Page 14 of Losing the Rhythm

I let him mumble to himself as what he said settled into me. He was right. Paxon, Justin, Bryan, and Toby had created a nice bubble around me at school, keeping the rumors away as best as they could. Once the other students saw them, they were dissuaded from saying anything directly to my face.

At what point did I have so many people around me who wanted to keep me safe?

I blinked hard at that thought. I never had that when my dad left me. Suddenly, everything wasn’t so good in my life, and there hadn’t been anyone I could reach a hand out to for safety.

But now? It was beginning to feel like everywhere I turned, someone on my side was there.

My chest grew warm as those thoughts settled in my heart. It felt like my very soul was receiving a million and one hugs at the same time. Suffocating, but in that beautiful way that was cozy, warm, and safe.

“Why are you smiling like that?” Micah asked.

“Because you’re here,” I said, smiling even wider.

Micah paused, tilted his head to the side as he stared at me, and then broke out in a smile just as big as mine. “Always here. You aren’t alone. Never again.”

His promise felt all too true. I could have dampened those thoughts, let all the negativity in, but I refused. I wanted to enjoy this moment before I went back to second guessing myself and wondering when everything around me was going to burn to the ground.

The bell rang, warning us that we were about to be late. “Go to class. I’ll see you at lunch.”

Micah glared hard at nothing in particular before blowing out a breath. “Fine. Fine. But you’re coming to my house this week for dinner. Pick a day and let me know which one at lunch.”

I smiled. “I can do that.”

Micah closed his eyes and drew in a breath. A moment later, he released it before stalking off.

After I was able to pull myself together, I went back to homeroom. Bryan was at his desk, his leg shaking. He barely kept himself from jumping to his feet once he spotted me.

“Is everything okay?” Bryan asked instantly. His response only reinforced my thoughts. That the guys were here for me. That they cared. That I had people on my side once again.

I smiled. “Yeah, everything’s great.”

I settled down, trying to hold on to that warmth inside of me for as long as possible as class started.

Chapter Four

I very quickly realized that ignoring that guy wasn’t such a good idea. Toby was with me as we headed to music analysis class. The hallways were crowded as always, and I swore the whispering was creating a little tornado around me. But Toby was Toby and did his best to distract me as he told me a story about the time he dangled, holding on to the edge of a rooftop because one of the guys was mad and yelled at him for being up there. They scared him enough that he slipped and fell. He swore he would have been safe if they hadn’t startled him.

I agreed.

If someone’s in a precarious situation, you can’t surprise them like that. And I could imagine how harsh Bryan would have yelled, too, his fear and anger getting the best of him when he saw Toby up there.

I went to tell Toby that when there was a loud bang and then students surging forward in excitement. A small chant was on the rise, and it took me a moment to separate the words into something intelligible.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Of course. A school fight. Brave really, because Principal Calgary had no tolerance for it and tended to go for the harshest punishments. It worked keeping the students in fear, but once in a while, if tempers were high enough, it didn’t matter.

Whoever was dumb enough to start a fight only had seconds before a teacher descended on them. They were lucky we were in a more isolated location, classrooms further apart since one side of the hallway was where the gymnasium was.

“What the hell?” Toby’s face scrunched up. He grabbed my arm and pushed through the crowd.

“Wait,” I said, trying to yank back. I had no interest in watching two students fight.

“It’s Paxon,” he muttered.

That got my eyebrows shooting up. “What?”

But Toby didn’t bother as he grabbed my arm again and pulled me with him, shoving students to the side. Finally, it opened up into the little arena that was created to give the students room to fight.

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