He didn't look seriously hurt, but she could see bruises. She was sure that Gunner was fine, because he would be worried, and he wouldn't be able to hide it. "I don't want to have to stop seeing you, but are you sure that it's a good idea. Is it really worth it? Am I making your life worse?" she asked him. If he said that it was worth it, she wouldn't stop him from trying to see her. She didn't want to take away his only source of affection, but she didn't want to make his life miserable.

She was pulled a little closer to him, as she started crying. "I guess I wouldn't have been any help," her voice sounded like she needed some reassuring. She didn't want to make him feel bad, but she wished she hadn't stayed any longer than necessary. She let him pull her gently into the hug. Her body was quivering slightly from the force of her emotions, but she was still holding the main wall of her tears back. She heard a thought from somebody watching, and it made her straighten up.

How could someone think that Eric was hurting her? How could someone thinkt hat he was forcing her to be his girlfriend? She wanted those rumors to stop. She tried to take his words to heart. Everything would be fine, but she wasn't convinced, because of the rumors. She wasn't even sure how they had started, and why people were being so mean about it. Her face took on a shadowed look, as if she was trying to hide something. She stopped looking him in the eye.

"Nothing," she lied, while trying to come up with something to say instead. Sometimes the truth was harder to hide, if you didn't have a good lie in place. "I am sorry to make you feel bad. I am sure you don't want to spend your first hours at school in tears," she apologized trying to distract him. He carefully brushed a tear off of her cheek, and his concerned face broke her. "Fine....I'll tell you," she caved in after he insisted that something was wrong. She couldn't stop the tears, but she was at least not sobbing yet.

"They've been calling me awful names. I don't know if they've done it from person to person yet, but I can hear their thoughts," her eyes were wide with distress. "They've been calling me things that have to do with being loose with sex," she didn't spell out the insults. She was sure that he could guess. His father had called him one of them. "Some of them think that you are forcing me to be your girlfriend. I don't know how this happened," her voice raised a little higher.

"It was one party, and nothing happened," she told him. She didn't want to mention that part of it was because she had gone home with him. "I am sorry," she murmured. She wasn't sure if she should have said anything. Would word get to her parents? Would they ask her what was going on? She did spend a lot of time with Eric. "What if my parents hear about it?" she whispered. She wasn't sure what would happen. Either they would take her side or they would not trust her anymore.

He shook his head. "Please don't be sorry, Kai." he said. He genuinely looked concerned for her, even as she gave him a smile. But he knew it was probably a fake one. She was emotional and in tears, how could she smile and mean it? She asked if it was worth it to keep seeing her, and if she was making his life miserable.

"Of course it's worth it." he said, his voice and tone laced with honesty and determination. "You're worth anything that happens. I would go through Hell. Kailey, you're the only true friend I've ever had. I don't want to lose you. I don't want to stop seeing you either. You are not the cause of my home life being the way it is. It's been like this for several years now. You aren't making me miserable. You're making me better."

Her voice sounded unsure, weak, and that made him evenmore hurt. "You're all the help in the world to me." he whispered to her. "Maybe you wouldn't have been in that situation physically," he nodded at her arm. "But anytime I think about you I feel a bit better about what's going on." He felt his heart leap for a second. Did he just admit to her that he loved her? Would she take it that way or pass it off as platonic?

He held her close, feeling her shivers, and he wanted to make them stop. He wanted everything that was bothering her to go away, he wanted to be able to take them away. But he felt her stiffen up and pull away, and he worried for a second that he'd overstepped. But maybe he was just overthinking things, maybe his anxiety was just trying to eat away at him like it always did.

He noticed her gaze shift away from his face, and he started to feel nervous. Was this it? Was she going to tell him that she couldn't see him anymore? That she couldn't be friends with him anymore? Had he overstepped? She said nothing was wrong, but he knew that was untrue. Something definitely was, and he wanted to know.

She began to tell him what was happening, what had started this morning when she walked in, and instantly he felt sick to his stomach. How could rumors start so quickly? He listened as she spoke, the entire world shifting off balance. This was all his fault. If he had never found out about her power in the first place, she never would have gotten involved with him, and none of these rumors would have started. This was the last thing he wanted for her. He'd wanted to keep her out of the rumors, away from the kind of thing he went through every day.

"Don't be sorry." he whispered again, feeling out of place suddenly. He felt a bit dizzy. The day was already off to a bad start, and he couldn't imagine the pressure that would be on his shoulders for the rest of it. He was now determined to make sure nobody hurt her with words or touch, but he was scared to do that. If people already were thinking he was forcing her to be with him, they would for sure think that if he stood up for her and tried to protect her. They'd see it as a control thing.

He wasn't sure what to say to her parents finding out. "Let's just hope they don't." he said. He knew that wouldn't help things, but it was all he could say right now. "Kailey please," he said. "If anyone says anything mean to you tell me. Please tell me. I don't want this for you, I never wanted this for you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You don't hae to be. You don't deserve this, this is my fault. I should have known something like this would happen."

He felt stupid. Maybe he should have cut off his friendship with her in order to keep her from having to go through this. But he wasn't willing to. Perhaps he was selfish, but he did truly care about her. He wanted to help her through it, not break it off and risk the chance of not being there if it got worse.

He needed a friend. Her head cocked towards him and studied him for a moment. She was taking a moment to try to process what he had said and what he actually meant. What was he trying to say? How could he feel better thinking about her? She was held close to him, and he stilled some of her worst shivers. She closed her eyes for a moment enjoying being that close. She stepped away after a moment though. She could see that Eric was worried, and she wasn't sure how to handle it.

There wasn't anything he could do. As she watched him, while she explained everything, she could see more and more pressure being added. She hated that she had decided to tell him. It would only make him feel worse, and there was nothing he could do about it. If he did anything, it would probably only feed the rumors. Hopefully, eventually sometime soon, the rumors would blow out. "Don't worry about it. There isn't anything you can do," she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes.

She would be needing to get to class soon, and she didn't want everyone to know that she had already cried buckets. She was a little surprised that he didn't suggest that they separate, but she was fine with not being a part. She would miss him, and it didn't feel like there was ever a good reason for friends to not see each other. "I have to get to class soon. I'll see you at lunch right?" she asked him. She wasn't sure if she wanted her parents to know or not.

They would wonder how a reputation had started like that anyway, so there would be a period of time when they would be suspicious and not trust her. She didn't want to promise to tell him every time someone said something. Besides, it hadn't totally moved to words yet. Right now they were mostly thinking it. She didn't want to have to repeat everything and relive each dreadful emotion they made her feel. "It's okay," she gave him a little smile. "It's not your fault."

Perhaps she did deserve it. It wasn't up to her to decide. She leaned in to give him another hug, so he didn't think she was trying to break up with him. "I'll see you at lunch okay. I've got to get to class," she told him, as she readjusted her backpack straps and disappeared into the gathering crowd. One of her friends inquired into her tears and red face, but she didn't answer them. Her friend was able to guess, because of the newly circulating rumors. She realized something that she was wanting to do.

She just wanted to go on a run with Eric. It would be nice and refreshing. No one had to be around, and it would clear their minds. Should they wait for the weekend or go out some evening or meet up some morning? She sat through the first class. Normally, she was a more active participant, but it was obvious from her downcast face, that something was wrong. Surprisingly, the teacher didn't call on her too much. The teacher knew that Kai was a good student. Since she wasn't feeling as well, the teacher could afford to go easy on her. However the teacher didn't think to ask Kai about it.

~~~~~~

Kai was finally out of class, and she headed toward the cafeteria. It was lunch time and all the halls were filling with teenagers. She didn't have a meeting place to find Eric, but she figured they would find each other relatively quickly. She was sure that he hadn't liked how quickly she had left, but they both needed to get to class. There was only so much talking about it they could do. It felt like chewing on a bone or reguritating food. It wasn't fun, and it seemed pointless.

After a while she found a place to sit down in a slightly secluded corner. She would wait for Eric here. She sort of wanted to pretend like nothing different had happened. At the moment she believed that she still wanted to go to prom. Should she ask him again? Should she tell him that she was getting ready to start dance lessons if he wanted to join? Should she ask him to come to dance lessons? If they weren't supposed to see each other, she didn't want to commit him to something. Besides she didn't want to pressure him either.

Eric could plainly see that she was feeling skeptical and unsure about everything. He felt the same way, and he felt as if he wasn't doing anything to help the situation. He'd never had to comfort anyone before, it was a new feeling and something he was very unfamiliar with. This was completely new territory, and he felt like a trespasser.

He nodded, at least glad to know that she wasn't going to stop being his friend, even if she was skeptical. She said there wasn't anything he could do, and he felt the weight on his shoulders grow. That was the problem. There was so much he wanted to do, so much he felt like needed to be done, but he couldn't do it. He watched her wipe the tears from her eyes, and she proceeded to tell him that she needed to go to class. He glanced up at the clock, knowing the bell would indeed be ringing soon.

"Okay," he said softly, bending down and picking up his bag, strapping it over one shoulder. "Yeah I'll see you at lunch." He sounded sad, deflated, but not intentionally. He was just overwhelmed and already ready for this to be over with. How could rumors start so fast? It was like a forest fire. She leaned in, hugging him one more time, and he loosely hugged her back.

"Okay," he said softly, his voice nearly a whisper. He solemnly watched her walk away and into the crowd, joining the sea of people. He couldn't help but wonder how many of them had heard what was going around, and if she was being bombarded with their thoughts. He felt bad for her, and he wanted to help so badly, but the only way he knew how to help he couldn't bring himself to do. He knew that he would have to back off and let her go, but he couldn't do that. Perhaps it was selfish, but maybe it wasn't. Maybe God had brought them together for a reason. Maybe this was just a trial they had to go through, and maybe it would bring them closer.

"Sad to see her go?" A voice said. Eric felt himself jump slightly, and turned his head to see someone standing where Kai had been just seconds before. It was a girl he'd seen around before, but he didn't know her well. It took him a good while to even remember her name. Harper Rockwell. Her skin was a pale creamy white, her cheeks dotted with a spray of freckles and blushed pink. Her eyes were big and bright emerald green, and her hair was long and firey red, waving down her back like a waterfall.

"What?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. Harper simply shrugged, giving him a small smirk as the bell rang overhead. She brushed past him airily, making sure to make her shoulder rub harshly against his arm in a disrespectful way.

"Nice bruises, pretty boy!" she called without a glance back. He rolled his shoulders, adjusting his bag, and turned down the opposite way, heading to class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eric heard the lunch bell and instantly raced down to the locker room. The entire day so far had been so stressful. All the glances he'd caught, the soft giggling. He couldn't imagine what Kai was feeling. She'd said it was just thoughts so far, but as they day had gone on it sure seemed like it had grown into passing words.

He'd just finished up weights, and some of the other guys had noticed the time and left to the showers early. But he'd been so off in his own world trying to ignore the others that he'd spaced off the time. He quickly showered, dressed, then headed back up. He went straight to his locker, fumbling to put his bag inside. He knew he was late, and he hoped Kai didn't think he was ditching her. His hair was still wet, but at least he smelled good now.

He slammed his locker door shut and made his way down to the lunch room. Once he got his food, he was able to quickly spot her sitting by herself in a more secluded area. He made his way over to her and sat down next to her. "Hey," he said. He ran a hand through his wet hair, pushing it out of his eyes. "Sorry I'm late, I had weights and lost track of time. I had to take a shower."

He took a bite, and swallowed. "How have things been so far for you?"

Kai was still feeling down, but she tried to block everyone out. Kai normally would smile at a few people that she knew, but today she only concentrated on her food. She was afraid that she would see them whispering and talking about her. She didn't realize that it made it look like the rumors were true. She felt like everyone was whispering about her, but she wasn't sure, since she was trying to ignore them. She didn't want to encourage them. A few had given her looks, and a few girls had come up giving her sympathy hugs. It seemed that the story that Eric was forcing her to be his girlfriend was popular, and she hated that they would think that about him.

Some only teased her about being his girlfriend. She was amazed how quickly the rumors spread. At least she hadn't been crying constantly, and she had managed to get through her classes. Most of the time no one had time to stop and talk to her, which was why she hadn't done too much crying. Her head cocked towards his voice, as he made his way over. She noted that he must have had taken a shower, because of his wet hair. For a moment she only finished chewing her bite of food.

She tried to gather her thoughts not sure what to say. She sort of wanted to move on, but she was surrounded by people who were thinking about them. It was tiring already, and she found it hard to remember what it was like before the rumors. Her eyes darkened a little with emotion, as she finally answered him, "Hey, I was wondering where you were." Her face fell a little further, and she heaved a rather loud sigh, "Why are they thinking about us so much? Don't they have anything better to do?" she asked him.

She tried to give him a smile, "Sorry...How have you been? What's your day been like?" She felt ostracized by everyone, and she realized this was what Eric felt regularly. No wonder he felt so anxious. "Anyway," she tried to push away current matters, "I suppose we'll be hanging out more often?" she gave him a sort of hopeful look. She wasn't sure if she could face anyone else even though it might spread the rumors quicker. "I was going to start dance lessons this week, if you want to too," she offered.

She wondered if she should mention prom. While she wasn't sure if she wanted to go anymore, it was still something she wanted to participate in before she graduated. As if nothing bad had happened, she had an idea, "We should go running sometime. That'll be fun..right?" she seemed to need confirmation. She hated the way mean people had already torn into her confidence. She was trying to function like a normal person. Should she spend more time with him? Would that make things worse?

She was tempted to ask him why all of this had happened, but she knew he couldn't answer that question. It made her want to avoid all teenagers her age, and avoid all interactions with them. "What did you get for lunch?" she asked him after a moment. "You better not be skipping out on lunch," she told him. She managed to finish her lunch, but she had chewed it mechanically. When she thought about all of her classes, she realized that she hadn't gotten her pencil and paper out to take notes.

She hadn't paid much attention, so she would be having a hard time when homework time came. Her face took on a distressed more pinched face, "I didn't take notes, and I don't remember anything. I'm going to fail every single homework assignment that they gave out." She couldn't make herself care, but she hated the idea of failing. She didn't want to ask anyone for help, but she wasn't sure if Eric would be able to help. After all they weren't in the same grade.

Eric was able to see right away how upset she still was, and that made him want to help her all the more. He was used to this sort of thing, it was a part of his every day life, but she probably had hardly ever experienced the impact rumors could have on yourself firsthand.

"Yeah, schoowork." he answered with a slight scoff. "But who wants to do that? It's much more fun to spread rumors apparantly." His voice was loaded with sarcasm and disdain towards the students who'd started this, but he kept it low and quiet as he ate. "I've been okay I guess." he said to her next question. "Typical day for me. I guess I spent a lot of it worrying about you." He looked at her, his blue eyes filled with concern. She asked if they'd be hanging out more often, and he raised his brows. She still wanted to hang out? Wouldn't that only feed the rumors? Was she really willing to sacrifice her reputation just to hang out with him?

"I mean, yeah." he said softly. "Yeah, if you want to. I see no problem with that." He gave her a small smile. She mentioned starting dance lessons this week, and he shifted in his seat a little, a bit uncomfortable at the thought. She wanted to do dance lessons mainly for prom, right? But with all of this spreading, would she still want to go? Or had she invited him to go dancing for some other reason?

He still wasn't comfortable dancing much, but he supposed if she still really wanted to go to prom he would do this for her. "I guess I'll go." he said. "But only if you really want me to." He took a few more bites of his lunch as she fell silent, and suddenly she piped up again, saying they should go running. He felt a strange turmoil going on inside of him. It was like she was trying to bypass everything that was going on, like driving by first few flames of a forest fire and not calling anyone to warn or try to put it out. It was like she wanted to just ignore it. Was she really that willing to let these things continue to spread? To feed the flames? Just to hang out with him?

He sat for a minute, thinking, debating on what was the right answer. He knew what he wanted to do, he knew he wanted to go run with her. But he also wanted her life to shift back to the way it was before, he wanted everything to stop for her. The way she asked, it seemed like she herself was unsure and needed confirmation, almost like she wasn't sure if he even wanted to hang out with her anymore. That wasn't true at all, he wanted to be with her now more than ever, but he was very concerned for her and what these small little sparks of rumors would turn into if he continued to hang around.

Instead of answering her right away, he really wanted to make sure that this is what she wanted to be doing. "Kailey, you know I want to keep hanging out with you, keep going places and doing fun things." he said, his voice soft and low. "But...but are you sure you still want to be doing these things with me? Look at what I've caused to happen to you." He felt so guilty, so sad that his simple friendship with her had turned into something so horrible. He'd never meant for rumors like this to start, but he supposed that she should have known from the beginning that being friends with him would cause something like this to happen.

He was a walking billboard tha screamed,

BULLYING IS OKAY, DO IT TO THIS GUY!

He'd told her about his reputation from the beginning, he'd warned her. He'd done his part, he supposed, and yet she still hung out with him. He didn't know whether to feel happy and relieved, or sad. Because she either continued to be friends because she really wanted to...or she had just misjudged how bad it really was. Or both.

"I would love to go run," he clarified. "But I need to know how you're feeling. Because you know if we continue to hang out what's going to happen eventually." She asked him what he'd gotten for lunch, and he glanced down at his half eaten food. "The cavatini alfredo," he answered. He recognized her concern, but he brushed it aside. He hadn't skipped out on lunch completely, but he hadn't exactly eaten much either.

His weight loss was beginning to become more and more evident, but it was still hard to spot unless one looked very closely due to his muscle tone and overall body structure. It could mostly be seen in his face as of now, his cheek bones and jaw seemed to be more defined, jutting out a bit more than usual. He didn't know why he wasn't eating as much, but for the past week or so his appetite had just seemed to vanish.

She started talking about her grades, and how she didn't want to fail. She'd forgotten to take notes, and he felt the worry coming off of her. "You won't fail," he said, feeling pretty confident about that statement. "I bet you retained more than you think. You're smart, and I'm sure you will do fine. I doubt you'll fail." He paused. "Myself on the other hand..." he trailed off, shrugging. Then an idea struck him. "Hey Kai," he said. "Do you think you could help me with a couple of my classes sometime?" He realized that his grades were poor in math and history, and he needed to get them up. He knew she'd offered before to help him, and if she really was insistent on still hanging out with him, this was something productive they could do.

"Hello Kai," A smooth voice suddenly said. Eric turned to see Harper standing across from them, just a few feet away from the table. Once she reached them, she sat down across from Kai, completely ignoring Eric's presence. She'd approached him earlier, at the beginning of school, and he felt himself beginning to close off. What did she want?

"Sorry to hear about all this," she said smoothly, an apologetic look on her face. "I can't imagine how hard it must be for you." She gave a side glace to Eric, disdain for him in her glittering green eyes. He cleared his throat, feeling his heart speed up and his lungs begin to close off. He grabbed his tray of food and stood swiftly up, walking over to the trash to dump it and give the tray back to the lunch ladies. He felt bad for leaving, but he needed out of there. He would go back for Kai, he wouldn't leave the lunch room, but he didn't want to stick around for sure.

Kai felt crummy, because she was causing him to be worried about her. While she appreciated it, when people were concerned and cared about her, because it made her feel wanted and loved, she didn't want to be a problem. Kai never had had rumors spread like this about her. At least they weren't big ones that she knew about or bad ones that made her want to hide away. She gave him a slight smile, because of his sarcasm. Rumors were easier to make then schoolwork was to finish. It made her feel even worse that this was a typical day for Eric.

His life shouldn't have to be like this. She wasn't sure what to say about prom. At least she knew she would be able to hang out with him, as long as his dad didn't catch him. She wasn't sure how he felt about dance lessons, but she still thought it would be fun. It might even be more fun. While she would enjoy dressing up, she didn't know if Eric enjoyed dressing up. They would basically be able to do the same thing as they would at prom, the difference would be what they dressed up in.

Who thought that dressing up so formally that you couldn't move well, and then dance would become a social norm for a party? "I think I want to go to prom. I guess I'll wait and see what happens. I still want to go with you, but I don't think I'll be asking anymore. I understand if you don't want to go to prom at all. I guess I couldn't understand at all before," she told him. She shrugged, "If I decide not to go to prom, at least I got the dancing in." She gave a little more of a spirited smirk, "with you." She noticed him thinking, and she tuned in for a few moments.

She sort of kept on listening in, so she might be able to think of a reply quicker and more fluidly. She felt bad that they might consider not being friends just because of jerks and gossipers. It was amazing the power that they wielded. "It's a little bit more than just wanting to be friends with you," she told him. "No offense. I do like hanging out together, but it's a little bit more than that. I can't let people push me around about these kind of things. This isn't something I can back down on. Besides friends don't desert each other at the first sign of trouble. I couldn't bear with myself, if I ran out on you. I want to be known for more than that," she told him.

"As long as you want to hang out together, I do," she asserted. She realized that was one nice thing. If he got ideas about being noble and started trying to lie that he didn't want to hang out with her, she would know. "I don't think anything will help the rumors except not listening to them. Eventually, something else will catch their eye. If I leave you now, they'll think worse things about you," she pointed out not sure if that was a logical conclusion or not. She supposed she should have expected this.

She had hoped that a good reputation would help his, but it hadn't worked out. She wasn't sure if she could have done anything differently which would have made him more accepted. She turned her head to look at him, because his guilt was obvious, and he was making no effort to hide it. Her mouth opened to comment on it, but she stopped herself. He might not want her to know. She didn't want to put extra pressure on him, or make it where he felt that he had to hide his feelings from her.

"I feel like that sounded bad. I do want to continue to be friends with you purely for the sake of being friends, but there are also a lot of little factors which pressure in and make themselves known," she told him. Besides, who else could she trust with her secret. It was nice having one person to talk to about it. She had never imagined casting off the first person who she told about her abilities. She sort of expected that first person to be close to her, and they would be best friends. In her imagination she thought it might be her husband who she first told.

Her head cocked to the side and her brow furrowed a little confused. What did he mean he wanted to know how she was feeling? "What do you mean know how I feel? What do you mean what's going to happen eventually?" she asked her voice filled with confusion. She planned on doing what normal friends did. She took a peek at his food to see if he was feeding himself adaquately. She noticed that his bones were becoming more prominent, which worried her slightly. She wasn't sure how much weight loss was healthy and when it started becoming unhealthy. "I hope you ate enough," she looked at him doubtfully, but she didn't know what else to say.

She appreciated a little that he believed in her, but she wasn't sure. She had done a terrible job of listening. Hopefully, not paying attention one half day wouldn't affect her grades too much. After all she could try harder this afternoon. She shrugged, "I guess you are right. After all it was one day for only a few classes." She needed this panic and wake up call. Hopefully, it would help her with the second half of the day. Her eyes brightened, and she sat up straighter at his suggestion.

Gently, she poked him, "Of course you pick the day to begin tutoring, when I wasn't paying attention. You have the greatest timing ever. That sounds good though. I'd be happy to help," she couldn't help smirking a little. Her face fell a little as she realized how dumb she was. She was offering to tutor a guy who was a grade above her. He might encounter things she had never heard of. She thought she might be able to learn ahead in math, but if he wanted tutoring in something like science, he was on his own. She wasn't really sure how you got someone to tutor you in history, because it was mostly memorizing things.

It was more informational, and you just had to learn how to study and retain information. She didn't want to tell him her doubts, because she was pretty sure she could do this. If she was going to be socially ostracized it was nice to have something constructive to do, so she wasn't moping around alone. Her head turned surprised to hear a smooth voice. Her skin prickled, when she totally ignored Eric. Nobody had come to say anything positive to Kai during the day, so she treated everyone with suspicion.

"Hello?" her voice held a questioning tone. Her eyes widened a little further, when Eric took off. She watched him as he darted off. She wished he had stayed, because she didn't want to deal with Harper by herself. Her face took on a sterner tone. "I wish you would be nicer to Eric. He's a really nice guy, and he's my friend," she told Harper, wondering if she was saying the wrong thing. She supposed she would catch up with Eric later. They could plan when and where they would meet up for tutoring on a different day. She hoped they confined tutoring to a few certain days. She would need time to prepare, study ahead, and decide how she was going to help him. She also needed some days completely free, so she could finish homework assignments.

She said that she still wanted to go to prom, and he felt his heart flutter involuntarily as she said she wanted to go with him. He gave her a shy smile as she smirked at him, and her eyes looked a little brighter, like perhaps she was feeling a bit better. He couldn't help but admire her. Why oh why did bad things always have to happen whenever he was involved?

He listened to her as she spoke, and simply nodded along. "It...didn't sound bad." he said after a moment, ducking his head at her. She started asking him questions about what he'd said, and he bit his lip, trying to think of a good way to put it. "I just mean that...I just wanted to know for sure that you really do want to continue to hang out with me and be friends, even though people are starting to spread things." he said. "I know that now, so it's okay. And...I guess I'm just worried because-" He cut himself off, glancing around briefly before shifting his body closer to her and lowering his voice. "Because I know how quickly rumors can grow, and how wild and crazy they can get. I mean just listen to everything people say about me. Some are so wild and crazy ridiculous they couldn't even possibly be true but yet...people still spread and believe them." he said. "I just don't want stuff like that to happen to you because of me." He looked down at his hands for a moment, messing with his hoodie pocket.

He shifted his gaze back to her as she said she hoped that he'd eaten enough. He pursed his lips briefly and glanced over at his tray. "I think so." Was all he said in response. His solemn expression broke into a smile as she gently poked him, responding to his suggestion. "Sorry," he apologized with a cute grin on his face. "Thank you. I don't mean to trouble you with it but I just...you offered before, and I just need help. My father was berating me about my grades too after you left the other night, and if I get help maybe that'll be one less thing for him to be angry at."

As soon as Harper came into view and sat down, Eric had stood up and went over to the trash, dumping his excess food and giving his tray to the lunch ladies to clean. He stood awkwardly against the wall, debating on how soon he should go back over. He hated to leave her sitting there with Harper, but he really had felt a burst of anxiety, and he didn't need to slip into a panic attack. He feared that his anxiety would screw with Kai's brain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harper pursed her lips as Kai began speaking. "Oh please," she said with an annoying fake gentle tone. "We both know what's really going on here." Harper had been at Daniel's party, and she'd been present the second Kai Adiar had been called in to go spend two minutes in the closet with a member of the basketball team. She'd noticed her arrival with Eric, and the second she'd seen them walk in her brain fired into a series of assumptions.

It had been her and Daniel's idea to throw Eric and her in next round, and boy had that been a great idea. The second Kai had gone in with one of Eric's team members, Harper had noticed his demeanor change. He'd curled into himself like a small child without his mother, and she'd taken advantage of that. She'd been the one to steal Kailey's spot and sit next to him, and she'd seen him recoil away from her.

It was such a perfect setup. This guy had so many stories revolving around him it was almost impossible to know what was real and what wasn't. Why not add one more? One that seemed too believable to be fake. One that everyone had plainly seen with their own eyes, something easy to spread. Everyone noticed how much the two were hanging out, and with Eric being such an easy pawn, who wouldn't believe a story like the one she'd started?

"Kai, he isn't your friend." she said, a haughty lilt to her voice. "He's using you, you have to know that by now. Is it true what I've heard? That he's forcing you to be his girlfriend? That must be awful for you. Poor guy's so desperate for any sort of attention he can get. Better watch out, I hear he can get pretty abusive when he doesn't get what he wants." With that, she stood up gracefully and turned, walking away, her hips swaying.

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Eric stood watching, his icy blue eyes glittering in the white light of the lunch room. He shifted uncomfortably as a group of people passed, a couple girls shooting him wary looks and then whispering to each other, their boyfriends giving him sharp glares. Other girls, younger and single, passed him with a wide birth. Some with a fearful glance, others with a snide one. There was the occasional girl who'd shoot him a flirty look, and that in turn made him blush and shrivel further into himself like before.

His anxiety started to peak when he noticed a group of guys walking up, trays in hand. He knew they weren't coming for him, they were simply coming to dump their trays, but he didn't want to be surrounded by them. He shifted and began walking back over to Kai. Harper was still there, talking, but he didn't care. He'd rather deal with her than anyone else. He was just a few feet away from the table when she got up and walked away, swinging her hips sassily.

He turned his gaze to Kai, clenching his jaw and giving her an apologetic look. He didn't know what all Harper had told her, but he assumed it probably wasn't good. "I'm sorry," he mumbled to her, sticking his hands in his jean pockets. He was too uneasy to sit back down, so he hoped she was almost done. The captain of the basketball team walked up, shooting him a look and then bumping his shoulder into his harshly as he walked past, causing Eric to stumble back a couple small steps.

The simple touch sent a sharp pain shooting up into his collar bone, for the guy had bumped the exact shoulder he'd hurt during the course of his father's anger outing. He grimaced in pain for a second, putting his hand up to his shoulder before relaxing back.

She wasn't totally convinced. Even though she could hear other people's thoughts, she still wasn't always the most diplomatic. She prefered to be concise and to the point. When she asked her questions, she nodded glad that she had already answered them satisfactorily. Even though she still wanted to hang out with him and be friends, she had decided to exericise some caution. Normally, she probably would have laid a hand on his. This time she kept her hands to herself while they were in view of everyone.

"Thank you for caring. I just can't give in to peer pressure and rumors though," she asserted to him. Hopefully, she wouldn't be weak and give in, especially after she made all of these little speeches. She thought that atheletes probably needed to eat more, but she wasn't an expert. Some of her sportsy friends liked to tell her how much she should eat, but she never liked to listen to them. What would they know? Probably only what their teacher had told them.

Since that was normally the case, Kai would prefer to get a firsthand response from their teacher. She hoped that he didn't think he was a burden. She was glad to do this, and she had offered earlier. It just felt like bad timing. Hopefully, she would be able to get someone else to give her notes. "You are not troubling me. I offered," she smiled at him, trying to hide the fact that she realized she was going to try to tutor someone a grade ahead of her. What had she been thinking?

"Hopefully, this will help appease your father," she gave him a smile. She wasn't sure if it was possible to please Mr. Godfrey, but trying to attain good grades would be good for Eric whether it made his father nicer or not. She wouldn't be holding her breath, but she doubted it would hurt anything. Her face froze as Eric made a very quick escape. She was surprised how quickly he had left, and wondered if he disliked Harper in particular. Now she had no support to deal with another sympathizer. She wasn't sure how to react.

Kai's brow was furrowed with confusion. Harper's voice sounded like she might be concerned or she could have been a gossip mongerer. After all she had been at the party. She had also been the one who had separated Kai from Eric. What did she want? Her head cocked, "Why do you think Eric is using me? What do you know about him?" her voice sounded challenging. At the same time her thoughts were churning, and she hated that so few words were already causing her to doubt.

He had asked her to help with her homework and tutoring. It wasn't hard to fake compliments. Still, he had never gotten a hint of this from his thoughts. She reminded herself of that. It would be hard to decieve her as well as he seemed to have had. Nobody else knew about that little ability. Harper had felt like she was being mean and devious anyway. She couldn't be trusted. "We're friends. We're not together like boyfriend and girlfriend," she protested. "He's never hinted otherwise," she told her.

Even though she knew he had a crush on her Kai had been making more moves on Eric than the other way around. She was about to say that he was a really nice sweet guy who wouldn't hurt anybody, but Harper was already flouncing off. While her hips suayed, Kai's brow wrinkled. Instead of confusion, she was trying to hold back her anger. She had been so distracted by Harper, that she hadn't kept an eye on Eric at all. She hadn't seen all the looks he was getting. Her head turned sharply as Eric approached. "There you are," her voice was neutral. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

She knew he had had a reason for walking off, and she wanted to make sure that everything was okay. She gave him a weary smile, "I don't know what Harper wanted, but she seems dangerous. She sort of scared me. I want to try to avoid her." She could see that he was uncomfortable, so she stood up. She grabbed her stuff, and began to clean off her stuff. After slinging her backpack on her shoulder, she expected that Eric would follow her. "When do you want to do tutoring? Pick two days of the week," she instructed him.

She would need some time to prepare on what was the best way to help him. Her eyes widened, as she watched the captain of the basketball team brush into him. She saw him grimace, and she believed that abusive injuries were bothering him. "Are you okay? What was that all about?" she glared at the retreating captain's back. "We'll have to go to class soon," she sighed as she threw away her refuse. She informed him that dance lessons were on Friday evenings. He could come over or they could meet at the dance studio. Would her mother question why she hung out with Eric so much?

She thanked him for caring, and he just gave her a smile and a nod. He hoped she was strong enough not to give in to peer pressure and rumors. Sometimes it was easy to avoid, and other times it was hard. Very hard. It was easy for him to give in to peer pressure, because of his anxiety as well as his personality in general. He wasn't exactly a social bug, and he was generally a quiet and soft spoken person, so if he was confronted or talked badly about, he easily gave in to what people were saying. He was submissive in a sense.

She assured him that he wasn't troubling her about turtoring, but a part of him said otherwise. He did feel a bit like a bother or a pest, but he wasn't meaning to be. He was sure she was smart enough to at least help him, if not full on turtoring. She seemed to be able to pick up on things rather quickly, while he always seemed to be stuck on one thing for a week. "It should at least make him less angry at me." he amended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harper sat with an obvious fake apologetic expression, and she simply brushed off all the questions Kai was asking her. Why did she think he was using her? She didn't think that. Not at all. She just wanted to cause trouble, disruption. What did she know about him? Nothing. Nothing at all, other than everything everyone else said about him. She was just trying to make her own mark, get her own words out there. So far, it seemed to be working.

Harper thought it was amusing the way she jumped in and tried to clarify that the two weren't dating. She couldn't help but give a little giggle. "Funny how quickly you felt the need to clarify." she said. "I think we all know what's really going on. I just don't think you want to admit it. I don't blame you." She said her last words and walked off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eric stood watching her go, and Kai asked if he was okay. He then realized that he must look a bit bummed or pale. "Yeah I'm okay," he answered quietly. "I got up to dump my tray. But I also just felt a bad vibe coming off of Harper so...I left. I could feel my anxiety building up, I didn't want you to deal with it." He gave her a weak smile. He nodded as she agreed with him, saying that Harper seemed dangerous.

He watched her sling her bag over her shoulder, and he began to slowly walk by her. He had started to answer, when the captain walked by, giving him the harsh shoulder bump. He caught her look, and the concern in her voice. He rolled his shoulder slowly a couple of times, his opposite hand resting on it until the pain faded. "Yeah, I'm okay." he said quietly. "I've been getting a lot of looks today," he informed her lowly. He found that shockingly he couldn't look her in the eye. He was scared to. He was scared to look up into her face and then see someone else's glares behind her. He was so tired of the constant judgement, and he quietly wondered to himself how much worse it would get.

"I guess Tuesdays and Thursdays could work for me." he answered to her previous tutoring question. "That okay with you?" She said they'd have to go to class soon, and he nodded. She also informed him that dance lessons were on Friday evenings. "Would your mom mind if I met you at your place? I've never been to the studio, I have no clue where it's even at." He wondered if Kai's parents would start to form their own judgements about him, or if they would just accept the fact that he was friends with their daughter. He liked her parents, and he never wanted them to think he was using Kai, or that the two were doing things behind their backs. He wanted their trust, and he wanted their love. Sure, a part of him did want Kailey, but that wasn't all he focused on. He valued their friendship right now, and he was patient enough to get to know her more before making any rash decisions or admitting his feelings openly to her.

He had a feeling she already knew, but still, it was the right thing to do to tell her himself. Maybe in a month, by the time prom rolled around, all these things will be over with. Maybe by then somebody else would be the focus of gossip, and he and Kailey could go to prom together. He could take her as his date and then maybe after it all was over he could tell her how he felt. Whether or not she wanted more was up to her, and he would respect any decision she came to.

He just hoped that whatever choice she made wouldn't affect their friendship. He hoped that her knowing how he felt wouldn't make her feel awkward to be around him, and he hoped that if she did want to be more...that he didn't do anything to screw it up. Because even if they didn't work out as a couple, he still hoped to be friends. But that was the scary thing. If she did indeed want to be more, than he would have to be very careful, and he wasn't sure if his anxiety would let him function the way he needed to function in order to ensure a good and healthy relationship.

He realized suddenly that he'd been openly thinking about all of this, forgetting as he often did that she was able to hear. He instantly felt this wall shoot up in his mind, and he sent up a prayer that she hadn't heard his plans for prom. He at least wanted that to be something nice for her. But he supposed even if she had heard it, he could back out of telling her and wait for another opportunity to arise.