Hakim's POV
I was able to recognize Dante even before I could recognize my own mother. That was how attached we were as babies, and substantially grew up, bonded together as children. He was always this tiny looking human being that was always frail and fragile, looking like something that could be snapped into two. But the more frail and fragile he looked, the more I felt the burning need to protect him, to shield him.
I remember when we were still in kindergarten. Mom had dropped me off at his place to go get some groceries and stuff. He was intensely watching SpongeBob SquarePants, his whole being engrossed in the television. His mom came out of the kitchen and did some ranting about him being addicted to SpongeBob before taking the remote control and turning it off, making him to start crying. His cries almost made me go crazy, and as little as I was, maybe at five or six years old, I waged war against his mother, following her to the kitchen and beating her legs with my little hands while screaming " tur e on". She was amused by the whole skit and later turned the television back on.
" Your little man almost killed me because I made his boyfriend cry", she said to my mom when she came to pick me up. I didn't understand the meaning of boyfriend then, but I knew what friend meant, and I was happy that she called Dante my boyfriend.
I always looked forward to seeing him. Whenever he laughed; let's say when I pull a prank on him, or when I made a face at him, or when he will try to scare me and have me scream, I always felt fulfilled, as if my shitty life was somehow instantly made normal. He was the only person who's smile could make me happy.
Then everything changed when we got into sophomore year. His presence started to bug me; or at least that was what I was made to think.
His presence started to bug Hunter and Hazel. It was never really me that was bothered, it was them.
I met them when I joined the football team, and due to secular similarities, we instantly became close friends. They were hot, cool, almost famous guys who played quarterback, and I suited the criteria for people that were on the same league with them. The people that were always invited to parties and had hot, popular cheerleaders as girlfriends.
I guess my popularity grew when I started dating the cheer queen. Bianca or something, I can't quite recall her name. But me dating her was like opening the door to the perfect social life that I wanted, filled with cool friends and lingering girls, and all was perfect; all except for one thing: Dante.
We stopped talking. I couldn't tell why, but we just gradually stopped. We still sat together in class, but that was all. I was always at football practice or at a party or basically just spending time with the guys, and he didn't fit in. He didn't even try to fit in.
" Why is that guy always around you", Hunter had asked me one day.
" What guy?" I asked.
" That scrawny thing called Dante", he said.
" What do you mean he's always around me? We just sit together in class, that's all", I said, sensing the extraordinary hate he had for Dante.
" Is he gay or something? Because I could swear that the dude looks at you as if he wants to kiss you", Hazel chipped in.
" Don't be an asshole, he's alright", I said, trying to defend him with the wrong words, using ' he's alright' as if the fact that he was gay made him ' not alright'.
" He behaves like a faggot, and I've even heard rumors, and one of them is that he wants you", that was Hunter, the hate was still noticable in his voice.
" Oh please, don't be silly, that can never be true", I said, my heart beating vigorously against my chest. I wasn't sure if he saw me that way, but I was sure that it was I who wanted him, it was I who wanted to kiss him.
" You're defending him bro", Hunter said, with a disgusted amusement in his eyes.
" No I'm not".
" Yes you are, and the only reason you're defending him is because you like him too".
" Stop", I said, an unknown anger taking hold of me.
" You like him, you're a fag too", he continued, oblivious to my increasingly burning anger.
" I said stop! I have a girlfriend, remember?" I said, almost raising my voice.
" And so what? You could turn anytime. I've seen married men with children turn gay overnight, so don't think that you having a girlfriend means you're not", he said, and he was right, " in fact, I feel you're halfway there already. Weren't you all glued up with him before? Huh? Tell me Hakim, did you do it dirty when mommy wasn't looking", he was laughing, enjoying the fact that he was making me feel small, " I bet you'll be fucking his little ass very soon, or worst still he will be the one fucking you from behind".
It was just too much, I couldn't take it. Even if it were to be rumored that I was gay, everything will go south. The social life I had, the friends I had, the parties, everything will end and I will be ridiculed, and let's not even talk about what my father will do to me.
I grabbed him by the collar and glared at him. " Fuck off asshole. Stop with the nonsense", I said.
" If it's not true, then teach that thing a lesson. Prove that he means nothing to you", he said, and as I quietly nodded, an evil glint appeared in his eyes.
And so it all started, my proving to them that I wasn't gay and wasn't attracted to Dante.
It started small, a little push here and a little push there, then I started teasing him, the teasing turned into abusive blunts, and before I knew what was happening, I had graduated into giving him a full arm torture. I must've earned a doctorate degree in making his life miserable and unbearable, and I thought it could'nt get any worse, not until that day that he was brave enough to tell me to my face, in front of everyone, that he liked me.
I was literally begging him to take his words back, but he was too strong headed, and as I beat him almost to an early grave, my heart shattered in pieces. I couldn't forgive myself. I called the school clinic after everyone dispersed and later learnt that it wasn't a minor injury, he had broken ribs and arms. I visited the hospital where he was and cried out my heart, apologizing to him, but he couldn't hear it, he was in a coma. Even if he did hear it, I bet he wouldn't be able to bring himself to forgive me. After I left that day, I never saw him again. The universe had taken him away from me.
When I saw his name on the list of new staff at the firm, I knew that the universe was giving me a second chance. Fate was trying to bring us back together, and as I watched him leave my office, trailing behind Glinda, I swore to myself to make it up to him, to make him fall in love with me again.
I knew it was going to be hard, almost impossible, but I was prepared for anything, even the impossible.