A/n

Friendly reminders -

a) the 'e' in Duante is silent

b) half the plot and character rights are with nefelibatanSoul who's helping me plan out this book so don't forget to show her some love too!!

Yay thanks for reading and don't forget to leave comments!!

..........

(trigger warning : violence)

"Thaaaaank youuuuu, siiiiiir," ten kids shouted together in a sing-song voice.

Duante laughed, "You're welcome." He picked up a stack of thin notebooks and tucked them in the crook of his elbow. "Hurry along now," he gestured towards the door, "your parents must be waiting, our class was ten minutes longer today."

"We don't mind!" a girl from the first bench piped in.

"Speak for yourself," a boy shouted at her, then ran out the door laughing. Seeing him, the rest of the students too got to their feet and hurried out of the room.

A tall kid with bright eyes came to stand in front of Duante's desk, uncertainly swinging his body from left to right.

Duante caught his gaze and raised a brow. "What is it, Diem?" He, like every other tutor who had the misfortune of teaching Diem Finata, knew something was definitely going down if that eleven-year-old was standing in front of your desk. Duante braced himself for whatever was coming.

"So listen," Diem began casually, like he was talking to a friend and not his tutor, "I hope what I say next won't affect your evaluation of me."

Teachers and parents would constantly complain about his rash, cheeky and overly confident behavior, but the kid reminded Duante too much of a certain extravagant friend of his, so he could never bring himself to be too harsh on Diem. And the kid clearly took advantage of it. "Your evaluation will depend entirely on the work that you've submitted." Duante tapped the notebooks in his hand.

"Right, right," Diem nodded.

Duante waited for him to continue.

"Oh wow, this is awkward," the boy said, continuing in a rush. "My sister wanted to know if you're single?"

It took Duante all his strength not to burst into laughter and to keep a straight face. If he showed amusement of any kind, it would mean he was encouraging this behavior and though it was quite entertaining and cute, as the tutor it was his duty to discourage such intrusive and personal questions. "I'm afraid I can't discuss such matters with my student."

Diem looked both ways, once he was clear no one was around, he leaned forward slightly and said in a low voice, "So, just between the two of us, do I give her your number or not?"

"Not," Duante replied, fighting to keep a serious look on his face.

"She's hot," Diem persisted.

"The answer is an absolute no." Duante said firmly, putting an end to the conversation. 

"Cool cool cool," Diem nodded, backing away. "Don't worry," he shot finger guns at his tutor, "I got ya back, bruh."

"It's sir, Diem."

The boy was already on his way out when he stopped and turned to shoot a toothy grin at Duante. "Can I quote a Harry Potter reference?"

"Out!" Duante cried, pointing at the door. Once the boy left and he was finally all alone in the small classroom, Duante doubled over in laughter. His face was starting to hurt from forcing on a strict face for so long but he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world; these kids were the highlight of his life!

"Dude, what is your secret?" Vienna said the moment Duante walked out of the classroom. The common room was empty, except for the young woman sitting at the reception desk, lazily twirling a pen in her fingers. "All the parents and kids here only sing your praises - I understand everything Duante Sir teaches, Duante Sir is so cool, Duante Sir is so sweet, Duante Sir is so hot."

Duante chuckled at her. "Thanks, but I'm pretty sure no one says that to their parents." He took out his bag from the locker and carefully put the stack of notebooks he was holding in it. He then proceeded to put the rain cover over it.

"Oh you have no idea how many kids say that to their parents," Vienna laughed.

Duante paled. "Vee, that's not a good thing!"

Vienna pointed towards his face and laughed. "You should see your face!"

"Shut up," he said, pursing his lips. He swung his bag over his shoulders and picked up an umbrella from the stand. "I'll see you on Friday."

"Oh how I wish you meant that in a sexy way!" Vienna dramatically rested her chin on her palm. "You didn't bring your bike today?" she added, eyeing the umbrella.

"No, I had to leave it at the uni because of the rain."

"If you're willing to wait another thirty minutes, I can give you a lift," she offered.

Duante waved his hand dismissively. "No, it's okay. Thank you. It's good weather to walk."

A light drizzle, accompanied by a pleasant breeze greeted Duante as he exited the building. The sun had just set, and the overcast sky along with the dying rays of daylight, bathed the street ahead of him in shadows. At the end of the street, the main road was lit up by the bright fluorescent lights from the shops and billboards.

Duante checked his phone to find 107 unread messages in the group chat he shared with his three best friends. The last message was from Aqil -

AF : FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STOP SPAMMING

It was obvious the message was directed at Shohei who had most definitely just sent loads of stickers and gifs.

Duante scrolled down to find a private message from Drayden.

Dray101 : Wanna come over for dinner tonight?

Duante found himself smiling. These random invitations weren't something rare, neither were they anything special - Drayden never needed an occasion to invite him to his family dinners; he just did it. And though Drayden had helped Duante out in far bigger and more pressing issues, this small gesture of inviting him for a meal warmed Duante's heart every damn time.

The world truly, very very unjustly, misunderstood Drayden. There were many people handing out money as charity, but who went so far as to share their family?

the E is silent : Thanks, but I got a dozen copies to evaluate + I have a test tomorrow

The moment Duante pressed send, he got a new private message from Shohei -

Soho-san : Hey, I saw you're online.

Soho-san : Is your class over?

Soho-san : Do you want a lift?

the E is silent : I didn't know you started an Uber-driving business

Soho-san : Only for you ;)

the E is silent : How jobless are you, really?

Soho-san : Hey, I HAVE a job!

Soho-san : It's Dray and AF who don't hahaha

Shohei sent a series of stickers, of himself, covered in fur and glitter, followed by a sticker of Drayden and Aqil in formal suits and grim faces with the word "FRAGILE" stamped over them.

Duante burst into laughter.

Dray101 : Okay. But don't buy or make anything, I'll have some food sent over. They have one of your favourites on the menu today.

Sometimes Duante felt the world didn't deserve Drayden Hawthorne.

the E is silent : Thank you <3 <3

Drayden replied with a puke emoji.

Duante laughed and pocketed his phone.

Since it was only a drizzle, Duante didn't bother opening the umbrella as he walked out into the street. He avoided the main road and stuck to smaller alleys knowing he'd cut his time by half. Plus, it wasn't noisy and crowded, giving him the luxury to relax and just enjoy the walk home.

He listened to the distant laughter and chatter of people far away or huddled up inside their homes, breathed in the fresh yet stale smell of the rain on the city streets, and glanced at the small plants that peeked out of the cracks in the concrete. Duante was all about enjoying the little things in life; he'd learnt the hard way that life was too short to focus on grand schemes and running after golden trophies...

Something hard hit Duante on the back of his head, making him stumble forward. A second later, someone kicked him from behind and he crashed hard against the wet ground.

Instincts took over, and Duante rolled onto his back and swung the umbrella blindly at his attacker. It made contact, hitting his attacker, but before he could come up with another move to attack, someone grabbed the umbrella, pried it out of his hands and slammed the handle down on Duante's stomach, nearly winding him.

Searing pain shot through his body but before he could register it properly, let alone recover from it, hard kicks rained down on him.

All thoughts of counter-attack were knocked out of his lungs. He covered his head with his arms and curled up into a fetal position to lessen the damage being inflicted. He bit his lips to suppress the cries that tried to escape with each blow to his body. He wasn't sure where the blows were coming from - everything hurt, everything was on fire, and everything felt disgusting. The rain came down harder. He tried to focus on the rough gravel pressed to his cheek - it was cold and wet and jutted out like needles.

Duante wasn't sure how long he remained tightly shielding himself on the ground, but finally the blows stopped.

Someone was saying something but he couldn't hear anything over the ringing in his ears.

A large hand grabbed Duante by his hair and lifted his face upwards. His vision was slightly blurry but he could make out six huge men circling him. "Have you considered our offer yet?" one of them said.

Goosebumps ran through Duante as he recognized that voice. "W-what offer?" he spat.

"The same one."

Duante gritted his teeth. "No."

The man laughed. "You see this, boys? He hangs around with those rich bastards, goes to college, teaches math to some dumb kids so he thinks he's one of them now." He spat on the ground, then walked up to Duante and crouched in front of him. "You listen to me, and you listen well. You either come back to us..." He reached into a pocket of his jacket and pulled out a stack of pictures which he threw in front of Duante. "Or they are going to pay on your behalf. How's that for an incentive?"

Duante said nothing and kept his glare fixed on the man.

The man let out a laugh, got to his feet and walked away. The others followed him, leaving Duante bruised and bleeding in the rain.

Mustering up a lot - a lot - of courage, he forced his eyes to look down at the pictures lying on the dirty ground beside him – he and Aqil sitting in an amphitheater with books and laptops in hand, he and Drayden talking in some parking lot, he and Shohei laughing together in a shopping mall. All carefree and happy and safe, unaware of the prying eyes that had taken these photos.

His heart shuddered and he felt a raw dread take over his entire being.

With a shaky hand, he collected the pictures and crumpled them in his fist. He brought the fist to his chest, clasped it with his other hand and let out a scream.

No, no, no, not again! Not now! He was finally in a better place, finally able to escape his past.

Why? Why were they back? Why couldn't the happiness just last? What did he do wrong? What couldn't he do right?

He couldn't do it.

He was tired of it.

He just wanted to leave.

The rain grew into a stronger shower, then into a thunderstorm booming overhead, yet Duante laid where he was, crying and screaming and crying, until he wasn't able to anymore.