Salvador

                It was all too much suddenly. Me standing up to Brent even though I knew he would most probably send me to the hospital, then everyone around us standing up for me and being completely normal and supportive about me. I knew what Ollie must’ve felt like that first time he singed for the guys. I was this close to come apart at the seams, every part of my body shook as Ollie held me. Everything I believed was a lie, could’ve been a lie for years now, things could’ve been different if I had just said that I was mute earlier. Maybe I could’ve saved myself from so much pain and so much suffering.

“Don’t think of what could’ve been and concentrate on what is,” Ollie whispered into my ear.

                Of course he knew, he was always able to know what I was thinking and feeling. I took a deep breath, silencing my thoughts and felt my body slowly stop shaking until there was only a small tremble left. I tried to pull away completely but Ollie only let me get a little distance between us, never letting me go, knowing that I really needed his touch right now. I smiled at him and pulled him down to give him a gentle kiss. When he pulled back he gave me one of his true smiles.

“Alright?” He asked his voice sounding huskier than ever and I knew I was going to kill Em for doing this to him.

                I nodded and we started walking to the music classroom. Once we entered everyone turned to look at us and as usual Em turned to glare at us.

“Has there ever been a day when you’re on time?” She asked her voice sounding a little better but not quite there yet.

“Maybe?” I shrugged like I didn’t care just because I wanted to piss her off.

                She glared at me before turning to speak to Ollie.

“I don’t want you to be a single minute late today,” she said glaring.

“I don’t think I can sing,” Ollie said and I knew it was torture to speak.

“What the hell happened to your voice?” Em asked, looking surprised.

                Both Ollie and I looked at her like she was stupid.

“What? I didn’t do that to you! I couldn’t have! It was just four hours!” Em said sounding indignant.

“Four hours?! Are you stupid or what?!” Kev yelled at Em, which surprised us all.

“He hasn’t talked for God knows how long, never mind singing, and you worked him for four hours straight?! We’ll be lucky if he recovers by the time the gig comes!” Kev yelled.

                Oh shit! I had totally forgotten about the gig! And Ollie’s voice sounded like his throat had been rubbed with sandpaper for days. Everyone turned to glare at Em, and she shrank a little.

“I didn’t think…” She started saying.

“That’s because you don’t think, you just bitch at people. You do what you believe is right and fight for it but you never know when to stop, you never know when to not fight, when you’re not right,” Kev said taking a deep breath and calming himself down. “Stick with an hour thrice a week starting the week after the gig. For what’s left of this week Oliver needs to rest his voice for the gig this Friday. Period. Dot. End,” Kev added when Em started speaking up.

“Fine,” Em said glaring at Kev.

                Maybe his attitude and the way he said it wasn’t the best but he had a point. And that was the most hateful thing about him, that even though he was all cocky when he said it, he always had a point. So you couldn’t really say anything without sounding like a brat. One of this days he was going to get into deep shit for that attitude of his. Someone would not take him talking to them like that and I really wondered what he was going to do when that day came.

                The bell rang and we said our goodbyes before going off to class. The rest of the classes went on without event, but I still had one week left of detention so it was all the same to me really. I expected something to have changed after I spoke in sign language in front of everyone earlier today, but nothing changed. Nobody gave me any type of special attention, no one was whispering and pointing at me, and I guessed the news about me being mute hadn’t spread. I gave it until tomorrow for the whole thing to explode in my face.

                When the final bell rang I went on to detention, meeting Gret there. We talked and had fun, and I took that chance to let her know that her uncle should expect us that Friday. She was excited for us and we went on talking about that. The bell that marked the end of detention rang and I asked her if she was coming to practice and she told me that she couldn’t because she had a shift in The Dump -she called it The Company and I replaced it with The Dump in my mind. I went on to Em’s house knowing that someone had picked up my bass for me. Once there I stopped for a minute to listen but I didn’t hear any yelling. I sighed with relief, Em’s voice being gone was probably the best thing that had happened.  I went in and Em, like always, turned to glare at me. Ollie looked a little panicky, like a cat that was about ready to bolt. Dusty looked a little angry and Kev looked annoyed. Seriously was there a day when these people got along?

“What happened?” I went right on without waiting for an answer, getting close to Ollie to hold his hand. He looked a little unhinged and I guessed he needed the support.

“Miss Bitch here just exploded because Ollie made a comment about the new song,” Kev said cocking his head at Em.

“If he doesn’t like it then he might as well leave!” Em said angrily, though I thought it was kind of funny because her voice wasn’t quite back yet and it broke and became high-pitched in weird places.

                Kev rolled his eyes, Dusty’s sigh sounded frustrated, and Ollie shrank a little. So Em was being hotheaded and stubborn again, great. I sighed and turned to look at Em.

“Em just because you’re the unspoken leader of this band it doesn’t mean you get to make all the decisions on your own, this is a band, we make group decisions. This band is democratic, we all have a voice. If he says something should be changed then we’ll hear him out and discuss it.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re his boyfriend. You’re biased,” Em said squinting at me.

“I’m not his boyfriend and I think we should hear him out, too,” Kev said.

“Yeah Em, stop being so stubborn and just hear him out, ok?” Dust said sounding like he was trying really hard not to snap.

“Fine,” Em muttered.

                I turned to look at Ollie and he looked into my eyes, seeming a little scared and freaked out. Well he was only just now learning to speak his thoughts, I doubted that having one of his friends telling him that his opinion didn’t count had helped any. I smiled at him and touched his cheek, nodding a little to tell him it was alright. Ollie looked at me for a few more seconds before taking in a deep breath and looking at everyone else.

“We should add a reference to the gossip. It’s a song about what our home is like, right?”

                Everyone stayed silent, thinking about it. It sounded like a pretty good idea, if you asked me.

“I think he’s right,” Dust said from the drum set.

“Definitely, isn’t that what Home is about?” Kev asked turning to Em.

“I agree with Ollie, it sounds like a really good idea.” I turned to look at Em.

“Alright, it is a good idea,” she grumbled.

                We all looked at her expectantly. There was something missing and we all knew it.

“Ugh. I’m sorry Ollie,” Em said sounding annoyed. “Are you all happy now? Can we move on?”

                We all laughed at what a sore loser Em was and she growled at us to get to work. We just laughed harder because with her hoarse voice it didn’t sound menacing at all. We went on with practice, everyone adding their own little touches to the song, and by the time we all had to go home, the end was in sight. The song was almost finished we just had to fix some things and move others around and it’d be done. From now until the gig came, I was pretty sure Em would have us practicing that song until we all dreamed of it. We said our goodbyes and Ollie and I went on to our homes, talking about the song and what it was turning out to be. Ollie was pretty excited, it was the first song he was present for and he was pretty content with it. I couldn’t help but look at him ranting on about the song and how good it was, and smile this really goofy, stupid smile that must’ve made me look like an idiot but that for some reason I couldn’t shake off.

                He was here to stay. He was getting excited about Tainted. I thought that was about as good a sign as any. I seriously cared about and liked Ollie and I knew that I was already a step ahead of that. I had this little feeling inside of me that told me it wasn’t just a crush, that I didn’t just like him, that it was the L word. And to be sincere it scared the hell out of me. The last time I said that to someone it turned out that person beat me and put me into a locker. Now I was pretty sure I felt the same towards Ollie and I seriously couldn’t decide if I was happy or terrified. What if he left? What if he didn’t feel the same way about me? What if we were in different places in this relationship? What if he wasn’t taking us seriously?

“Sal?” Ollie asked touching my cheek.

                I flinched and jumped about three feet away. I didn’t do it on purpose, it was just that I was startled out of my thoughts. Ollie looked a little hurt at my reaction and I hurried to make him understand.

“I’m sorry, I really am. I was just so deep in my thoughts and you scared the hell out of me. I swear I didn’t mean anything by it, it was just an accident.” I got closer to him, looking straight into his eyes and grabbing a hold of his hands to keep him closer for a second before I let them go to go on. “I promise I didn’t mean anything by it, baby, I was just startled.”

                Ollie looked into my eyes for a few seconds before he nodded slowly and leaned in to press a gentle kiss on my lips. I loved kissing him. I could kiss him for hours straight and be content with just that and nothing more. He pulled back and smiled at me and we went on to our houses. I went into my house and slumped against the door. What the hell was the matter with me? I could’ve ruined everything. I was glad Ollie didn’t inquire what I had thinking because I didn’t know if I could’ve been honest with him. What would he think about my stupid doubts? About my idiotic thoughts? Would he judge me? Understand me? Would he leave me?

“Sal?” I heard Mina ask from somewhere in the kitchen.

                I groaned, not wanting to face Mina right now. She’d know for sure that something was going on with me, and make a big deal about it, and ask me questions I really didn’t want to answer. I had to book it out of there, so I started walking up the stairs to my room, increasing the pace little by little. Right that moment all I wanted was some time by myself, no pushy mother trying to find out what ailed me.

“Salvador?” Mina asked again and I heard her closer.

                I quickened up my pace and by the time she was at the base of the stairs yelling my name I was at my bedroom door. Too slow, mom. I went into my room quickly and locked my door once it was closed. I sighed finally relaxing in the only place in this whole planet that felt like a bunker, like it was so safe that it could withstand a nuclear war. My room was as much a part of me as my arms and legs. There was one whole wall covered in posters of most of the bands that I knew, loved, and adored. There wasn’t enough space for me to put all of my posters up so I had to leave a few bands out of my wall. I had another whole wall covered from roof to floor in shelves filled with books and there still wasn’t enough space for all of them, a great amount of them just lying around the floor in piles. I loved music and I loved reading, and I loved having things within accessible distance, which is why I kept all this in my room.

                I undressed and put on a pair of sweats collapsing on my bed and again letting out a sigh of relief. This place was like my own little world, where I could be whatever and whoever I wanted without having to worry about prying eyes. I could do goofy things like put on makeup just to see how it looked on me, I could cry as much as I wanted, drain everything into my pillow, play my music, read my books, fret and worry, and I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else. I felt like I was sinking deeper into my bed and consciously knew that I was probably falling asleep. I just let it happen because I was seriously exhausted all of a sudden.

The next morning I woke up and went into my bathroom still yawning and scratching my head. I undressed and got into the shower washing the sleepiness out of my system. I brushed my teeth and went into my room thinking about what I would wear today. I remembered what Ollie had told me about dressing the way I liked and about living the way I wanted to live. Well, I already showed them I was mute, why keep the rest hidden? I should just get it over with and let them see me for who I really was.

I dressed up in my full punk clothes, a shirt I’d torn and stitched back together, ripped jeans with studs and a pair of chucks I’d adorned and ripped myself. I looked at myself in the mirror thinking it had been a fucking long time since I’d dressed like this, apart from the day of the gig. It felt kind of odd, after hiding myself in baggy clothes, to be dressed like this again, but at the same time I felt comfy. It was a weird feeling. I grabbed my bag and went over to my bedroom door planning to go over to Ollie’s. I was feeling decidedly better today, the wreck averted, or at least ignored and shoved into the back of my mind successfully. I opened my door and standing there with a pissed off look that didn’t fool me was Ash.

“Good morning.” I smiled at her and she glared at me.

“Why did you lock your door yesterday? We were worried sick about you,” she said.

“If you had been really that worried you would’ve come in with the spare key.” I raised my eyebrow at her and her glare intensified. I just shrugged. “I wanted to be alone, is that such a big sin? Wanting some time to myself?”

“No,” Ash frowned. “I didn’t say that but…”

“So why are you here looking angry and about to scold me? What did I do wrong?”

                Ash’s frown deepened.

“Nothing, Sal, it’s just…”

“If I did nothing wrong then can I go? I kinda need to get to school and I have to pick up Ollie first.”

                Ash glared at me.

“You think you’re real smart always finding loopholes, but…”

“Yes I know, you’ll find some reason to ground me and keep me from seeing Ollie. I know.” I walked past her and started going down the stairs.

“Salvador Rafael!” Ash yelled coming down with me. “I’m not done with you! Don’t you turn your back on me young man!”

“What’s going on?” Mina asked poking her head through the kitchen doorway.

“I don’t know.” I just shrugged.

“Salvador!” Ash yelled when she reached the base of the stairs.

“What did he do?” Mina asked looking surprised.

“Nothing, but…” Ash started saying.

“So then why are you yelling at him?” Mina asked frowning.

“I wasn’t, I was just talking to him and he walked past me,” Ash said.

                No matter how you turned that around it sounded a lot like a little kid whining.

“Because I thought the conversation had ended and I need pick Ollie up to go to school.”

“It is getting kind of late, why aren’t you letting him go to school if it pisses you off so much when he arrives late and you get called?” Mina asked her frown deepening as she stepped out of the kitchen completely with a towel to dry her hands.

“UGH!” Ash yelled throwing up her hands in frustration. “Forget it!”

                Mina and I watched her stump up the stairs and into their bedroom. We turned to look at each other with questioning looks and we both shrugged at the same time. I didn’t know what the hell had gotten into Ash this morning.

“I’ll go talk to her, you go on to school Sal,” Mina said leaning in and kissing my forehead. “But when you get home we’re talking about yesterday.”

                I groaned and Mina chuckled before pushing me towards the front door. I grabbed my keys and left my house closing the door after me before making my way over to Ollie’s. Right as I reached the door and was about to knock, the door opened and Ollie was standing there smiling at me. He had been waiting for me. God, I could seriously fall hard for him if I wasn’t careful. I smiled up at him and he leaned down to press a gentle kiss on my lips. Or at least that’s what he’d planned. I had other plans. I grabbed the back of his neck and kept him there deepening the kiss and increasing the passion in it before pulling away to breath. I had really needed that. I looked at Ollie’s heavy-lidded and lusty eyes and knew he wanted more but we couldn’t really get more. I smiled up at him and pulled on his hand to get him moving already. I had to pull him along for a couple of minutes before he seemed to react and fell into step beside me.

“You’re evil,” he said, his voice sounding just a teeny-tiny, bit better.

“I am, but you like me like that.” I winked at him and gave him a devilish smile.

                Ollie, blushed and turned around to look somewhere else. I chuckled. When I finally stopped laughing I squeezed his hand to draw his attention to me. He turned to look at me and I gave him a concerned look.

“My voice?” He asked, or more like croaked.

                I nodded and he sighed.

“It still hurts.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t use it at all until the gig, or the day before it to practice a little.”

“I guess,” he said looking a little sad.

                And I understood without him having to tell me. He didn’t talk all that much, but the little he did talk meant a lot to him and now having that taken away from him, rendering him speechless again had to be hard. I squeezed his hand and he turned to look at me giving me a really warm and happy smile, and I just melted inside. I stopped us to pull him down to me and kiss him again. I swear I couldn’t get enough of him. We went on walking to school in our usual silence that was actually filled with meaningful looks that spoke more than words ever could have. Once in school, hell started. It was full-out whispering and pointing and wide-eyed stares. Oh word got around, alright.

                It was so weird having everyone’s attention on me, and having people come up to me to ask me if I was really mute and stuff like that. It wasn’t just weird. I fucking hated it. I wanted to get the hell out of this place right the fuck now, go back to my house where people wouldn’t be whispering behind my back about me. But the thing that kept me sane and kept me from breaking down was Ollie’s hand in mine. It was the one thing that kept me from falling apart. How was I going to go through classes without Ollie, I had no idea, but when the bell rang and Ollie walked me to class he told me he’d see me at the end to walk me to my next class. I was really proud of myself because I didn’t cry in front of everyone when he told me that. Here I was thinking he wasn’t going to stay, that he’d leave me, and he knew exactly what I needed and when I needed it. I was just so stupid to be having doubts, but could you really blame me?

                When classes started I figured the real torture was about to start. Of course word had gotten around to the teachers too and I guessed they would figure out some way to make me suffer because of that. Oh God how I hated this fucking place. When the first class started the teacher came in just like he normally did and had a smug look in his face. The class started just like it normally did and, just like always, the teacher asked me a question. I sighed guessing I had to answer it, and did so in sign language. Everyone around me gasped and started whispering. The teacher looked a little dumbfounded, and I guessed nobody believed I was really mute until they saw me talking in sign language with their own eyes.

“Speak,” the teacher told me and I stared at him.

                Was he always this stupid? Did he think I would be answering in sign language if I could speak?! Did he think I would’ve spent all this time enduring what they did to me if I had a voice?! The teacher looked at me expectantly and I sighed, feeling suddenly dog tired. Getting angry always made me tired.

“If I could speak I wouldn’t be talking in sign language.”

“I thought I told you to speak,” the teacher said getting angry.

“He can’t, that’s what being mute means. It means a person can’t speak,” someone said and the whole class burst with laughs.

                The teacher looked so mad he looked like he would pop a vein or something. He quieted everyone and continued the class, leaving me alone for the remainder of the class. When it ended he called the guy that had spoken up to his desk and handed him a detention slip. I gave the guy a little apologetic smile and he just shrugged and smiled before going off to his class. Well, who would’ve guessed? I turned around and saw Ollie was there waiting to walk me to my next class and looking a little dumbfounded. I told him all about what happened in class as we made our way to my next class and we both wondered what my next class would be like.

                It was a variation of the first class. The teacher asked me a question and when I answered and she didn’t understand shit of what I was saying, the whole class laughed in her face and she was the one that ended up looking dumb. The next class was something like that too and then finally the bell for recess rang. I was having the weirdest day I’d ever had to the date, and that was something considering my record. Ollie and I walked to the music classroom where I told the guys about the day I’d been having till now and Em smiled smugly telling me she had told me maybe things would change around here if I showed the town I was mute. Ollie gave me a knowing smile and I chuckled, pulling him down into a kiss that elicited catcalls and gagging sounds from everyone.

                The recess ended and Dust and I walked to our next class, which was something like the one’s I’d had before and ended with Dust getting detention for speaking up for me. At least I was going to be there to keep him company. Right then I remember that today a couple of other people had ended up with detention because of me. I guessed we both would have some company in detention today. By the time classes ended and both Dust and I walked to detention there were about half a dozen people sitting in desks.

                Dust showed his slip to the teacher and I just wiggled my fingers at her, which elicited a glare from her. I heard a few snorts as I made my way to my desk. The teacher took longer to walk out of the room but in the end she did and I let out a relieved breath. I took out my phone and told Em that both Dust and I would be late for practice. I got up and went over to Dusty’s desk and showed him Em’s answer. She was pissed that both the drummer and the bassist were going to be late when we still had to finish up the new song.

“Aren’t you scared the teacher will come back?” Asked a girl.

                Dust and I looked at her like she was stupid. And then I remember that she probably had never even once been in detention.

“She always leaves a few minutes after detention starts,” Dust said.

“What? And what is keeping us from just going home?” A guy asked.

“The guards at the entrance of the school. They know if the teacher hasn’t left yet that we shouldn’t either.”

                Everyone looked a little dumfounded. It took me a few seconds to understand but I finally did. I look over at Dust and he looked like he didn’t understand. I sighed and rolled my eyes. This guy was really something.

“You have to translate for me. They don’t understand what I say.”

“Oh, dude, that’s right. I had totally forgotten about that,” he said suddenly understanding and explaining what I’d said.

“So why didn’t you talk before yesterday?” A guy asked.

                I sighed and prepared to have a real fucking long detention. I spent the rest of detention answering their questions with more questions, avoiding giving any consistent answers and talking about my past. Finally detention ended and Dust and I all but fled the room planning to run off to Em’s house but running into Ollie as soon as we stepped out. I felt proud of myself when I didn’t run into his arms and kissed him smack on the lips right there in front of everyone. As it was we got a round of awws when the people that were in detention with us came out and saw him there smiling at me. I think none of us liked to be the focus of the crowd and so we quickly made an escape, hurrying off to Em’s house. Em had to be having a seizure with her drummer, her bassist, and her singer missing. And Kev had to be there already. Oh I can tell you right now, she was going to be all smiles and laughs when we got there.

                When we arrived she was all but breathing fire. Kev looked like he could kill too and I decided not to make any sarcastic remarks, after all I wanted to have kids. After we finished the new song Ollie started saying that maybe, just maybe, he had an idea for a new song, but that he wasn’t sure or anything. He was nervous, I could tell without him having to tell me. Kev got fed up and told him to just spit it out already, which just about cracked me up. Just yesterday he was defending Ollie from Em and now he couldn’t stand him. By the time practice ended we had a new song on the making, and I had to say I was pretty happy. After all it was a song Ollie had thought up all by himself. When we went home after practice I couldn’t help but invite myself into his house and all but drag him up the stairs to his room.

                Once there I locked the door myself and pushed him up against it, kissing him and putting all of that days feelings into it. I just wanted him, desperately, frantically, and right the fuck now. I was planning on doing more than just kissing until I heard his dad pound on the door, telling us that dinner was already served and that we had five minutes to get downstairs. We both groaned but went down to dinner nonetheless. After that Ollie’s parents kept us busy asking questions about Tainted and the new songs and whatnot. When I went home much later I remembered Mina telling me that we were going to talk about whatever was bothering me, and started dreading what I’d find there. But it turned out they had forgotten about that and their new concern was the phone call they’d gotten from the principal asking them if I was really mute.

                Of course that old fart called them to check if I was lying, though who would lie about something like that was beyond me. Mina was all smiles telling me about how proud she felt and how happy she was that I had finally decided to talk and all that. Ash on the other hand was all grunts telling me to keep up my guard up just in case, after all judgmental assholes like Brent were still out there. Leave it to her to remind me about that when I was clearly happy. Needless to say, we had an argument, again, and by the time I went up to my room to sleep Mina was talking in Spanish, Ash was pissed off, and I just wanted to sleep. I undressed and got into my bed just like that falling asleep in no time flat.

                By the time the Friday rolled around I was tired but just because of my recurrent fights with Ash. She was being more hotheaded than usual, scolding me for every stupid little reason she could think of. School had been strangely peaceful for me, the rumor that I was mute had already spread and the teachers stopped making fools out of themselves. They just left me alone for now, but I could tell it was like the peace before the storm. Friday morning I woke up only because I thought that I would get to walk to school with Ollie. By the time I was ready to go to school I was no more awake than I had been when I woke up. When the doorbell rang my brain woke up a little, realizing that was probably Ollie. I said goodbye to both Mina and Ash and went off to open the door. Ollie was standing there, with a smile on his face. When he saw me he chuckled before pulling the door shut behind me and grabbing my hand, pulling me down the steps and off to school.

“How do you wake up every day?” He asked still chuckling.

                I yawned so widely that my eyes got teary and that just cracked him up. When he was finally done I glared at him for a few seconds, before giving up and yawning again. Glaring took too much energy.

“Honestly? I think that if I get up I’ll be able to walk to school with you and that’s normally enough.”

                He smiled and stopped to lean down and kiss me right there in the middle of the street. It wasn’t his normal gentle kiss, it was a scalding, hot-as-hell kiss that woke me up, alright. When he pulled back I was panting, aching, and wanting more. He smiled at me before he grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards school.

“Payback’s a bitch,” he said simply and I saw him smirk at me.

                Oh, he wanted revenge? I would give him revenge, just wait until the recess came around. Ollie chuckled and pulled me into his side.

“I’m just teasing,” he said kissing me gently. “You look good.”

                I blushed, and he chuckled again. Leave it to him to mention my new way of dressing right when I thought he hadn’t noticed. Then it sunk in that Ollie had his voice back, which meant Em would probably have fun torturing him today. His voice had still sounded a little croaky yesterday and so he had begged for mercy and Em let him off the hook. Today, though, there was nothing to stop her.

“So are you prepared? Em will probably work you to death today, with Home and A Lesson on Human Rights done, and the gig being tomorrow, we’re all going to be arriving to our houses late today.”

“I know the songs. I should sing them, but I know them. She could care less about that, though,” Ollie said.

“Let’s hope Super Kev comes to your rescue today.”

We both chuckled at that. It had become a little joke between us. It all started that Monday when Kev had chimed in to save Ollie from Em in the music room. During practice on Tuesday when we were working on Home and whenever Ollie wanted to changed something Em threw a tantrum and Kev was there to defend Ollie. When Ollie proposed A Lesson on Human Rights, which was a song that rounded up all the things that were done to us and emphasized the fact that no one did anything about them, Em had thrown a tantrum too and Kev had been there to save him again. Even though before Kev had gotten annoyed when Ollie got nervous trying to announce he had written a song, he was there to save him from Em later.

Practice on Wednesday, and Thursday, had gone in a similar manner, with Kev snapping at him and then defending him from Em. And so he had been named Super Kev by the two of us. He was always there to save Ollie from Em but he couldn’t seem to go for more than half an hour without snapping at Ollie. It was a funny contrast, Kev’s annoyance at Em yelling at everyone whenever she wanted and his annoyance at Ollie’s calm and quiet nature. It was like he couldn’t decide which annoyed him the most.

“I really can’t decide if he hates you or if he wants to protect you.”

                We both laughed harder. Making jokes all the way to school about Kevin and Em. It was good that Ollie finally had his voice back, not that I minded the silence but I had missed his voice. When we got to school he walked me to my classroom and told me he would be waiting for me after class. I pulled him down into a short kiss, just wanting to show him how happy I was. Right then, though, we heard a throat clear right next to us and we jumped about five feet into the air. There was a teacher there glaring at us.

“No PDAs in school,” he said glaring at us, before going into the classroom.

                Ollie was blushing when I turned to look at him. I just rolled my eyes and told him to ignore the asshole. He went off to class and I entered the classroom. Everything went just like it had been going for the past two days, without event. The rest of the classes until recess went by in a flash and before I noticed the bell for recess rang. I walked out of the classroom and Ollie and was there waiting for me again. He gave me a little tight smile and I could tell something was up, but decided not to mention it in school. I could tell something had been bothering him since after first period but like I said I preferred not to mention it right now. I walked right into his arms instead, offering silent comfort for whatever happened to him and he let out a little relieved breath. We made our way to the music classroom and when we got there we were welcome by Em’s glare, like always.

“Speak,” she snapped at Ollie.

“Hello?” Ollie said, but it sounded more like a question.

“Your voice sounds like its back to normal. Does it hurt to talk?” She asked eyeing Ollie like he was a suspected murderer.

                Ollie just shook his head, still preferring not to speak if it wasn’t strictly necessary.

“So you can sing?” Em asked.

                Ollie nodded and Em broke into a breathtaking smile.

“Alright then, practice will end an hour later today,” she said looking around the room, still with the blinding smile.

                Everyone groaned and Em’s smile just widened. Oh she was damn happy we were back to normal practice and that she could bitch at each and every one of us however she wanted. As it was she had Ollie practice Home and A Lesson on Human Rights, along with other of our songs so she could correct more things about his singing technique and bitch at him for the stupidest things. When recess was over she reminded us that practice started an hour later than usual and that only Ollie was required to be there at the usual time. Ollie looked at me pleadingly and I had to shrug and give him a sad smile. Today was the last day of detention, and that meant that I wasn’t going to be there with Ollie when Em tortured him. No matter how much I wanted to I really couldn’t do anything about it.

                We all turned to look at Kev and even though he didn’t look happy about the arrangement he couldn’t do anything about it either, because it was the original arrangement they had agreed upon. I also thought that he didn’t dare say anything because he’d arrived later than normal to the music classroom and though Em had given him the evil eye, she hadn’t bitched at him. Ollie sighed and his shoulders dropped a little. He absolutely hated being apart from me for long periods of time and an hour with Em bitching at him classified as a real, fucking long period of time. We said our goodbyes and Ollie walked me to my next classroom, but he seemed a little out of it. I guessed it probably had to do with what had happened to him. I looked around checking for teachers before I pulled him down into a short kiss, just wanting to show him I was there for him. Ollie looked a little better when he pulled away and I ushered him to his classroom, not wanting him to arrive late.

                When the classes ended and I could tell Ollie’s mood was worsening by moment that went by. When I saw him waiting for me after the last period he looked like he was going to face his death or something. I went off to detention and when I got there I saw that Kev was already there and wondered what he’d done to get a detention. I also noticed that he was a little tense and wondered if he’d had a shitty day. I thought I would just wait until the detention teacher left and ask him about it. Thing was, though, that she didn’t leave. She stayed for the whole detention and glared at us with real meaning, not just because he were students, but because it was us, Kev and I. By the time the bell for detention rang, even I had to admit I had never been happier to go to band practice. I was more than a little worried about Ollie and to say I was desperate to get to band practice would be an understatement. When we were already on our way to Em’s house I decided to ask Kev what was wrong with him.

“Hey Kev, is something wrong? Did something happen today?”

                Kev sighed and looked straight into my eyes, searching for something for a few seconds before he closed his and sighed again.

“Nothing,” he said.

                Right, and I was the president of the United States. I raised my eyebrow at him and I think he got the message that I wasn’t buying that for a single second because he sighed again.

“I just had a shitty day, alright?” He said sounding annoyed.

“No, shit? I hadn’t noticed that at all.”

                Kev rolled his eyes and looked annoyed.

“Some teacher just gave me shit for a stupid-ass reason,” he muttered.

“What do you consider a stupid-ass reason?”

                Kev remained silent for a while and I even started to think he wasn’t going to answer.

“Being gay,” he finally said through gritted teeth.

                My eyes widened at that. He had gotten shit for being gay? What had he been doing? Making out with a guy or something?

“What did you do that made him give you shit for that?”

“Nothing! I was just hanging out in the bleachers with…” Kev trailed off looking at me nervously and I wondered just with whom he’d been hanging out. “… a guy, and when I leaned a little into him, the teacher was right there, telling us that PDAs weren’t allowed in school! I told him, ‘Is that so?’ and told him to go give shit to the couple that was making out right in front of us. Of course the couple separated at my comment and when he turned there was nothing to see. He gave me smug smile telling me that he didn’t see any couple making out and I told him to go fuck himself. And that’s how I fucking ended up with detention! Are you happy now?!” Kev said finally exploding.

                I shrank back a little and I just couldn’t help it. I had never seen him this angry in all the time since I had met him. I had seen him annoyed and a little riled up, but never this angry. He took a deep breath and finally seemed to calm down.

“I’m sorry Sal. I didn’t mean to explode like that. It’s just been a hard couple of weeks,” he said giving me a sheepish smile.

                I nodded and we continued walking towards Em’s house in silence. I didn’t want him to explode again, so I just remained silent. Once there Ollie was looking a little worn around the edges and moody. I went right over to him and pulled him into a kiss, not caring who saw us. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tighter into him, pressing me against his body, like he wanted to just push me into him and keep me there with him forever. I pulled back when I finally needed air, panting and more than a little scared at the possessiveness I had felt in the kiss. Ollie let me pull back from the kiss but held me pressed to his body for a little longer. Finally he took a deep breath and pulled back, smiling down at me. I smiled back at him and caressed his cheek with my thumbs. He closed his eyes and looked content just standing there with his arms wrapped around me.

“You about done there? We need to get a move on with practice,” Em said, sounding clearly annoyed.

                I chuckled at Ollie’s groan, someone had had enough of Em for a day. I pulled back and turned towards Em, thinking about a way to make this practice a little easier than usual. After all Kev had exploded before, Ollie looked like his was running on his last nerve, and Dust didn’t look happy either.

“I have a little deal for you, if we just rehearse the songs we’re going to play tomorrow, Ollie, Kev, and I won’t leave.”

                Em looked a little taken aback for a few seconds before she finally seemed to react.

“What?! Leave?! How would you just leave like that?! We have a gig tomorrow, we need to practice!” Em bristled.

“That’s why I’m telling you just to practice what we’re going to sing tomorrow, one time and just the songs we know we’re going to play. Either that or nothing, what do you say?”

                Em looked like she was about to pop a vein.

“I would take it if I were you,” Dust said from the drum set.

                Em turned to glare at him, and he shrugged.

“Just saying. We’ve had a crazy schedule this past week, going home later than usual working on the new songs, and everything. I particularly have had a very hard week and very bad day today. I don’t know about you guys but I think I’m talking for everyone when I say I’m about ready to collapse,” Dust said looking around the room.

                Em looked around the room, noticing finally that we weren’t kidding at all. She took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, like she just couldn’t stand us. She finally agreed and I think we all sent a little prayer saying thank you to whoever was up there. Practice ended a little earlier than usual since we were just practicing the songs we were playing tomorrow one time and nothing else, and we all practically ran away. When Ollie and I were on our way to our homes we decided to stay over at one house after the gig tomorrow.

                Since we had stayed over at Ollie’s for the past gig, we decided that we would stay over at my house. We asked for permission and three out of four parents agreed that it sounded like a good idea. Can you guess who said no? Yup, it was Ash, big surprise, huh? After dinner that night I went off to my room, just about ready to pass out. I undressed and pulled on a pair of sweats before getting into bed and cuddling into the covers. I thought about Ollie and smiled, thinking that tomorrow would be the first time he would sing with us as the official singer of Tainted. On that thought, I sighed and fell asleep.

Alright so, new chapter :D

Before I leave you all to wait for another week till the next chapter, I want to do a little survey here.

What do you think is wrong with Ollie? In fact, what do you think is wrong with everyone? Why do you think Kev didn't tell Sal with whom he was?

I want your honest guesses here, no matter how ridiculous they are xD

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :3

-> Desyre