Lágrimas

Another tender undertaking by *AethraZip*, AKA the evil-psycho-Terry- torturing-bitch.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE \ WARNING: Yaoi. Physical abuse. Psychosis. You suuuuuure you wanna risk it? . . Okie dokie then! Enjoy yourself!

Pledgerton High. Also known as the armpit of the western world.

Caleb dragged himself through each day, as he had been for the past three years. Now a junior, he was looking forward to escaping in another year . . . if he was still alive.

That Monday, he hadn't expected things to be any different. He'd just thought life would continue in the usual vein, and all he would have to do was suffer through the normal schedule. But nothing, not three years of hell with Gavin, nor two and a half years in Pledgerton, had prepared him for the challenge that was to come.

Nothing in heaven, hell, or on earth could prepare one for Ezekiel— um, Toushin Jones.

Caleb knew, along with everyone else, who Toushin was. The black-haired, green-eyed Adonis strode proudly down the hallway each morning, only pausing to make faces at Marissa LeCarro, his best friend, as she walked beside him. The redhead tossed him glances that not even the most romantic of souls could mistake for adoring; more likely, they signified an intense desire to destroy the boy she accompanied. Toushin Jones and Marissa LeCarro were not, perhaps, the most popular in school, but they were the best-known.

Which was why Caleb was shocked to turn away from his locker after school one day and see Toushin himself standing there, looking at him critically.

"Um . . . what are you staring at?"

"Well, I was staring at your ass, but you turned around. Would you mind turning back again?"

Caleb stared with wide frightened chibi eyes. o.O;;

"Waiting for me to say I'm kidding?" Toushin grinned. "Keep waiting. I'm not going to."

In only a few seconds, Caleb realized he was trapped between the crazy perv and the lockers. He was debating what to do when a scream vibrated against his ears and Marissa LeCarro came bounding down the hall, backpack in tow. "ZEEEEEEEEEEKE!"

Toushin blinked. "Zeke? . . I know no Zeke. Who is this 'Zeke' you speak of?"

Marissa rolled her eyes. "Don't be a moron, Toushin. You know your real name is Ezekiel." She drew out the name, as if trying to torture him with it. And, Caleb realized, she probably was.

"Noooooooooo! Not that name! Not that name!" Toushin screeched, then remembered Caleb was still stranded between him and the locker. "Oh, yeah. Toushin Jones. Ignore the bitch; she seems to think my name is . . . Ezekiel." He shuddered upon divulging the last word.

"It is! His parents are, like, crazily religious, and named him Ezekiel Samuel!" Marissa exclaimed.

Caleb just stood, torn between being frightened and being amused. Plus his leg was hurting again. His arm and stomach had healed pretty well, but he'd been walking on his bad leg, and the wound was close to reopening. He was anxious to get home and, hopefully, rest. However, it didn't seem that these maniacs were going to let him escape.

"Um . . ." he finally said, realizing Toushin was trying to look behind him again (presumably to examine his 'assets'), "if you have to stare at me at all, you could stare at my face . . ."

"Well, of course that's sexy too."

Caleb just stared.

"Oh, c'mon, haven't you ever met a queer before?"

"Toushin, you're gonna scare him away."

"I probably have already." Toushin turned to glance at Marissa, which gave Caleb the chance he needed. He dashed to the side and made for the stairs. Marissa yelled something that sounded suspiciously like "YOUR SEX SLAVE'S ESCAPING, TOUSHIN!"

And Toushin yelled back something that sounded like, "DON'T WORRY, I'LL CATCH HIM!"

Caleb realized it would be prudent to start running, but could not, because his leg was burning up in pain. Apparently it had begun to bleed again; he could feel a trickle of blood run down the back of his leg. The wound had opened, and Caleb winced.

"WAAAAAAIIT!"

He was grabbed from behind, and he yelped. Unfortunately, he had just reached the stairs, and he shrieked again as they tumbled down the stairs and landed in the foyer. Caleb groaned, and Toushin jumped up, apologizing profusely.

"God, Toushin, are you trying to kill him?" Marissa yelled, running down the stairs to the first floor. "He can't sleep with you if he's dead!"

"No shit, Sherlock." Toushin stood and offered his hand to Caleb, who again just stared. "What? I know I'm beautiful, but you can talk, can't you? . ."

"Yeah, but I don't," Caleb replied, ignoring his hand and pushing himself to his feet.

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful . . ."

"When did I say you were beautiful?"

"He spoke! Witnesses! Witnesses!" Toushin whirled and pointed toward Marissa. "WITNESS!"

"Aww, I'm honored," a disgruntled Marissa replied. "I've gone from sidekick to witness."

"Not you! The banister!" Toushin corrected.

Marissa, glaring, promptly strode over and smacked him upside the head.

Caleb, meanwhile, had gotten back over to the stairs and was wondering how he was going to get back up them again; his coat was still in his locker and his leg was killing him.

Frustrated, he sat down on the first step, hoping inspiration would come.

"Hey, what's the matter? Is it because I knocked you down the stairs? I swear I didn't do it on purpose."

"Yeah. He's just an overly-hyper dingus."

"Shut up, floozie." Toushin squatted down next to Caleb. "You're . . . bleeding, you know."

"So?"

"Well, the teachers aren't crazy about blood in the halls, and frankly, it makes me worried too."

Caleb resisted the urge to snap, 'Go take a letter opener and worry about your own blood.'

Marissa spoke up. "Toushin, maybe you oughtta leave him alone."

"Like hell. Hey, are you okay? You're bleeding like a stuck pig, if you don't mind the expression."

"I mind. I just doubt you care," Caleb muttered. "My coat's upstairs, and I doubt I'll be able to get back up to get it now." His leg hurt like . . . well, not like hell, but like purgatory at least.

Toushin stepped back, stroking his chin as if deep in thought. Unbeknownst to him, behind him Marissa did the same, aggravating the action until it seemed a parody. Which, Caleb realized, it probably was. The sanity of these two seemed doubtful.

Finally Toushin spoke. "I know. Give me your combination, and I'll go get your coat for you."

Caleb narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Instinctively he knew better than to hand over his combination to anyone, much less Toushin, but reason won out over instinct; he needed his coat, and it was doubtful he'd be getting it himself. "Fine. 37-8-19."

"Right." Toushin headed up the stairs, and Caleb drew back as he passed him, already regretting his rash decision to divulge his combination.

A few seconds later Toushin poked his head over the balcony above and yelled, "What locker is it?"

"2300 . . ." Caleb briefly considered giving him a friend's locker, but then remembered he didn't have friends, and that it would be pointless anyway, because he needed his coat.

"Right." But it was only another few seconds before he popped back and yelled, "There's no '73' on your lock!"

"TOUSHIN, QUIT GOOFING AROUND AND DO IT ALREADY!" Marissa screeched, with such force that Toushin withdrew, whimpering. Marissa sighed and looked at Caleb apologetically. "He's not always— well, no, that's a lie. He's always like this. He's just not as evil as he seems."

Caleb gave her a look that said, 'Bullshit.'

"Here!" Toushin scampered down the stairs after throwing the coat over the balcony. He never would tell, but it seemed as though he had aimed directly for Marissa . . .

Caleb removed his coat from Marissa's head and pulled it on. "Sorry . . ."

"It's okay. He always does stuff like this." She brushed her hair back into place with her fingers. "I swear, if I didn't love that guy, I'd shoot him."

"I thought he said he was—"

"Queer? He is. He's also my best friend. Like my brother." She demonstrated her sisterly love by tripping Toushin as he ran past her. Toushin, from his position on the floor, whimpered,

"It's so wrong . . ."

"Oh, get up, you chunk of virile masculinity," ordered Marissa sarcastically.

"Yup. I'm just a hunka burnin' looooooove . . ."

"Perhaps to a chimpanzee. Now get up." When Toushin made no move to do so, she kicked him in the side. "Get up, you lazy bum!"

"NO! ABUSE! ABUSE!"

Abuse . . . Caleb immediately froze. Just the word 'abuse' made him think of what surely awaited him back home. He began to tremble, fear shaking his slight frame. If he didn't make it home soon, he was going to be punished quite severely . . . but even this couldn't make his legs move. He—

"Think he's okay?"

"I don't know!"

"HEY, PERSON! ARE YOU AWAKE?!"

"I bet he is now, Mr. Tact!"

Caleb blinked and opened his eyes, then slitted them, wanting to say, "Oh, that's a sight to wake up to . . ." but didn't.

"You fainted . . . and Toushin caught you," Marissa added unhelpfully.

'He . . . caught . . . me?' Caleb thought, flaming red. 'But why? . .' He blinked and looked up at Toushin, confused. The expression on Toushin's face did not allay Caleb's fears: 'Am I still a virgin, I wonder?'

"Hey, Toushin, you can put him down now. Toushin, hey, Toushin, I think if he wanted to be your lover, he'd volunteer . . . TOUSHIN!"

Toushin was ignoring her and looking down at Caleb, who he had apparently not put down yet. This was all very embarrassing for Caleb, since being held was not something he was used to. Anymore. And this was all very confusing to him. Despite his mind frantically jabbering away about how bad it was to like anyone, much less another boy, certain parts were enjoying this immensely. Like, for instance, his heart . . .

(A\N: *bitchslaps Terry* Get yer mind outta the gutter.)

Toushin was cradling him in his arms, holding him close, and Caleb wasn't altogether sure he wanted to push the other boy away. Nobody had cared about him since his mother had gone into the hospital, and Toushin seemed to like him, though Caleb was not quite happy with the way he liked him. But liking was liking, and being liked made Caleb feel happy. Like any other human being (except, perhaps, Hitler . . .)

"What is your name, anyway?" Toushin wondered. "I can't just call you 'Person'."

"Put me down."

"Okay, well, what would you like me to call you? 'Put', 'me', or 'down'?"

"PUT ME DOWN NOW!"

"Look, if you don't tell me your name, I'm just going to call you 'sex slave', and I don't think you'll like that, now would you? Even if you do end up being my sex slave . . ."

"Sex slave, my ass."

"And it's a very cute ass. But I still don't know your name."

"Caleb. Put me down."

"Well, Caleb Put-Me-Down, we will be giving you a ride home now. And neither you nor Marissa, who owns the car, gets any say in the matter."

"HEY!" yelled Marissa. "It's my car! You can bloody well walk home, Ezekiel Jones!"

"But what about my poor wounded sex slave?"

Marissa glared. "He may have a ride. You may not."

Toushin gave her sad puppy eyes. "Aww, pweese? If I let Caleb get away, I may never see him again . . . and then I would have to go kidnap him."

Caleb started kicking and squirming, wanting to be free. "PUT . . . ME . . . DOWN!" He succeeded in freeing himself, but also ended up falling onto the pavement- whilst he'd been fighting, Toushin had carried him outside. Unfortunately, he landed on his bad leg, and was therefore unable to get up.

"Oww . . ." he muttered, trying to get back to his feet. Toushin just looked down at him and clucked his tongue.

"You know, I like to think you'd rather be my sex slave than go through this pain to get away from me."

"Well, I like to know you're WRONG!"

Marissa, who'd just come outside, threw up her hands. "DAMMIT! Just get in the car, you morons!"

Toushin made a face at Marissa, then picked up Caleb with ease and swung him over his shoulder. "Come, my little brussel sprout . . . I'll get her to drop us off at my house."

"Like hell," Caleb muttered.

A\N: Edited 6/23/2004 because of the horrendous asterisks I was using in place of italics. *shivers* And because of some icky wording. Yeah. Okay, cool.