"Ice Pack"

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It has been a few days since the little incident at the cafeteria, and that silicon bitch keeps rubbing her chest against me.

It's now P.E. Class, I removed my clothes in the men's locker room and sighed. "You in a bad mood again?" Riley asks me from behind.

"Yeah." I nodded

"Lemme guess, silicon bitch?" He says, and I nodded again. He hums and continues, "Marcus can I—" before he could say anything else he gets cut off by the sound of a hyped-up Caleb.

"Yo! Wassup~! Can't wait to play basketball!" Caleb yells and Riley squinted his eyes at him.

"Muscle brain." He says bitterly and Caleb rolls his eyes. I sighed and shook my head at them. "Whatever it is you guys are fighting about, don't involve me."

"Marc, who do you think would win in an arm wrestle between me and Riley?" Caleb says confidently. I just told you not to involve me in this, you idiot...

"I don't know. Maybe... Riley?" Riley chuckles and hits my shoulder playfully making Caleb scowl and glare at us, No- my bad, glares at me.

"What?" I asked and he looks away, he starts to strip and wear his gym uniform.

"Don't mind him, he's just in his period." A guy I don't know was leaning against one of the unused lockers.

"Do I know you?" I asked and he chuckles, "no, my name's Thomas, I'm that guy's cousin. I moved here and just started school today." He smiles at us and I looked up and down his body, he was wearing the ugly Dark Green gym uniform.

Riley stares at Thomas with wide eyes, "Caleb, I didn't know you had a cousin."

"Yeah, well- you don't need to know, do you?" He says sarcastically and Thomas gave a half-laugh.

"Well, everyone has a cousin." Thomas smiles and pats Riley's shoulder, he glares at him and crosses his arms.

"You guys gonna come out, or what?" Harry says, standing in front of the open doors.

"Coming." We all say in unison.

❦❦❦

Coach Harrison, Harry's dad, yeah I know. His last name is Harrison. What kind of parents name their child harry when their last name is Harrison?

Harry Harrison.

I snorted, not gonna lie I kinda feel bad for the guy. "What's so funny Hale?" Coach Harrison placed his hands on his waist.

"Nothing sir, I... was just about to sneeze, but held it back...?" Coach Harrison glares at me for a few seconds and continued to talk.

"Today we're going to do—"

"Basketball!" Caleb says impatiently, "Dodgeball. We're going to do Dodgeball. Caleb." Everyone laughed at Caleb as he blushes in embarrassment. Coach Harrison whistled and we straightened our bodies.

"Hale, Howe. You two are leaders. Choose your players."

"Yes, coach."

❦❦❦

We equally chose nine players, excluding me and Caleb, but only one was left. It was a short kid, five feet for sure, not sure about the inches though. He has short curly brown hair and dark brown glasses.

"You can have him, you'll need it," Caleb says with a smirk. I glared at him and glanced back at the small boy. "Come here," I motioned my finger towards me. "try not to get hit." He nods.

We went to our positions and Coach Harrison whistled.

I grabbed a ball and threw it at the opposing team. They groaned and left the court as I smirk at Caleb. Caleb hasn't been in a good mood ever since the "fight" he and Riley had after the 'Friday party' we went to.

I saw Caleb throwing the red balls too hard on some of my team members, making me scowl at him. "Woah, Cay. Don't be too rough! You might hurt someone!" I yelled at him as I threw a ball in his direction.

" Relax, no one is going to get hurt!" He yells and squeals when a ball landed next to him. I shook my head and glanced at my team members; the only ones left were Harry, Riley, and the short kid in glasses. The kid was heaving in deep breaths and his legs were trembling, he looked like he was about to pass out. I searched for coach Harrison, hoping he would notice the panting Kid.

" Marcus, look out!" Riley yells and my eyes widened, a red ball was coming straight at me.

I fell on my back and groaned. Caleb laughed and I glared at him, dammit. My back hurts...

" Marc! Never take your eyes away from your opponent!" Caleb yells. Riley walks up to him and punched his shoulder, "don't be too rough! idiot!"

"It's just a game, Riles." He rolls his eyes at Riley and walks up to me. "Here, grab my hand" I took his hand and he pulls me up.

"Sorry man, just got a little 'too' excited" Caleb grins and pats my shoulder. I nodded and a whistle broke out. "Boys! Stop talking and start moving!" Coach Harrison yells and slaps a bunch of papers on his left palm.

"Yeah, Yeah" Caleb walks back to his side of the court and we resumed our game.

❦❦❦

I changed my clothes in the lockers and rubbed my back, "you good?" Riley gives me a soft smile and I returned it. "Yeah, Caleb's just too much of a muscle head." Riley chuckles and slaps my back. I hissed and rubbed it, "Woah, that doesn't sound good. You should go to the infirmary."

"Nah... all it needs is just an ice pack." He mumbles an okay and stands up, leaving me alone in the sweaty lockers.

I sighed and wiped some sweat off my face. "Hello, um... here, I have an ice pack for you."

I looked behind me and saw the short kid with curly brown hair. He held out an ice pack in his small hands. I silently stare at him and he clears his throat, making me snap out of my daze and my eyes widened.

"Sorry—thanks..." I removed my white shirt and grabbed the ice pack from him. I tried placing it on my bruise. But unfortunately, I couldn't reach my bruise because of my large back, Dammit.

A small giggle erupted from the kid and I glared at him. His eyes widened in fear, "do you, uh... need any help?"

I nodded and he takes the ice pack from my hand. I gave him space next to me and I relaxed from the pain when the chilling sensation hits me. "That's nice..." I whispered and he hums.

We stayed quiet for a few minutes. No words, no sounds other than my heavy breathing. Something about silence bothers me. I feel empty.

My legs were starting to get numb so I moved a bit from my position, causing the kid from behind me to flinch. now that I think about it, I don't know his name. And I've also only seen him once or twice before in class.

I think...

"You... what's your name?" I asked hesitantly. He looks up at me and his cheeks were flushed.

"Uh, Andy... Andy Griffin." I raised my left brow and questioned him again, "this is my first time seeing you, are you a transfer student?"

"Uh yeah, I am. I'm from UK... my parents— well, er... parent decided to move here for their job..." I hummed.

"Which part?" I placed my left hand on the dull grey metal bench.

"England..." I smiled at him and he nods shyly, "England huh? that's cool."

He removes the ice pack from my back and checked the healing bruise. "Damn... how strong is that guy?" I laughed and he blushes.

"Very strong, that guy's such a muscle head, but in a good way." I playfully winked at him and he stutters his words, "o-oh... I-I see..."

I smiled at him and checked the clock. It was 3:56, I panicked and stood up. "Shit! It's 3:56 already?!" Andy's eyes widened and I wore my shirt back on.

"Is there something wrong?" He asks with concern.

"No— nothing, well it's something but— sorry— I need to go, I need to pick up my little sister."

"Oh, uh... bye." He scratches his neck and I gave him my goodbyes.

I went outside, running to my locker to grab my heavy bag. Shit... I wonder if Mel is waiting for me...

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