"Look at those people. Do they ever learn?" Jensen points to a group of teenagers illegally writing on a wall fence. His voice laced with disgust.
"Isn't that Austin?" I say.
Austin is the second son of the mayor. The little spoiled brat who loves getting into trouble and being the son of a mayor, he always get out unscathed. I huff in annoyance.
"Little shit. I despise him so much."
I nod and pull the group before they spot us. They scream trouble so better stay away from those kind of people.
"His name is Austin?" Ollie says out of the blue.
"Yeah. Why?" I ask.
"He was the stranger on the Wickery Bridge that I saw that night." he says looking back to the group more particularly to the person he's referring to.
"Don't talk to or go near him at any cost." I warn him. I never personally met the kid but I know his reputation in this town. His personality; it's rotten to the core. He looks like an angel on the outside but deep within those Michaelangelos features are just pure evil. I may have to guard Ollie myself if I have to. If Austin started a liking to him that would be disastrous maybe not in my part but to Ollie's.
"Okay." he says pulling off his stares.
I wonder what Austin did or said when Ollie came out to him in the woods. Of all people, why it had to be Austin? He really screams bad news. I just hope he didn't run all over the town spreading malicious information about Ollie's sexuality. I will punch his throat if he did so. But as of now I haven't heard anything from the townies or anyone from the school. I'm thankful he doesn't go to our school. He goes to a private boarding school. I guess that's a relief. He still have ways to wreck havoc though. I shake my head and ask the group if they're up for a bowling game.
"Sure I'm up for it. I almost beat you the last time we played bowling." Jensen says chuckling.
"Key word, almost." I say, smirking.
"Hold down your horse."
"You up for it?" I ask Ollie.
"I haven't been into a bowling lane in the past years." he says shyly.
"That's okay. We're just having fun and killing time." I say. Right, I hope Austin won't be there when we go to their place. But the chance is rather slim.
● ● ●
I paid for our tickets and run to the bowling lane. Ollie insisted of paying his share but I object. I was the one who invited him to the game in the first place. Jensen paid his and offered of paying the snacks which I greedily agreed to.
I put our names on the register and the balls started rolling in on the rack.
"You first, Jenskin." I say.
"Goodluck." Ollie pursues.
"Thanks Ol." he says and pull out a rather huge ball from the rack. He never learns I thought smiling.
He take the stance, takes a deep breath and swing his arm. His veins popping as he swing his arm and dropping the ball into the lane. It rolls immersively into it and hit some pins. Four pins remains standing. His score registered on the screen above.
"Not bad." I say, standing up.
"Your turn."
"Goodluck." Ollie says again but this time full with admiration.
I wink at him and his cheeks tinted with blush. I chuckle and grab a ball perfectly fit for my fingers. I stand on the marker and calculate the lane. As if like playing basketball I feel smarter than Ollie. I feel a little proud of myself. I swing my arm and release the ball from my grip. It rolls down into the wood and I hit a streak. My score registered on the screen. I smile at my own work. I return to the table and encourage Ollie.
"Just do your thing, don't worry much about the score. Like I said it's just for fun." I say, giving him a small ball that could fit into his.
He nods and walk to the marker.
"Swing it Ollie." Jensen cheers.
He gives a sly smile and let the ball roll in the lane. Unfortunately, before it even hit some pins, it rolls to the guther. I stand up and give him some points and an exercise.
I grab a ball identical before and stand close to him. He squirms on the contact but didn't comment on it.
"Here, let me guide you." I say, holding his arms and letting my body guide his to a perfect stance. My breath fans to his face and I can almost smell his breath through his mouth. We swing our arms in accordance and the ball started rolling into the lane. It hit pins and there were two remaining pins.
I smile at his work and he turns around to thank me.
"Thanks but it's really your effort whose got those scores up." he days modestly.
"So modest." I say.
We go back to the table and Jensen stands up.
"Phew. That was intense." he says with sarcasm in his voice.
I push him off the lane and laugh. I grab some fries on the table and give some to Ollie. The game continues for about two hours then we decided to spend the remaning time before lunch; tries every ride we haven't rode before, drinking some street slurpies on the stalls, playing darts and shooting cute stuffs. We were having fun until we saw a gruesome scene: some bullies from before. There in the middle of the day, a scrawny kid lying on the hard floor, bawling his eyes out, nose bleeding and possibly a broken ribs under those tainted clothes. Guess who's the culprit? Austin and his gang. And just couldn't let the kid be.
"Hey, cut it out!" I yell at them, nearing their crowd. Jensen and Ollie on my hot trail. The group snickers at me. The scrawny kid look up from the floor, still eyes bawling.
"Who the fuck are you?" a lame guy says.
"Who the fuck are you?" I copy him and push him off from the kid.
"Hey!" one from their gang push me.
I rebalance myself and stand up. I help the kid on his feet. "What the fuck is wrong with you people?" I demand.
"This is not one of your business." Austin barges in.
"And so do you." Jensen speaks on my side.
"Shut up, Perkins." a guy with crooked teeth shouts.
"No you shut up!"
They go about fist to fist when Austin pulled off his friend.
"Let's just go." he says starting to walk out from us.
"But...-" the guy who stood up to Jensen objects.
"Just go, Dan." he pulls the guy, stumbling on his way.
"See you, again. Perkins!" he says with so much hatred.
Jensen flips him off. We help the kid gather his stuffs scattered on the floor.
"What happened?" Ollie asks.
"They just came out from nowhere and started beating the vinegar out of me." he says wiping his button nose.
"Stupid pricks!" I say.
● ● ●
"Do we still need to attend to the mayor's request?" Ollie asks, traced with concern in his question.
"Yeah. It's the mayor." I say
"If you want you can stay with Jensen until the meeting is done." I says, claiming Jensen will take good care of him while I'm gone.
"Yeah, better stay with me in the mean time. I just hope that nutcase wouldn't be there when you meet his dad. And while you're at it, sell him out to his father." he says with so much annoyance. The kid we helped earlier flash back, we learned from Jensen that the kid also been bullied and stretching god knows how long in our school and it's just because he's gay. Since when did the world became so cold and distant?
"As if his father will listen to me." I say thinking I might as well do that while I'm there.
We drive back to Jensen's place and left Ollie behind with him. It wasn't our original plan but because the unprecedented situation earlier we had no choice but to leave Ollie with Jensen. I wouldn't put him in a situation with Austin again, god knows he will start causing problem to him especially if we're in his teritory.