Precocious
Chapter Seven
From his office window, Prickly look out onto the playground. He spotted Detweiler with his friends, planning to cause some sort of mayhem. Or perhaps not.
Lately, the fourth grader hadn’t done any of his usual troublemaking, at least, nothing severe enough to get the kid dragged to his office. That must be because of what the two of them have been up to. He hoped the kid didn’t think he had to stop his more risky pursuits with his friends. As chaotic as it was, it brought some excitement to this place.
He glared at the paddle hanging on the wall. This whole thing started because of that. Since then he hadn’t used it, even if whichever student was sent to him needed some strict discipline. Detention was enough, and the corporal punishment thing felt like something strictly between him and Detweiler.
Whatever this thing was.
Zzz
While he explained his latest plan to his friends, TJ wasn’t entirely mentally present. He spent days coming up with this plan to get back at Lawson and his friends after messing with them last week, but now he didn’t really care much about it at the moment.
He glanced over at the window leading to Prickly’s office. Or Pete. It still felt weird calling him that. It’s been a weird last few weeks. But not weird in a bad away. In fact, it’s been weird in a very good way.
He’s been told plenty of times by his parents about stranger danger and inappropriate touching and all that good stuff, and he understood it, he really did. But this felt different.
Like when they sleep together and Prickly wrapped his arms around him and held him nice and close, it felt wonderful and never felt so safe. It felt nice to spend time with him, and they had a crazy amount in common.
His bed was the most comfy bed he ever slept in, and his shirt and jacket made the best blankets. Whether it was helping him in the garden, or being taught how to cook, the brief moments of getting praised gave TJ that warm fuzzy feeling that made smile and kept him wanting for more of it.
And being told that despite everything, Prickly thought he was a good kid! Until then TJ figured that Prickly thought he was a nuisance he had to deal with until he left for middle school. But knowing that wasn’t the case, that made him happier than he could describe. His parents tried to hide their disappointment at his usual antics, but he could feel it at the dinner table or in the car or whatever. That was it’s own issue that TJ didn’t want to think about too much. So it was nice knowing that someone thought otherwise.
He’d rather enjoy the time they spent together than think about the number of rules they were breaking.