He's standing by his locker, doing everything in his power for me not to notice him, but the glances he casts my way to watch out kind of reveals him. He does this almost every day when we're at our lockers simultaneously. Usually I go over to tease him a little just to have some fun. My friends think it's fun too. I nudge my best friend, Jason, and nod towards our favorite victim hiding in the corner of the picture. Jason smirks at me, knowing my intentions, and follows me when I make my move.

"Well, well," I say and watch the tiny guy in front of me stiffen. Then he turns around to glare at me. He and everyone else knows how much it gets on my nerves when people go against me. No one really dares to because they know they can't defend themselves against me. I am the quarterback of the school's football team and also the captain. No one goes against me.

But Cory does.

"Are we hiding again?" I ask him sweetly. "I thought fairy boys could just spread their wings and fly?"

People around us begin to snicker. Cory looks to be uncomfortable, but he stays composed. I don't understand. If it was me I'd be pissed, but then again Cory seems to be used to me taunting him.

"What'd you want, Jay?" he asks me in a bored tone of voice. "I don't have any wings you can cut off or any magical wand you can steal in case you haven't noticed. I'm not Harry Potter."

People around us snicker again and I scoff. I move closer and finally I see him flinch. I know he's scared of me even though he hides it well. I move so close that I can grab him and slam him into the lockers behind him. I do this almost every single day just to prove I can.

Cory groans in pain and looks up at me with blurry eyes. "Asshole," he breathes and I let go of him and he slides down the lockers to sit on the floor just as the bell rings, making a pained face. My friends pat my back and move to class. I pretend to do the same, but really I am choosing to stay. I hurt Cory a little more than necessary and I'm aware. I go to my locker. Opening it, I just fumble around after some non-existent books I can't find until I'm positive everyone else is gone. Then I look over at Cory who's still leaned against that locker I slammed him into, rubbing the back of his head. I really don't want to, but I have to make sure he's okay. I mean, if he's not there's a good chance I'll be in big ass trouble. Maybe I'll even get thrown off the team.

I scratch my hair and hesitantly walk over to squad in front of him. I give him a light push on the shoulder and he makes an annoyed face, but doesn't look up.

I sigh. "You gonna live, pretty boy?" I ask, making sure to poke at him to show my annoyance.

"Just go away," he tells me and gets my hand off of him.

"No," I tell him. "It actually looks like you need a nurse."

Now he looks at me with an eyebrow raised and a very skeptical look on his face. "And that's definitely not your fault," he says sarcastically.

I roll my eyes. "Urgh, just cut the shit, fairy boy, all right? I'm sorry," I say and make a face when I see him wince like he thinks I'm gonna hit him again.

I sigh.

Cory looks intensely at me. I'm sure he is wondering what the hell I have going on here. I am too. I've always hated him and I've always known he was the only one who could never really piss me off no matter how much he insulted me. All this is what gets me so worked up when I see him. All the guys used to call him 'faggot'. Just the word made my blood boil so I got everyone to call him 'fairy boy' instead. It suits him better. I reach out my hand for him to take without a word. He looks at it as if I've lost my mind and maybe I have, but Cory needs help. I pick him up and he squirms in surprise.

"What are you doing?!" he exclaims. "Let me down before you infect me with your straight germs!"

"Shut up, fairy boy."

He grumbles and I ignore him. I carry him out towards the football field instead of the nurse's office like a normal person would. I don't go out there because then we'll definitely be seen. Instead I take us further out and into the little forest right beside the school. I know there's a bench not far in where I can put Cory until his head stops spinning. Then I can decide if he really needs a nurse or not - and if I want to ruin my life at the same time.

"What the hell?" he mumbles when he realizes where I'm taking him. He looks at me like I'm a strange creature when I put him down on the bench and tell him to stay there. He listens, but clearly my behavior still freaks him out. He doesn't trust me and no wonder.

"If you're going to kill me," he says. "At least dig me a nice grave."

I snort at that joke. "Don't be stupid."

He is in pain, but suppresses it. "Jocks always creeped me out. They have no brains and apparently no-"

"Stop talking!" I yell, making him stare at me wide-eyed. I don't say another word and just watch him as he sits up, holding a hand to his head.

"Why are you 'helping' me then?" He asks with a frown. "Do you actually think I'm gonna tell on you?"

I blush furiously and curl my hands into fists. "If you do, I swear..."

"I won't," he promises. "I like living, thank you very much. But at least tell me somethin'; what the hell are you doing? Are you actually going to kill me?" He raises both eyebrows.

I shake my head. "What do you think?" I tell him. "It's not like I'm a serial killer or anything like that."

"No, of course not," he says before I can continue, sounding unconvinced. "You're just the typical jock who's acting weird and unnatural and who's gonna kill me out here in a forest and make it look like an accident. They'll know it was you." He tries to point a finger at me, but cuts it out when another wave of pain hits him.

I grit my teeth. "I'm not a serial killer, idiot," I deadpan. "Cut the crap."

He stays quiet then and lies down. After a while I decide to sit down on a stone not far from the bench. The forest is unusually quiet and it irks me. I hate silence. Most of all I hate forests since they are so filled with nothingness. Even as a kid I hated going to the forest. I've always preferred the football field. There I have control and I always know where I am. Cory groans lowly, but I still hear it. He's rubbing his head again. No doubt I've given him a concussion.

Great.

He catches me staring, but I can't figure out how he feels about that. He adverts his gaze when I don't.

"You hurt me," he says, still refusing to look at me. His voice is so fragile.

"I already said I was sorry," I point out, angry that I have to repeat myself.

"No," he says and turns his head to look at me. "You hurt me. It still hurts."

I'm about to tell him he's an idiot when the meaning behind his words sink in; he isn't just talking about today. He isn't just talking about all the other times I've slammed him into the lockers. He means all the other shit I've said to him, all those things that hurt more than the physical pain I've caused him. I hurt him... which is exactly what I feared he would say. I want to apologize, but I can't. Staring at him, I try to work out why he's doing this. He knows I'll slam him into a locker tomorrow if I have to. He knows that and yet he's still giving me a second chance.

"You know all you have to do is say you're sorry," he mutters, not hiding his annoyance very well. He closes his eyes again and sits back with a hand to his forehead. That's another thing about Cory; he doesn't care what people think about him and he is not afraid to say exactly what he wants. Sometimes I envy that. I wouldn't mind being able to wear something else than my football jersey to school. But that's dreaming.

"You want me to apologize for something I didn't do?" I say aloud, playing stupid.

Cory whips around and the look in his eyes screams 'are you retarded?', But he sits up too fast. His eyes roll around in his head, but he still manages to send a glare my way. "Oh, you know what I mean, Mr. quarterback of the year. Don't play dumb with me, I know you got more brains than those d-i-c-k's you call friends."

I grit my teeth at that comment. "Watch it," I growl.

Cory only cocks an eyebrow at me, getting up from the bench to stand in front of me on wobbly legs. "You can beat me up, I don't care," he says, arms out to each side of his tiny body. "Like I said, people will know it was you. But what's more important; you hide behind ignorance for some reason. You're not stupid. Otherwise you wouldn't be this pissed right now."

If looks could kill... "I'm really considering how deep I should dig your grave right now," I drawl sarcastically, and Cory actually backs away a little as if he's sensed not to push me much further than this. Clever choice. I'm in a staring competition with this boy - this boy - who gives me as much trouble as what's already filling my head.

"You can take me back now," he says. "And I think I will go see the nurse, if you don't mind. I can't do much work with this headache."

I don't look at him when he says that last part. Instead I huff and let him begin the walk back towards the school on his own. I stay behind to clear my head. Today has been a day of breaking a thousand ground rules. Knowing this, I'm about to screw my own principles - once again. I catch up with Cory easily and don't say another word. Cory doesn't say anything either, but I swear I could see a smile on his face in the corner of my eye.

The smile stays on for as long as he gets to walk beside me. I swear he must be crazy. I roll my eyes and push the doors to the school open. There are a few people around. They won't say anything probably because they can see that I am angry. I'll be hearing for this at practice later today. But right now I'm angry enough to just glare everyone who looks at us down. I do this the entire way to the nurse's office.

"Get in," I say and push Cory inside the waiting room.

He mumbles something under his breath and obliges. He sits down on one of the chairs straight away. No one else is here. That is the only reason I can relax a little.

"You don't have to be here," Cory tells me.

I raise an eyebrow. "Bull. This is my responsibility. I'm not running away."

Cory's eyes soften. I'd even swear there is a touch of respect in his eyes. "Fine. But can you sit down, please? Your pacing is kind of irritating."

I stare at him. I didn't even realize I was pacing. What's even more surprising is that I don't get angry at him for giving me an order. I just comply. I need to get myself together. This is ridiculous.

The nurse comes out. She looks horrified to see Cory hurt and gives me a look. However, Cory is quick to dismiss her theory. He says that he got a football thrown in his face by accident and that I brought him here out of kindness. I just don't feel very kind. I raise my eyebrows at him and he shrugs as the nurse leads him inside her office, leaving me to myself. I think of all the possible excuses I can use and what the hell I'm gonna tell Jason. Rumors spread so fast around here that I'm sure he will find out before recess – which is in 30 minutes. What am I going to do?