Bruises Against The Ego

Ethan finished his small bag of spicy chips as I munched away at my own snack I had gotten from the machine. Ethan had insisted on paying for my snack despite my slight protest against it, but it didn't last long against the offer for free food. The hallway soon became muddled with noise again as students started to pile up outside the cafeteria right before the fair started. I sunk into myself at the sight of the large crowd, not really wanting to stick around with how lively the fair was going to be.

Ethan and I went out separate ways as he still had to help with the preparations. I took this opportunity to look around for Ronnie. Before the whole ID card situation I was waiting for him. I sighed out loud, wanting nothing else but to take a nap. Walking around in circles wasn't fun and I was definitely getting no where in my search for Ronnie.

"Y/N?"

'Until right now apparently.'

I happily turned around to find Ronnie, whom, had his arm extended out in effort to tap my shoulder. I adjusted my bag against myself, while flashing Ronnie a smile. "Hey there!" I greeted him as I take notice of his frown across his face. His eyes where mostly covered by his bangs, having only one semi-exposed for me to see. "I was looking for you, you wouldn't believe the jerk-" I started to trail off as I noticed Ronnie fidgeting with his blazer. It hung loosely over him and seemed to be scuffed up. That's when I noticed a hidden bruise under his sleeve as he continued to fidget with his blazer. "Are you okay? What happened?" I asked as I pointed to his bruise. Ronnie flinched before adjusting his sleeve to cover his arm properly again.

"I-I'm fine!" Ronnie smiled shyly and looked to the ground. He clearly wasn't fine. "I-I have been walking around to find you for a while as well. You did wait for me, right?" He asked as he looked back at me expectantly.

'He isn't fine.'

"I was waiting by the doors, but then I found someones ID card," I kept my eyes on Ronnie's arm as worry still flooded my mind. Don't tell me he's being bullied or something. "But seriously, how did you get this? Are you okay?" I hesitated a little as I gently tugged at his hand, wanting to see if the bruising was any worse than what I saw. Ronnie's warm fingers closed around my hand. His hand was only a little larger than mine, having short chewed away nails and rough calluses.

"Oh, are you worried about this?" Ronnie rolled up his sleeve and showed me a bruise that ran up his forearm. "I noticed it started to form during English but I didn't think much of it." He brushed it off, even though the bruising seemed fresher than a measly few hours.

"Did you really get this from falling earlier today?" I wasn't going to let this go. An aching inside my heart formed from the worst memory I have, telling me that I can not back off this time. I gave Ronnie a serious look, waiting for him to tell a better lie.

"W-Well..." Ronnie stammered, squeezing my hand out of nerves as I continued to question him.

"I-I got it when I ran into a...wall." He stammered, not looking me in the eye.

Ronnie was...a terrible lier. I was starting to get a bit agitated, remembering how my brother Nate use to be. 'Im not letting that happen again.'

"If you're just gonna lie I guess I have no choice." My hold on his hand tightened as I pulled him behind me. I am going to find out what he is hiding. I couldn't stop the irrational anger I felt through me. It wasn't something I feel often, but when I did it was hard for me to control.

"W-What!? W-Where a-are we going y/n?" Ronnie panicked as I dragged him along. For a while I didn't respond as I darted through the crowd. The challenge was keeping my agitation to myself.

"To the infirmary, we need to get you a cooling pad to prevent the bruise from getting worse." I was stern, not looking back to see Ronnie's expression.

...

The smell of sanitized air burns my nose as I open the door to the clinic. The waiting room was a bright white as the LED light above flickered. The room seemed more dated than the rest of the school that I have seen, which was a bit surprising. There was a brown wooden desk for reception that sat empty. The door to both clinic rooms where closed, one having a paper lazily tapped to it saying that the room is being remodeled. The other was locked without any lights on on the other side.

"I-It seems like no one is here." Ronnie pointed out the obvious scene before us. He was still fidgeting with his blazer but hasn't made any other protests against me. I wasn't ready to leave just yet, I have make sure Ronnies bruise is treated and find out how he got it.

I hesitated again as I settled down my bag onto a waiting chair. I don't know if what I'm about to do was the smartest decision, but we weren't leaving till we get a cooling pad or as least some bruising cream. I poked my head around again out into the hall as I started to open my bag, pulling out a swiss army knife.

"Y/N!" Ronnie cried as he eyed my tool.

I looked back at him with guilt in my eyes. I know I'm not supposed to have something like this in my bag, especially at school, the only problem was my walk home. I couldn't help but worrying and it's not like the school would understand. They think they can treat these types of dangerous individuals by just talking to them, you can't. They would stab you for money and do much worse if your not careful. You can't reason with those who just don't care. I know they purposely waited for my brother almost every day, I don't want the same happening to me. Besides I learned a few cool tricks with how to use the swiss army knife.

"Listen... I know this looks bad," I try to calm Ronnie down by raising my hands up and taking slow steps. "I mean... really not good with a knife and all, but um..." I couldn't really find the words to explain myself without exposing my situation with him, something my pride won't allow me to do. Something in Ronnie's eyes glimmered as I watched him push away his bangs that were infront of his eyes, excitement.

He eyed me expectantly as he remained still. "A-Are you...?" He stammered out, taking one step forward.

Does she feel the same as I do? Is she like me? I mean we are alone, she has a knife and she seems to really hate these bruises. Is it because she didn't give them to me? I didn't take her as that type, she seemed more innocent...not that I'm complaining.

Ronnie's heart beats rapidly as he waited for her next move. It wasn't too soon to move this fast in his mind but he still didn't know if she was really ready for them to be together, because that meant forever. "y/n...?" He held his hands close to one another, almost prying for the next step to come.

"Ronnie, I am..." No I can't do it. I can't tell him my situation right now. "I am a...picklock, I do it part time for community service." I lied. It wasn't exactly terrible but I won't say it was the best one I could have come up with. Ronnie kind of looked...disappointed but waiting to hear more about my explanation. "S-Somtimes I forget my lock picks and I have to use my....swiss army knife." I tried to sound convincing as I watched for Ronnie's reaction.

He still seemed disappointed, fiddling with his hair and looking away from my eyes. His lips were in a thin line, seeming a bit upset at my reason. "Is that really why you have that, y/n?" He asked in a hushed whisper, still not looking my way.

"Yup! That's why I have it!" I perked up my tone and did my best to seem convincing. I quickly and awkwardly marched towards the clinic door that didn't have a piece of paper on it. I crouched down, fiddling with the tweezers and pick tool I had filed down. It wasn't an exact lie either, I do use these when I need to get into my house when I forget my key, sorry 'lock pick'. Ronnie seemed to resemble a sad puppy with how the events played out, but at least he wasn't scared.

He watches me intently as I carefully navigated the pick and tweezers to push down on the pins inside the lock. I found it slightly hard to focus with how intense his gaze was. The door eventually clicked open, leaving me to breath a heavy sigh of relief. I guess I didn't realize that I was holding in my own breath.

I quickly made my way to the tall cabinets with glass doors, directing Ronnie to sit on the paper covered bed as he flipped on the light switch. I reach for the drawers under the cabinets glass doors. I had to open a few before finding the cooling pads, plucking one up from the pile before quickly closing the drawer. Ronnie sat patiently, with his eyes focused on me.

"C-Could you take of your blazer real quick?" I awkwardly looked away as I rubbed the back of my neck. Ronnie was quite for a moment.

"wah." His face seemed to have a buffering look on them as he tried to think about my request. He was speechless as red flushed his face.

'Esscusse!? Ma'me. Dearest. You just tried to confess to me and now you are trying to de-robe me!? In school!? I would have thought of doing it in a more romantic setting but, again, I won't complain. As long as you don't back out now. I can't believe it- no I won't believe it till I hear you say-'

"Yeah it wouldn't exactly be the best idea to try putting on the cooling pad  while it's on."

'Shit. Really Y/N!??'

Ronnie was scowling at me while his beet red face started to cool off. Reluctantly he agreed, but he didn't look my way. He threw the blazer over his legs and rolled up his sleeve. He was pouting the whole time I was prepping his bruises for the pad. The bruise really did run up his for arm, but the thing I failed to notice before was the fact it seemed to be a hand outline.

"So Ronnie," I started as I gripped his hand to keep him secure. I gently trailed the bruise with a damp cotton ball before looking up at him. "How did you get this, really?"