October 12th, 1967
12:00 p.m.
Sitting in our normal circle in the grass my eyes drifted back over to Tom who was unusually silent today. By now everyone in our group had noticed this and was questioning him as to what was wrong. This resulted in him taking on a snappish attitude as he didn't really like to reveal his emotions and didn't like being questioned in general.
"Tommy..." I whispered watching him pick at the grass. My eyes scanning his hunched over figure intently before looking back at the other boy's to see them engaged in conversation.
"Hey..." I pressed, reaching out to touch his shoulder only to have him fling himself backwards out of my reach.
"What?" He spoke quietly, his eyelids puffy and his eyes slightly red. He had obviously been upset, I didn't want to push him to talk about it though as I didn't want him to be uncomfortable.
"Let's take a walk, hm?"
Nodding, he smiled weakly, stretching before he stood up next to me.
"You don't have to y'know..."
"No, Luna, I want him to leave you alone."
"Tommy, will you please just leave it be? You're upset, I'm upset, just back out."
"And have him and the rest of the school call me chicken? No way in hell!" He whispered sharply, narrowing his eyes at me before storming off. A nervous pang shooting through my system as I watched him make his way down the sidewalk, blonde hair shining in the sun.
"Tom!" I yelled, my eyes beginning to cloud with tears as he ignored me and continued walking. My knees shook so badly I felt I wouldn't be able to stand much longer, and my throat felt like it was closing off. I felt rejection, biting my lip as I watched his lanky form began rounding the corner out of sight.
"Luna, just let him be..." Ben paused, jogging up to me and resting a hand on my shoulder. I blinked, looking at Tom's retreating figure once more before nodding at Ben.
"Come on, class starts soon and I can't afford to be late again." He joked, offering me a kind smile before we left to head for class. My mind racing, leaving me unable to focus on anything but Tom.
///
4:01 p.m.
My heart pounded loudly as I ran along with Ben to the back of the school, so loudly in fact, I could feel it beating in my ear drums. We were already a minute late, and my nerves definitely weren't helping my bleak outlook on this event.
Rounding the corner of the building, we shoved our way through the crowd of people who were circled around the two boys. I hadn't spoken to Tom since lunch, and by the look in his stormy blue eyes he was prepared to give this fight his all. Glancing over at Ben I shifted from foot to foot, smiling nervously when he nodded and gently patted my shoulder.
"I hope you made yourself an appointment with the dentist, because I'm planning on knocking those buckteeth right outta your mouth." Danny sneered, cracking his knuckles while he circled Tom menacingly.
Tom cocked an eyebrow, his eyes locked on his opponent as he remained deathly silent before simply shrugging. This made me giggle, as small as he was, Tom was never one to back down from anything or anyone for that matter.
"Dumbass can't even answer me." Danny barked, looking over his shoulder at the crowd. He smiled, winking when his gaze landed on me. This move however, was his downfall. In his distracted state, it gave Tom the chance to quickly get an upper hand.
Squatting slightly, he quickly shoved the heel of his palm up into Danny's chin, fazing the bigger boy slightly which gave him another chance to strike again, this time hitting his nose. Everyone exhaled sharply, shocked that someone as small as Tom could do such damage to a big person.
Smirking at his actions, Tom backed up smiling over at me. He had obviously come prepared, and I no longer doubted him.
"My nose is bleeding!" Danny hollered, picking himself up off the ground and charging over at Tom. They were now both on the ground, Danny slamming Tom's head into the pavement.
"Hey! Knock it off!" I yelled, worry instantly flooding back into my system.
"Luna..." Ben warned, shaking his head and grabbing my arm to keep me from moving any further. I watched in horror as the big pompous ass slammed his fist down into Tom's face, blood beginning to gush from his nose as well.
"Get off!" Tom yelled, pushing at the larger boy, hitting him in the jaw again. Danny chuckled manically, quickly standing to stomp on Tom's knee before pinning him down again.
"Fuck!" Tom groaned, his tone laced with anguish before slapping at Danny and shoving his thumb into the jock's eye.
"Give up..." Danny panted, grabbing at Tom's wrist and twisting it making Tom bite down on his lip to silence himself. Sweat began pouring off me as I watched, stepping forward yet again. I could hardly stand to watch anymore and Tom groaning in pain only made it more unbearable.
"Luna, you can't go in there, they're like trying to break two dogs up!" Ben chided, his eyes filling with panic when I pulled out of his grasp.
"I can't just stand here and watch him be hurt anymore!" I seethed, pushing past the other people only to have Ben latch onto me again.
"Then leave! But Tom told me not to let you near that." He motioned, holding onto the back of my shirt to prohibit me from moving any closer.
"I don't care, he needs -"
"Petty and Garcia get up this instant!"
All eyes turned back to search for the authoritative voice, as Tom and Danny still laid struggling in a heap on the ground.
"Boys! Get off each other!" Mrs. Peterson yelled, grabbing at their shoulders and digging her freshly manicured nails into them.
"There is no fighting on school property! I expect both of you will be in the office in ten minutes."
"He hit me first! I was just minding my own business and he -"
"That's a fucking lie if I ever heard one!" Tom shouted, wiping blood off his face with the bottom of his shirt.
"Mr. Petty, it would behoove you to watch your language!"
"It would behoove him to tell the fucking truth for once in his life!" Tom spouted off, glaring up at the teacher who simply raised a brow at him before looking over at the other boy.
"Honest..." Danny defended himself, blinking up at the brunette teacher innocently.
"Very well, you go home and rest then. But you Mr. Petty will be under a three day suspension."
"Good, I'd love a vacation away from everyone here." Tom muttered, his narrowed eyes darting from Danny to Mrs. Peterson to me.
"We'll make it four then..." she concluded, glaring at him over her shoulder before helping Danny up, and clearing the remaining crowd off.
"I'll leave you guys alone then..." Ben whispered, patting my shoulder before following the rest of the people. Nodding, my eyes took in Tom's hunched over figure that remained on the ground.
"Tommy, are you ok?" I mumbled, gently moving blonde strands of hair that now had a pinky tinge out of his face.
"No..." he admitted, his blue eyes clouding with an overwhelming sadness as he remained seated on the pavement. He sniffled, gulping harshly before holding the bottom of his shirt up to his nose.
"Y'know..." I paused, sitting down next to him on the ground, "it's ok not to be ok all the time."
"L-Luna..." he mumbled, hiding his face as he rested his head on my shoulder. I knew he had begun crying and was embarrassed by the fact he had. Wrapping an arm around him, I hummed softly letting him get it all out. He was far more sensitive then he liked to let on, and he'd been so tough for so long that if he needed a shoulder to cry on I'd be more than happy to offer him mine.
"I-I'm s-sorry..."
"Don't apologize, you haven't done anything wrong." I soothed, wiping his face lightly with my shirt sleeve making him wince.
"I-I think it's broken."
"What's broken?"
"My nose." He sniffled, leaning back a bit to let me look. His once straight nose was now slightly curved.
"Molly'll really come running back to you now..."
Tom smirked, a weak laugh escaping his lips as I helped him to his shaky legs.
"Luna?"
"Hm?"
"Did I put up a good fight?" He inquired, eyebrow raising curiously as he looked at me with reddened blue eyes.
"If you want my humble opinion...you beat the living shit out of him."
He grinned, stumbling a bit before grabbing onto me for stability. The whole time somebody's watchful eyes taking in our every move.
A/N: Hope this was ok, I tried not to make the fight too awfully gross I apologize if it was. Please leave a comment or vote, I love hearing your feedback. 🙏🏼💝