"Blake!"

Someone shouting his name snapped him upright, his vision swimming as a sharp throb pulsed through his skull.

For a second, everything felt off. Everything was way too bright and loud, until it settled.

The gym, right. He was still at the gym, which probably meant not much time had passed since he’d blacked out.

"Are you okay?!"

"I, yeah, I think I am..." Blake winced, bringing a hand to his temple before forcing it back down. "Where are the other guys?"

"They ran the second you hit the ground..."

Of course they did, not that he’d expected anything else.

"How long was I out?"

"Not even a minute."

Blake let out a slow breath and pushed himself up, a little unsteady at first. His head really felt off, just was too heavy, like at the hospital.

Maybe getting up this quickly wasn’t the smartest move, considering the concussion.

Still, he straightened.

Then grabbed Asher by the shoulders, looking quite tense.

"Don’t ever do that again."

If he showed too much strength, too much physical resistance, it would definitely draw unwanted attention.

Under normal circumstances, Blake wouldn’t have really given a damn if Asher received attention. The thing was that now he was attending Myles’ school, not his own.

So the attention would naturally spread to them both, as the amazing kid’s friends or something.

And, needless to say, that was the worst possible outcome. Myles needed to stay unnoticed, average and definitely forgettable. And more importantly, the two of them couldn’t be associated too closely.

"I-I get it," Asher stammered. "I’m sorry. Because of me, you got hurt..."

Still, that reaction might actually work in his favor. Not bad, considering he needed to build some rapport.

"No, no," he said, loosening his grip slightly. "It’s really not that bad. Don’t worry about it."

A ringtone suddenly cut through the air.

Both of them froze.

Blake blinked, then glanced down.

His phone was on the floor.

"...When did that get there?"

He slowly bent down, picking it up, brushing off the faint dust and then his brow furrowed.

Myles.

Blake stared at the screen for a second longer than necessary.

’...Why would he call?’

That alone was strange enough.

"I called him," Asher admitted, voice small.

Blake’s head snapped toward him. "You did what?"

"I panicked!" Asher rushed out. "You just dropped like that and, I didn’t know what to do. He was the first emergency contact I saw, I didn’t even read the name properly. But when he picked up, I realized who it was and... I just hung up."

Blake stared at him. Then, his heart started beating faster.

"That’s, you..." He dragged a hand down his face. "Why would you call him of all people?!"

"I didn’t know it was him!"

Blake exhaled sharply, trying, and failing, to calm the rising tension in his chest.

This was so bad.

He looked back at his phone.

Missed calls stacked one after the other.

In less than a minute, Myles had called him back the maximum number of times possible, like he hadn’t even paused between attempts.

Blake felt his stomach drop.

’I am so screwed.’

What was he even supposed to say? There was literally no way to spin this cleanly.

Ring.

Blake sighed.

’I can’t ignore this one.’

"Go get a teacher," he said quickly, already bringing the phone closer. "Tell them that I passed out because I was beaten up or something. Just, describe it in a way that’ll get those assholes into trouble."

Asher nodded, still looking guilty, and started toward the exit. He hesitated for a second at the door, glancing back, but Blake didn’t look up.

Blake sat down heavily on one of the benches, leaning forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees. His grip tightened around the phone as it continued ringing.

His pulse wouldn’t slow down.

He exhaled once, then answered.

"Hey."

"What happened?"

’Woah, he went dtraight to the point.’

Blake closed his eyes briefly, already feeling a headache building on top of the one he had.

"Nothing," he said, trying to keep his tone casual. "It was just a mistake call."

Even to his own ears, it sounded so weak and unconvincing.

"That wasn’t you earlier," Myles said, voice flat. "Who took your phone?"

Blake winced.

’Didn’t Asher say he hung up immediately? How did he even notice anything?’

"The connection’s kind of bad, y’know," Blake muttered, lowering his voice as if that would somehow mask the hesitation.

"Speak properly." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Blake sighed under his breath.

"Asher took it," he admitted. "He just got a little worried and called you without thinking."

"Why was he worried?"

"Nothing serious," Blake said quickly. "I just got a bit lightheaded. Probably because of the concussion. That’s all."

"So he panicked enough to take your phone, call me, and hang up the moment I answered. Because you were a little lightheaded?"

Blake pressed his lips together.

But yeah, that didn’t hold up, he couldn’t deny that.

"Blake."

Myles’ voice dropped slightly, it wasn’t louder or sharper, just, a little intense.

"Tell me the truth."

Blake inhaled slowly, held it and then exhaled.

"...There was a fight," he admitted. "Just some guys messing around, so I stepped in. Thing is, I took a hit to the head in the process."

The line went completely quiet.

Blake’s grip tightened unconsciously.

For a split second, his mind flickered back to earlier that day, the way Myles had moved without hesitation, catching that ball before it could hit him.

The expression he’d had then.

"...It’s really not a big deal," Blake added quickly, the words coming out a little faster now. "I didn’t get hurt that bad. I’m fine. Seriously."

Blake frowned slightly, about to say something else, but then...

The call ended.

He blinked, pulling the phone away to stare at the screen.

"...Huh."

A pause.

Then he leaned back slightly on the bench, letting out a slow breath.

"...Did the final boss just hang up on me?"