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Sixteen years old/10th Grade/March
Patrick and I had become inseparable best friends. I felt almost relieved each day when I saw him at school. Because if he was at school, then he wasn’t around his brother. Morgan and I would leave the house a few minutes early and would stop by and pick up Patrick so he didn’t have to walk. He was always outside waiting, and we hadn’t had any run-ins with his prick father. We started working out together before school in addition to after school, and he always had lunch with me and a group of friends. He even had a girlfriend now.
While Patrick and I were best friends, there was still a secure wall that he kept up, and it annoyed the fuck out of me. If I so much as caught a glimpse of a bruise or a mark on him, I’d ask about it. He’d gloss over it or ignore my question or comment completely. He’d never say exactly how he obtained the marks. When he was absent from school, I’d become stressed and anxious about seeing him and worried what he’d look like when I would see him.
Things at Patrick’s home were starting to affect everything. Even though he had this hot girlfriend who was ready to climb him like a tree, he seemed to avoid much physical contact with her. He’d hold her hand or make out with her, though. Ginny and I went out with Patrick and his girlfriend several times. The four of us would even hang out at Ginny’s place, and the girls would give Patrick and me blow jobs.
Patrick and I were talking about sex one day while working out after school, and he admitted that he hadn’t had sex with his girlfriend yet. Not that he needed to explain anything, but he told me he hadn’t fucked her yet because his body wasn’t buff enough to want to show it off to her. Even when his girlfriend would blow him, aside from his dick, he exposed very little skin. Unlike me, I’d push my pants down to my ankles so Ginny could take me deep and play with my balls.
In addition to Patrick’s home life causing him to be physically reserved with his girlfriend, his grades were slipping. We were close to the middle of the second semester, and he had Ds in math, science, and world history. Morgan and I would invite him over to study and he’d fall asleep sometimes.
He was absent yesterday but was back at school today. I was relieved when he called this morning and asked for a ride to school.
“What was he out sick with?” Morgan asked as we drove to his house.
“He didn’t say.” I sighed. “Maybe just a cold.”
“I’ll ask him,” Morgan said.
Morgan was a lot like me in the sense that he felt something was off with Patrick too. But Patrick was starting to come around and trust me more. Neither of us wanted to pressure him too much because we didn’t want him to pull away or go back to building the walls up or stop hanging around us. And if he slipped into the shadows again, God only knew what would happen to him.
“Hey!” Morgan said when Patrick got into the SUV.
“Hey, guys. Thanks for picking me up,” Patrick said as he closed the door and then put the seat belt on.
“Morning, Patrick,” I said. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay.” No more than five seconds later, he coughed hard and grabbed his side. I glanced at Morgan in the rearview mirror.
“Damn. That sounds like a deep cough. What did you have?” Morgan asked.
“I don’t know. I think just allergies. Fucking spring and everything blooming and shit.”
I held my tongue. Allergies didn’t make you grab your side in pain. I kept my eye on him during lunch and noticed how pale he looked.
“Dude, what’s going on? Are you okay?” I asked him quietly and away from anyone’s prying ears.
“Nothing is going on. I’m still tired, but I’m okay.”
“Maybe you should go home—”
“No, fuck that, Hollis.”
“At least go home after school and don’t work out today.”
“You need me to help keep you on task in the weight room after school,” he said.
“I do?” I couldn’t hide the sound of being surprised by his comment.
“Yeah. You’re training to be a TCF fighter. You can’t slack; you need me.” He sounded very serious and matter-of-fact.
“Who said I’d slack?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
He smiled and winked at me.
“Come on, Hollis. You’ve got the world in your hands.” A lightbulb went off in my head as things were making sense, and I felt bad. “At least humor me and give me the satisfaction of believing you need me to help you train after school,” he said.
Patrick needed to feel as though he was needed. He needed me to need him.
