Between the lines

Chapter Four

Bennett's Pov

What was it about Elliot's punch that made the sting last so damn long? I thought perhaps there was a cut or maybe skin he'd scraped, but my jaw was pretty much unblemished.

The redness had died down by the time I returned to the cafeteria. I barely passed through the doors before Horton grabbed me by the collar and dragged me down the other way.

"Someone called the teachers," he grunted.

"We need to go."

I rolled my eyes. "You have to go. I didn't even touch him."

We halted abruptly and I almost tripped over my foot. He shoved me away and glared in annoyance, chucking my bag at me. "The fuck you run after him for?"

"Just to scare him. Anyway, you go hide. I still have to eat."

"Bastard."

"Yeah, love you too," I shot back sarcastically and walked back to the cafeteria. I wasn't too concerned with how things panned out for Horton. He brought this upon himself. I knew I would be interrogated, but I had a clean record, so it couldn't be used as a basis for suspicion. Besides, I hadn't beaten Elliot up. I did push him, but it was a mistake, really.

The image of his scared face flashed behind my lids, and I had to stop to catch my breath. The look he had was...unsettlingly familiar. It almost threw me off, but it wasn't like I was going to physically hurt him anyway. I just wanted to scare him, nothing more. I wasn't a monster.

I wasn't.

Like father like son, right?

I shook Elliot's condescending voice out of my head. For someone so close to wetting his pants, I admit that he had courage. Still, it was very unlike him, and I couldn't help but feel some concern for him. Was I pushing it? I couldn't even remember if we'd bothered him too much. The most we did back in middle school was hold him over the deep end of the pool by his backpack. I guess doing it on the diving board was a bit excessive, but I didn't let Horton drop him. I was pretty scared of what Elliot's mum would do if we went overboard, seeing as how she was our P.E teacher back then.

Looking back on it, I guess I was a little wilder when younger. It was then that I remembered Mrs. Burton had recently passed.

I felt a light pang of guilt because Elliot's behaviour suddenly made sense. Then again, he wasn't the only one with problems in the world, so I was sure he could try and manage himself emotionally. I mean, I was fine after my parents' divorce, I think...

A tiny voice within told me it wasn't the same thing, but I couldn't be bothered to dwell on it too much. Now that Elliot's mum wasn't around to coddle him, he needed to learn to stand up for himself anyway.

I touched the spot on my jaw again. It caught me off-guard, him punching. He must've hurt himself.

"What do I care?" I whispered and pulled his phone out. It was a flip phone. I thought they'd gone extinct or something ten years ago. I opened it up and saw a grainy picture of him with Maude and some curly red-head. He smiled brightly as they posed in front of an arcade game with their high score.

I snorted, "What a geek."

Who even played on arcades anyway? They were so old school. Besides, I was sure Elliot could afford the latest gaming consoles easily. He had a much more comfortable life in comparison to mine, with his father being in construction management and whatnot. At least he had parents that weren't lousy. My dad did nothing but sit around and burn a hole through the divorce settlement. Mum got married around three months after, which was fast but the guy was great. He lived a quaint and quiet life with a daughter who had left for college a year ago. Mum seemed happier, and he treated me decently.