Ryder^

Everything was going perfect and then it happened. Mitch and his friends cornered me when I was on my way to the bathroom. I was dragged into an empty classroom where, as you can guess, my daily beatings began.

"Please stop" I begged but all they continued their assault on my body that already beginning to bruise only being mindful of not hitting my face because they knew what would happen if my brothers and the others would do.

"Shut up faggot" Mitch hissed as he took a handful of my blond hair and punched me on the chest making me gasp in pain as the air flew out of my lungs due to the impact. If you have guessed the reason behind the beatings then you're smart. The bullying began a year ago when I came out to the person I thought was my friend but is one of the people beating me.

"What the hell are you doing?" A voice yelled before the bodies beating me were pulled off and the sound of grunts and groans filled the air. Black dots coated my eyesight before everything went black. The sound of a door opening brought me back to earth causing my eyes to snap open. I looked around me and realized I was in the infirmary and the boy from this morning was talking to the nurse who instructed him to lay me on one of the cots in the room. I winced as I was laid down and he was quick to apologize

"Sorry didn't mean to hurt you"

"Don't be, you didn't do any of this" I murmured before gasping as Nurse Jackie placed an ice pack on my bruised ribs

"You need to tell the principal Alex, this can't keep happening," She said and I swallowed the lump in my throat as I looked away

"The beating will only get worse if they find it I told the principal," I said

"So you rather get beat near death then get help? What if the next time there won't be someone to help you? What if you don't make it?" She fired off and I sighed

"Then I guess I won't make it," I said softly ignoring their stares

"You say this now but won't you care about what your family feels when they lose you?"

"They'll happy that they won't have to worry about me anymore" I replied

"You really think that?" My head snapped up so fast I was afraid that it would fall off and looked at the boy who brought me in before lowering my eyes

"I mean they'll be sad but they'll eventually move on" I murmured and felt the bed dip and looked up when I felt him across from me

"I doubt that will happen. Look I don't know you and you don't know me but I agree with Nurse Jackie about you telling the principal about this." He said

"You have no idea how many times I wish I had the guts to tell the principal but I always back out knowing that Mitch and his friends will eventually find out and make things worse" I muttered.

I don't even know why I'm even talking to him about this, I mean for god sake I don't even know his name.

"Um, thank you, by the way, for, um back there, you did-" I began when he cut me off

"It's cool, I'm Riley by the way," he said with a smile while holding his hand out

"Alex, but I guess you already knew that since nurse Jackie called me that" I whispered and he grinned

"It's nice meeting you" Riley stated making me give him a small smile

"Look, Alex, like I said before. Tell the principal and your parents. I have a feeling you asked your brothers not to tell them," he said I bit my lip because I did. I made them promise to not tell my parents because they already have enough on their plate as it is with one of my older brothers in Afghanistan.

My parents don't need to worry about me too.

Brian, the oldest of us 7 kids has been overseas for the past 3 years and I haven't seen him since. He's 26 years old and looks like my dad when he was young with bright blue eyes and short black hair that he shaved when he joined the Army 8 years ago.

"I know that I should tell them but they already have enough to worry about with my brother being in Afghanistan," I said and he gave me a look of sympathy

"I know the feeling of having an older sibling being on tour for months even years," he said making me furrow my brows and he smile

"I have two older brothers who are in the military. One being in the Marines and the other in the Army" he answered

"How long have they been in the military?" I asked as we made our way down the hall from the nurse's office.

"My oldest brother, Matt, has been in the Marines since he was 18 so about 15 years and my other brother, Kennedy, has been in the Army since he was 20, so about 10 years. I haven't seen them since their last tour about 3 years ago." Riley said

"It's hard. I haven't seen him since I was 13, so three years"

"It is but you get used to it. I've grown up with my dad being overseas my whole life." He said and I stared at him surprised

"So your dad's also in the military?"

"He was, he recently retired two months ago, but yeah he was in the Military from 45 years." He answered making me nod

"My class," I said and he smiled making me give him a questioning look before it dawned on me. He was in my class and how the hell did I not notice it before?

Class began not long after we entered and I couldn't help but wonder why he defended me from Mitch and why he was being nice to me since I've never talked to him before up until this morning. Was he just being nice to me so he could go and tell Mitch? Or was he genuine?

Sighing I tried to focus on class but it was difficult with Mitch and Adam both throwing paper balls at me from behind me. I could hear them snickering with each ball that hit my head making me sigh.

When class ended, I gathered my things up and began to exit the room only to stop short when I heard Mitch and Riley talking about what happened last period.

"Leave him alone Mitch, or you'll regret it" Riley threatened

"Why are you defending the little fa-" Mitch started to say but cut short and I frowned before turning around to find him pinned up against the wall by Riley with his arm against his neck

"Leave him alone Mitch, I won't repeat myself" Riley warned before letting Mitch fall to the floor coughing

"Are you a faggot too, is that why you're defending him?" Mitch chuckled rubbing his throat.

"And if I was? What are you going to do? Beat me? Tell Coach that I watch you dress and jack off? For godsakes Mitch, you'd be the last person that I'd find attractive" Riley retaliated before crouching down to be at level with Mitch adding, "I'm warning you, Mitch, stay away from him"

He stood up again and looked over at me with a smile, I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. How can he go from being angry to being kind in seconds?

"Ready to go? I'm sure your friends and siblings are waiting for you" Riley said and I nodded, as we made our way out of the PreCalc room, Riley looked over his shoulder at Mitch, "And don't be late for practice or you'll be on the bench the rest of the season."

~*~*~*~*~

"So, Alex, since when are you and the star quarterback friends?" Jensen asked after school as we waited in the parking lot for Ryder to come to pick me up. He was one of my few friends

"We aren't best friends, just acquaintances," I said as

"Right because acquaintances are that close" Jared, Jensen's younger twin brother said making me roll my eyes

"Think what you want, it doesn't matter really" was my reply causing them to chuckle

"What are you guys laughing about?" Casey asked with a raised brow

"Riley and Alex here seem to be friends now," Molly said

"Riley? The kid who's friends with Mitch?" Andrew quizzed

"They're not friends, just teammates" I mumbled

"How do you two even know about him and Riley being friends anyway?" Matt asked the twins and Molly who grinned

"We saw them walking out of the school together," Jensen said

"They were having quite a conversation too" Jared added

"And they were laughing something I haven't see Alex do in a long time" Molly also added making my face heat up in a blush to which Allie cooed at as she pinched my cheeks making me whine and move out of the way

"Just because I was laughing and talking with him doesn't mean anything" I concluded

"I don't want you around him, Alex," Matt said making me turn to him with narrow eyes

"You can't tell me who I can and cannot be friends with, Matt. Riley's a nice guy and the first to defend me from Mitch instead of you or the others" I responded and they didn't have the time to reply as Ryder pulled up to the school at that moment and I quickly climbed in making him raise a brow

"What's the matter, kid?" He asked pulling away from the curb since the other three have their cars and don't need a ride

"Matt, Andrew, and Casey being assholes as always" I replied

"What did they do this time?" He asked making me sniffle and wipe my eyes

"I made a new friend today and they don't want me around him. They said that he'll stab me in the back because Mitch is his teammate. Why can't they just stop treating me like a baby and telling me who I can and can't be friends with?" I asked looking over at him and he sighed

"You're 16 years old and have every right to be friends with whoever you want and they need to understand that. You need to learn on your own if this person will or will not stab you in the back. I'll talk to them. They're crossing the line with bright protective of you," he said reaching over to ruffle my hair making me glare at him and he chuckled, "You be friends with whoever you want Alex, alright? But just be careful and don't trust this person to quickly."

"I will. Promise. His name is Riley by the way. The person that I made friends with today I mean. He defended me from Mitch and warned him to stay away from me. We have some things in common." I said and he hummed

"Like what exactly?" He asked turning right into our street making me realize we've been talking for 10 minutes already

"He has older brothers that are in the military," I said and he nodded," his dad was in it too before he retired a few months ago"

"Well as long as he doesn't hurt you or anything he's good in my books, for now, that is," Ryder said as he pulled into our driveway and I smiled

"He's a good person Rye. I wouldn't have befriended him if he wasn't. You and Brian taught me how to see when a person is genuine or not." I said getting it as he did the same and grabbed my backpack and board from the floor and he nodded locking the car.

"I'll take your word for it, you're a good judge of character."