Choke on Your Misery

Alex

“When did this happen?” I demanded, just as Rian and Jack came into the bathroom.

“Why did you drag Zack in here?” Jack questioned, a confused look on his face. I looked up at them and stepped to the side, lifting Zack’s shirt again slightly to reveal his bruise.

Rian’s eyes widened, “Zack! You told me they didn’t hurt you!”

“Maybe it didn’t hurt,” Zack grumbled, pushing my hand away.

“Bullshit,” Jack shook his head at him.

“Brent did this didn’t he?” I asked. Zack didn’t respond, and I sighed, “I’m going to take that as a yes.”

“Do you have bruises anywhere else?” Rian asked, studying Zack closely. Zack’s face flushed and he stayed silent. Jack, Rian, and I were quiet, watching him. He would have spoken up by now if he didn’t have any other marks. He finally sighed and walked over to the sinks, grabbing some paper towel and splashing his face off with water. I raised an eyebrow, looking over at Jack and Rian, who shrugged. Zack wiped his face off with the paper towel, tossing it away and turning to face us with a black eye. I gasped.

“Zack! You can’t hide things like that!” Rian exclaimed.

I scowled darkly, “They are dead.”

“Alex, you’ll get suspended if you fight with them!” Jack grabbed me the shoulders as I started for the door, pulling me back. He kept a firm grip on my shoulders.

“I don’t care!”

“You won’t be able to play in the Battle of the Bands!” Jack pointed out.

“Fuck,” I sighed, crossing my arms and looking at Zack. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Zack frowned, running a hand through his hair, “Because I knew you would all overreact like this.”

Rian held his hands up in defense, “I’m not overreacting.”

“Yeah, it’s just Alex,” Jack shrugged. I scowled, elbowing him in the chest..

“I’m sorry babe, but they had no right to beat you up. If Jack won’t let me hurt them back, I’ll just drag you down to the office to show the principal what they did,” I said.

“No, Alex,” Zack said, shaking my head as he took a step back. The bell rang to signal that class started in five minutes, but we all ignored it.

I frowned, “Why not?”

“You’re the reason they did it in the first place!” he said, scowling. My face dropped. Uh... what? “They decided to pound on me because I’m your boyfriend; because you’ve been getting them in trouble for harassing you, or something.”

“Yeah, I used to get them in trouble all the time because they’ve been assholes to me since I came out in ninth grade. They got in trouble when they beat me up the first time, and I got suspended when I got into a fight with them last year. Last year I did pretty much everything to make their lives hell,” I admitted.

Jack nodded, “It’s been going on for two years now. Alex hates them, and they hate Alex.”

“Well, apparently they’ve decided to beat on me because of you,” Zack said. He looked both upset and angry.

“And like I said, you need to tell someone so they knock it off,” I insisted. “If you don’t, I will.”

“No. Just stay out of it!” Zack said, shaking his head and pushing past me to leave.

I turned to Rian and Jack, looking at them helplessly.

“He’s pissed,” Rian said with a sigh. “Don’t take it to heart – he’ll calm down soon.”

“He better; we need to have a damn band practice!” Jack said, and Rian and I both glared at him. “I mean... we need Zack to be happy!”

I rolled my eyes, walking out of the bathroom with Rian behind me. “Just let him cool down, alright? I think he’s more mad at himself than he is at you,” Rian said.

"I'll leave him alone," I muttered, walking into history class with him just as the bell rang. I slid down into my seat next to Zack and looked over at him. He glanced up at me, but didn't look back up for the rest of class.

••••••••••

At lunch, Zack was still pissed off at me. He was in a worse mood than this morning actually; everyone had been asking him how he got the black eye, which aggravated him more. Zack sat in his usual seat between Rian and I, but hadn’t spoken to me. I could feel the tension hanging in the air between us and I didn't like it.

"So what's your story about the black eye?" Evan questioned, breaking the awkward silence.

"That I got hit in the face," Zack replied in an obvious tone, picking up his sandwich to take a bite.

"Well no shit; did you tell anyone who hit you?" Evan asked.

Zack shook his head, "No, but everyone is assuming that it was one of the varsity football players.

"Because it was," I mumbled, earning a frown from Zack. I frowned back, poking at my sandwich. I still hadn't gained my full appetite back from when I was sick.

"You two are being so depressing," Grieco said, crossing his arms at us.

I flipped him off without looking up, taking a bite of my sandwich. I spit it out as I did, making a face, "This tastes horrible!"

Jack grimaced, looking at my food, "Nasty. What kind of sandwich is it?"

"I think it was supposed to be ham... it tastes like slimy, wet mold," I complained, peeling my sandwich apart as they all leaned in to look at it.

"Well, it's not green so it must not be moldy," Rian shrugged.

"It's still disgusting."

"Lemme try it," Jack said, snatching the sandwich away and biting off the opposite end. He made a gagging sound and we laughed; even Zack cracked a hint of a smile. "That is nasty."

"Told you," I chuckled, standing up. "I'm going to go buy something from the vending machine; be right back."

I walked down to the hall near the cafeteria, where there were two vending machines. There was really no point to this being a hall. It was a dead-end a few feet past the vending machines, and people only came out here to buy food or make out. Before I could even pull my wallet out, I heard a few people walking into the hall. I glanced over my shoulder and scowled at who I saw. It was Brent and his little assholes, Jake and Dylan.

"You didn't die, Gaskarth? Damn," Brent said as he saw me, a slight smirk on his face.

"Seen your boyfriend lately?" Jake chuckled.

I turned around, glaring at them, "I know it was you assholes who beat him up."

"We thought it was time to teach him a little lesson," Brent shrugged. I hated that cocky look of his.

"I don't want you three - or anyone else, for that matter - going near Zack ever again. He doesn't need to be hurt for the stupid shit I do. The only reason I'm not beating the hell out of you is because I won't be able to participate in the Battle of the Bands," I said, taking a few steps closer to them. Even though I was definitely way smaller in build, I was nearly six feet tall; a little taller than the three of them.

“You don’t scare me, Gaskarth,” Brent crossed his arms. I could see the slightest hint of worry on his face, though.

“Yeah, you’re all talk; you aren’t going to do anything about it,” Dylan said.

I raised an eyebrow, “Do you not remember when I beat the shit out of you and Brent last year, Dylan?”

They winced slightly at the memory. It had been one of the better moments in my life; beating up two football players and only getting a bloody nose was a difficult feat. It had earned my respect at Dulaney, and was one of the reasons why I wasn’t bullied about my sexuality much anymore.

“Look, I don’t care if you hurt me or make fun of me. Just remember that if you fuck with the people I love, you fuck with me,” I said in a low voice.

“So you love him?” Brent’s smirk returned to his face as he mocked me. Jake and Dylan laughed.

I clenched my fists as my face flushed, resisting the overwhelming urge to lunge at them, “Just fuck off, you bastards.”

“You fuck off, Gaskarth,” Brent jabbed me in the chest with his hand, causing me to take a step back. “And don’t even think about telling the principal about what happened to Zack.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” I demanded.

“Because if you do, we will make your life living hell. And it’ll be worse for Zack,” he hissed, frowning at me.

“But if you keep quiet about it, I think we can look past this little incident,” Jake added, and the others nodded.

I scowled, hesitating before I replied, “Fine.”

Brent smiled, “You’re a smart kid, Gaskarth.” He patted me on the shoulder as they walked away. I let out a sigh of frustration, turning back to the vending machine. I reached into my pocket for my wallet, but it wasn’t there. Seriously?!

“Alex,” I heard a soft voice behind me, and turned around to see Zack. My face paled. Had he heard that whole conversation? “You left your wallet on the lunch table...”

“Oops,” I said, taking it from him as he handed it to me. “Did you hear...?” I trailed off awkwardly.

“I heard the whole conversation,” Zack admitted, “I followed you to give you the wallet, but stayed out of the way when I saw them come into the hall.”

Fuck. “Zack, I’m sorry about earlier...”

Zack shook his head, “We’ll talk about it later, ‘Lex. I don’t want to talk right now.”

He turned and walked away before I could stop him, and my heart fell. I looked at the vending machine and slid my wallet into my pocket. I suddenly wasn’t very hungry anymore.