Roman and Jasper

Jasper hurried into the bathroom, realizing only afterward that it was a terrible idea. He raced to a stall just as he heard the loud footsteps grow close and the door slam open.

Fuck. He braced himself, clinging to his fashionable faux leather bookbag.

Roman had spotted Jasper from down the hall, and immediately they both knew the outcome. It was almost a game, except Jasper had never won. Roman was a big kid, the type of kid that other kids were afraid of. Roman was all too aware of this power, and he used it. He had a group of friends, but he barely remembered their names or faces. They were practically interchangeable. One of them left, another identical one took their place. Today, it was Steven, Jacob and someone he didn't remember. Jordan or something or other; Roman didn't care.

Roman, being the tallest in the group and the most muscular, was always first through doors. He shoved his way into the bathroom, letting the door swing shut. He didn't even have to tell them to lock it; he heard the clicking almost immediately.

"Jasper," he said, leaning against the sink as he looked at the stalls. Only one was occupied. "Why don't you just come out and make this easier on yourself?"

Jasper didn't reply; he stood on the toilet, pressed against the wall. Maybe, if Roman couldn't see or hear him, he'd just leave. It was a nice, if improbable thought.

He held his breath, listening for any sign of Roman leaving.

Roman sighed, a real sigh. A sigh that his friends thought was at Jasper, but it was directed at himself. He walked over to the stall and looked over it, an easy task for someone his height.

"Hello Jasper," he said, his voice dripping with cruelty. "Don't make me break the door."

He swallowed.

"If you break the door, you might hurt yourself--if I open it, I'm the only one who gets hurt." He pressed his bag behind him; he really hoped Roman didn't notice it. It was new, and there were plenty of toilets in this room.

He guffawed suddenly.

"You think I'd personally break it?" he backed away, letting his goons try and tear the door open. He didn't care if it broke; no one would know it was him, anyway. And if they did, his parents would pay for it.

"Maybe if you open it, I'll beat on you a bit less hard."

"If I were that stupid, I'd need to beat up other kids to increase my self-esteem," he replied, swallowing as they began to beat down the door.

He snorted.

"Don't you think shit like that is what gets you beat for, faggot?" he remarked, smiling when the door finally swung open. "Well, guess what, the door opened."

Jasper tried to make a run for it, but it was no use; he crashed into the wall of jocks and almost bruised his shoulder. He kept his head down, hoping to minimize the damage to his face.

Roman shoved him onto the toilet, grabbing him by his hair.

"Why would you even bother?" he sneered, his grip on Jasper's hair strong. "Are you that stupid?"

"I have a class to get to," he said quietly. He remained completely still, though he could feel his hip bruising from where it had hit the toilet. If he moved, they'd see his nervousness, and showing fear always made it worse.

"So do I, but I don't see how that matters," he hissed, leaning in closer. "Now, give me your bag."

"If you wanted to borrow my math textbook, you could've asked."

"Trust me, I don't do retard math like you," he replied, holding out his hand. "Give it over. Or else, and you know that threat is real."

He reluctantly handed him the bag.

"Can I go now?"

Roman moved to the next stall over, dumping the contents into the toilet. Then, with the bag, he threw it into the other toilet.

"Now you can go."

Jasper sighed and moved into the stall where Roman had emptied his bag, pulling the soggy books from the toilet one by one. His paperback of Poe was completely unreadable, he noticed with disappointment.

-x-

Roman had practiced the speech so many times, he knew it would be perfect. Or hoped. He hoped it would be. He had managed to corner Jasper after school in the bathroom, again, but this time alone.

Jasper didn't even bother to run into a stall; he just braced himself against the bathroom wall.

"Can we make this quick? I have a bus to catch."

"...look," he began, and his tone was far different than normal. Softer, quieter. More hushed. "...you aren't going to believe me and that's okay, but I..." he swallowed. This was harder than he realized. "...n...never mind."

He stared at him suspiciously for a moment before taking a step forward.

"...Let me leave, then."

"No! Wait, I..." he clenched his fists, which had become sweaty. Asking out girls was easier than this. Though, that was for different reasons. "Uhm...I feel...bad. For everything. For today. For anything bad I've ever done, really, so, I just...let me...make it up to you. Or something. But I can't...stop bullying you. Or, I can...try, or something, it's not as easy as it seems."

He sighed heavily.

"...this is stupid. You hate me."

He nodded slowly. He had never seen Roman like this before, and he wasn't particularly eager to see more.

"Yeah, 'cuz you beat me up all the time."

"It's not because I want to!" he replied instantly, but he knew it wouldn't make sense to someone like Jasper. In a lot of ways, Roman envied him, wanted to be him. To be himself, even if it got him bullied. But he wasn't, and instead he was forced to be in the position of bully. There was no in between for him, certainly not with his family.

"Look," he swallowed, trying to clear his throat of whatever had coated it. "I can...be your friend. I know you don't have many...or really, any. I promise I'm...not this way all the time, I'm...I just...please?"

"I'm not actually interested in friendship with someone who beats me up all the time," he replied, staring at the floor. "Maybe if you stopped, I'd consider not hating you, but it's hard to forgive and forget when the black eye's still fresh."