Bitten and Bred

Dread, it was the one thing that had been going on the young man’s mind as he looked out of the car's window, contemplating as he watched how they passed by a whole bunch of trees. The sky was cloudy and the temperature quite cold, a possible sign of foreboding rain, but it didn’t seem to come. The young man’s mind was only disturbed when all of a sudden a few other vehicles passed them by. It was like there was a caravan of expensive, high-end sports cars, racing beside them forcing them to slow down to just let the group pass. What caught the young man’s attention was the third vehicle’s passenger, a handsome guy about the same age as he was, brooding as he looked at them from the back of the red convertible. It was like at that moment time had stopped allowing the young man to see those dark eyes that seemed to be peering into his soul when their gazes met. There was something in those looks that was almost pulling him that he had his eyes on the said cars until they were no longer in sight. Something was haunting about how the other guy looked at him, it was like he was gauging and checking him, though he was sure it was impossible with the speed of their vehicles at that moment, plus the fact that he was just trying to stare pointlessly into nothing at that time. It kept bothering him that his mind was preoccupied that he didn’t notice they had stopped. “C’mon kid, they ain’t going to wait for you, you know.” The man’s deep voice jolted him awake. Realizing that they had arrived, all his anxiety came rushing back as the feeling of nervousness and tension grabbed him after seeing the number of people outside. He feels a chill run up his spine, feeling the cold and distant vibe of the new place that he was in. Especially seeing that it was so different from where he came from. “Do I really have to go today?” he shakily asks looking at the person beside him. The man frowned, letting out a sigh as he shook his head. “Yes, so get a move on,” he mutters waving at him to get out of the car. Biting his lower lip to hold on to his emotion he asks once more. “Why couldn’t Robyn come with us?” He would have felt safer if that was the case having his sibling by his side. “You already know why, so stop asking questions,” the man grunted, combing his hair with the palm of his hand out of sheer frustration. Feeling a lump on his throat suddenly form, all he could do was swallow hard. “I don’t think I can do this on my own,” he lowers his head, scared that he might make a mistake on his first day. “You can, you know you have to,” The man gave him a good and reassuring pat on the back. Yet that didn’t really make any difference at all, now having that feeling of sudden isolation and dread that he had been harboring the moment he stepped out of the plane. The young man raised his head with pleading eyes. “I’m scared.” He ended up fidgeting his hands together to try to calm himself. “I know, but you will get through this, now go on, before you get late.” The man smiles, giving him a few more quick taps on the back. There was really no point in arguing as he was already there. Letting out a deep sigh he opens the door and get’s out of the car, knees shaking as he surveyed the new environment that he needed to stay in. Almost everyone was looking at him the moment he stepped out of the car, which felt really weird cause there were a ton of people around him at that time. The whole place was different from what he was used to. It was quieter, spacier with lots and lots of trees all over the place, and a hell of a lot of attention, something that added to his uneasiness. “Blend in, just blend in,” the man says in a low and hoarse voice. Turning, the young man just nodded after letting out a few deep breaths before walking away as fast as he can, lowering his head and bending down to try to avoid the gazes that were given to him and at least make himself as unnoticeable as possible. His heart almost skipped a beat when all of a sudden he was at a halt, hitting his head on what seemed to be a hard wall of flesh that suddenly appeared in front of him. “Ouch,” he silently groaned holding his hand to his forehead. “Sorry about that,” a lively and very cheerful voice chuckled. The little accident suddenly seemed to have blocked out his excessive thinking to focus on the person that was in front of him right now. “It’s okay, I was the one who wasn’t looking,” the young man says while rubbing the part that got hit, he tried to hide his face feeling really stupid for what happened. But that didn’t stop the person in front of him from having a look at his face as he lowered his gaze. “You’re the new kid right,” the lively person says still with that very alluring tone of his. Hearing that made the young man’s head raise up as the person that was blocking his way was a few feet taller than him. “How’d you know…” He ended up mid-way with his sentence, mouth gaping after properly seeing the person in full view. A well-defined chest underneath a fitted white shirt greeted him first before the person's astonishingly pleasing and warm smile that showed a set of perfectly pearly white teeth with very noticeable canines. It was then that he noticed the guy's biceps that were almost bursting out of the sleeves of his shirt. Just like the other guy that he saw on the road a while ago, the person in front of him seemed to be checking him for something, making him notice the thick eyelashes that complimented his gray eyes and dark brown hair that was nicely done with a faded haircut. He reminded him of those ruggedly hot, sexy gladiators that he loved to watch during his spare time. “It wasn’t that hard since we have a tight-knit community and we don’t get a lot of new faces around here, everyone you see grew up here so everyone basically knows each other,” he says jolting the young man back to his senses. Realizing he had been ogling for quite some time, he immediately shook his head, trying to keep his wits about as he straightened his face. “Oh,” that was all he could say, still a bit dazed from what he was looking at. Never in his life had he seen such an attractive-looking young man in person, face to face at that distance, not to mention quite very appealing to him. It was as if he was face to face with a model that had just popped out from one of those favorite magazines that he loves to read. “By the way, the names Maynard.” The young man let out a hand. “Rory,” he says reaching for it, he felt a very firm and tight grip making him notice that the man’s hands were double the size of his own. Somehow he was lost for breath feeling the heat and warmness of his palm, making him feel a bit drunk in a sort of heat inside of him. “It’s nice to meet you Rory, so what made you transfer in the middle of nowhere?” he says jokingly letting out a few quick laughs. Rory just let out a half-smile, avoiding the young man’s eyes, since his voice was enough to send heat inside of him. Thankfully the pain of remembering the answer to the guy's question overpowered his feelings and emotions at the moment. “Family problems,” he says, biting his lips as he tried to erase the bitter thought of it. “Oh, sorry for asking.” Maynard felt a bit awkward realizing the pain in his voice. “Anyway, if there’s anything you need around here, don’t hesitate to ask me,” he says scratching the back of his nape feeling a bit foolish after hearing the sensitive answer. Rory just gave a nod before they started walking to the front door. It was like he was an outsider still feeling the uneasy and funny looks of the people around, thankfully having Maynard beside him managed to at least alleviate it a bit. “Can you tell me where the principal's office is?” he finally was able to ask, after getting away from the weird gazes from the people outside. Inside the building was much livelier and less tense as everyone was busy minding their own business. “It should be that way, near the faculty, you can’t miss it,” Maynard points to the hallway on their left. The place did not quite have a lot of people loitering around, but it did have a large space and huge signboards that showed what offices were there. “Thanks!” Rory nodded once more appreciating the man’s assistance. Somehow the man’s calm demeanor and inviting approach a while ago managed to put his worries aside. “You should probably head there now since classes are about to start,” Maynard bob’s his head, telling him to move along now. “Thank you again,” Rory quickly says before turning around and moving as quickly as possible. Somehow the fear and anxiety that he was feeling at the moment seemed to fade away as he approached the office. Finally being able to have a wide smile after realizing that suddenly being in that place wasn't really as bad as he thought it would be.