When We Meet Again Chapter 2
Title: When We Meet Again
Author: chemical_stripe
Pairing: Ray/ Mikey
Summary: Ray left his hometown in New Jersey twelve years ago and hasn't been back since. Now he's coming home to visit his family, examine his life, and reunite with a freind he lost but could never forget.
POV: third person Ray centered
Warnings: NC-17 sexual situations, implied past abuse, some violence.
Disclaimer: I do not own any member of My Chemical Romance and I am not affliated with them. All other characters in this story are fictional. Title is from the song by Alanis Morrisette.
Author's Note: Mikey is an only child in this story. I'm sorry. I love and adore Gerard, but I had my reasons for leaving him out.
Dedications: To coolndarklyeeri for her patience, wisdom and being a wonderful beta, writer and freind. I could not have done this without her. And dolphingoddess for the beautiful icon.
Chapter 2
Dinner that night turned out to be a much more pleasant experience than Ray had expected. Though it wasn't without its awkward moments. Ray couldn't help but notice how, despite the greeting his brother gave him, he was unusually quiet, occasionally meeting Ray's eyes with a cold stare. All while their mother talked endlessly about the plans she made for his birthday the following Sunday, dropping hints about how it would be lovely if he didn't have to leave the day after. Ray, however, found it suprisingly easy to deal with his mother's not-so-subtle efforts to keep him home as long as possible. It kept her from asking questions that he knew he wouldn't be able to answer: So how are things at work? Why didn't your girlfriend come with you? Are there any wedding plans I should know about? The list went on in Ray's mind until he forced himself out of his unpleasant thoughts long enough to notice his mother had finally decided to stop talking and take a breath. This was the time when the rest of his family would try to be the first to seize the opportunity to get a word in edgewise. Theresa, who looked as though she would burst soon if she didn't get to speak, had won this particular round.
"So Ray," she began, "you know everybody is going to be at work during the day. That's going to leave you with lots of free time. What are you planning to do with yourself?"
She gave Ray a mischievous grin before continuing. "Because it might be fun while you're here to go visit some of your old hang outs. Or you could, oh, I don't know, maybe look up some old friends." Her grin evolved into an ear-to-ear smile as she met Ray's eyes across the table. Ray suspected there was a point to this, he just wished she would make it already. Theresa, who went high school with Ray, knew full well that he had lost touch with his high school friends, as is often the case. What she didn't know, however, was that there was one friend he regretted losing more than the others. But she couldn't be talking about him, could she?
She and Jimmy still made their home in Belleville. It was entirely possible that she still spoke to people from their high school. Ray knew that most of his friends would be going on to college, but that didn't mean they wouldn't return to visit their families. Not everyone is a complete shitheel like me. Belleville was a relatively small town and aren't small towns supposed to be known for their gossip? Maybe she's seen him. Maybe she can at least tell me if he's alright.
"I hadn't really thought about trying to find anybody," Ray said, watching Theresa's smile fade as he did. He went back to looking down at his plate, poking around at his pot roast with his fork. It wasn't entirely untrue. I've tried not to think about it, anyway.
"That's too bad," Theresa said. "I bet there's some people who would love to see you again." Her smile returned upon seeing Ray quickly lift his head up from his plate. Like a dog who had scented a rabbit. She's not talking about him. It was years ago. She probably doesn't even remember him. Quit being such a girl, Ray.
"Yeah, like who?" Ray replied trying to sound confused rather than hopeful. Stop it, you pansy!
"No one special. Just making conversation," she shrugged.
"Oh, right," Ray said, noticing his parents looking back and forth between him and Theresa in confusion.
After the dinner had been eaten, the table cleared, and dishes washed, Jimmy and Theresa thanked Ray's parents for dinner and were preparing to make their way home. Ray walked them both to front door hoping to get another word from Jimmy, who still seemed to be giving him the silent treatment. Just as the three of them stepped outside, Theresa threw her arms around Ray.
"Just think about what I said, okay?" she said hugging him tightly. "You should at least get out of the house during the day. You never know when you might run into someone from school."
"Alright, what are you up to?" Ray asked, his suspicions finally getting the better of him.
"Nothing! I just want you to enjoy yourself while you're here," she said. " And I'm just really glad you're back."
"It's only temporary, you know. I'm going back to New York."
"We'll see," she said giving Ray another devilish smile before heading down the driveway and getting into the passenger side of her car. Ray turned to face Jimmy, who had been watching their exchange. "Listen, Jimmy," Ray began nervously, "I'm really glad you..."
"No, you listen!" Jimmy cut him off in a slightly angry tone that caused Ray to jump a little. "You coming home is all Mom has been able to talk about for the past month. It's the happiest I've seen her in a long time, and I'm not going to be the one to ruin this for her. So let's get something straight. I'm going to be nice to you for her sake, but as far as I'm concerned you're still an asshole for not coming around more often. Are we clear?"
From the look his brother was giving him, Ray had almost expected Jimmy to punch him. But Ray could have withstood that. This was much worse. And it's my own god damn fault.
"Jimmy, I'm sorry for not coming home sooner, but you have to understand..."
"Don't bother," Jimmy said, heading towards the car. He stopped at the car door and turned to Ray once more. "It broke Theresa's heart that you didn't come to our wedding." And without another word, got into the car and drove away.
Ouch. Ray could only stand there dumbstruck, his brother's words echoing in his mind. He never meant to make his mother unhappy. He wanted to make both his parents proud. He wanted to show them he'd made something of himself. He couldn't make them understand that's why he'd been gone so long. The dreams he'd worked so hard to make into reality weren't coming true as fast as he'd hoped. As time went on he became more discouraged. More ashamed of becoming a failure. He didn't want his parents to know the college education they'd worked so hard to give him had not brought him any closer to becoming the success they somehow always knew he would become. Yeah, I made something of myself, alright. An ass.
* * *
Ray tossed and turned in his bed that night, unable to will his brain to shut off. The day's events played out in his mind over and over again. It felt strange to be back in his old bedroom, yet some how comforting at the same time. His mother had left his room exactly how Ray had left it, refusing to let Ray's father put a pool table in it like he had been planning to since Ray first announced his intentions to go to college out of state. Ray was glad his mom decided to leave his room unchanged. But a pool table would have been pretty sweet.
Ray rolled onto his side to look at the digital numbers on the clock by his bed 2:17 a.m. Not being able to sleep wasn't so bad when you had no where to go the next day.
Which brought another question to Ray's mind: What the hell am I going to do tomorrow?
His thoughts dwelled on his earlier conversation with Theresa, wondering if maybe he'd read to much into her questions. Even after his fallout with his brother, she and Ray still kept in touch over the phone yet rarely ever brought up their high school days. Nor had she mentioned ever running into one of their high school friends. Yet secretly, the whole time he was away, Ray fought the overwhelming urge to ask about Mikey Way. He wanted to know if she still spoke to him, or even if she'd seen him. Was he still in Belleville, or even in New Jersey? There were so many things he desperately wanted to know and yet...He probably doesn't even remember me. He's probably got tons of friends. He might even be married, or at least have someone. The more Ray thought about it the more he wondered which would be worse; knowing or not knowing.
Ray flipped on his bedside lamp and got out of bed, silently thanking his mom again for being such a sentimental pack rat. He walked over to the bookshelf in the corner of his room and found what he was looking for. His high school yearbook. He grabbed the book and flopped back down on his bed, quickly flipping through the pages. Ray chose to forgo looking at his own photo, fearing that his junior-year photo would give him nightmares. He instead turned to the "W" section of the freshman pictures. Ray felt a flutter in his stomach when his eyes landed the name, Michael Way. Ray swallowed hard as he slowly ran his finger over the boy's picture, remembering fondly their first meeting.
It was the first day of Ray's junior year. Ray was putting his books away in his locker at the end of day, when he heard a loud crash followed by the sound of cheering from a group of students at the far end of the hall. Ray looked up from his locker towards the source of the commotion. A group of kids, consisting mostly of alpha-male type jocks, had gathered to watch as one of their own had thrown a much smaller boy against the lockers and proceeded to mercilessly punch him in the stomach. A wave of uncontrollable anger swept over Ray as he watched the punch send the small boy sliding down into a sitting position on the floor, then over onto his side, coughing and clutching his sore stomach the whole time. Ray looked around the crowded halls for a sign of a teacher, finding none in sight. Un-fucking-believable. You smoke a cigarette in a bathroom stall and at least twelve teachers crawl out of the wood work up your ass, but some poor kid gets the shit beat out of him in the middle of the school and they're nowhere to be found.
Ray the saw the jock give a swift kick to the boy as he curled into fetal position on floor. The cheers of the other students grew louder with each indignity this boy was forced to endure. Ray didn't know which was worse: the guy giving the beating, or the people standing around watching it happen. The answer came to him when he decided he wasn't going to be one of those people.
Ray slammed his locker door shut and took off at a run towards the fight. He pushed passed the group of cheering gorillas and picked up a heavy textbook he saw lying on the ground. Ray could hear the gasps of the on-looking crowd when he threw the textbook, causing it to collide with the back of the bully's head.
The bully turned and glared at Ray, who was standing a few feet behind him. "Did you fucking throw that?" he said, in a deadly tone, barely above a whisper. "That hit my fucking head!"
"I know," Ray hissed, "that's what I was aiming for."
The bully stepped closer to Ray and pulled back his fist to throw a punch when, in one swift, adrenaline-fueled movement, Ray caught the bully's fist in his hand, twisted his arm behind his back, and shoved him face first into a closed locker next to where the bully's victim still lay on the floor. He didn't care any more if a teacher came by. He didn't care if he got caught and punished. He didn't care that if this kid's friends, standing nearby, decided to come to their leader's rescue, and Ray would be out-numbered. All Ray cared about in that moment was causing this boy as much pain and humiliation as possible.
"NOW REPEAT AFTER ME!" Ray screamed, pressing the bully harder into the locker, still twisting his arm. "I WILL NOT TRY TO COMPENSATE FOR MY INCREDIBLY-SMALL DICK BY BEATING UP PEOPLE WEAKER THAN ME!"
"What?!" the bully cried, now struggling to breathe.
"YOU FUCKING HEARD ME, ASSHOLE! SAY IT!"
"I w- will not," the bully began, in a weak, quiet voice.
"Go on," Ray growled, "louder."
"I will not try compensate for my.. my,"
"Incredibly-small dick," Ray repeated.
"I will not try to compensate for my incredibly-small dick by beating up people weaker than me," the bully said, admitting his defeat.
"Very good," Ray said calmly. "Now, I'm going to let you go and you're going to walk away. Got it?"
Yeah," the bully said, trying to regain some of his pride.
Ray released the bully, who turned to look at Ray before saying through gritted teeth, "This isn't over." He joined his friends, looking over his shoulder at Ray with a furious expression. The crowd of students slowly began to disperse. There were whispers and curious glances in Ray's direction, but he simply ignored them. Instead turning his attention to the small boy who was still on the floor but had managed to move himself into a sitting position. He was staring up at Ray as though in awe of him, or simply in awe of the fact that someone he didn't even know risked suspension and personal injury to help.
Slowly the boy got to his feet, wincing from the pain when he moved. Ray felt a sudden stab of pity as he watched him. The boy was about a foot shorter than Ray and couldn't have been more than a hundred pounds soaking wet. His tee-shirt and faded jeans hung loosely on his skinny frame. Large, thick framed glasses, held together with tape, adorned his delicate face. His unkempt, honey-blond hair hung in his eyes. He seemed so tiny and frail, so beautifully imperfect.
"Are you okay?" Ray asked, noticing the boy flinch as Ray stepped towards him.
"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," he said gently, much the same way one would talk to a frightened animal. The boy stood with his back against the locker, rubbing his arms nervously and looking at the ground. Ray was quickly thinking of something to say or do, to keep the boy from running away. Please don't run away.
"Are you okay?" he asked again. The boy looked up from the ground at Ray and nodded. Ray spotted the boy's books scattered along the floor, one of which was a worn copy of a Spider Man comic. Ray smiled to himself as he picked up the comic. Comic book nerd. Why doesn't this shock me?
"Is this yours?" Ray asked, flipping through its pages. "I've never really read the comic book; watched the cartoon all the time when I was kid, though. Pretty cool drawings, but reading the little bubbles kinda confuses me." Ray knew he sounded stupid, but he kept talking anyway. He knew this boy was afraid of him, he didn't want that. Please don't be afraid of me. Ray handed the book back to him. The boy reached a shaky hand out to take it.
"I'm Ray."
"M-Mikey."
"Freshman?"
"Y-Yes."
"Well, I'm sure I'll see you around, so if you need anything, let me know, alright. I was a freshman once, too, so I know how hard it can be."
Ray smiled at him as he turned to walk away. He was halfway down the hall when he heard Mikey's voice.
"Excuse me..."
Ray turned to look at him, somewhat shocked by his polite tone. A well-mannered comic book nerd. This kid didn't stand a chance.
"Yeah?"
"W-Why did you help me?"
"Because you were in trouble and I wanted to help you out."
"But why?"
Ray walked closer to Mikey stopping when he was in front of him. Slowly, taking care not to frighten him away, Ray put a hand on Mikey's tiny shoulder.
"Don't worry about why, okay?" Ray said. " Don't worry about anything. I've got your back."
chpt 3
Author: chemical_stripe
Pairing: Ray/ Mikey
Summary: Ray left his hometown in New Jersey twelve years ago and hasn't been back since. Now he's coming home to visit his family, examine his life, and reunite with a freind he lost but could never forget.
POV: third person Ray centered
Warnings: NC-17 sexual situations, implied past abuse, some violence.
Disclaimer: I do not own any member of My Chemical Romance and I am not affliated with them. All other characters in this story are fictional. Title is from the song by Alanis Morrisette.
Author's Note: Mikey is an only child in this story. I'm sorry. I love and adore Gerard, but I had my reasons for leaving him out.
Dedications: To coolndarklyeeri for her patience, wisdom and being a wonderful beta, writer and freind. I could not have done this without her. And dolphingoddess for the beautiful icon.
Chapter 2
Dinner that night turned out to be a much more pleasant experience than Ray had expected. Though it wasn't without its awkward moments. Ray couldn't help but notice how, despite the greeting his brother gave him, he was unusually quiet, occasionally meeting Ray's eyes with a cold stare. All while their mother talked endlessly about the plans she made for his birthday the following Sunday, dropping hints about how it would be lovely if he didn't have to leave the day after. Ray, however, found it suprisingly easy to deal with his mother's not-so-subtle efforts to keep him home as long as possible. It kept her from asking questions that he knew he wouldn't be able to answer: So how are things at work? Why didn't your girlfriend come with you? Are there any wedding plans I should know about? The list went on in Ray's mind until he forced himself out of his unpleasant thoughts long enough to notice his mother had finally decided to stop talking and take a breath. This was the time when the rest of his family would try to be the first to seize the opportunity to get a word in edgewise. Theresa, who looked as though she would burst soon if she didn't get to speak, had won this particular round.
"So Ray," she began, "you know everybody is going to be at work during the day. That's going to leave you with lots of free time. What are you planning to do with yourself?"
She gave Ray a mischievous grin before continuing. "Because it might be fun while you're here to go visit some of your old hang outs. Or you could, oh, I don't know, maybe look up some old friends." Her grin evolved into an ear-to-ear smile as she met Ray's eyes across the table. Ray suspected there was a point to this, he just wished she would make it already. Theresa, who went high school with Ray, knew full well that he had lost touch with his high school friends, as is often the case. What she didn't know, however, was that there was one friend he regretted losing more than the others. But she couldn't be talking about him, could she?
She and Jimmy still made their home in Belleville. It was entirely possible that she still spoke to people from their high school. Ray knew that most of his friends would be going on to college, but that didn't mean they wouldn't return to visit their families. Not everyone is a complete shitheel like me. Belleville was a relatively small town and aren't small towns supposed to be known for their gossip? Maybe she's seen him. Maybe she can at least tell me if he's alright.
"I hadn't really thought about trying to find anybody," Ray said, watching Theresa's smile fade as he did. He went back to looking down at his plate, poking around at his pot roast with his fork. It wasn't entirely untrue. I've tried not to think about it, anyway.
"That's too bad," Theresa said. "I bet there's some people who would love to see you again." Her smile returned upon seeing Ray quickly lift his head up from his plate. Like a dog who had scented a rabbit. She's not talking about him. It was years ago. She probably doesn't even remember him. Quit being such a girl, Ray.
"Yeah, like who?" Ray replied trying to sound confused rather than hopeful. Stop it, you pansy!
"No one special. Just making conversation," she shrugged.
"Oh, right," Ray said, noticing his parents looking back and forth between him and Theresa in confusion.
After the dinner had been eaten, the table cleared, and dishes washed, Jimmy and Theresa thanked Ray's parents for dinner and were preparing to make their way home. Ray walked them both to front door hoping to get another word from Jimmy, who still seemed to be giving him the silent treatment. Just as the three of them stepped outside, Theresa threw her arms around Ray.
"Just think about what I said, okay?" she said hugging him tightly. "You should at least get out of the house during the day. You never know when you might run into someone from school."
"Alright, what are you up to?" Ray asked, his suspicions finally getting the better of him.
"Nothing! I just want you to enjoy yourself while you're here," she said. " And I'm just really glad you're back."
"It's only temporary, you know. I'm going back to New York."
"We'll see," she said giving Ray another devilish smile before heading down the driveway and getting into the passenger side of her car. Ray turned to face Jimmy, who had been watching their exchange. "Listen, Jimmy," Ray began nervously, "I'm really glad you..."
"No, you listen!" Jimmy cut him off in a slightly angry tone that caused Ray to jump a little. "You coming home is all Mom has been able to talk about for the past month. It's the happiest I've seen her in a long time, and I'm not going to be the one to ruin this for her. So let's get something straight. I'm going to be nice to you for her sake, but as far as I'm concerned you're still an asshole for not coming around more often. Are we clear?"
From the look his brother was giving him, Ray had almost expected Jimmy to punch him. But Ray could have withstood that. This was much worse. And it's my own god damn fault.
"Jimmy, I'm sorry for not coming home sooner, but you have to understand..."
"Don't bother," Jimmy said, heading towards the car. He stopped at the car door and turned to Ray once more. "It broke Theresa's heart that you didn't come to our wedding." And without another word, got into the car and drove away.
Ouch. Ray could only stand there dumbstruck, his brother's words echoing in his mind. He never meant to make his mother unhappy. He wanted to make both his parents proud. He wanted to show them he'd made something of himself. He couldn't make them understand that's why he'd been gone so long. The dreams he'd worked so hard to make into reality weren't coming true as fast as he'd hoped. As time went on he became more discouraged. More ashamed of becoming a failure. He didn't want his parents to know the college education they'd worked so hard to give him had not brought him any closer to becoming the success they somehow always knew he would become. Yeah, I made something of myself, alright. An ass.
* * *
Ray tossed and turned in his bed that night, unable to will his brain to shut off. The day's events played out in his mind over and over again. It felt strange to be back in his old bedroom, yet some how comforting at the same time. His mother had left his room exactly how Ray had left it, refusing to let Ray's father put a pool table in it like he had been planning to since Ray first announced his intentions to go to college out of state. Ray was glad his mom decided to leave his room unchanged. But a pool table would have been pretty sweet.
Ray rolled onto his side to look at the digital numbers on the clock by his bed 2:17 a.m. Not being able to sleep wasn't so bad when you had no where to go the next day.
Which brought another question to Ray's mind: What the hell am I going to do tomorrow?
His thoughts dwelled on his earlier conversation with Theresa, wondering if maybe he'd read to much into her questions. Even after his fallout with his brother, she and Ray still kept in touch over the phone yet rarely ever brought up their high school days. Nor had she mentioned ever running into one of their high school friends. Yet secretly, the whole time he was away, Ray fought the overwhelming urge to ask about Mikey Way. He wanted to know if she still spoke to him, or even if she'd seen him. Was he still in Belleville, or even in New Jersey? There were so many things he desperately wanted to know and yet...He probably doesn't even remember me. He's probably got tons of friends. He might even be married, or at least have someone. The more Ray thought about it the more he wondered which would be worse; knowing or not knowing.
Ray flipped on his bedside lamp and got out of bed, silently thanking his mom again for being such a sentimental pack rat. He walked over to the bookshelf in the corner of his room and found what he was looking for. His high school yearbook. He grabbed the book and flopped back down on his bed, quickly flipping through the pages. Ray chose to forgo looking at his own photo, fearing that his junior-year photo would give him nightmares. He instead turned to the "W" section of the freshman pictures. Ray felt a flutter in his stomach when his eyes landed the name, Michael Way. Ray swallowed hard as he slowly ran his finger over the boy's picture, remembering fondly their first meeting.
It was the first day of Ray's junior year. Ray was putting his books away in his locker at the end of day, when he heard a loud crash followed by the sound of cheering from a group of students at the far end of the hall. Ray looked up from his locker towards the source of the commotion. A group of kids, consisting mostly of alpha-male type jocks, had gathered to watch as one of their own had thrown a much smaller boy against the lockers and proceeded to mercilessly punch him in the stomach. A wave of uncontrollable anger swept over Ray as he watched the punch send the small boy sliding down into a sitting position on the floor, then over onto his side, coughing and clutching his sore stomach the whole time. Ray looked around the crowded halls for a sign of a teacher, finding none in sight. Un-fucking-believable. You smoke a cigarette in a bathroom stall and at least twelve teachers crawl out of the wood work up your ass, but some poor kid gets the shit beat out of him in the middle of the school and they're nowhere to be found.
Ray the saw the jock give a swift kick to the boy as he curled into fetal position on floor. The cheers of the other students grew louder with each indignity this boy was forced to endure. Ray didn't know which was worse: the guy giving the beating, or the people standing around watching it happen. The answer came to him when he decided he wasn't going to be one of those people.
Ray slammed his locker door shut and took off at a run towards the fight. He pushed passed the group of cheering gorillas and picked up a heavy textbook he saw lying on the ground. Ray could hear the gasps of the on-looking crowd when he threw the textbook, causing it to collide with the back of the bully's head.
The bully turned and glared at Ray, who was standing a few feet behind him. "Did you fucking throw that?" he said, in a deadly tone, barely above a whisper. "That hit my fucking head!"
"I know," Ray hissed, "that's what I was aiming for."
The bully stepped closer to Ray and pulled back his fist to throw a punch when, in one swift, adrenaline-fueled movement, Ray caught the bully's fist in his hand, twisted his arm behind his back, and shoved him face first into a closed locker next to where the bully's victim still lay on the floor. He didn't care any more if a teacher came by. He didn't care if he got caught and punished. He didn't care that if this kid's friends, standing nearby, decided to come to their leader's rescue, and Ray would be out-numbered. All Ray cared about in that moment was causing this boy as much pain and humiliation as possible.
"NOW REPEAT AFTER ME!" Ray screamed, pressing the bully harder into the locker, still twisting his arm. "I WILL NOT TRY TO COMPENSATE FOR MY INCREDIBLY-SMALL DICK BY BEATING UP PEOPLE WEAKER THAN ME!"
"What?!" the bully cried, now struggling to breathe.
"YOU FUCKING HEARD ME, ASSHOLE! SAY IT!"
"I w- will not," the bully began, in a weak, quiet voice.
"Go on," Ray growled, "louder."
"I will not try compensate for my.. my,"
"Incredibly-small dick," Ray repeated.
"I will not try to compensate for my incredibly-small dick by beating up people weaker than me," the bully said, admitting his defeat.
"Very good," Ray said calmly. "Now, I'm going to let you go and you're going to walk away. Got it?"
Yeah," the bully said, trying to regain some of his pride.
Ray released the bully, who turned to look at Ray before saying through gritted teeth, "This isn't over." He joined his friends, looking over his shoulder at Ray with a furious expression. The crowd of students slowly began to disperse. There were whispers and curious glances in Ray's direction, but he simply ignored them. Instead turning his attention to the small boy who was still on the floor but had managed to move himself into a sitting position. He was staring up at Ray as though in awe of him, or simply in awe of the fact that someone he didn't even know risked suspension and personal injury to help.
Slowly the boy got to his feet, wincing from the pain when he moved. Ray felt a sudden stab of pity as he watched him. The boy was about a foot shorter than Ray and couldn't have been more than a hundred pounds soaking wet. His tee-shirt and faded jeans hung loosely on his skinny frame. Large, thick framed glasses, held together with tape, adorned his delicate face. His unkempt, honey-blond hair hung in his eyes. He seemed so tiny and frail, so beautifully imperfect.
"Are you okay?" Ray asked, noticing the boy flinch as Ray stepped towards him.
"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," he said gently, much the same way one would talk to a frightened animal. The boy stood with his back against the locker, rubbing his arms nervously and looking at the ground. Ray was quickly thinking of something to say or do, to keep the boy from running away. Please don't run away.
"Are you okay?" he asked again. The boy looked up from the ground at Ray and nodded. Ray spotted the boy's books scattered along the floor, one of which was a worn copy of a Spider Man comic. Ray smiled to himself as he picked up the comic. Comic book nerd. Why doesn't this shock me?
"Is this yours?" Ray asked, flipping through its pages. "I've never really read the comic book; watched the cartoon all the time when I was kid, though. Pretty cool drawings, but reading the little bubbles kinda confuses me." Ray knew he sounded stupid, but he kept talking anyway. He knew this boy was afraid of him, he didn't want that. Please don't be afraid of me. Ray handed the book back to him. The boy reached a shaky hand out to take it.
"I'm Ray."
"M-Mikey."
"Freshman?"
"Y-Yes."
"Well, I'm sure I'll see you around, so if you need anything, let me know, alright. I was a freshman once, too, so I know how hard it can be."
Ray smiled at him as he turned to walk away. He was halfway down the hall when he heard Mikey's voice.
"Excuse me..."
Ray turned to look at him, somewhat shocked by his polite tone. A well-mannered comic book nerd. This kid didn't stand a chance.
"Yeah?"
"W-Why did you help me?"
"Because you were in trouble and I wanted to help you out."
"But why?"
Ray walked closer to Mikey stopping when he was in front of him. Slowly, taking care not to frighten him away, Ray put a hand on Mikey's tiny shoulder.
"Don't worry about why, okay?" Ray said. " Don't worry about anything. I've got your back."
chpt 3