Chapter 3

He woke up at around 2 am to his phone buzzing. Karson groaned and sat up. He pulled out his phone and saw it was just a new follower on Instagram. He sighed and looked at the profile. The guy was hot. 𝘑𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘮𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦. He thought.

He got off the floor and looked down at the small puddle of blood. He sighed again. Karson got off the floor and trudged to the bathroom. He turned the cold water on and stood in the tub, clothes on. He zoned out, he wasn't thinking of anything in particular though.

Karson stood there for a half-hour before he decided to shower. He felt better after. He walked out of the bathroom dressed in shorts and an oversized t-shirt. He put away his groceries and cleaned up the blood. He left the house to throw out his garbage.

He heard a meow come from behind the trash cans. Karson walked over and kneeled down. A small gasp escaped his mouth. Laying there was a peach-colored kitten. It was tiny and crying. "Awe you poor thing," Karson said, as he carefully lifted the kitten. He walked inside and immediately gave it some water. The kitten drank some water but began crying shortly after.

He sighed and pulled out his phone. He did some research. "Ok. Do I even have tuna?" He asked himself. He looked through the cupboards. "Yes," He cheered. He cooked the tuna and placed it in front of the kitten. He meowed and ate the tuna. He smiled. He searched the kitten for any injuries.

Karson sighed in relief when he saw none. Now what. He thought. He decided he'd figure it out in the morning. He took the kitten and washed it. After some painful scratching, he was done. "I'm sorry kitty," He said, apologetic. "You're a boy. Hmm, I thought you were a girl" He said, surprised.

"Let's call you Haru" He smiled. Once the kitten was dry he was running around his room. Karson layed on his bed. He tried to sleep but he couldn't. He had school at 8 and he thought maybe he could get some sleep. But there was no way he was sleeping tonight or morning. The kitten was eventually knocked out next to him, he was curled into his side.

He ended falling asleep but only for thirty minutes before he woke up again. He sighed. Karson checked the time. He was surprised it was 6 o'clock already. The store should be opened already. He thought. He got of bed and got ready for school. He left the house making sure to hurry to incase the kitten woke up.

He bought a few things the kitten might need and quickly left. He entered his home, the first thing he heard was small cries. "Don't cry, Haru" He said as he picked him up, cuddling him. Haru purred immediately after being picked up. Karson smiled. "We won't be lonely anymore," He said softly.

He fed him and gave him some water. While he was eating Karson set up the litter box in his room. Once Haru was done he sat him in the litter box. Karson heard a knock at the door and he sat up confused.

He walked downstairs and checked who was at the door. He sighed in relief. I've been sighing a lot nowadays. He thought.

"Good morning Mrs. Snow. What brings you here? " He greeted, elderly woman. She was a widow who lived next door to him. "Good morning Karson. Your parents asked me to check on you" She smiled. That's when he noticed the cat she was holding. "Oh well, I'm ok. I didn't know you had a cat" He said, smiling at the white cat in her arms.

"Ok, that's good. I recently got her" She smiled. "She's cute. Can I?" He asked. "Go ahead" Mrs. Snow nodded. He put out his hand and gently pet the cat. She purred. "Hm I guess she's taken a liking to you" She smiled. Before he could reply he heard a meow. He looked down and smiled at Haru.

"Oh, you have a kitten? It's cute" She asked, a smile still on her face. "Yeah I got him yesterday," He said he kneeled in front of Haru, who jumped onto his lap. They talked for a bit until he checked his watch. "Oh no. I'm going to miss the bus" He immediately stood up. "You should hurry on up then" Mrs. Snow replied. "But Haru-" She cut him off. "I'll watch him. Now go on head to school" She waved him off. "Thank you Mrs. Snow" Karson smiled. He ran upstairs to grab some things.

He handed Haru to her before locking his door. "Bye. See you later" He waved. "Bye!" She yelled as she watched his runoff.

He ran the rest of the way to his bus stop. He was breathing heavily once he arrived. He had made it just in time. The bus was barely pulling. Karson entered the bus and was pulled into a seat. "Owie what the hell?" He asked. He looked up and saw Darciel sitting there.

"What do you want?" He scoffed as he scooted away. "I'm here to protect you" Darciel replied, crossing his arms. "Why you've never done that before?" He asked, confused. "Yes, I have. All the time. Who do you think stopped them from getting you in the cafeteria or all those times in class" Darciel said turning to face him.

"That was you? " He asked surprised. He nodded. "Why? And you never do in Mr. Banners class" He pouted. "Because it doesn't get out of hand to the point your bleeding" Darciel explained. "Ok, so the words still hurt and you didn't answer my previous question" He turned away from him. "I'm sorry it's just we always call each other names so I didn't know it affected you that much" He apologized. "I don't care about your words but Aiden's and Mr. Banners do" Karson replied.

"I've been doing a bad job of protecting you then" Darciel muttered. "But why are you even protecting me?" Karson asked. "Doesn't matter" He shook his head. "Matters to me" Karson replied. "Boys, are you going to get off or what?" The bus driver asked. "Oh yes sorry" Karson apologized.