I Never Hated You

Dante's POV

Hakim stared at me with his green eyes full of disgust. Those emerald green eyes that I loved so much were now cold and icy. He hated me with all his guts, and he never failed to show that with every little chance he got.

" Fag", he hissed. He couldn't get creative with his abusive names. It usually made me feel obligated to sit him down and teach him how to properly use abusive names.

" What did I do this time, Hakim?" I asked, trying so hard to keep my composure as his eyes bored into mine. Some students walked past us and saw what was happening, but the terror in their eyes could only allow them to stare at the whole thing from afar off.

" I'll tell you what you did", Hunter interjected, " I saw you staring at our dicks in the locker room, and it wasn't your first time doing it, you fucking pervert", he spat on my face.

" Spare me the crap. You guys flatter yourselves too much, they wasn't even much to stare at", I said as I wiped the spit off my face, trying to wriggle myself out of Hakim's grip but he was just too strong.

" Don't give me that bullshit Dante. I've caught you staring at me so many times in the past and it's just freaking annoying, you fucking homo. It's time to teach you a lesson", Hakim snarled.

He was wrong, but at the same time he was correct. I had been staring, but who wouldn't expect me to stare? The dude was drop dead gorgeous, with a chiseled body and a sex god physique, even his face card was something else. If being handsome was a crime, he would've gotten a hundred years sentence.

I've always had a crush on him since middle school, and he wasn't always this hateful. He was my friend.

Our mothers basically grew up together and went to the same high school, and we lived next door to each other, and so the friendship was transferred from our mothers unto us.

He was born a few months earlier than me, and was always the protector, while I was the protected. He was more like a mixture of a big brother and a friend, but all that changed when we got into sophomore year.

His attitude completely changed. He joined the school football team and started following Hunter and Hazel, and it was only a matter of time until he became popular, so popular that even seniors were swooning over him. He started dating the hot, popular chicks in school, and our bond slowly faded away.

It was gradual and intended, and I couldn't resent him for it. I was the nerd, the soft, unpopular, skinny guy while he was the king of Northwest High, but never would I have imagined that he would turn into the demon staring at me right in the eye.

" Are you even listening? You demented stupid creature", he said, following up his words with a slap to the face, one that had my tooth flying from my mouth. I could only hope that it wasn't my front tooth.

" So what if I did? Huh? What if I did stare at you? I've always liked you, and I am not ashamed of that", I said with rage, tasting my own blood. I didn't know where the stupid courage had come from, but I knew that I was overcome by a certain kind of madness, the kind that could only suffice because of Hakim, and I prepared myself for the worse, fully aware that the flying tooth was just a tip of the iceberg; he was warming up.

" You like me?" His question sounded more like a statement, and the taunt on his face made it obvious that he had desecrated his tongue by repeating the statement. For a moment I thought I saw something in his eyes, a flicker of an emotion, an emotion other than hate, but in the blink of an eye it was gone, back to the scrawling hateful, spiteful, cold eyes.

" Yes Hakim. I've never tried to keep it a secret, nor did I ask you to reciprocate my feelings, so what's the point of all this? Please, just let me go", I said, desperately trying to free myself from his grip, all to no avail.

That dude was strong!

" Beat his ass, Hakim", Hunter encouraged him. If only eyes were guns, I would've killed that sickly son of a bitch that was poisoning his mind.

" I don't like the way you look at me, Dante. I don't like it one bit. It makes me angry, so angry that I feel like smashing your head against the wall, but I'm gonna give you one last chance to take back what you said, and maybe I'll let you off the hook this time", he paused and looked at me.

Take it back? Deny the fact that I liked him, and that I still do? Why should I?

" I won't", I said firmly.

" You won't?" Hakim said, his anger steaming, boiling hot.

" I think he hasn't had enough beating, Hakim. Show him what it means to fuck with you", Hazel said encouragingly, adding petrol to the already burning fire.

Hakim drew closer and grabbed my throat, pinning me to the wall, " say you made a mistake, say you have no feelings for me and I'll let you go", he said, sounding desperate, as if he was the one to be beaten and not the one to do the beating.

Why did it even matter to him that I liked him? If he didn't like boys, couldn't he just ignore me?

" I like you, Hakim. I've had feelings for you since we were kids. My heart skips a beat every time you're near, and I will die a happy man if you kiss me and killed me", I declared, pouring out my heart to him in front of the whole school.

I must've really had a death wish.

I couldn't just explain what happened, my madness must've escalated into another level. For a moment, the look on his eyes turned gentle and his grip around my throat loosened.

" I can't believe this. That bitch just confessed his love for you", Hunter roared, " Hakim, why don't you give him a kiss or something", he said and Hazel joined him in laughing like people that were being fingered in the ass. Hakim's grip instantly got tighter.

" Fuck you, I'm not gay", Hakim snarled at Hunter, and turning to me he said, " one last chance Dante, take it back and promise you won't look at me again, let alone come close", he said, the gentleness in his eyes disappearing into thin air, replaced by fury.

Nope. I won't shut my feelings up - the young, stupid, stubborn me decided.

" I still like you", I said with a hysterical smile, with the intention of annoying him.

That was the last thing I remembered, before waking up in the hospital with broken ribs and arms.

Luckily, dad got transferred, so I had to leave Northwest High; not that I even wanted to stay.

My love for Hakim was replaced with intense loathing, and I made up my mind to forget everything about him.

And I did, I forgot everything about him, until my first day at work, when I had to face him again.

Eight years later....................

I rolled over to my side and looked at the person right next to him. Judging from how he snored, his chest rising in tide with his breath, he was still in a deep state of slumber. That meant that I could leave the room without him noticing. I looked at the wall clock and the long clock hand immediately merged with the short clock hand - it was 12:00 AM, I had to get out of there.

Hold on, I know what you're thinking, Dante you're such a slut, well, guess what? I deserve it.

I had come a long way since high school. I was no longer the thin, soft, bony, nerd who looked like he could get blown away by the wind. I worked so hard to change that image of mine, to change from the old Dante to the Dante I was; the new Dante. I constantly worked out to give myself that physique I wanted, and I locked myself away from ever falling in love with anyone. If love was in the air, I would hold my breath and rather suffocate than breath in the stupid love that was in the air.

The new Dante was stoic and cool, with a law degree from Harvard, and a first class honors from Harvard law school, with a cool job waiting at Lawsa law firm. With all the accomplishments, I felt invincible.

" Are you leaving?" The deep voice said as I was gently tiptoeing, startling me.

" ummm...... yeah, I have to go. I have to get up early tomorrow. First day at my new job, you know", I said, grinning, " but I had a really good time", I quickly added, stretching my lips into an insincere smile.

The young man who was about my age smiled, " me too. I had a great time. We should do this more often", he said, pulling the sheets away from his body to reveal the snake in-between his legs.

I laughed lightly, the kind of laugh that always snucked out whenever I was nervous. Yeah, he was sexy and all that, definitely my type, with broad shoulders and abs, and a dick that I could spend all year sucking, but nah, that wasn't happening. It was a one-night stand, and it had to remain that way. But he didn't have to know, did he?

" Sure...... um....... bye", I said and immediately swung the door open.

" Bye Dante", he waved at me cheerfully, looking like an overgrown naked baby sitting there on the bed. I felt bad that I couldn't remember his name while he remembered mine. Was it Bryan? Or Basil? I just couldn't tell. But I was sure his name started with a B. Not that it was important anyway. We had exchanged numbers, and I had given him a wrong number, and I definitely wasn't planning on calling him.

I left the hotel as fast as possible, driving my way through the scantly populated streets and enjoying the midnight breeze. I wasn't lying about my new job, and if there was anything I needed, it was my beauty sleep. I wouldn't want to get to the office with bags under my eyes.

" Hold it right there!"

I yelped and almost fainted from a heart attack.

" Sasha! What is your problem?" I said, placing my hand on my chest and feeling grateful that my heart didn't skip out of my mouth while Sasha laughed uncontrollably on the other side of the sitting room.

We went to the same high school, Northwest High. But we were never really close back then, just acquaintances who casually said hello to each other. She was the only one who kept saying " hello" after I became a punching bag for Hakim and his friends. We met again a couple of years ago at Boston where she had come to attend a fellowship. One thing led to the other and ta-da, we became roommates.

She was sitting on a couch in the dark, her legs crossed like a mother waiting for her drunk son to get back home.

" Gosh, why do you always do that? I almost had a heart attack", I said, taking a seat to try and reduce my blood pressure which had been hiked.

" Don't be such a drama queen. Where have you been?"

" What are you? My mother? I'm a young man in New York with every hormone working just fine, especially the sexual ones".

" Oh please. You were supposed to take me bowling", she said, feigning annoyance.

" Oh my God, I totally forgot. I'm so sorry, I just got carried away. Please forgive me", I said, tilting my neck and making my sympathetic puppy eyes.

" It's alright, I just hope it was worth it".

" Of course it was, and I'm going to spend the next few days dreaming about his emerald green eyes and sexy lips".

" Emerald green eyes? Really?" She asked, her eyebrows raised, making waves to suddenly appear on her forehead.

" What is it?" I asked, totally confused about what she was trying to get at.

" Emerald green eyes, Dante, everyone you've ever been with always has emerald green eyes, and it doesn't ring a bell to you?"

I then conceived what she was trying to say.

" You know that I personally loathe him, so please don't bring him up".

" You do loathe him, but you still love him even though you wouldn't admit that to yourself, and that is why you've only been able to get intimate with only guys with green eyes even though they don't even amount to a percentage of the world's eye colour population".

" Oh please, Sasha, that's not true, and who said I only do guys with green eyes? Cole had hazael eyes", I said with a smug and she paused. She knew that Cole, an acquaintance at Boston, was the closest thing I had to a relationship.

" Yes, and his hazael eyes were almost green".

" Can we please stop with the eyes thing? I'm really tired, and I need to sleep. Big day tomorrow", I said, getting up and heading to my room.

I went to bed smelling of cum, and eventually had a dream of Hakim strangling me.

The next day, I breathed in success in and out of my lungs as I made my way into the building of Lawsa law firm. It's logo; Justice For The Common Man, boldly inscribed next to it's name. I was excited to meet everyone, my new colleagues, and especially my boss, the CEO. I had heard that even though he didn't attend Harvard law school, he had never lost a case, and the fact that I was going to train under him made me all the more excited, and I was excited to be excited.

" Mr Davids, so nice to see you again", the secretary who was part of the panel that had held my interview said as she joined me in the elevator. I think her name was Glinda or something.

" Nice to see you too, please call me Dante", I said and we kind of kept the chat going while she led me to the CEO's office, a spacious room bounded with glasses, making it seem so inhabitable.

" Oh, it seems like Mr Mali is not yet here, but please do take a seat", she said.

Wait, Mr Mali? That name sounded so familiar, I was so sure.

I took a seat, wondering where I had heard the name before, then it struck me - Hakim Mali - that was his full name.

" Calm down Dante, he can't possibly be the only one who has the name", I said to myself, trying to deceive my panicking heart even though I knew that Mali was such an uncommon name to come across in New York city.

" And who do we have here?" I heard a voice. It was deeper than I remembered, but I could still recognize it, and as I turned around, my unimaginable nightmare became real.

There was Hakim, in all his glory, and he was my boss.

" Well, well, well, if it isn't Dante Davids? How are you doing pal?" He asked, a smirk on his face, one that I felt the urgent need to slap off.

I just stood there, staring in disbelief, refusing to believe my own eyes.

" Why don't you guess how I'm doing?" I said, overcome by the need to shove him off.

" You definitely do not look bad", he said and I inhaled and exhaled sharply just to calm down, " I thought it was you when I saw the name on the job application but I didn't want to believe it, but here you are Dante", there was a glint in his eyes.

" In status quo", I said, my head throbbing, my heart pounding so loudly that I feared that he could hear it.

" Don't mind me, you actually look great. Like, I'm totally mesmerized", he said and I couldn't help but wonder why he of all people should be mesmerized by the person I was. I guess I didn't turn out as bad as he had hoped.

" You still look the same, like the corky hot asshole you were", I said and immediately wondered where ' hot' had come from.

Dante, get it together.....

" Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't tell me you're still mad at me for the things we did as kids back then?"

" The things we did? Really? We? Or the things you did?" My voice was rising with each word, about to crack into something more emotional.

" Look, it's all in the past now, okay, we've grown out of it", he said with a shrug. A fucking shrug!

" Sure, at least seeing you in a suit confirms that", I said and he smiled, revealing his white set of teeth.

I took a proper look at him, examining his body with precision. He had gotten taller, way taller, with full hair, muscled body, high cheekbones, and even his Adams apple was a sight to behold. And there was his emerald green eyes, those eyes that pierced my dreams, those eyes that were bright, sunny, morning dreams, but had turned into a nightmare overnight.

He still looked good, so good enough that if he wasn't Hakim, I would've started planning on how to get his dick up my ass, and I hated that he looked good. It wasn't how it was meant to be, at least according to movies. The bully usually grows into a bitter, potbellied family man working as a highschool coach, not a hot, sexy looking lawyer. Why is the real world so unfair?

" Never mind what I just said Mr Mali. I'm just here to do my job, no need to bring up any incident from the past", I said, taking a swift look at his fingers. There was no wedding ring, and I just couldn't tell why I felt so relieved by that.

" Come on Dante, no need to be so formal. We were friends from highschool, we can be on first name basis", he said and I just couldn't believe what I heard.

We were friends from highschool? Really? Was that what he thought? Like, was that how he recalled it? Friends? The constant beating and slapping? And let's not even forget about my precious flying tooth.

He tried to touch my shoulder and I took a step back, feeling grateful that I did. If I hadn't, I would've slapped his hand off my shoulder.

" Excuse me, let me make something very clear. We were never friends, we are not friends, and we will never be friends, so please get that into your thick skull and behave properly", I said and a downcast look came up on his face. Don't worry, it didn't last for more than a second before his usual smug face came back.

" Is that how it's gonna be?" He asked, grinning like it was all amusing to him, and as he put his hands into his pockets, making his jacket to give way and make his shirt more visible, I imagined what wonders were hidden right behind those clothes.

Get it together Dante, you should be dreaming of punching him, not undressing him.

Well, I guess I will have to undress him to make the punches more effective.

" Yes", I said firmly, calming myself down and reassuring myself that I wasn't scared of him anymore.

" Very well then, I wouldn't want to keep you any longer. My secretary will show you to your office and prep you on what you need to do. Welcome aboard", he said and rang his secretary as he moved to his armchair.

Glinda walked in, and for the first time since I first saw her, I noticed her feminine features; long blonde hair, a pointed nose, a flat tummy, and she walked as if she was on a runway show, slow and steady, gliding like a gazelle.

" Come along", she said. As I walked behind her, I also couldn't help but notice her perfectly shaped ass, carved out so well that it seemed unreal, so unreal that if a cup of coffee was placed on it, it would stand without a single drop of coffee spilling. She was beautiful, and she knew that she was, and so she carried herself with that much grace that was required of girls like her.

I wondered if Hakim had gripped that ass and tucked that blonde hair behind as he kissed her, and just wondering about it made me sick. She was his type, and I wouldn't be surprised if he would be so unprofessional to have sex with her.

We walked into another large office, not as large as Hakim's but still large, and it exceeded my expectations of what I had hoped for an office, and I began to wonder how I was going to stock up the table with files of different cases, just like I had seen in L.A law.

The rest of the day went smoothly, and kind of uselessly because nothing in particular was achieved. Glinda just showed me every one and everywhere, and I enjoyed the food from the firm's cafeteria; meatloaf and lasagna.

" Holy molly", Sasha exclaimed as I narrated my ordeal for the day, " you are fucking kidding me".

" Even I was lost of words", I said, gulping down the glass of milk I had.

" Wait, wait, this could actually mean something".

" Mean what? That karma is such a bitch?"

" No, it might be fate".

" Oh come on Sasha, stop with your superstitions and whatnot".

" I'm serious. Maybe fate brought you guys back together".

" Well, damn that stupid fate for making him my employer. I should've been the employer, so that I could look him in the face one day and tell him ' hey, you're fired', that will feel so good".

Sasha laughed uncontrollably at my gesture, " but then, according to what you said, he wants to patch things up. He might be sorry for what he did back then", she was still trying to buy me into her idea of fate.

" And you think I would believe him even if he were to get on his knees? Look, even this musician said it......um.... what's his name again", I tapped my head, trying to remember his name, " yes, Alec Benjamin, he said it, the devil doesn't bargain. He will never change because devils never change", I said and Sasha laughed again.

A vampire series was ongoing on the television but I felt restless, and I knew it was because of Hakim. I had to get him out of my mind, and I had to be fast about it. I got my phone and logged into my dating app and searched for people willing to meet up immediately, but there was none. I had no other choice. I logged into my contacts and typed the letter B and remembered his name; Basil, the guy from the day before, and I dialed his number.

" Hey, you wanna meet up?" I asked, sounding so brisk.

" Hi, I would love to", he said and I got my car keys, ready to go.