tears sliding down her face.

Gabe forced a small smile and lifted a shaky hand, wiping her tears away with his thumb, leaving a light streak of blood across her check. He frowned weakly.

"I just made that worse...." He whispered hoarsely.

Alli let out a soft giggle and pulled Gabe closer, wishing she could’ve prevented this from happening.
She felt like the worst friend in the world.

"Alli..?" Gabe's muffled voice said.
"yes...?" Alli sniffled.
"Your boobs are squishing my face." He said weakly. She pulled back quickly.
"Sorry!" she apologized, wiping her tears with a tissue and giggling.

She helped him sit up and get on his feet so he could use the lockers to keep his balance.

"I wanna go home..." Gabe whimpered like a child and gave Alli puppy dog eyes.

Alli sighed, smiling softly at Gabe. He was so cute when he gave her that look. She just had to let him have his way. She couldn’t resist.

"Alright... Come on..." she said, caving.

He grinned like a child as Alli draped Gabe's arm over her shoulders. They worked their way through the emptier hallways and out to the parking lot. Alli grabbed her keys from her backpack and unlocked the doors then helped Gabe into her car and drove him to his house.

Once there, she helped Gabe to his room and laid him on the bed, warning him that if he got up she was going to raise all hell. He chuckled softly and nodded, saluting her. She nodded in approval and went downstairs to get the first aid kit. After wiping off all the blood, dressing his wounds and getting Gabe into some clean pajamas, they spent the rest of the day up there and watched movies and ate snacks from Gabe's mini fridge. They talked and quoted lines from their favorite movies, they had a popcorn fight and gossiped a little while before falling asleep on his bed.