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The Winged Heart
4,4 First day of school - On the way home part 1

4,4 First day of school - On the way home part 1

[Alex's POV]

I am on my way home, following the shortcut through the park, minding my own business, when a female cry suddenly disturbs the peaceful ambience around me.

"Ah! No, Thomas! Stop it!"

The -very- female cry has me frozen in my tracks and I can feel my cheeks glowing. That was, by far, the most sensual thing I'd ever heard. And even though I'm pretty sure that the cry had no erotic context at all, I can feel the heat of my blush creep all the way down my neck.

How embarrassing. I'm glad nobody is around to see me flush. It would be all too clear to anyone who saw me that I do not have ANY experience with girls. Or women, for that matter. None at all.

My own mother vanished when I was just a baby and even in the small town I called home, girls were a rarity. Ok, I know what girls are like from television shows, but it's not the same as a real girl. So yeah, maybe the bar for "the most sensual cry I ever heard" isn't raised very high.

Is doing naughty things on a desolated forest path even a thing? I can't imagine myself doing those things anywhere else than in the privacy of my own bedroom. Ok, I would have to suffer through my dad making jokes about it afterwards, but it would still be better than being caught in public somewhere.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," I scold myself quietly with a soft shake of my head and concentrate on my environment. I am strongly hoping that I imagined the whole thing, but in the small case that I didn't, I'd rather be safe than sorry. It is not because I don't have any experience with girls that I want to "gain experience" from a couple halfway through the act.

So I wait and listen to see if I can spot where the cry earlier came from, but I can't find anything that seems out of place. I take a careful step forward, still on high alert for anything that moves or makes a sound. I still haven't heard any new cries and with a bit of luck, I really did imagine the whole thing.

But it seems that was too much to wish for. I literally follow a turn in the path and there they are, in plain sight, not even trying to hide: A delicate-looking girl, with a large boy looming over her.

I quickly duck behind a tree.

"Crap! What now?" I think as I search for a way around them. But before I can find a solution, the couple's conversation catches my ear.

"No. No excuses. I won't let you go until you tell me," the boy says in a confident tone.

"There really is nothing to tell, I swear! We just met him today," the girl says. She sounds a lot less confident. I dare to say that she even sounds nervous, bordering on scared.

What is that all about?

I dare to glance around the tree I'm hiding behind. But sadly, I can't see either of their faces. Either way, the large boy is looming over the girl, and now that I am actually looking at them, it doesn't look like a "friendly" situation at all. The large boy is holding the girl by the wrist and has her forced with her back against a tree.

"Why do you want to know his name anyway? If you want to know it so badly, go ask him yourself! Now, let go already! You're hurting me," the girl says as she struggles to free her wrist from his grasp, but the guy merely laughs.

Ok, I've seen enough.

"She told you to let go," I say firmly as I step from my hiding place.

"Move along boy, this is none of your business," the offender says as he glares at me over his shoulder. Because of the tiny bit that the boy moved, both of their faces come into view, but the only face I see is the one of the girl.

I stiffen.

"Otto?" I ask incredulously as our eyes lock and she seems to panic.

"Alex?" she asks shakily.

"Speak of the devil," Otto's offender says as he grins widely. I frown. I do not like where this is going.

"Leave him alone, Thomas," Otto says but winces as the tiny bit she struggled is met with a push in the opposite direction.

"Stop it! You're hurting her!" I say as I rush forward, place my arm in between them and slowly but firmly push Otto's offender away from her to create some distance between the two. The guy doesn't resist or oppose me at all. On the contrary, he seems to move away voluntarily. But just in case, I step in between the two, with my back towards Otto.

"Ah! Haha. Ho- there, tiger! No need to pierce me with that glare. I wasn't looking for a fight. Just having a chat with an old friend," the boy says while holding his hands up in surrender.

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A civil enough answer. I might have started to doubt whether I had misunderstood the situation, if it weren't for the cocky grin still visible on the guy's face.

I glare at him and clench my teeth. Oh, how I'd like to wipe that grin off his face. But before I can retort anything, I feel Otto grab onto the back of my shirt in the same way a small child would reach for its parent's hand when it is frightened. I'm so surprised that my glare falters and I look over my shoulder towards her curiously.

"Would you look at that! Just someone you met earlier, huh?" Thomas says in a defying way. "Look at the way he's protecting you. Look at the way you're cowering behind him!"

I see Otto duck her head even further behind me and turn my head to glare at Thomas again.

I don't like this guy.

"Nothing to say? I'll take it you're the strong but silent type?" Thomas jokes on, but when he is met with nothing but silence once more, he sighs.

"Ok, I get it. I know when I've outstayed my welcome," he says and turns to leave.

"See you around … Alex," Thomas says as he looks over his shoulder one last time, raises his hand in salute and leaves.

Thank God, he's gone! I can't remember the last time that anyone has agitated me as much as he has. I can still feel my nerves sparking. And what makes the feeling worse is that I'm not entirely sure that he's done anything to warrant my agitation. If anything, it should be Otto who feels agitated by the way he treated her. But she seems more scared than anything else.

….

Wait…? Otto!

Only now I realise that she is still holding on to the back of my shirt with a trembling hand.

I glance over my shoulder towards her. She seems to be out of sorts. Lost in her own thoughts and trembling from head to toe.

"He's gone now," I say quietly over my shoulder. I sincerely hope it sounds kind, because I don't want to spook her even further.

She looks up at me questioningly. "Huh?"

"You can let go now," I clarify, smiling gently.

Otto instantly flushes bright red and pulls away hastily as if touching me has burned her.

"Sorry! I didn't realise I was still holding on to you," she says so nervously that I'm worried that she might have a nervous breakdown.

"That's ok, I don't mind. Calm down," I try to soothe her, but she looks more nervous now than when Thomas had her cornered. So far my effort not to spook her. It made me remember that she had reacted rather strongly to me this morning too. Might she be more scared of me than of that Thomas-guy?

I take an experimental step backwards.

If she noticed me doing so, she doesn't mention it, but she does heave a big sigh to push down her nerves.

"Sorry," she repeats more calmly this time. "I didn't mean to involve you in any of that."

"Again, I don't mind. Are you ok? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine. He never actually hurts me."

It might be my imagination, but I get the feeling that she sounded disappointed with herself. I'm not sure that I believe her either. Even if she was talking about physical pain, it definitely left a mental mark on her. Heck, she'd been shivering not even a minute ago.

"He's done this before, hasn't he?" I ask and watch the colour instantly drain from her face.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Would you look at the time? I have to go. Bye!" she says as she theatrically looks at her watch and starts to walk away, ignoring my question pointely.

So, she's not going to say anything, huh? I must say, I hadn't expected her to start telling me her life-story, but her reaction kind of hurts. Not to mention that her reaction answers more of my questions than words possibly could.

Well, whatever. If she doesn't want to tell me, she doesn't have to. So I shrug and resume my walk home. But it doesn't take long to notice that I've fallen into step behind her.

"Are you following me?" she asks after the third time she spots me while glancing over her shoulder.

"So you can speak up when something is bothering you," I say in a mocking way.

Otto instantly halts and spins around on her heels to face me, so fast, that I react a split second too late, resulting in the two of us standing much closer than what I consider comfortable. In fact, it could be described as "nose to nose". It surprises me that she doesn't back off immediately.

[ Continues in part 2]