CHAPTER 5 The Dark Trio
Joy
The first week of school went by quickly. I had made zero friends, but that was because I kept mostly to myself. If I wasn't in class, I was in the library, trying to stay invisible.
So far, I liked being in college. Here, most of the students were mature and were busy trying to finish their education. With tuition so expensive, students couldn't waste their time on petty things although there were some who were born into rich families who felt entitled enough to squander a good education.
But, unlike my first week of college, the second week, people started taking notice of me, but not in a good way. The whispers, the looks and the snickering as I walked by... increased. Well, I didn't mind. That I could tolerate. The students on campus could continue whispering and laughing behind my back, just as long as it stayed that way.
Unfortunately, if I had thought during my first week that bullying was a thing of the past, I was wrong.
I was walking to my last class of the day, happy another week was over. I was looking forward to the weekend since my dad had promised me we could go out and watch a movie.
As I walked through the hall, the students I passed by were snickering, but not entirely directly at me. I quickly looked behind me and saw a tall boy with blonde hair and light blue eyes making fun of the way I walked. I sighed.
You can take the boy out of high school, but you can't take high school out of the boy.
I shrugged my shoulders and proceeded towards my classroom. At least the boys here were so repulsed by me, they wouldn't dare try and rape me. I've already experienced that and I do not want that to ever happen again.
I finally saw my classroom up ahead and walked as fast as my busted leg could take me. Loitering beside the entrance were two tall muscular boys casually talking to some girls.
I recognized them to be the two boys of the trio I had a crush on...Cristos and Xavier.
After Cristos bought me lunch, I decided to ask a classmate of ours who they were. My classmate laughed at me when I asked, thinking I was out of my mind to even think they would give me time of day. I tried to explain it wasn't like that, but she wasn't convinced.
"I guess the line of girls to the Dark Trio has another one," she said. "Well, the one with the blue dreamy eyes is Cristos Primo. The one with honey-colored eyes and who just exudes confidence is Sebastian Domenico while the quiet one with brown eyes is Xavier Beaufort. They all came from the same high school and are bestfriends. Like brothers even."
Cristos and Xavier were both casually dressed in regular T-shirts, jeans and sneaker and both were undeniably handsome. No, beautiful. I sighed. They were the type of boys who could date anyone they wanted.
Xavier glanced at me as I approached with a small smile on his face which instantly disappeared. He nudged Cristos in the ribs and pointed at me. Cristos immediately looked up at me, then glanced at the asshole behind me and I saw the anger in his pretty blue eyes.
"Hey Mark, didn't your mom ever teach you to never make fun of people with disabilities?" Cristos asked angrily.
"I don't think so, Cristos. His mom was too busy fucking the pool boy to ever give a damn about him," Xavier said. The girls surrounding them laughed. I grimaced. I didn't need anyone to play the hero.
"Guys, stop it. Let's just go to class," I said in an attempt to pacify the situation, but Mark pushed me aside to confront Cristos and Xavier.
I almost fell, but a pair of strong hands broke my fall. I looked up and saw a pair of beautiful honey-colored eyes staring at me. The other boy who completed the trio... Sebastian Domenico.
He was tall and muscular like his friends with the same dark hair. Unlike the other two though, he had dimples on each side of his smooth clean-shaven face.
He smiled at me, his dimples appearing on each side of his cheeks. "Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded my head weakly, not knowing what else to say.
"You stay here, okay? Don't move. I'll take care of this," he said and walked towards Mark who was arguing with the other two. He placed a hand on Mark's shoulder and spun him around.
"You haven't changed, Mark. You're still a clown," he said. "Do I need to remind you what happens when you act inappropriately?"
"Sebastian, I was just goofing around that's all," Mark answered, defending himself.
"You pushed her, you prick. I want you to apologize to her," Sebastian said. Mark, stunned, raised his eyebrows in protest.
"Dude, why should I? She was in the way," Mark reasoned. "Don't tell me she's your chick?! Man, you guys have some weird tastes."
"So what if she is? Apologize, Mark... or I'll have Xavier here take a baseball bat and shove it so far up your ass, you'll be wearing a diaper for a week," Sebastian said. "So what's it going to be?"
"I'm sorry," Mark said insincerely.
"I'm sorry, Joy," Sebastian said. My eyes widened. He knew my name!
"What?" Mark asked, confused. Sebastian lowered his head and cupped the back of Mark's neck with one of his hands so he could look at him dead in the eye.
"Her name is Joy. Say 'I'm sorry, Joy' and add some feelings to it, so it sounds sincere."
"I'm sorry, Joy. It will never happen again," Mark said. This time he sounded afraid.
"T-that's okay. Just as long as it doesn't happen again," I said, shyly.
"Now, go. Run to mommy. That's a good boy," Sebatian said, patting Mark on the head. Mark quickly picked up his bag and ran to class.
Sebastian took my hand and assisted me inside our classroom. "Come on, Joy. I want to know your story," he said. "By the way, I'm Sebastian Domenico and these two knuckleheads are Cristos Primo and Xavier Beaufort."
I stared at him with my mouth wide open as he led me into our classroom with Cristos and Xavier following behind us. I couldn't believe the three of them came to my defense!
Sebastian led me to a spot where all four of us could sit together. Sebastian was on my left while Xavier was on my right. Xavier helped me with my backpack and waited for me to sit down.
"Joy, you're with us now. No one is ever going to hurt you again. I promise," Xavier said. I smiled at him, not knowing what to say. That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.
I leaned back on my chair, feeling like a heavy burden was lifted from my shoulders. I now had friends.
They were like a miracle wrapped as handsome men... my miracles.
Xavier
I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Here she was, seated right next to me, smiling at me and looking at me with those beautiful blue-green eyes of hers. If she only knew how much she meant to me even if we never really spoken to each other.
After class, she checked her phone while I carried her bag for her. She looked anxious.
"My dad said he can't pick me up. He has a meeting at his workplace," she said, sighing. "Oh well, I'll have to take the bus."
"No, you won't. We'll drop you home. But you look hungry. How about we get a bite to eat?"
Sebastian quickly took Joy's hand and led her to the parking lot before she could protest.
I nudged Cristos to follow them secretly hiding my smile. More time with Joy.