Page 12 of Pet Project

TOBY

I have no idea how long I have been in this tiny room. If they thought it was going to calm me down, they were wrong on so many levels. I didn’t know I was claustrophobic, but yep. I’m pretty sure I just discovered a new fear.

Let’s just add it on to the fear of churches, my blood family, ants, and kangaroos. I don’t even know what prompted that last one, but I remember running screaming from the room when Lucky pulled out an old comedy from before our time calledKangaroo Jack. At least the rest of them kind of make sense.

“You got someone needing a ride home,” the fat preachy security guy says when he comes into the room to interrupt my complete and total freak out. “You need to let that sweet kid find a better place to live than with sinners like you.”

Did he just? No…

The school wouldn’t employ a religious zealot for aposition like this when they are pushing so hard to be seen as LGBTQIA inclusive. EvenI’mnot that dumb, and the dean is supposed to be a genius.

Grabbing me by the arm, the guy drags me over to the drunk tank and tosses me roughly through the doorway. I probably would have hit the floor if the guy in there hadn’t caught me. My face has made friends with many a concrete floor over the years, but it rarely happens outside of pupspace anymore and never from being manhandled.

Turning my head to look at the doorway, I see the guard has a disappointed look on his face. The asshole seriously wanted me to get hurt!

“What the hell, Ralph?” the man attached to the bulging biceps holding me asks in outrage. “Is this how you treat students?”

Glancing at the face of my inadvertent rescuer, I recognize hot coffee shop guy. Why is he the one saving me? Based on the way the jagoff guard was talking, I was expecting to see Shiloh, not some guy I don’t even know the name of.

A whimper from the corner pulls my attention and I push away from the hottie to rush to my kitten. Of course he’s here. He would have come straight here when I didn’t show up after class. He doesn’t like it down here at all, but he would show up for me. It’s all my fault and I feel like shit for subjecting him to this place.

“I’m so sorry, kitten,” I mumble as I pet his head, letting his braids fall through my fingers. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I wasn’tthinking.”

The two men arguing in the background are just noise to me. The man in my arms is all that matters. He flinches at something said by the other men, and it’s like my switch is flipped again. Rage and a need to protect my Shiloh rises up within me.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I growl out, holding Shy as tightly as he will let me. “Can’t you take that somewhere else?”

“Youneed to shut the fuck up, delinquent,” the wannabe cop threatens me. “The police will be here shortly to take you in and then I’ll never have to see your sinful ass again. This school needs to keep you sick fucks away from the normal people.”

15

DONNIE

Did he really just say that?

“What the fuck, Ralph?! What do you mean by that?” I get in his way when he takes a step toward the two men on the floor. “I can admit that Toby here got a little carried away up in the hallway, but you’re sounding like you have a problem with something more than him getting in a fight.”

“Guys like him are what’s wrong with this country!” the security officer shouts as he throws his arm out toward the corner. “They practice sexual deviancies and don’t even try to hide them. Their whole house is full of nothing but queers and pedophiles and this sweet young man needs to be away from all of that if he ever wants to be accepted as a normal member of society and not a perverted thug.”

Stepping back, I take a protective stance in front of the two men in the corner. I might not have been strong enough years ago to save one boy from my oldteammates, but I sure as fuck am able to beat Ralph. I won’t let this piece of shit anywhere near these two boys.

“You need to step away, Ralph,” I warn him. “For the sake of the years you treated Walt with respect, I’m giving you the opportunity to back out of this peacefully.”

The man steps into my personal space to glare at me. “You’re just as bad. Turning on your teammates for the sake of some fairy boy. He should have found Jesus and changed his ways. Instead, he just drags others down with him. You both deserve every punishment the Lord brings upon your heads.”

The outrage I feel toward the asshole in front of me is about to boil over when a throat clearing pulls all of our attention to the doorway. Matt is standing there, looking absolutely murderous, along with three other faculty members and that Greg guy from the hallway.

“What the fuck did you just say about my boyfriend, Ralph?” Matt snarls and takes a step forward. “Did you seriously just say that hedeservedto be drugged and gang raped because he’s gay?”

Ralph takes a step back from me to look at the people in the doorway. He doesn’t even bother to hide his sneer as he looks at Matt before storming out of the room. If I hadn’t been right in front of him, I probably wouldn’t have been able to stop Toby from going after him. As luck would have it, I somehow manage to catch him up in my arms again when he turns back into a snarling ball of rage.

“I’ll take Greg to sign the forms,” Professor Michaelssays, pulling the large man with him back toward the desk in the hallway. Professor Silas shakes her head and pulls out her phone.

“Let’s get these two somewhere that Toby won’t get his ass expelled,” Matt grumbles and pats me on the shoulder before reaching down to help Shiloh up from the floor.

16

SHILOH

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