Alex's POV
Without a single thought drifting in my mind, my feet forced me towards him, dropping my head right on his shoulder. It was warm, like a pillow and soft as a cloud. My face was fully buried into it, unable to let go, my limbs numb and lifeless.
He saw me fall on him, and paused for a few seconds , before looking sideways, nudging that shoulder, "you okay? Who troubled you?"
I simply nodded my face without lifting it.
He held my weaker shoulders and pulled me a little further away from himself, his eyes drifting to perhaps figure out what was going on.
"Hey." His voice was different compared to his normal tone. It was softer and more grounded.
For some reason, I felt bad for Max. This soul had suffered for long, and for some reason, our hearts had begun to synchronise in a few days. It was a pathetic feeling of helplessness, as if someone was reaching out their hand, yet you couldn't lift yours to catch them.
I pursed my lips and looked down, as I avoided getting overwhelmed by the emotions. At last, tears came at bay, stopping by my waterline, ready to overflow.
"Has someone f*cking bullied you? Just speak."
This was my moment.
I tried to shake my head vertically but it somehow turned into horizontal nod.
'This punk will never learn."
He wiped off the dust accumulated on my dirty uniform, which I hadn't changed in days.
Max turned his face, making sure his tears weren't visible.
Right then Mike saw it.
The bruise from the slap.
It was purple around the corners and has pops of red for the burst blood vessels.
"Wait. The test results eh? Was it perhaps your dad?"
'How does he know? But it's helpful if he does.'
"YESITWASHIM!"
I took my chance and yelled out.
"Huh?"
I knew Max would never say this given he's bartered his voice in exchange of the CD, so I had to take the opportunity through the empty window. Since I had taken the leap for him, he couldn't retreat back on his words.
"It was my dad."
"Oh."
His eyes widened. Then he took my arm in his'.
"First you sit here," he said, taking me to the makeshift bed.
By this time, I couldn't hold back. This punk was suffering a lot. He shouldn't be, and maybe this kid could be someone he could rely on.
Without a single care in the world, I let the taps run loose.
"Calm down," he said, rubbing my back.
I didn't answer, instead my tears just grew more and more, clouding my eyes and my judgement. I could tell he hadn't cried in ages, as he began to lose his breath, and started panting loudly as he dug his face into his own arms and wailed till all of his pain washed away for a moment.
"It's okay! You can come... here ...anytime," Mike's voice was hesitant but I could tell he was trying his best, "has he hurt you somewhere else?"
I lifted my head up and nodded. Then, I proceeded to lift my shirt, showing the dark purple and green wound on my stomach area.
"This looks bad!" He screamed.
I looked at him, through my now crusty eyes, all from the dried tears.
"Wait," he stood up, "I'll get the balm," he said, placing his arm in front of himself.
I could hear the clinking of the metallic stairs as he got down and thumps of his heavy footsteps as he ran around searching for the the balm and then climbing the stairs back.
He ran towards me with the bottle open, as the gingery minty smell of the balm spread around. He took out a wad with his fingers and began applying it softly on my wounds.
I winced occasionally, as his fingertips grazed along the injured cheek and my stomach .
Once we were a little more comfortable, he sat next to me and pointed his finger towards the stars, "you know, there are a billion stars in the sky."
I nodded, throwing him a side eye, "Of course."
"But do you know each star has it's own circular trajectory?"
"I did read about it somewhere."
"Now, do you know that when random asteroids cross its path, they form a tangent at the entrance?"
My eyes glowed with interest, "are these encounters random?"
"Probably. Like you and me. You're the star and I'm the asteroid here, a near random occurrence," he raised his hands upwards, staring at the eyes through gaps in his fingers.
"How random are we talking about?"
"I like challenges!" He smiled, "so there are about six billion people in the world right now. If two people are two meet, we make a sample space of pairs. You remember the probability class?"
"The dice question?"
"Yes! The chances of two numbers appearing together, we do the same in this case. If we count six billion people, then the number of possible pairs is," he started to count something on his fingers.
"18 quintillion pairs," I replied.
He frowned in wonder, eyebrows raised, "Wow! You have potential eh?"
I rubbed the back of my head, "I used to do math calculations when my dad locked me up sometimes."
"..."
He was speechless.
"Given that people meet around 10,000 people," he said waving his hand in approximation, "there's chances of the previous value multiplied by 10,000, divide that by two and divide it over the 18 quintillion."
"Then that would be 3 times 10 over the power of 13, making it 1 in 600,000 chances of meeting someone."
"Wow. You're so good at math, why were you searching for a replacement then? And why score so less?"
I froze in my place, eyes narrowed. There was a throbbing sensation rising in my head.
"How did you know?"
"You know," he said, crossing his legs up, "your father approached me as a replacement for you but I declined."
"What the hell?"
"And I also saw him yelling at you in the car when I was walking home one day."
The happiness collapsed.
No wonder he knew how my dad was.
"But you don't worry, I'll take his secret to my grave," he said, holding his pinky up.
I began to fidget in my place, my face now red and the wound throbbing. I took the CD from my pocket and threw it at the bed. I wanted to run off from that place.
"But it's okay, you know my secret too."
I stopped for a moment, raising my eyebrows.
"... that I'm not a rich and powerful guy."
"You're literally the luckiest though," I added, "your parents love you, don't ever feel ashamed of them, even for a moment."
He nodded, "but people at school don't know. Also, as a compensation, I will tutor you."
"Oh?"
"Come with me after school, I'll polish your potential and send you back a scholar your dad will show off to all."
"Okay..."
"Also, I don't want the gifts anymore."
I thought for a good moment.
"..."
"Okay."
"Done."
He raised back his pinky and grabbed mine, wrapping them around each other.
"Pinky promise."