''Ian Romero, the person I hate the most in the whole wide world. He turned the entire school against me, and then just left me alone in the hell he created.''
There's no one Cody Walker hates more than Ian Romero, who is the reason he has been bull...
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*Cody Walker's POV
"What really happened when you got beaten up? No lies this time." Oat's question made the atmosphere take a U-turn. One moment we were playing around and grinning, the next everyone looked solemn when their eyes drilled into me.
"Does it matter?" I asked, lowering my gaze. It wasn't something I wanted to talk about, especially when I wasn't prepared.
"I need to hear you say it." Oat sounded almost apologetic.
"Why?" I sighed.
"Just humour me, okay?" Oat pleaded.
"I bumped into Bryce and forgot to say I was sorry, so they ambushed me, stole my phone and punched and kicked me until I passed out. Happy now?" I was getting agitated. Why bring that up now, what was the point?
"You passed out? What did they do then?" Ian looked like he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"I don't know. When I woke up they were gone." I muttered, looking anywhere but him.
"They left? They seriously just left you there? And they stole your phone? I swear to god —" There was no doubt that Ian was furious.
"It's not a big deal. Can we just not talk about this?" I interrupted him and started fiddling my rings nervously. I could feel my hands trembling. Ian was about to say something, but Oat lifted their hand.
"Do they always beat you unconscious?" They asked instead. What happened to the one question rule..?
"No, that was the first time." I shook my head.
"That they beat you or that they beat you unconscious?" Oat pressed.
"I don't want to talk about this." I pleaded.
"Which one?" Apparently my pleadings were worth nothing.
"Oat, maybe that's enough.." Ian objected. I could see he was observing my movements: the trembling hands, the nervous fidgeting and the furrowed brows.
"No, please just let me do this. Which one?" Oat wouldn't budge.
"It was the first time I passed out." I prayed they wouldn't keep asking, because I was dangerously close to losing my temper.
"And that video, was it —" Oat began.
"Stop it, okay? I said I don't want to talk about this." I snapped and it seemed to take everyone by surprise. They looked even more surprised when I jumped up from my seat, ready to flee from the scene.
"Cody, wait! I was bullied too." The look in Oat's eyes made me halt.
"I was bullied in my old school and nobody wanted to be my friend, no one even talked to me." They continued. I sighed and slumped back on my seat.
"Really? You?" I asked incredulously.
"Come on, I'm non-binary and my name is Oat." Oat laughed shortly.
"Was that the reason you wanted to be friends with me then?" I didn't know how to feel about that, if it was true.
"Well, you were pretty awesome in the tryout too." Oat smiled and then continued: "But yeah. I noticed that look in your eyes and I knew right away you were like me."
"Okay." I nodded and yet again started twiddling my rings.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have forced you to talk. I just hadn't realised how bad it was for you before I saw that video.. and I'm worried about you." Oat sounded sincere and sad when they talked.
"It's okay, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just.. I really don't want to talk about these things." I muttered. Ian placed his hand on my thigh comfortingly and I could feel tears swelling in my eyes, but I blinked them away. No crying at school, that was also one of the rules in my School survival guide.
"I know you don't. But I really need to say one more thing, so just bear with me, okay?" Oat talked softly and waited for my approval before continuing: "I think you should take this to the principal before anything worse happens. We can show her the video."
"No." I intensely shook my head.
"Why not?" Ian asked. It seemed like Oat wasn't the only one who had thought about it.
"It doesn't change anything. They don't give a shit and it would just get worse, believe me I know." I had already tried it once and I was brushed off like a liar, and when B, J & K found out I had tried to snitch them..
"But we can't just sit and watch, when it keeps getting worse." Oat complained.
"They have left me alone, it's over now. So there's no reason for us to make a scene about it." I told them firmly.
"Is it really? Do you really believe that?" Oat narrowed their eyes, knowing I would probably just keep playing down the issue.
"Yes, I do." My voice sounded confident, but it was the opposite I was actually feeling.
"I don't. I'm afraid it's only going to get worse. This silence they're keeping feels foreboding." Oat sighed.
"It's really okay now, Oat. They'll leave me alone, don't worry." I reassured them. I was quite certain they wouldn't, but I wasn't dragging Oat into this mess.
They just nodded, slowly, and let the topic go. We continued eating in silence. I could feel Ian's eyes on me, but I didn't turn to look at him. I could feel Oat's eyes on me too, but I didn't lift my gaze to look at them either.
"There's actually one thing I've been dying to ask." Ade said to Oat when the silence had started to turn oppressive. "Oat. What kind of name is that?"
"Well, about that.." Oat chuckled. "When I told my dad I was non-binary, he thought I was being ridiculous. Then I told him I wanted to change my name and my dad looked down at his half-empty oatmeal bowl, saying: 'to what? Oatmeal?' He was kidding of course, but I took the name Oat just to bug him."
"Are you for real?" Ade laughed incredulously. That was all we needed to turn the atmosphere back to what it had been before the interrogation.
We skipped the next class and went to the mall, where we had soft ice with all the toppings. It was fun, at least a lot more fun than the class would have been. They would return to the conversation later, I knew it, but until then I was going to pretend it never occurred.
♡♡♡
Question of the day: What name would you take if you changed your name?
(Me: I've been thinking about changing my name, since I'm non-binary. At some point I thought I'd like to take the name Kaura, which is the Finnish word for oat. 😅 Anyway, never got that far and I think I'd rather take something less unusual..)
PS. It seems like this is going to be a long story, since it's already chapter 35 and I still have a lot to write about..
