Chapter Thirty Five

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Day- Tuesday

Wynter entered the kitchen followed by a tiny boy who looked no older than 9 but I knew he was 16. His floppy blonde hair made him look quite feminine and he was wearing a baggy top with bunny print and children's jeans with a red backpack on one shoulder. "Tomoyo, this is Angel and Jake, guys this is Tomoyo." He gave a small wave with a gloved hand.
"Call me Tomo if you want." He spoke so quietly it was almost as if I was imagining him speaking at all.
"Well, it's nice to meet you Tomo. Are you ready to head upstairs?" He looked terrified at my question, like he was expecting us to hurt him any second but he gave a slight nod. I stood up, jumping and then giggling as Jake hugged me from behind, turning me to face him.
"Come on then! We should probably get changed anyway." I'd completely forgotten I was wearing my pyjamas as Jake gently lifted me. I wrapped my arms around his neck like always, watching the others follow close behind. Tomoyo was staring at Wynter, seemingly admiring him and looking away when Wynter turned to check that he was following. Jake took me into my room where I changed into some comfy clothes and a fresh diaper before going to sit on Wynter's bed where I decided on the plan.
"Me and Jake will stay on the bed and use the laptop. You two, sit at the PC and get to work, okay?" I reached under the pillow to find my phone was still there, opening my emails I read aloud. "Your assignment is to write a short story or a poem about love. It can be romantic, tragic, anything you can imagine as long as the main theme is love. You have all summer to complete this so I expect everyone to have it done."
"You got any ideas?" Jake sat next to me with a hopeful look.
"Yeah, I'm guessing you don't?"
"All I got is cheesy love stories or things like Romeo and Juliet." I shook my head at him, smiling.
"Right, let me go grab the laptop." I went through to the little room, taking it off the desk. I looked at Wynter and Tomoyo when I came back out. From behind Tomoyo really did seem like a child. It looked like Wynter was babysitting a little girl. I felt back for him but he turned to me so I smiled. "Do you want a drink or anything?" His eyes widened slightly, looking around at all of us as if he was a deer caught in headlights before shaking his head.
"No, I'm okay. Thank you." I simply gave him a nod and sat back down next to Jake.
"Hey, Angel?"
"Yes?" I stopped half way through logging on to look at Wynter.
"Well, I don't have any ideas either so could I steal one of yours?"
"Seriously? Tomo, you got anything?" He shrugged, mumbling a 'kind of' and seeming as if he was shrinking into himself. "Okay, everyone sit on the bed. I'll be a second." I got up, jogged into my room and grabbed a few notebooks and some different coloured pens. When I re-entered the room I found two of them sitting and chatting as Tomoyo sat by himself a small distance away. Everyone's gaze fell to me with questioning looks.
"What's that for?" Jake asked as I set it all down and sat between Wynter and Tomoyo.
"We're going to brainstorm ideas. Come on, all of you get thinking." We finished with two pages of ideas, one for stories and the other for poems. Tomoyo seemed to be opening up a bit more but whenever Wynter spoke to him he would shrink back into himself and go quiet again. "Ready to pick one?" I asked them both and they looked at the sheets intently before choosing one from each sheet. "Okay then you can work on those two together. Jake, do you have any preference on what we do?"
"Maybe we could do a story about a bully who falls for his victim?" Of course he'd choose that one. I smiled with a light blush.
"Okay, that one it is. I choose a poem about a tragic friendship love. Let's get to work!" The other two moved back to the PC with the sheets since I didn't need them anymore and Jake pulled me close to him. I could hear Tomoyo trying hard to talk loud enough to be easily heard. His voice was soft and he seemed like he'd be fun to have around once you get through the shy exterior. Jake kissed my cheek and I gave him a quick kiss on his lips, pulling the laptop in front of me. "Should we get started then?"

An hour later we'd finished a story and were just about to start on the poem when my stomach grumbled at me. "Someone's hungry." This statement made Wynter stop what he was doing.

"It is around time for food, what should we have?" He asked.
"I'm not hungry!" I argued but it was useless, they both gave me a stern look and I caved. "Just sandwiches?"
"Sure. Me and Jake will go make them." They got up, leaving me alone with Tomoyo. I moved closer to him and smiled, he gave me a small smile back but his eyes were moving around the room, observing his surroundings.
"So, Tomo. Are you always this shy?"
"No, I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous."
"There's no need to apologise. I can be really shy around new people too. I've seen you around school and I know people bully you sometimes but I can help you with that if you want me to? I mean, Wynter knows a lot of people and-" The look on his face at the mention of Wynter's name made me stop. He gave me a confused look so I decided not to mention it for now, carrying on. "Uh, yeah, he can tell people to stop and they'll probably listen to him."
"It's okay. I might not be going back next year."
"Why not?"
"I can go back to being homeschooled if I want to. I'm not sure though."
"I think you should stay. I can hang out with you, sometimes with Jake and Wynter too." He made the same face again and I was about to ask him about it when the door opened.
"Sandwich time! What are you two talking about?" It was Wynter, holding two plates.
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." I said, laughing as he made a fake offended face.
"How dare you! I'll have you know I'm a very good boy." I stuck my tongue out at him and he returned the same before continuing. "Tomoyo, I didn't know what you like so I've got cheese or ham? Or I could make you something else?" Since I was already curious, I observed the reaction this interaction gave. As soon as his name was mentioned, his cheeks flushed a light pink.
"Uh, erm, either is fine, thank you." He was stuttering over his words, his cheeks only deepening in colour when his hand brushed against Wynter's as he accepted a plate.
"Back in a second! Got to go help Jake with the other plates and the cups." I saw my opportunity, seizing it as soon as he left the room.
"Do you like Wynter?" Tomoyo's eyes were suddenly like saucers, his mouth hanging open slightly. He looked genuinely terrified. "It's okay, I'm not going to say anything to him. That's your business." I tried to reassure him with a smile.
"It's just..." He paused, thinking. "Yes, but he's amazing and I'm a nobody." I wanted to tell him that he's worth so much more than he knows but Jake came into the room with his two plates, handing me a cheese sandwich.
"Here you go, princess."
"Thank you." I smiled at him and received a kiss on my nose before he ran off once more, replaced by Wynter carrying drinks with no chance of me saying anything. When Jake came back upstairs we all ate and drank, talking. Tomoyo seemed to become slightly more confident around Wynter, looking hopeful towards me as if begging me to keep my word and not say anything.

After we ate, we continued with the work. I was happy with how quickly things were moving along. Me and Jake finished our story with slight difficulty but breezed through the poem in no time, bouncing ideas for it off each other and keeping the same train of thought the whole time. It remained in my head about Tomoyo's secret attraction to Wynter and I wondered if the bone head was able to notice it himself. "Is that it?" Jake asked, giving our poem another look over.

"Seems like it. Now, should we submit this or the story?"
"I think this is so much better but you are an overachiever so we might as well submit them both and just ask to be marked on whichever is better."
"I love you, thank you so much for saying that. I didn't want to sound crazy by saying it myself." He chuckled and hugged me, attacking me with kisses all over my face to make me giggle. We heard a cough from the corner of the room and Jake stopped. We both looked up to see Wynter with a raised eyebrow and a pink faced Tomoyo.
"You finished?" His eyebrow looked silly and I tried to stifle my giggles to reply.
"Yes, sorry."
"Can we see your work?"
"Sure. But don't go copying them!" I warned as they both stood up, coming to sit on the bed again. I handed over the laptop and held Jake's hand, watching their faces for any reactions.

The Story: Soft within.
As a child my mother always told me that to be on top I needed to push anyone down that would get in my way. So that's how I've lived my life, pushing others down, my mother making sure I wouldn't get into trouble for it. I thought this was how the world worked. If you didn't do it to them, they would try to do it to you and this was the only way up the ladder. What I didn't realise is that it became addicting, this feeling of power over smaller people. At home things weren't easy. My father was gone, leaving us years ago after he came out as gay. Mother threw herself into her social life, bringing home one lover after another, not caring if we were in the house or not. I felt as though my parents had been lying to me my whole life. It angered me how they had a child together but clearly weren't even in love with each other. I desperately wanted a normal family, siblings and petty squabbles, not this. Since I had no control of my life at home, I controlled those around me any chance I got, needing anyone to feel the same pain I did.
I had no idea that this sense of control could be thrown away so quickly by one person. She'd always been on my radar, never complaining to anyone if I hurt her in any way. I never asked why my friends wanted to hurt her, simply going along with it to feel the power and control that I so desperately craved now. Then I saw her when she wasn't scared or in pain. I noticed for the first time how her eyes shine in the sun, how her hair flows behind her when she walks. I didn't notice her until she dressed confidently, until we were away from a whole school of people. I never noticed the true, deep sadness to her eyes or how I'd contributed to it. But when I did notice, I sat with my feelings for the first time. I liked this shy girl who never spoke too loud, who threw herself into her school work and always ended up alone but didn't seem to mind. I'd fallen for her long ago and when the realisation hit me, it was more intense than words could describe.
I was so terrified of these new emotions that I fell back to what I knew. I tried to make her mine, to control her feelings, trying to control everything but this time I couldn't. Her heart wasn't mine to force, I had to earn it. The feeling of hurt that my father caused was something I never wanted to experience again. For her though, I had to risk it. I vowed to myself that I would prove to her that I wasn't just a horrible bully. I would show her that my heart was warm, but only for her.

The poem: Fading away
Their eyes,
screaming for help,
in the dark of the night.
Their skin,
usually so warm,
is growing colder,
until it's touch is like ice.
Their breath,
becoming raspy,

making small clouds in the cold night air.
The floor,
holding a pool of blood,
growing bigger each moment.
Their cheeks,
soaked with tears,
of fear and regret.
They're leaving this world,
nothing else to do,
but to whisper 'goodbye'.
Never knowing,
if they knew,
that your last words to them,
were 'I love you'.

I was holding my breath as they handed the laptop back to me. "They're both amazing, I agree that you should submit them both." Wynter praised.
"I wish I could write that good." The small boy was hiding behind his hair after Wynter had smiled at him and I grinned.
"Thank you, both of you. I couldn't have done it without Jake's help. I'll submit them now!" They went back over to the PC, continuing with quiet discussions and the tapping of a keyboard as I opened up my emails. I attached both the story and the poem to one, adding a small description of each, signing both mine and Jake's name and sending it to our teacher.
"She's going to love them, your way of writing is amazing. She'll probably not believe that I helped at all."
"You gave me the story ideas and the order of the poem. You just struggle to put your thoughts into words so maybe we can work on that together sometime?" His eyes lit up and he placed his hand on my cheek. I winced slightly as he touched my sore jaw. He mumbled a sorry before kissing me passionately. Another cough broke our kiss and I giggled at Wynter's funny looking raised eyebrow again.
"Get a room or help us with this. Your choice."
"What do you need help with?" I asked, moving away from Jake.
"I was going to say we'd get a room." He faked a sad look then winked at me, making us all laugh.

I had a look over their work, giving pointers on how to improve it. Jake also helped by providing extra ideas for them and they managed to finish their work in no time, deciding to submit their story. We all hung out and had some pizza for tea. Just before Tomoyo left I offered for him to come over again in a few days and he agreed. I was worried that he'd say no and hide but I smiled when he said yes. I gave him a gentle hug, feeling like if I hugged him too hard he'd break. He left, his hair flopping around which caused a constant bed head look. Backpack on one shoulder and gloved hands, one holding the strap and the other in his pocket. I watched him walk towards a convertible parked on the street and get in, glad that he had a ride home before I closed the door and turned to my two favourite people. We all decided to stay in the living room to watch films before going to bed. 


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