Oliver
The rest of the day crawled by. I managed to avoid any more encounters with Kieran, which felt like a small miracle.
But now it was time for gym class.
Another one of my least favorite things to endure.
I walked to the boys' locker room with William, dreading what was coming next. As I opened my gym bag, my heart sank. My sports clothes were completely soaked, reeking of soy sauce. Someone had clearly dumped an entire bottle over them.
"What the hell?" William wrinkled his nose. "What happened to your clothes?"
I stared at the mess, feeling sick. Who the hell did this?
Do I even need to ask?
Must be Kieran.
Coach Jefferson was notorious for his strict no-excuses policy. If you didn't have proper gym attire, you failed the class for the day. I couldn't afford another failing grade.
Three full minutes stretched past as I contemplated what to do.
"I have to find something else to wear," I muttered, digging through my locker desperately.
All I had was my old gym uniform from last year, the one I'd outgrown. The shorts barely reached mid-thigh now, and the shirt had shrunk so much it barely covered my stomach. It was practically a crop top.
"Dude, you can't wear that," William said, eyeing the tiny clothes.
"I don't have a choice." I pulled on the too-small uniform, tugging at the hem of the shirt that kept riding up. The shorts clung uncomfortably to my legs, and I felt completely exposed.
"At least you have a nice sexy body, look at those toned legs,"William remarked and my face burned in embarrassment.
It couldn't be that bad, I mean, it was just one year difference.
When we walked into the gymnasium, I tried to keep my head down and find a spot in the back. But I couldn't shake the feeling that people were staring. Whispers followed in our wake.
"Is it just me, or is everyone looking at us?" I asked William quietly.
He glanced around and smirked. "Not us, Oliver. You."
"What do you mean?"
"Look around. Half the girls are practically drooling, and some of the guys too." He nudged me with his elbow. "That outfit is doing things for you, my friend."
I felt another wave of heat creep up my neck. "You're imagining things."
"Am I?" William gestured subtly toward a group of girls who quickly looked away when they noticed us watching. "Face it, you've got more admirers than you think."
I wanted to disappear into the floor. This was exactly the kind of attention I never wanted. I inwardly cursed Kieran for doing this to me.
Speaking of the devil.
Just as we found seats on the bleachers, and I immediately spotted Amanda making her way over to where Kieran sat with his friends.
She practically threw herself onto his lap, kissing him with so much intimacy that made several people stare.
I wanted to look away quickly, I really wanted to. My eyes simply refused to cooperate. I guess he does do'Hoes' after all.
I felt an unusual twist in my stomach even as Kieran kissed Amanda back, deeply, with tongue and obvious heat. his silver eyes suddenly locked on me over her shoulder.
My heart slammed.
The intensity of his gaze made my skin burn. I forced myself to look down at my hands, but I could still feel him watching me. When I dared to glance back up, he was still staring, his mouth moving against Amanda's while his eyes never left my body.
What the hell was his problem, he should just kiss his girlfriend without giving me that judgement appraisal while at it.
My face flamed with embarrassment. Was he disgusted by how I looked? I knew I was skinny and no matter how much I exercised, I never gained any muscle. My ribs were probably visible through this stupid tight shirt.
Kieran's lip twitched and I felt my chest tighten defensively . Of course he found me pathetic when it was obvious that he had the best built body in the whole school.
He must be laughing at my ridiculous outfit. My fist clenched in anger, how dare he judge me when he had stolen my good uniform in the first place?
"Oliver," William said quietly, "you okay? You look like you're about to be sick."
I swallowed hard. "I'm fine."
But I wasn't fine. The way Kieran had looked at me, the way his eyes had traveled over my exposed skin while he kissed someone else. . . I was angry, but there's also something else I felt that I couldn't quite name.
.
Coach Jefferson's whistle cut through my spiraling thoughts. "All right, people! Today we're playing dodgeball. I want two even teams."
My stomach dropped. Of all the activities, it had to be dodgeball.
As the coach divided us into teams, I found myself on the opposite side from William. Worse, Kieran was on the other team too, along with Amanda and most of his friends.
"This should be interesting," Heath said with a grin as he took his place beside me on my team. "Hope you can dodge better than you can dress yourself, pretty boy"
I ignored the jab, focusing on the game ahead. Maybe if I stayed in the back and kept my head down, I could get through this without making a complete fool of myself.
The whistle blew, and chaos erupted. Balls flew across the gym as players dove and dodged. I managed to avoid getting hit for the first few minutes, but I wasn't contributing much to my team either.
"Come on, Oliver!" Heath shouted. "Do something!"
A ball rolled toward my feet. Without thinking, I grabbed it and looked for a target. My eyes found Kieran across the court. He was focused on someone else, his guard down.
I drew back my arm and threw with everything I had.
The ball sailed across the gym and caught Kieran square in the face with a loud smack.
The entire gym went silent. That was when I realized. Game or not, I had chosen the wrong target.
Kieran staggered back a step, his hand flying to his jaw where an angry red mark was already forming. Slowly, his head turned toward me, and the look in his silver eyes made my blood freeze.
Pure, murderous rage.
"Oh shit," William breathed from across the court.
Coach Jefferson's whistle screamed through the silence. "Game over! Everyone hit the showers!"
But I couldn't move. I was trapped in Kieran's deadly stare, knowing with absolute certainty that I was about to pay dearly for what I'd just done.
As the other students filed out, chattering excitedly about what they'd witnessed, Kieran started walking toward me with slow, deliberate steps.
I was so fucking dead.