Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Thursday June 2nd, 12:16 PM: 4 minutes until classes let out for the day…

As you walked out of your 6th period gym class with a few other classmates, it had finally dawned on you that the school-year had officially concluded, and summer break had finally come around. Taking into account the fact that some students were bound to leave earlier than allowed anyway, the gym teachers decided not only to let students choose whether or not they wanted to switch out for class, but they were also lax enough to allow everyone to leave early, even if it was only by a few minutes.

You took the time to say your goodbyes to a few friends, most of which asked if you were open to hang out at some point during the summer; you mentioned to them that while you already had plans made for the start, you’d be up for some kind of congregation with the group at some point in the future. After exchanging several farewells, and bro-hugs, you broke away from them while they continued on down the hall together. As you strolled down the hallway, the bell sounded. 

No, no… surely you couldn’t have taken that long to say goodbye to everyone… surely not..

You pulled out your phone with your duffel-bag free hand and checked the time, and sure enough, the numbers on your lock screen read, “12:20 PM”, much to your growing frustration.

It was going to be a whole lot harder to get out of here now, that was for certain; For years, the school had a problem involving overcrowding, and this year was apparently the worst. There’d be days where you, or any other student, in general, could show up 15-20 minutes late for a class, and more often than not, the teachers would simply shrug it off, since there’d be days where everyone in a hallway could get stuck, as if it were a traffic jam; An uncomfortably cramped, loud, and sweaty traffic jam where you, specifically somehow managed to often be surrounded by students who seemed to never practice good hygiene habits, often-times emitting some foul smell that just made the waiting that much worse. Not wanting to experience waiting through something like that again, you gripped the duffel bag you’d been lugging around all day tight and put some pep in your step, moving down the hallway in stride with only one purpose: To get the fuck out of here as soon as possible.

Almost immediately, the hallways were filled with noise as everyone else left their classes, and you quickly found yourself being surrounded by other students who were each trying to get to various locations, such as the lockers in order to grab whatever items they might still have left inside; or the restrooms — to either actually use them as intended, or so they could vape instead. Whatever, you didn’t really care what they got up to. It’s just a stupid decision to do that here, and if they get caught, well that’s on them.. There were also students heading to the cafeteria, which boasted an, “all-new” menu of items, but that didn’t matter, as it really was all still just cheap slop. And of course, there were students, much like yourself, who just couldn’t wait to get out of this place, instantly making a break for the doors that lead outside. You couldn’t blame them; again, you, yourself were antsy to get out of here, in order to avoid the hallway “traffic-jam” that was bound to occur and.. in order to meet up with… him.

Luckily enough, these hallways weren't all that crowded yet, and there was more than enough space to walk comfortably around people without starting to feel claustrophobic. As you continued down the hall, you eventually passed by a large group of kids that were busy messing around in the stairwell. They were throwing papers every which-way, dumping school supplies in the trash, and just generally goofing off as another long awaited summer break had finally come around. A silent scoff and the crack of a smile escaped you as you bore witness to this, then you carried on your way, only continuing to watch them through your diminishing peripherals until you couldn’t any longer.

Upon reaching another intersecting hallway, you made a swift right-turn to head toward one of the two entrance/exit hallways at the very front of the school; However, only one glance down this hallway was enough to tell you that you weren't getting out through here anytime soon. Even though the entrance had double doors, both of which were open, people were still struggling to fit through as they pushed and shoved each other. The crowd, which consisted of both frustrated students and a handful of equally agitated teachers were tightly packed together, like a box full of matchsticks in a room comprised of gasoline — Even the smallest spark could set everything ablaze.

Not wanting to add yourself as a possible variable to this mess, you carried on down to the left and began making your way down the next hallway; you could just circle the outside of the building around to the front this way, instead of waiting or trying to make your way through the crowd. You took another left, then again when the hallway split into a T shape. The sounds of your shoes striking the tile in a rhythmic fashion filled the surrounding area as the sounds of many people faded. You took another right, the final turn necessary before being able to make a straight shot to the exit at the back of the building. You could see straight down this hallway, to where the side exit is located; It couldn’t have been more than 70 feet away, and there weren't nearly as many people here as there were in the front hallway. In fact, there couldn't have been more than a couple handfuls of students and a few teachers on this side of the campus. Anxious to leave, you started quickly making your way to the exit, passing by the students and teachers conversing in the halls, taking your phone out to message him to find out where he was at the moment. Around the halfway mark, the hallways intersected as a cross, and as you passed through the center, a voice to your left caught your attention,

"Hey, Y/N!..”

Huh.. He hadn’t gotten out yet.. …Well, suppose that’s not really a bad thing, after all…

Upon hearing that voice call your name, your head involuntarily snapped left. You felt your face heat up as you wondered if that head turn looked odd, and cursed to yourself, hoping that the blushing you felt wasn’t noticeable to him, not that he’d know the reason behind it. And there he was, that pretty boy that you've known since the 3rd grade, the boy who could make you roll your eyes in annoyance from the constant friendly teasing he does towards you and meanwhile, still be charming with the things he says or does. The boy who made all your rough days easier, especially as of late. And the boy who had you wrapped around his little finger, though he didn't even know it.

Your feelings for him shifted sometime towards the end of the 5th grade, from him simply being a friend, to the possibility of him being something more than that. An aspect about him that always fascinated you from the start was his naturally witty demeanor. Yet, at-times, he’d have moments where he’d shell up into a much more ‘reserved’ version of himself; Both the frequency and degree of which was entirely dependent on who he was around. Thinking back to when you had first met him, he wasn’t even half as talkative as he is now. Another detail you had taken notice of a while back was this look he had in his eyes, where they would almost light up the moment there was a topic brought up that he was especially passionate about, which added a little something to his character. He could talk for hours and hours, and the sound of his voice would never get tiring. Then there were his laughs: His soft, high-pitched giggles which often included bursts of small hiccups in between them when he’d be laughing for too long. 

There was a time back in the year you initially met him when, during a lunch break, the two of you were sitting side by side with a group of classmates and friends talking about video games and what you were planning on doing after finishing your meal, with tether-ball, hand-ball, and the jungle-gym being the most talked about activities. Without much thought process behind your actions, you impulsively squirted ketchup, mustard and mayo from packets onto a plastic spork, and the eyes of those at your corner of the table honed in to what you were doing, with some already leaning away in caution, besides Jacob, who was currently distracted by something else, looking off in the opposite direction as he fumbled with opening his carton of chocolate milk.

After unceremoniously discarding the packets of sauces back into your food’s tray, you placed the loaded spork onto the top of the plastic table, and without wasting another second, slammed your fist down onto the table-top, sending the spork catapulting and flying through the air. The amused exclamations of many could be heard as they followed the projectile with eyes, which unfortunately for you, had a target. Everyone’s eyes widened as the spork made contact, sauce-side first with the school’s Principal. Principal Devitt, who was either simply enjoying the air, or maybe trying to find another staff member for something, not that it mattered much to you, stopped in his tracks as the spork hit above his ear and as it slid off, the sauce remained, getting stuck in the side of his hair.

The infuriated look that was drawn on his face shouldn’t have been as funny as it was in the moment, but with the concoction you had made being alongside it, it was hard not to laugh. Everyone at your table looked at you and began snickering, trying to suppress their laughter as best as possible. 

Jacob finally turned back the other way to see what was happening just as he’d taken a large swig of chocolate milk from the carton it came in. Needless to say that the mess that was made was the breaking point for everyone when the chocolate milk he had just drunk came back out through his nose; he spluttered and coughed the rest of it up as he fought to breathe, laughing in between breaths, again with major hiccups accompanying it. You falling out of your seat backwards from laughing only amplified the laughter of everyone, yourself included.

That day was the day both of your parents met, in the principal’s office; which was stupid, since Jacob hadn’t even been involved in the launching of the projectile, but the apparent reason for him also being there was the aforementioned mess he made – which, on top of spraying the table, he also managed to hit you and a few of your other classmates as-well.

Luckily both of your parents each seemed understanding enough. Well, at least, three out of the four did; the drive home that day was far less entertaining… Still, it was mostly a memory that could be fondly looked back on.

…Returning to the present, there was also the wavy brown hair which rested comfortably on his head, with little strands of golden hair glinting ever so slightly in the bulk. And his ever-sweet smile, which, when directed at you, more-often-than-not, would leave you blushing and attempting to hide your reddening face from view via a variety of different means, such as: redirecting his attention by pointing elsewhere; turning the other way; pretending you’re cold and pulling a hood, hat or other item over your head; or even just covering your face with your hands and pretending to yawn or rub your eyes out of “tiredness”.

To you, he was this mix of adorable and hilarious, and yet, he had no idea that this thought was even in your mind. At least, you hope he didn't… …unless of course, he likes you back.. which is a probability so unlikely that you'd rather not even bring up anything that could draw suspicion or could make him aware of your secret. …At the same time however, it’s impossible to say for certain that he doesn’t like you as more than a friend, again, mainly because your mind keeps playing into the delusion that he does like you, regardless of the fact that you’ve yet to find concrete evidence of this.

You maintained eye contact as the two of you approached one-another, a soft smile already plastered on your face as the distance between you bridged. As you did, you quickly took note of the dark red hoodie he was wearing for some god-forsaken reason.

"..You don’t feel hot with that thing on?" You asked, greeting him by extending your hand out to dap him up. In all honesty, you wish that you could just pull him into your arms, but that’d be weird; unnatural for ‘normal’ guys to do in public, or at all for that matter.

“...Nah man… it’s given me zero problems...” He said in return, before his gaze traveled down to your side,

“…I see you have your stuff already.” He motioned to the bag, before extending out his own hand to dap you up, simultaneously closing the gap between the two of you. You looked down to your side and responded, 

“It- uh… remained by my side the entire day.” You corrected as you dapped him up. Your hands clasped together in a bond of solidarity, and you took in the moment as you felt his hand against yours; his hand was soft, soothing to the touch, and damn near impossible to let go of whenever you got the chance to grab hold of it in any fashion.

“...Sounds awful.” He said blankly as he stared at the bag, his head tilting slightly to the side as he looked it over from his current position,

“Yep, having to lug this around isn’t the most fun.” You replied, adjusting the bag on your shoulder to emphasize its weight, before smiling, simply happy to be reunited with him again before he asked,

“Did they subject you to some kind of intensive bullshit today?..” he inquired, before adding,

“..Seeing as it was the last day and all, I’m figuring they went all out.” 

Rather than immediately answer his question, you instead looked down as your attention was guided elsewhere; towards your hands, which were still held together. Not that you minded this, but it was starting to make both your heart and mind race. You tried your best to appear unphased and looked up to respond to his inquiry,

“N- No actually, they didn’t.. In fact, they didn’t even care if we did anything today, so it was pretty much just checking-in.”

After you finished your sentence, Jacob seemed to hesitantly let go, and your hand returned to your side as he replied,

“Oh- okay, nice..! I- I know that Mr. Porter picks the worst possible times to be ruthless with his classes, so that’s unexpected.”

Ah, good old Mr. Porter; it seemed like that man lived for exercising and exercising-alone. You knew he had a social media page for his personal gym life, but you couldn’t remember the name for it at the moment. It did have some good numbers though.

“Yeah, yeah…” You started to say as you focused yourself back on the conversation, and not the contact-interaction that had just occurred, 

“...He was mainly just talking to the other teachers today, so there was really nothing to worry about.”

Jacob scoffed,

“..Yeah, but I mean, you must’ve been bored out of your mind though, without me there to entertain you.” He quipped.

You bared a grin and rolled your eyes as Jacob’s own smile came through; and oh, how pretty he looked as he smiled at you.. You hesitantly nodded as you replied,

“..Honestly, I was a little bored, but not being expected to do anything, and being able to leave a bit early meant it was alright.”

“Ah- I knew it!” Jacob said pointing at you. You would’ve been fine with his exclamation, if his facial expressions didn’t seem so serious.

“Wha- Knew what?” You asked, turning red. However, his face softened as he began to smile again.

There’s no way he’s thinking what you’re thinking, his ego just got too inflated from your comment.. CALM DOWN.

Thinking quickly, you added,

“I said I was a little bored, not ‘bored out of my mind’... So relax..”

“Yeah.. uh-huh.. Sure bud, suuuure..” He said in a teasing sing-song like voice. You scoffed and shook your head as your mind wandered off. 

The year prior to this one, you actually shared a gym class with Jacob. It was about then that you had started liking him much more — in the sense of his physical qualities. After the initial excitement of having a class together wore off, you soon realized that there was another upside to the whole thing; It had quickly become apparent that the locker room would be a place where you could take the opportunity to get a, “better look at him”, without him noticing. Was it a creepy thing to do?.. Definitely. Did you regret it? Not really, though it’s not like you would ever want to betray Jacob’s trust.

In order for this to work, you’d try to delay how long it took for the both of you to enter the locker room and arrive at your respective lockers, to try and limit how many people were in there at the same time as you. This was achieved by saying you needed to get some water from fountains that were in the opposite direction of the lockers, and that you couldn’t walk that fast, among other excuses. Even a two minute delay was enough for the lockers to mostly, or on occasion, even completely clear out. The first time you were able to successfully pull this off was the day that you decided to let your eyes roam freely without worry about someone saying something. 

That day, you had just come in from playing soccer on the field. Your team had just scored a point, bringing the game’s score to 4-4, and both teams were fighting hard to prevent the other from scoring again, as well as trying their hardest to attempt to make a tiebreaker shot under the baking heat of the sun. You were out of breath, having had to control practically the whole field as others on the team now struggled to keep up with the competitiveness of the game; Jacob and a couple of other people were in the same boat as you, picking up the slack where there were weak points in the team. 

Right now, the team was resetting to your respective side as the opposing team brought the ball back to the center for the kick-off. You huffed as you walked, looking down at the grass as footsteps coming up from behind you caught your attention. You turned your head to the side, peering down at the smooth pair of legs that walked alongside you. Your glance rose up as you made eye contact with Jacob. No words were said, but the two of you shared an equal grin as you tried to cool down. Once reaching your side, you turned to face the center of the field, and the other team got ready to initiate the kick-off. They got into position, and a player jogged up to the ball, appearing ready to send it flying. That was when they performed a feint, only kicking the ball gently into your side as they slowly began their push forward — A terrible mistake on their part.

Your team quickly got control of the ball when one of your teammates, Elio, kicked the ball through the leg of the player who possessed the ball mid-dribble. He then quickly caught up to it and began his own push as your team began to counter-play. Jacob sprinted to the right-hand side of the field and you followed his lead as he began to play forward, trying to find an opening to get the ball from Elio, a bit off to the opposite end of the field. 

It seemed as though the other team’s players didn’t notice you sneak to the left side of the field, paying more attention to Elio’s space on the field and what he was doing — after all, he was a considerably nice player, and if he really wanted to, he could probably push through the defending side by himself.  

“El!” You called out as the last person in front of your path began to shuffle to the right, allowing for a perfect pass. His gaze shifted to you, and after realizing it was a safe shot, he sent the ball in your direction. You got the ball safely, but quickly, you were being blocked by someone on the other team. This player was practically on top of you as he stood his guard, clearly passionate about the sport. You looked for an opening, scanning the field for who you can pass the ball to, or where you could possibly move to next; to the left, you had another teammate, Damien trying to motion to you, but you quickly saw that he had a player ready to take the ball from him if you decided to kick it his way. Then on the far right were a few other teammates: Bill, James, Roland; but they were lagging far behind, so you didn’t even take a second glance at them. Then, as your eyes scanned back towards the player guarding you, you saw it; Jacob had somehow gotten himself completely in the open and was now waiting for you to pass him the ball. He was off to the right-side of the player guarding you, so you quickly looked back over towards the opposite direction, and at Damien. You performed a feint, making it seem as though you were going to kick the ball to him. The player guarding you fell for it, shifting their weight to the right as they expected the ball to come that way. And that was the opening you needed; You turned on your heel and kicked to the right, passing the ball to Jacob, and he took over from there, swiftly turning on his heel as he lined up his shot. Then, with one determined sweep of the leg, Jacob kicked the ball up into the air. All you could do from there was watch and cross your fingers as your eyes remained fixated on the flying object.

The opposing team’s goalie jumped for the ball, but they were too low and too early on the draw; the ball grazed the very end of the goalie’s fingertips, and smacked against the net, immediately coming to the halt as it dropped to the ground. It was then that the whistles that the teachers had to signify that the period was almost over, were blown repeatedly, and in turn, it signified that your team won. 

The goalie on your team, Lucas, let out a prolonged, loud “WOOOOOO!!!”  In celebration, which caught the attention of all of the players on the field. You and a few others chuckled as you found it oddly funny, then you turned towards Jacob, who was already walking towards you.

“Just saying, I won us the game.” He said with his hands raised.

“If I hadn’t given you the ball, it wouldn’t have mattered where you were. If anything, my intuition was the reason we won that game.” You reasoned, though it’s not like he would give your words any thought,

“I dunno, it didn't seem like you were able to get free from Nuri.” He said as the same player that was guarding you earlier was walking towards his team’s goalpost, still within earshot. He turned his head, glancing towards where Jacob was,

“...‘Sup?” Jacob said awkwardly as Nuri gave him a dirty look, still walking in the direction of the goalpost. You stared at the angry player as he walked away, not liking the look he gave Jacob; there was really no reason to give him a mean face, simply because he mentioned your name. 

“The fuck is his problem?..” You muttered as you took a step in his direction,

“I mean, I think he’s just upset about losing.. ” Jacob said as he looked back. You just watched Nuri as he continued his walk, definitely more upset about that little display of attitude than you should’ve been.

“Come on, don’t give him your attention.” Jacob insisted, motioning for you to walk with him…

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Upon reaching the entrance to the lockers, you and Jacob had to jump to the side as two people came running out from the locker-room, one after the other; they made a loud racket as they hollered and shouted with stupid grins all the way up to their ears. Your face contorted in confusion and you smiled as Jacob laughed at the antics of the two boys that had just sped past.

“...They have to be on crack.” You joked, the words coming out as a mutter,

“Definitely.” Jacob agreed as his grin grew a bit wider.

 The two of you then passed through the doorway which led into the locker-room. A soft, constant rumbling, like waves washing against the shore came from the overhead vents as they turned. 

The near-silence, coupled with what you had planned, had your hands and feet feeling as though they were frozen; a mixture of anxiousness and anticipation. You followed behind Jacob as he turned right through the doorway, beginning to count as you walked past rows of lockers. 

1, 

2, 

3… 

4!.. 

Here you were.. 

The sound of your shoe squeaking against the floor reverberated through the room; you pivoted left, and hurriedly entered the combination to the lock on your locker, not wanting to miss a second of Jacob’s show. 

Jacob let out a high pitched, “..Phew!..” as he sat down on the flat, wooden bench that ran along the center of the row of lockers. 

“I’m so glad tomorrow’s Saturday… I’m sooooooo tired..” He groaned as he leaned towards his locker. One hand came up as he lazily fumbled with the lock. Meanwhile, you had already input your combination, and were currently struggling to pull your shirt from the locker. 

“Heh, same.” You said half distracted, and in what you hoped was not a shaky voice. 

Taking a moment to collect yourself, you managed to will yourself to relax and gently unhooked the shirt from where the corner of the door it got caught on. It came loose, and you let out a sigh as you got back to work, quickly pulling your gym shirt off and replacing it with your shirt that you decided to wear for the day.

“Geez, are you actually concerned about making it to class on time?” Jacob joked as he looked you over in confusion. You had to make an excuse, quick.

“W-well my mom got upset by all of the calls from the school, so I’m trying to be more on top of doing so.” You said quickly, impressed at the quickness of the lie. However, there was a consequence that was unforeseen in hindsight, due to your comment.

“Then let’s not waste time.” Jacob said as he also began to move with haste. 

Well. Shit… There goes the extended runtime of the show, cut-down to a measly few seconds.

Jacob’s skin was gleaming with a thin layer of sweat, and he wiped at his forehead with his hand as he pulled his clothes and backpack from the locker. From there, he set his items down beside him, and stood up. You tried your best to get set up to savor the moment, with as little time as you were going to now have. He grabbed at both sides of the neck of his shirt, pulling it up over his head. Once the shirt came over his head, he pulled up at the back of the shirt, with his arms naturally sliding out from the holes in the shirt. You watched on as first, his stomach came into view, then his navel and ribs, followed by his chest.

“I feel like I could go for some ice-cream right now.” You said as you tried your best not to have a heart-attack. He was perfect; the toned shape his chest had, the gentle bumps that made up his abs, even the utter smoothness of his skin was enough to give you goosebumps. You swallowed hard as you began to change out your gym shorts for your pants.

“I second that, actually.” Jacob said as he put his shirt on and threw his gym shirt into his bag.

“Wilbur’s after school?” You proposed.

“You paying?” He asked as he dropped his gym shorts. You weren’t able to get a good peek down there as he turned his head up; instead, you had to face your locker. You thought over what he asked, and tilted your head to the side,

“Agh, I dunno about that...” You said scoffing; you then turned back towards Jacob, who was still crouched, holding his pants to his waist as he looked at you, waiting for your answer to change.

That asshole.. He looooooves to twist your arm whenever possible.

“...Fiiiine, but don’t try to scam me by getting some-shit like a triple scoop m&m’s cone with fudge… I still remember the last time..”

“I won’t.. I won’t…” He said, chuckling as he pulled his pants over his left leg…..

There were many more times that this whole ordeal had happened, a couple of times you got lucky enough to see Jacob in just his underwear, able to see the slight bulge in his briefs. The memories of these moments had been saved into the very deep recesses of your mind for safe-keeping, and to use as references when letting your imagination run wild. You were in the middle of replaying one of these moments when Jacob said something that brought you back to the present, 

"Hey, is it alright if I get lunch here?" 

You stared at him, both astonished, and slightly worried, as the food here might actually be radioactive, which made his question a matter to be rationally concerned about. 

"You.. like the food from here?" You asked him with disappointment, though finding out this about him as trivial as it was, meant that at the end of the day, it really didn’t matter if he did. 

"Noooooo… not necessarily…” He began, 

“...buuuuut... I didn't eat anything for breakfast this morning, so I will eat anything, and I mean anything.." He then took a look around the halls before pointing with his thumb in the direction of the cafeteria,

"That includes whatever the fuck it is they’re serving here, under the guise of, ‘food’." With that last word, Jacob gave you this crazy look as his eyes darted from side to side. His face then softened, and the two of you exchanged an awkward laugh before you asked him,

“What…? …did your parents not make breakfast in the morning? …Do you have to make your own, I mean at least cereal or something?” 

Jacob shook his head then answered, 

“...Well since you’re asking, yes, my mother did make breakfast for everyone today, I just decided not to eat; and no I don’t necessarily have to, but it’s a good skill to know how to cook food yourself, so I’d say learn it, ‘silver spoon’.”

Now that last line just made no sense, and Jacob knew it, 

“Wai- Wha-?.. Who the fuck are you calling ‘silver spoon’?!” You demanded from him. 

Jacob didn’t even say anything in return, he just pointed at you with both index fingers and clicked his teeth as he winked, then he turned and began walking towards the direction of the cafeteria. You scoffed and rolled your eyes before scratching at the side of your head, and it’s not like you even had to do so from an actual itch; It was simply you scratching away at the brain cells that had died as a result of Jacob’s nonsensical babbling. …Again though, Jacob pulling your leg in this manner meant that he felt comfortable enough around you to do so, and his occasional needling was simply representative of how close you two were in your friendship.

Friendship… …How cruel was it that over the years, regardless of ‘how close’ the two of you had grown, Jacob consistently seemed to be so far from being yours. …Then again, the fact that he had stuck by your side, facing the world as it threw challenges at you again and again was nice, and it meant something to you..

Taking a look at Jacob as he walked off, you smiled to yourself before you set yourself in motion in order to catch up to him. 

“...It was you, by the way..” He said as you approached.

“...Sorry?.. What was me?” You asked, what he was referring to being unclear to you at the moment.

“‘Silver spoon’. You asked me who I was calling, ‘silver spoon’. …I was calling you that.” Jacob clarified.

“Ah..! okay…” You said as your lips curled into a smile. He knew how to get a rise out of you, with his goading having a success rate of about 90%. With the other 10% though, you’d be able to see through it for what it was; a skilled and well-informed attempt at trying to irritate you. 

As the two of you started down this winding hallway side by side, Jacob tilted his head in your direction,

"So Y/N, guess what." 

With Jacob, the unpredictability of the wide range of topics he liked to bring up, meant that what he could be getting your attention to tell you about ranged from something Star-Wars related, to him having recently found out about an obscure piece of media that pretty much no-one else remembers or talks about. So, without any hints as to what, “guess what” could be referring to, you simply asked, 

"I dunno, what’s up?" 

"You know how I have Ms. Caddel, for 2nd period?" He asked.

Ms. Caddel was your former English teacher — a very thin and elderly woman. Her room always smelt like an old perfume bottle that was slowly getting contaminated with dust, and she was very quick to correct students who broke her classroom rules, to the point where it seemed like she might’ve been faking her age; she was very aware of the entire classroom most days given her age, which made even less sense once you considered the fact that she had bifocal lens glasses, and cochlear implants. That still didn’t stop her from handing out detention and office referrals to repeat offenders of her phone/talking class policies. You had once succumbed to her wrath just last year after sending Jacob a stupid meme that you figured he’d find funny. Just remembering the reprimanding you had gotten that day in front of everyone made you shiver.

"Yeah, I know her, why? What happened?" 

You asked him with a tinge of intrigue, wondering if maybe Jacob himself had found himself in a similar predicament in recent days. The two of you had just turned right, down another hallway, when Jacob answered,

“Okay, so I was talking to Hail- wait- …First off, you remember Hailey, right?”

Hailey Barlowe was one of the most popular people in school. Yet, surprisingly, she was also one of the nicest people in the school. You’d met her on a couple of occasions here and there, really only being mutual friends through Jacob. While you weren’t all that close with her, you knew that she had many friends, and that her parents had pretty cushy jobs, though they weren’t “royalty” levels of rich, as considering if they were, she probably wouldn’t be wouldn’t be going to this school right now, even though she honestly probably could afford to go to a private school. 

“W- …Well yeah.. What about her..?”

You reluctantly asked as you began to pray and plead in your head that he wasn’t going to say what you were already beginning to think he was going to tell you.

Please don’t say you’re in a talking stage, please.. Please don’t say you’re talking..

That was the only thought that went through your mind as you waited for him to answer your question.

You did think about it however, and if you were into girls, you’d definitely understand why he might be into her. Hailey had some pretty, turquoise-colored eyes, to begin with. Then there were both the freckles which rested on her cheeks, and dimples which positively accentuated her features every-time she smiled. And of course, moving away from her physical features, she’s also highly intelligent, and from what you could tell, extremely caring of others. In laymen’s terms, she’s the girl that many guys would kill for, which is why hearing Jacob bring her name up was concerning to you, to say the least.

While walking, he put his hands in his pockets before finally answering you,

“Sooooooo… ….After 2nd, she asked to speak to me in private, and once we were, she told me that she likes me.. And, after giving me her number she told me that... she’d like it if I took the time to think over whether I want to give the two of us a try. So… I wanted to bring this up with you to ask for advice on what you think I should do, because I want to know, if you think that I should tell her that I like her back, and see where things go from there, or what..?”

Well, at least they weren’t talking, but that could easily change by the end of the day, and so, this information was enough to make your heart sink as the idea of you and Jacob together began to crumble away. However, you maintained a stoic front on the surface, and remained calm and collected as you began to respond,

“I…” You began. This was much harder than it initially seemed 

“I love you, Jacob...” 

Just say it you idiot, if you don’t say it now, you’ll never be able to say it. Then again if you say it, and you’re wrong, which let’s face it, you most definitely are wrong about Jacob being into you, then you not only lose your crush, but possibly your best friend as well, so no pressure. 

You take a deep breath, then respond,

“I- just.. don’t know if- that’s really.. a good idea…” You said haltingly,

Jacob stopped in his tracks once you finished your sentence, and he turned to face you as an inquisitive look made its way onto his face.

“Why not?” He questioned; and it wasn’t even like he asked you in a manner which signified that he suspected you weren’t telling him something important, but you still felt the butterflies as they began to form in your stomach, as you contemplated telling him the truth then and there. 

However, you ultimately decided against it, quickly talking your way out of this one,

"Well, I'm not saying that you shouldn't try it, but I’m just saying that maybe you should consider everything before making a decision about it. …I mean, do you even like her..?" 

Jacob paused for a second, then looked at you and held his hand up in a so-so gesture,

“I mean kind of? She’s really pretty, and she’s a really good friend…” He trailed off,

This is it, now has to be the moment that you tell him everything, lest you lose the chance to forever. 

“I-” You were just about to speak when Jacob spoke again,

“...But yeah… yeah, no.. …you’re right, this is the kind of thing that I need to take time to think about…”

Your heart began to weave itself back together as he said this. Not having to say anything- …not having to say everything… was the best option.. 

“So you mean to tell me.. that you were considering just going all in?..” You said scoffing, “…Talk about des-per-ate.” You cracked, enunciating every syllable.

“Hey... fuck you man…” Jacob said as he lightly thwacked your shoulder with the back of his hand. It was nice to have him see himself be the butt-end of the joke for a change.

“...But, thank you..” He said, before letting out a breath, “I’m glad that I was able to talk to you about this..” He nodded.

Then, he shot you a smile, which you returned as you both began walking again. If there was any sense of the feeling that you were guilty of taking advantage of his uncertainty, that was swept away in an instant as you began to be overtaken by a sense of relief; That there may still be hope for you to get with Jacob. You would’ve celebrated then and there on your victory, but taking into consideration the fact that Jacob was beside you, and the fact that there’s still a chance that he might end up talking to her, you thought twice about doing so. Instead, you crossed your fingers internally, and fought back your cheering on this small victory, even with as hard as it was to do so. 

The voices of students became apparent as the two of you made a right turn in the center of this hallway, passing through the doorway which led to the school’s cafeteria. As you walked in, you craned your head to the right towards the lunch line, so that you could gauge how bad it was; It was about as expected, with lines so long you couldn’t even make out where one ended and the other began. 

“Hey.” Jacob said, getting your attention. 

You lowered your gaze toward him and asked,

“What’s up?” 

With the sound of the other students filling the space, Jacob had to raise his voice a bit as he answered,

“Looking at it now, I don’t want you having to wait in the line just for me, if you’d rather just sit.” He offered.

You looked at him confused, before asking to confirm if he was okay with that,

“Are you sure? Standing with you in line isn’t a problem for me. In fact, I could probably get you something if you’d rather sit.” You told him.

He smiled, 

“You’re too good for me… ..Uh- But no.. …Thank you for offering though..” He then peered off to the side and past you,  “...I- was also going to ask if you wouldn’t mind seeing if there was a table for us to sit at?..” He asked, looking back up to you with a slightly ebbed, pensive look in his eye; 

“Oh, y- yeah of course I can. I got you…” You uttered, before making a forced smile. If your crush himself wasn’t trying to go out of his way to spend as much time with you as possible, it’s probably because he doesn’t like you back. That thought deflated you again, but Jacob couldn’t know; It’s just not his fault, he likes Hailey instead. You can’t change how he feels about someone. 

“Alright… thanks. …I’ll come find you.” He said before he turned away and made his way towards one of the long lines.

You held your smile until he turned away, then you huffed, and began to look around for a suitable spot to seat yourself. The cafeteria had a long, unbroken row of circle tables across the way you two had entered from, and on either side of you were more tables, but all of which were already occupied, which meant you had to look elsewhere. You walked further into the mess, and took a look to the left. With the rectangular shape of the room, and the room’s entrances being offset towards the right side, regardless of what side you entered from, meant that the formation of the tables made an L-shape. 

As you scanned the room, starting from the far side and heading towards the direction that you were, you spotted it. In the left corner of the room was an unoccupied table, and that was all you needed to know. You swiftly made a stroll to the table before anyone else could take it, and sat down on one of the 4 bench seats around the circular table, placing down your duffel bag beside you on the same bench. 

You then retrieved your phone from your pocket, and entered the passcode. Taking a quick look back at the lines, while you couldn’t be sure, you were under the assumption that the lines were moving faster than expected. With a light sigh, you simply turned back around, opened your socials and began a ‘doom-scrolling’ session of meaningless reels as you waited on Jacob. Only about a minute passed when your phone buzzed.

Your eyes darted to the top of the screen to read the notification, which said: 

‘The Greatest Mother’

Have fun son! I’ll come pick you up in…

That was all that was able to fit in the bubble at the top of the screen, and so you clicked on the notification bubble, opening up your messages.

The Greatest Mother

Have fun son! I’ll come pick you up in a few days, so let me know if you need anything before then.

Sending hugs & kisses your way!

Message sent at: 12:42 PM

You smiled at the last part, then began typing your response:

K i will love you!!

Message sent at 12:43 PM

Classy.

With that, you returned to your ‘for you’ page. …Eventually, having invested your focus into the reels on your phone, you were caught off-guard when Jacob gently nudged your shoulder with his elbow; his sudden touch causing you to flinch slightly. 

“...You having fun?” He teased as he sat down on the bench seat adjacent to yours, with a food tray in hand.

You took a moment to genuinely think about his question, pursing your lips as you thought about it.

“...Honestly..? No…” You said with a deadpan frown, shaking your head for emphasis. Then, after taking a look at your phone, you again thought back to Jacob’s ‘silver spoon’ comment, and added, 

“I think I’m losing more brain-cells looking at this shit than I do talking to you.”

Jacob looked away as he fought back his smile. While nodding exaggeratedly, he turned back to you,

“Hmm.. nice one.” He stated simply as his face instantly became void of emotion. Jacob, had for, as long as you’ve remembered, been pretty skilled at keeping people from being able to read into whether or not he was showing his true emotions to them. And so, just in case he was genuinely upset at you for the comment that was just made, you began to apologize, 

“Sorry if I-” You said quickly before he cut in,

“No, no, hey- ..I will remember this moment, just keep that in mind…” He declared in a stern tone, pointing a finger at you to further emphasize his seriousness, and to keep your focus off the fact that he was making a goofy face. He dramatically over-exaggerated his facial expression to get the message across that it’s just a joke. He’s playing along with your game.

Internally you felt relieved, and on the outside you just laughed it off. Taking in his now beaming grin, you soon took note of how long the two of you had been staring at each other without saying as much as a word. You turned your gaze towards the table as you chuckled awkwardly to yourself. Looking at his tray, you smiled,

“Taquitos?” You asked, trying to move past that weirdness,

“Oh yeah..!” “I love getting these things.” Jacob said delightfully as he went to open the wrapper.

So he was lying earlier then.

“Huh? Really?” You asked him, pulling him into the trap he set for himself. He turned his head towards you and looked slightly confused as he hesitantly answered,

“...Y- Yeah..?” He said it more like a question, not seeing that he was standing right over the x.

“Well, that's funny, because I thought you didn’t like the food from here.” You stated, much to his amusement. Jacob’s face went from confusion to a grin as he realized he been had,

“Well… I obviously lied to you.” He stated as he pulled the packaging open, “So anyway… After the few days at my place, do you have any other plans? For the summer, I mean..?” After he finished asking his question, he pulled the microwave-taquitos out of their wrapper, waiting for your response.

You thought about it for a moment. For the most part, it seemed like you didn’t, besides spending most of it at home, which was a given. Not to say that it would be a bad thing, but it seemed that it would be about the same as the summer prior, which was a little dull. Of course you couldn’t forget to factor in how your mother had gone out of her way to make your summer a little more exciting, by trying to get out of the house with you whenever she had a dollar to spare,

“Um… Well, if it’s anything like last year, then I’d say no, not really. But my mom was asking if I would like to head to the beach for a few days, where we can get a rental beach house, and just enjoy the water and all that kinda stuff...”

Jacob stopped chewing and swallowed hard before beginning another query,

“You said a beach house?..” He asked, covering his mouth before continuing,

“Aren’t they super expensive..?”

You opened your mouth, but initially nothing came out as you couldn’t definitively give him an answer, 

“...I… Honestly.. Have no clue. But again… It’s just a rental, so I doubt it’d be too crazy. I mean, my mom isn’t careless with money, you know.” You said.

“N- No you’re right, and I’m sorry if it sounded like that’s what I meant, because I never meant it like that.” Jacob said as he put his hands up.

“You’re all good, there’s no problem here.” You replied, waving for him to lower his hands while you continued to think about potential vacation spots that were discussed at home. 

“...Uhm, but we also talked about taking a trip to San Francisco, and up to the mountains for the snow… maybe even an amusement park or two- no, wait. My mom would probably just send me off alone…. …because. she hates.. …Amusement parks…” You uttered, trailing off as you cursed at yourself mentally. 

Why the fuck did you mention that..? Why couldn’t you just stop talking sooner, idiot..?

You could tell that Jacob had picked up on your hesitancy to speak further on the topic as his gaze on you shifted slightly, and he began to try and bring things back to the conversation earlier,

“Well.. I was just asking because I was thin-” Jacob never got to finish his sentence, as he was interrupted, having been doused in some kind of liquid. Out of proximity, a small amount of whatever hit him, had also splashed onto you as you instinctively jerked to the side, away from it. 

Your head whirled around to the side as your confusion grew. Jacob also turned in the same direction, only for the two of you to be met with three students standing before you in a triangle formation. The person in the center of the three was Jack Ramino, accompanied on either side by his “friends”, if one could call them that; Diego Maytorena and Liam Whitaker were the names of the other two boys that stood off to the side and slightly behind Jack. As your eyes connected with the former of the two, the sneer he wore and the cold, inimical look in his eyes elevated your heart-rate. What did these three assholes want now, and more importantly, did it involve Jacob, or was he simply a random target? Jacob was still breathing heavily as he remained soaked, his arms were picked up in a reflexive response, and he glanced at you before turning back to face the three other boys.

You tried to remind yourself of who these people were, picking them apart to better try and assess the situation... 

…Diego was always a bit.. “quick tempered”, for lack of better words. He had been known to be combative to authority figures in the past, …and even now, too. …The “authority figures” in question were school faculty, and though he’d be scooped up by a security officer for his behavior and dragged to the office on many occasions, he never seemed to face any repercussions from his parents for his actions, instead the school oftentimes simply suspended him for about a week’s worth of time and figured he’d eventually get the message; he didn’t. He despised whenever anybody told him to take whatever chosen hoodie he had on for the day off, and always insisted on staying with the hood up, like the way he had it now. 

He never spoke much, nor did he seem to ever show some semblance of human emotion, at least, not outside of whenever he or Jack had found another victim to torment; it was in moments like these that he showed something resembling joy. Diego also had a long record of arson related charges that started way back to when he was in elementary school; he hadn't simply been messing with some kind of flame and accidentally started a local fire, no… His actions were much more driven by some malicious intent.

As other kids played outside during recess, Diego dug into his pocket where he stored a box of matchsticks, and scanned the playground looking for someone to use it on. His eyes stopped upon a girl who was standing in the circle with some friends. After making it to where the girl was located, Diego opened the box, pulled out a match and struck it against the box of matches. He then lifted his hand, and held the burning matchstick up to the girl’s hair until it caught fire. The chaos which ensued, and the threats from the girl’s family that they were going to sue made it seem as though Diego would’ve been a problem that was taken care of a long time ago; this was evidently not the case…

…Meanwhile, on the other side of Jack was some kid named Liam; he used to be this nerdy, scrawny looking-kid in the school who mainly kept to his lonesome, with not even a handful of friends. You never really even got to talk to him, even though you had shared a good handful of classes together…

…One day, when you were walking out from your fourth period class, and to the outdoor, back-quad area during the lunch-break, you saw a crowd of students surrounding the lockers on one side of the hall. They were largely unmoving, still like nails driven into a plank of wood. When your curiosity got the best of you, and you went to check what they were all looking at, you found Liam sprawled out on the ground; his nose bled profusely, even as he held it shut. You noticed he appeared to be bruised all over, and his clothes was all ripped up. On the bloodied floor beside him were his glasses; one of the legs had been bent in a way where there was no way they could be worn, and the lenses had been shattered, making the pair of glasses completely worthless. That was when a teacher came by and broke up the crowd.. 

…Only later did you find out what had occurred; apparently, some kids thought it’d be fun to bully Liam, but he wasn’t willing to take being pushed-around by the group. He tried to perform his Jiu-Jitsu on them, but considering the fact that they easily out-numbered him, he wasn’t able to fend them off – unless they decided to line up and go 1 at a time, which obviously was not going to happen.

From there, the 4 students laid into him, throwing blow after blow as they collectively attacked the defenseless boy. After that day, it seemed as though that was the end of Liam’s presence at school, as you had heard that apparently his family had him pulled from the school. That was, until about three months later, when one day, he returned to the school. When he came in that day, he was different, almost unrecognizable; for one, he lost the glasses he used to wear, along with the dreadful bright-neon, “I am a gamer” sort of clothes that he used to wear everyday, switching it out for a modern grunge-esc wardrobe. His hair changed from being this straight-down lob hairstyle which made him stand out like a sore thumb, into a fringe haircut, which really worked perfectly for him. Alongside that, he appeared to have also put on more muscle, giving him a broader appearance, though he was by no means, “mind-blowingly strong”. Still, it was a very noticeable difference, especially from how he used to look.

But it wasn’t even just his looks that changed; Liam’s personality had shifted from this quiet outsider that seemed out of place, to one that was clever and charming, with a newfound confidence that was the complete opposite of how he used to be, as he was quick with witty remarks that everyone seemed to respond to with relative positivity. It was evident that he’d been practicing his new personality, as it just seemed effortless. 

However, within the first week that he was back, someone recognized him and called him out, saying that just because his looks changed didn’t make him any less of a loser. In response to that, Liam told the guy to shut his mouth unless he was willing to prove it. The guy tried to laugh it off, but Liam remained steadfast, claiming that the guy wasn’t in a place to call others losers, as he was failing more than half of his classes, not because he didn’t care for them, but rather from a lack of intelligence. This clearly provoked him as he immediately swung at Liam, but Liam was ready for it. Ducking out of the way, Liam let the guy throw the first punch, and realizing that his stance was weak, Liam used the guy’s weight against him, tripping him before he threw him down to the ground with all his strength. The guy ate the ground so hard that his front few teeth broke into many fragments, most of which were impossible to distinguish which tooth they had broken off from, and Liam was able to get off scot-free as he was technically, “acting in self-defense”. …Yeah, right… 

Apart from that incident, Liam is and has always been exceptionally bright, especially when it came to technology.

…And now, for the main event: Jack Ramino. Jack was actually a grade above you, and he came from a very well-off family, with his father being a big-time investor and businessman, and his mother being a CEO for one of the companies his father had a stake in. Jack often prided himself on appearing as presentable as possible, something he learned from his parents — though the stories of what he got up to in his free-time was anything but… If the grime from all the messed up shit he was said to have done to was visible on him, he’d be completely enveloped in it. Jack was as smart as he was conniving. Over the past couple of years, there were many allegations of harassment, assault, breaking and entering, along with many other crimes that had all gone Jack's way in the past, but his family must've had some good lawyers backing them, and they must’ve been even better at covering their tracks, since nothing stuck. Jack masked his hostility as a faux-kindness, though you could see it for what it really was, having seen time and time again as he pretended to put on an altruistic front for many people in the past, only to backstab them in one way or another.

There was a recent rumor that you’d heard about him that particularly stuck with you. The rumor was that Jack had supposedly ruined the life of a name that was now notorious in the halls of the school; Kaitlyn Vittoria Marelli, or as you knew her: Katie. 

Katie was a very cautious person who did her best to steer away from trouble, whenever it presented itself, which is why you were shocked when you heard what had happened regarding her... 

…The incident involving Katie happened sometime towards the end of February last year. You were in a different class at the time, and had only heard about what had happened at the end of the day, when a friend of yours told you the story that was passed down to him from someone present at the moment of Katie’s incident.

During 5th period, as her chemistry teacher began to go into depth about how temperature and pressure could affect solubility in different compounds, the door to the room swung wide open, grabbing everyone’s attention. The dean and vice-dean stood off to the side, parallel to the door, as though they were waiting for someone to go in before them. That was when 2 school resource officers, and 3 straight-from-the-precient officers entered the classroom, with the last one to come in holding the leash on a golden retriever.

A few aw’s came from some students in the class as they noticed the dog, which was followed by side conversations about the dog, along with a few questioning the presence of the 3 officers that weren’t from the school. That was when an officer in front spoke up, explaining that they were there to conduct a routine check for any contraband…

…When you heard that from him, you knew that the class was fed a lie; it couldn’t have been a routine sweep, as the school had already conducted their quarterly drug search a couple of weeks prior, in the first week of the month. You were in one of the rooms that they entered, though they managed to not find anything, which was crazy as you knew half of your peers in that class had some kind of pen, pill or gummies on them….

…The students lined up outside and waited as the officers closed the door to the room to conduct their search without interference. From what your friend’s friend could remember, Katie stood off to the side with her arms crossed, not talking much at all as the teacher tried to keep the group of students quiet. The next thing to happen was the door re-opening as the officers exited the room one at a time. The final officer to come out of the room held onto the top loop of a navy-blue canvas backpack covered in a plethora of patches and pins; Katie’s bag.

Katie murmured a confused “...What the fuck..?” as the class looked her way. From there, the officers asked to confirm if that was her bag, and after she said it was, they told her she was going to have to come with them. The student who passed the story along to your friend also mentioned that one of the other students in the class opened their voice memos app, under the presumption that something was up; Starting a recording, they hid the phone in a nearby cabinet. This allowed the students to later find out what was discovered in Katie’s bag. Your friend had actually received a copy of the voice recording, and the two of you listened to it together that day…

…The door clicked shut, then the sounds of footsteps could be heard. 

“Start from this corner, then work your way across.” A gruff voice said,

There was about a minute of near silence, which was skipped over when you were playing back the audio. The portion of audio that picked up after that silence was much more interesting,

“...Pull him away..” The gruff voice said,

“I’ll get him.” Another deep voice said, quickly being followed by someone else’s voice,

“Yeah there’s definitely something here.” The lighter-toned voice muttered.

“Gloves on and check it...” The gruff voice ordered.

From there, the audio went near silent, with an occasional rustling sound being picked up in the microphone. Then, the lighter voice spoke up,

“Got something here.. In this secondary compartment.” He said with a slight, odd inflection in his voice, probably from trying to fish around in the bag.

“What is it?” The gruff voice asked,

“I don’t know, give me a moment.”  The other replied as a slight rustling could be heard in the background. “Andd…. Got it.” A couple of small thuds were picked up in the microphone before,

“Well, well.. What have we here..?” The gruff voice wondered aloud,

“Are those..?-” A female voice began to ask, trailing off before the lighter male voice responded,

“Adderall pills, it looks like... Probably a couple hundred in one bag alone.”

“Someone’s got a nice little stock-pile here.” The gruff voice cracked,

There was a moment of silence before,

“...Wait. There’s more… I can’t tell how many pockets are in here.” The lighter voice returned,

There was another moment of silence, only broken by an occasional rustling sound.

“...Okay... Here we go… That should be about it.” He said as three consecutive noises that could best be described as tapping was picked up over the mic,

“What’s the red one?” The gruff voice asked,

“I think we’re looking at dextromethorphan, the other’s probably alprazolam.”

There was a silence, then a huff,

“DXM, and Xanax.” The lighter voice said simplifying.

There was a breathy sigh, before a voice of a female officer was picked up,

“Fuck..”

“Alright, bag the evidence, and we’ll find out what it is when we bring it to forensics.” The gruff voice said,

After the sounds of rustling ceased, the lighter voice officer said, 

“...Let’s reunite this bag with its owner.”

From there, the sounds of the officers vacating the room could be heard, and eventually, the sounds of the students re-entering the class followed thereafter. The scraping of many chairs being adjusted as students sat back down could be heard, along with excited chatter about what had just transpired. 

“Settle down..! …Please and thank you..!” The teacher said, which had little effect as it mostly fell on deaf ears, with the majority of students still engrossed in their conversations.

“Please, if you all may finish your conversations now..!” This time, a handful of students responded, with a few shushes being picked up in the audio as the noise died down.

“Alright, okay… Let’s all just take a breather...” He said, finally getting the class to quiet down, before there was a moment of silence.

…

…

…

“...Okay everyone, I know how much you want to talk about what happened, but for now, we’re going to continue with class as planned, take out and open your books to page 341.”

There were sounds of grumbling as the students began to complain,

“I know.. I know... I promise, I’ll give you all some time at the end of the period to discuss amongst each other.” He reasoned to the students, which elicited a few scattered cheers from somewhere in the class; then, the sounds of zippers and the rustling of bags could be heard as the class did as he said.

The sound of the cabinet’s hinges squeaking could be heard as the phone was dragged from its hiding spot,

“So we were on the concept of-”

The audio abruptly cut out there, the student who recorded it evidently ending it there…

…Katie swore she had no knowledge of these items having been in her bag prior to the search, but the officers didn’t seem to buy her claim. You thought about it, and wondered how she didn’t know she had these items in her bag, then remembered how she’d often brag about her bag’s innumerable secret compartments that you figured made finding things in there so time-consuming.

Katie was taken to the office and her parents were notified. You had heard that she had gotten expelled from the school, and she was charged with possession of controlled substances, though as she was a first time offender and she appeared remorseful during the proceedings, she was almost sentenced to just a year in juvie. However, her lawyer argued that maybe, instead of punishment, Katie just needed some help, and so Katie was instead sentenced to rehab for the next year, and was kept close-watch of.

It was known for a while that Jack wanted to get with Katie, but Katie wasn’t interested in him. So, the rumor went that Jack had orchestrated the whole thing, and that either he or another person had planted the items in her bag, and from there they notified the authorities. While it was very much a reach, you couldn’t help but begin to believe it, especially after hearing everything else he’d done…

“...So do I have your attention, pussy?” Jack said, demanding only one answer from Jacob.

Meanwhile, you sat there frozen, unable to move for some unknown reason.

“I hope you’re listening, because you don’t want me to repeat myself..” Jack said as he got up close to Jacob, who tried his best to back away, 

“I really don’t know what it was that you and Hailey were talking about earlier, but you better distance yourself from her, because she’s mine!.. …So leave her the fuck alone…” Jack chucked the now-empty carton of milk at Jacob’s head, which bounced off of him as he flinched. Diego snickered at this. All the while, you remained seated, in complete disbelief. Jacob didn’t deserve to be mistreated, especially not like this, and you knew you couldn’t let this whole thing go without retaliation.

“...It’s not like she’d want to date some faggot anyways..” Jack added at the end of his statement, and that was what finally spurred you into action. You quickly stood up and shoved Jack away from Jacob, positioning yourself in between the two of them as Jack regained his footing.

“It’s been two years and she hasn’t even hinted at liking you, so give it a break..”

“Y/N..!” Jacob hissed, but you simply stretched your hand, down and towards the ground, motioning for him to wait,

“Oh…” Jack said as he eyed you, “...who are you, his fucking boyfriend..?”

Your heart dropped as he said this, as you felt the eyes of many settle on you, waiting for you to respond. Without backing down and without missing a beat you rebutted,

“You’d know all about boyfriends, since your father probably likes to tell you about the latest person to use him as a fuck-toy over in that prison he got himself locked up in.”

Somewhere in the distance behind the three, a voice can be heard saying “Oh shit!”

It was true; sure, both of Jack’s parents had a ton of money, but Jack’s father wanted more, and he was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison for embezzling over thirty-five million dollars from investor funds, laundering it through shell companies, and hiding it from the IRS, SEC and other parties that’d likely take interest to his little money-scheme. The trial had been all over the news, but at school, people seemed to act like it had never happened; like Jack wasn’t the son of one of the most infamous white-collar criminals in the last decade.

The focus of the crowd shifted over to Jack who quickly grinned as he asked in response, 

“...Say.. Speaking of fathers… where’s yours?”

That was the tipping point, everything came crashing down as you locked in on Jack, intent on spilling his blood. Your own blood boiled, your fists clenched tight, and you narrowed your eyes as you got ready to send forth a killing blow. But then, that was when you glanced to the side, and upon noticing Liam's face, you were taken aback; He stood there stiff and awkward, with a discomfited look drawn on his face — he looked like he didn't really want to be there right now.

“Hey!.. what’s happening here?!..” A male voice said, catching your attention, and the attention of everyone else involved. A couple of campus security officers were approaching your location, one man and one woman. While your focus was on other matters, such as Liam’s facial expression, the crowd which had formed, the SROs, and Jacob no longer being Jack’s target, Jack used the opportunity to hurl his fist directly at your face — a cheap-shot. The crowd erupted with noise from the hit that connected with your face. The punch made you stumble back and lose your footing, with your hip hitting the table hard, sending a jolt of pain through your body as you tried to reach for Jack, who was already making a run for it. The other two followed behind him, their shoes stamping against the ground as they took off. The male SRO trailed after them, yelling for them to stop, as if they’d listen.

“Don’t run, pussy!” You yelled out, to no avail. They weren’t going to stick around to get identified and handed out some kind of disciplinary action. Who would, in that situation? 

As you returned attention to your surroundings, you took a look around, and realized that the shouts of the crowd that formed had turned to muttering, everybody interested in what had just occurred. You noted the people that had their phone cameras pointed in your direction, having documented near-everything. 

…Shit. This is a moment that’s going to stick with you forever.. — Well, if we’re being reasonable, perhaps not, “forever”; In a few years time you’ll probably never see the majority of these people again, and the incident will be mostly forgotten about.

While continuing to make observations of your surroundings, you were suddenly pulled out of your thoughts, and back up to your feet as you were lifted by your arm off of the ground.

“I got you, come on!..” Jacob said, his voice straining as he tried his best to pick you up. You braced your other arm on the bench of the table in order to pull yourself up. After you regained your balance, Jacob pulled you to take a seat on the bench. Your jaw awfully ached, and using your free arm, you checked tentatively to see if your teeth were all still intact. Luckily, it seemed as though they were, and if your nose were bleeding, you’d have noticed it by now. Jacob held onto your arm, likely trying to keep you stable,

“I’m good..!” You assured him as you held up a hand, signaling that he could let go, you were stable enough, “…I’m good… Thanks...” You said again, trying to quell any doubts he may’ve had.

Jacob seemed to be analyzing you with great scrutiny, no doubt trying to determine if you were actually okay, or if you were in shock,

“Are you sure?” He asked, leaning in towards you and whispering, “..You just got punched square in the face..!” His face was stricken with worry as he uttered the words.

“Yeah… I know.” You said as you rubbed your jaw, with your mind putting this constant, dreadful thought in the forefront of your mind that your teeth would suddenly come loose. The majority of pain you were feeling actually stemmed from your side, but you ignored it for the time being.

“We can go to the nurse to go get you ice if you need it..” He proposed, his concern showing as you studied his face; his brows were furrowed in an almost sad-looking manner, and his lips were slightly pursed, moving involuntarily from side-to-side as he gave you his utmost attention. 

He was still kind, and his unrelenting concern for your wellbeing helped you forget that there was a room full of people staring at you. Still, it felt wrong to make him worry, so you declined his offer,

“...No, no, but thank you. I- I’ll be fine, I don’t need a thing.” You replied, gritting your teeth as you forced a closed-lip smile to Jacob in the hope that he’d stop worrying.

“...Okay..” He began reluctantly, “If you’re sure.” He said, letting out a sigh before he tiredly smiled back at you. Then, he looked down at himself.

"...Fuck..!" He huffed as he looked over his hoodie that had gotten soaked,

"It’s okay…” You said in an attempt to assure him, as the conversation shifted towards his problem, “...You- You can't even tell..." You insisted, hoping that Jacob would believe it as he was desperately trying to dry himself off with the school napkins. It didn’t work as he looked at you, his face showing evident signs of frustration. He didn’t say anything in return, instead grumbling to himself as he began to hurriedly scrub at his hoodie.

Not knowing exactly what to say next, you let the first thought that sprouted in your mind dictate the next thing that came out of your mouth,

“You uh, wanna get out of here?" You asked Jacob in a faux-suave tone, trying to evoke even just the slightest laugh from him as you asked in what you felt was a humorous tone, given the situation — though, it was meant with the utmost sincerity. Jacob stopped everything he was doing, and tilted his head back as he whined miserably. He then crumbled up the napkins that were in his hand, and tossed them onto his tray of food,

"...Yeah.” Jacob muttered as he stood up, “...Let’s go…” First, he slung his backpack over his shoulders, and followed that by picking up his tray of food off of the table. Then, after stepping out from the bench, Jacob headed to the nearest bin, and discarded his entire tray into it, before walking towards the exit, which was the same way you came in.

It didn’t take much for you to notice that people were staring at you, since it seemed like everyone was staring. As such, you took that as your cue to leave, quickly throwing your backpack on as you hopped over the bench. The majority of the hushed voices in the cafeteria were indiscernible, but there were a couple of things that you could pick out from the crowd as you walked by, such as,

“Did you catch the one who got punched?” A student asked their friend, who was busy scrolling on their screen,

“Yeah, I did… Look.” The friend responded as three others leaned in to watch the playback of the recording. A collective “OOOH!” came from the group, presumably at the part where you got hit. Another student on the opposite side chatted excitedly with her friends,

“Oh my- who... …Who was that boy behind the blond? Not the one with the hood on… I’m talking about the one with the baggy rolling stones tee..”

A scoff of disbelief came from one of her friends,

“Paige, that was Liam.” She said with a hint of disgust in her voice, surprised that she could even look at him like that.

The original girl that had asked the question turned to her friend as she gave her an incredulous look,

“Wha- ‘Liam’ LIAM?!” She blurted out in disbelief,

“‘Liam’ Liam.” The second girl confirmed. 

‘Paige’ continued to freak-out as she and her friend continued to talk about Liam, but you ignored the rest of their conversation. Another student nearby began to ask one of their friends about what happened,

“Do you know why Jack got up in this dude’s face? I’ve got no idea…” To which came the reply,

“Seriously?.. Didn’t you hear what he was saying?? Apparently the guy he started on got between him and his girl.”

You rolled your eyes as their conversation carried on. It was apparent that neither of them actually paid attention to what was said. 

“Wait what happened..? I just got here right now...” A girl asked their friends as you made eye contact with her. She looked to be in the same grade, and she stared at you curiously as her friend whispered into her ear, informing her about the events that had just transpired. Once she got the basic rundown of the situation, her eyes widened in surprise as you looked away, continuing alongside Jacob as you advanced to the exit. 

It was then that the other security officer walked up alongside the two of you, trying to figure out what had happened,

“Who were those students, do you know their names?” She asked. Jacob just kept his head to the ground as he continued walking, ignoring her. You turned to the security officer and spoke up,

"Listen.. I’m so sorry, he's just really upset right now, and we just want to leave if that’s okay.."

Surprisingly, the security officer just stood there, but not without trying to get out another sentence without success, seemingly unable to. They then turned back to face the mess that some poor Janitor was going to have to clean up. You figured it was for the best; better to not be labeled a snitch.

Upon reaching the hallway, Jacob turned left as you sped up to a light jog in order to catch up with him. As you turned the corner, you saw that Jacob was already halfway down this hallway, apparently moving considerably fast, what-with how short his strides should be, on account of the length of his legs.

You took off jogging again until you were beside him. From there, you tried to analyze him, taking note of his posture: He was slouched forward, his head hung low to the ground as he walked, and his hands gripped the straps on his backpack tightly.

“You all good?”  You asked lamely, already having noticed that he’s still very upset. Jacob slowed his pace and responded in something just above a whisper,

“No… No, I’m not…” He sighed as he kicked his foot forward, “People are probably already coming up with nicknames for me: Milk-boy, Dairy King…”

What..

“...What??...” You muttered imperceptibly, a small smirk pulling at the corners of your lips as you wondered why that’s the first place his mind decided to wander. As you thought about it, he continued,

"...The Milk-Monster, Lactose-Lover..” He thought for a moment, then,

 “Fucking Curd-Nerd, Soggy Shit-”

You turned to the side as you snickered to yourself, but Jacob caught wind of this,

"What?.. Why are you laughing??? This isn't fucking funny." He stated, giving you a light shove off to the side in annoyance as you continued to chuckle,

"...It's a little funny." You answered back, gesturing with your thumb and index finger close together,

"Oh, …Ha ha…” Jacob said dryly as he sneered, “‘It's a little funny’.." He repeated with ample sarcasm present in his tone. 

“What is so funny about it?” He questioned.

“...It’s funny because, I mean, why is that the first place your mind goes?” You asked,

“Wouldn’t yours go to the same place?” 

You tilted your head slightly as you gave him a look of confusion, 

“..No..?” You said stumped as he sighed, 

“Well… mine did…” He muttered as he walked with his head down. Jacob then stopped in his tracks completely as he added, “It doesn’t help that I hadn’t even got the chance to finish eating…” Jacob’s stance hadn’t improved, and if the weary look in his eyes was anything to go off of, it meant that he was ruminating in his thoughts, and you couldn’t have that.

You quickly thought up something that you figured he’d want to hear,

“I can buy you some taquitos from some place later” You quickly offered, trying to curb the negative thoughts you knew were swirling around in that head of his.

“But the ones from here are soooo good.” He insisted, with an emphasis on the last two words.

“I doubt it.” You retorted, knowing first-hand just how horrendous the food was sometimes.

“You ever had them?” He asked in return.

You scoffed, “Uh. No...” 

Jacob gave you a knowing look as you said this,

“...You can’t talk bad about something you haven’t even tried yet.” He replied, staying loyal to his precious microwave-taquitos. You laughed at his unwavering passion and shook your head as the two of you continued on your way.

“...Hey, can you hold my backpack real quick?” Jacob asked.

“Yeah, of course.” You answered back with a friendly smile, figuring he truly was exhausted; and, if he was that tired, then you could take his bag for him, as you didn’t mind carrying the couple of extra pounds that the bag weighed. 

“Thanks..” He said quickly as he removed it from his shoulders, grabbing the backpack’s strap with his hand before he held it up for you to take. You took the bag from him and without any further questioning, you threw your arms through the holes as you began to wear the bag on your chest.

Meanwhile, Jacob began to pull at the hoodie he was still wearing, tugging it upwards by the collar. You tried your best not to make it obvious as your eyes traveled down towards his waist, hoping that his actions would provide you with a “look under the hood” so to speak, since it’s been close to a year since you’ve been able to. However, much to your disappointment, this did not happen to be the case, as his shirt hung low, even as his arms fully extended. He pulled the hoodie forward, then slipped his arms back out through the sleeves as he wiggled out of it.

After rolling his hoodie up into a ball, he tucked it under his arm. Then, after letting out a sigh, he turned slightly as he eyed the backpack which rested on your chest. As you locked eyes with him, you noticed his confused smile.

“...Backpack please..?” He asked. You felt slight embarrassment as he did, realizing why he actually wanted you to hold his bag,

“Oh… sorry.” You replied quickly, handing him his bag back,

“What for..?” He asked. Before you could respond, he ended up answering himself, “...There’s nothing for you to be sorry about.” Jacob took his bag back from you and swung it around his shoulders as he put it back on, “...Thanks for holding my bag though, I appreciate it.” He ended, smiling kindly at you. He then turned to face forward, and you watched as his smile slowly faded. He huffed again, this time far quieter than the last. 

  "Hey.." You start to say in a hopeful tone, "People won’t remember this in a week, I promise...  …And… at least he won't be a problem anymore." You said, in an attempt to assure him and put his worries to rest.

Jacob scoffed at this and continued his slow amble to the exit, "Yeah, right.." He said under his breath as you came up on another intersection.

He wasn’t telling you about something, and that was not something you were willing to let go un-noticed. You had to pry, even if he didn't want you to.

"Hey, what's wrong?" You asked him, concerned for him as both your friend, and your crush. He just couldn’t be allowed to feel like this, it wasn’t right.

He stopped in the center of the intersecting hallway, and sighed in slight annoyance, then he turned to you, 

"It’s just… that this hasn’t been the first time… he's been doing that shit to me all year.. Constantly..” He said in frustration, uninterested in continuing the conversation, until his eyes settled on you, where he then raised his hands as he quickly appended, 

“But- but don't worry, it's nothing too serious, it was just a little bit of tripping and shoving.." He said, laughing awkwardly. Still playing everything down. Still lying.

You knew that your expression had to reflect your shock as you were made aware of Jacob’s torment. Then, your mind landed on one day in particular. …The day that Jacob had showed up to you scraped-up, with his pants ripped at the knee — his favorite pants that you just knew had to have had him some kind of upset. When you asked him about it then, he laughed off your concern and told you that he had simply fallen; in his words, “Like a toddler with no concept of balance.”... 

…Then, you had no reason to believe anything else happened, but after what he had just revealed to you, you just had to ask him, just to be sure.

“Jacob.” You said sternly in order to get the attention of the boy in front of you. It worked; his gaze turning up to you as he fell silent. It seemed as though he read your mind, with his eyes showing worry, like he didn’t want you to ask what he already knew you were going to, like he didn’t want you to find out the truth.

You figured that the best way to ask him was to be straight-forward, no cushioning or hesitation needed beforehand,

“Last November…” You paused, starting to think twice before willing yourself to continue,

“...the week before Thanksgiving break when we met up during lunch.. …You had those scratches on your face and on your hands, and your pants got torn, which I know had to have gotten to you since you loved to wear them… Like all the time..”

Your eyes traveled down partially as you noticed him shifting in place awkwardly. Jacob’s hands held onto the straps to his bag tightly, but that didn’t stop you from asking what you wanted to ask, with your eyes returning to his own,

 “…You told me not to worry, that you fell.. But are you telling me the truth? Did you really fall that day?..” You questioned, before finally asking him what you really wanted to know,

“...Or did Jack do that to you?..” 

Jacob nervously chuckled,

“Look, Y/N, we don’t have to talk abo-”

He began, quickly began trying to shut down the conversation, but you weren’t having that. You took a step a closer to Jacob to remind him that you were there, and that you weren’t going anywhere until he answered your question,

“Did. He. Do it?..” You repeated, feeling your heartrate slow as you awaited for his answer

Jacob stood there paralyzed as a shaky breath escaped his throat, 

“...Yes…”

Your heart sank at the revelation, and you couldn’t help but force a breath of air out,

“...Fucking hell Jake…” You muttered through gritted teeth as you looked away from him to try and mitigate the wave of emotions that flooded your mind: A mix of anger, sadness, and hopelessness ran through you as you could only imagine what he went through in the past year. Sadness and hopelessness as Jacob couldn’t even find it possible to tell you what he endured.

Still timid, the boy in front of you hesitantly asked,

“...Are… Are you upset at me..?”

At him? No... Why would you be upset AT him for this? It wasn’t something that was his fault, he was simply trying to avoid making a big issue out of things.. But the fact that he’d rather hide this abuse still struck you the wrong way.

“I am upset… But I’m not upset at you; I’m upset FOR you…”

Jacob’s expression softened then, and he let out a breath of relief. It pained you to know that Jacob didn’t feel comfortable telling you, his best friend, about this constant harassment. It made you nauseous to know this; and, more than that, it made no sense. Why didn’t he just tell you? Even if he knew how you’d react, it made no sense as to why he didn’t just bring it up. There had to be more to this.. You turned your head, looking down the halls in each direction to ensure there was no-one else present, before facing Jacob again; then you began to interrogate the shorter boy for more information.

"Jake… Just.. Why didn't you say anything..?" You asked him in a hushed voice as you tried to refrain from having an outburst, partially upset that he never came to you about this, and partially upset with Jack's relentless, seemingly almost one-sided feud with Jacob. Again, it hadn’t been something that Jacob brought up in the past when it had happened… Why wait until now?

"He... Jack told me… That if I ever snitched to anyone about it..." He trailed off,

"...Yes?" You asked, encouraging him to go on as you stepped closer once more,

He looked over your shoulder, then his gaze moved down and off to the side,

"He told me that he'd find me and beat me until I was unrecognizable..." Jacob said quietly, before quickly turning to leave, a sign that he was no longer comfortable enough to say more. Meanwhile, your knuckles turned white as your hands curled tightly into fists — your hate for Jack skyrocketing past what it already was. Shaking yourself out of your trance, you expelled the air from your lungs in frustration and went to catch up with Jacob. After catching up and getting within arm’s-reach, you grabbed Jacob by his shoulder and spun him around to face you,

"Hey.. I won't ever let him lay a hand on you..." You told him in an eerily serious tone, as your mind was going through all of the worst ways to handle the problem. It was then that you realized, you had to will yourself not to get too emotionally involved at the moment, and instead you decided to let Jacob's thoughts on the matter determine how you would approach both it and Jack moving forward. 

Your hand moved down to his arm, and you gave him a little reassuring squeeze before caressing his arm, not thinking about how it looked.

"Th-thanks..." Jacob said, suddenly stuttering as his gaze moved to where you held him. You realized then how awkward this situation was, even with the two of you being as close of friends as you were. You let go of him and smiled, hoping that the awkwardness would naturally dissipate. That was when he laughed to himself, and spoke,

"…Shit.. I don’t even know what I’m doing…” He began, taking a breath, “You stood up for me, and then on top of that, you took a fucking punch for me… but yet, here I am, just whining away about getting some fucking milk dumped on my clothes…”

He paused for a moment before adding, 

“You were my hero back there."

A sudden involuntary breath of air entered your lungs as you tried to keep your composure, as you were sure blood was rushing to your face. 

Could your head explode from how red you knew you were going to be?

You simply smiled and responded as casually as possible, 

"It's okay.. I get it… I’d be pissed off if someone dumped milk on me too…” You started, somehow managing not to stumble over your words, “…and standing up for you was just the right thing to do…” You said, before thinking to yourself for a moment, “...As for the punch… well… I know you'd do the same for me, if the roles were reversed.."

Jacob smiled back, then in a moments’ notice, he hugged you then and there, in the middle of the hallway. But this wasn't just a normal side-hug, no.. He wrapped his arms around your torso and hugged you in a tight embrace in the middle of the school, as if you were going to disappear if he didn’t. Jacob had always been a bit shorter than the majority of other people you knew, which you were especially quick to note this time as his head pressed into the upper-left hand side of your chest. If your heart wasn't beating out of your chest already, it was now as you made this analysis — you’d just hoped he wouldn’t notice. However, the hug became a bit too tight, and the pressure created a bit more pain in your sore side. You let out a quiet “...ow..!” in pain as you shot up straight, recoiling; Jacob immediately pulled away as this happened.

"Oh.. Shit- sorry.. I’m so sorry.. I didn't mean to-" Jacob stammered as he was red, no doubt from having hugged you a little too tight and likely out of embarrassment that he just hugged another dude, in school. You responded, certain that based on how hot your face felt in that moment, that you were equally as red, just for a partially different reason, 

"No.. no don't worry..." was all you were able to get out, before you began to rub at your side, the breath having escaped you. As you regained it, you started again,

“You didn’t mean to… it’s okay.” You promised to him before wincing as you applied more pressure.

“Are you sure..?” He asked, clearly feeling some kind of fault for the situation,

“Yeah.. Thank you for.. You know, caring” You said as your attention returned to your side,

“I kind of have to, you’re my best friend.” He said with a shrug.

You wanted to hug him back then and there, but not wanting to risk more pain in your side, you simply smiled at him, which he reciprocated with a smile of his own. However, Jacob stood there awkwardly and you felt like you had to say something to not make this more awkward,

“Hey uh… Did you- Did you get everything from your lockers already? You asked as you thought about the duffel that you were taking to his house, packed full of clothes and toiletries/hygienic products, along with some other items that in hindsight, you shouldn’t have even packed to begin with.

Jacob thought for a moment, then he nodded, 

“...Yeah... what about you?" He asked back.

You scoffed,

“Psht.. Leaving something valuable here is worse than death; I already triple-checked, thank you very much." You stated in reply. 

He giggled. That giggle was impossible to resist smiling at, which is why when you felt your lips pull up slightly at the edges, you didn’t fight the feeling.

"...Shall we uh, get going?.." He asked shyly, motioning to the door. The urge to kiss him became almost impossible to resist, but you simply grabbed at your backpack strap as you put your right foot forward, 

"Yeah, let's go..." You said, quickly stepping into motion. 

Jacob spun around, following after you as you led the way to the exit, starting with a left turn. The walk down this hallway was nearly a jog as you both moved with a purpose, leaving little room for conversation. Turning for the final time, you head right and see the main exit that leads out from this wretched place. By now, most of the students have filed out, and are all outside the school, meaning that you could actually leave through here now.

As you glanced over at Jacob, you could see that he was deep in thought. In an attempt to lift his spirits, you tried to engage in conversation,

“Hey… We’ve made it.” You said softly as you nudged him,

“It would appear so.” He replied, beginning to smile, though you weren’t convinced,

“You good..?” You asked him.

He stopped and thought for a moment,

“Yeah…” He said simply.

That was when, almost involuntarily, you said,

“As long as you're with me, I promise to keep you safe." Which to you sounded a little over-protective, given the relationship. 

Jacob leaned away and looked at you with an 'oh really?' face as he said, 

“Yeah..?” He asked incredulously.

Unable to take your word back now, you simply confirmed his question with a single nod,

“Yeah.”

He scoffed and turned away,

"...Well that doesn't make me any less stressed..." he remarked jokingly.

There he was, the same old Jacob you’d grown to love; and somehow, that moment that should’ve been far more awkward that it was passed in an instant. You rolled your eyes at his statement, 

"Yeah yeah.. Get through the door before I punt you like a football." You said in response as you opened the door for him. Jacob grinned as he passed you by, heading outside. You trailed right behind him, letting the door close behind you.  Once outside, Jacob stopped walking, taking in the sights of the outside world. The warmth of the air hit you at once, and you were glad you didn’t bring on your jacket today. Jacob let out a breath of air, 

“I’m so happy that I took off my hoodie earlier.” He cracked.

“Yeah you made the right choice.” You concurred.

Taking a look around, you watched as other students went about their day now that they were out, already busy doing various things. Some were saying their goodbyes. Others were walking in the direction of their homes, wherever they were. There were some sitting in the grass field in front of the school, and some were heading down the concrete stairs, turning right into the bike stands. The bike stands were locked in this tall, roofless square-area composed of bricks that sat in front of the school, with the gate only being opened before and after school; the only exception to the rule being if a student came in late, or had to leave early, which was a whole fiasco in itself as the student usually needed to find and ask an SRO for the keys.

“Alright, come on.” Jacob said, getting your attention as he descended the massive steps. You quickly caught up to him, being careful not to trip down the stairs. After making it to the bottom of the steps, Jacob spoke,

"I can't wait to get out of here." He said, passing through the gate as he headed toward his bike. You smile, heading to your own bike as you replied,

“Yeah, me neither..”

After unlocking your respective bikes from the rack, the two of you wheeled them out through the gate that the stands were in. Once out, you both mounted your bikes, and Jacob led the way as he began to hightail it out of there, zooming in the direction of his house…

…After a relatively calm bike ride stretching about two or three miles, you and Jacob arrived at his house, which was not at all what you expected…

…Towards the latter half of your bike ride, you followed Jacob as he turned off the main road, onto a smaller side road which took you into a patch of woods. Admittedly, upon seeing the side road, you started panicking a bit. Having heard all sorts of horror stories happening to people that followed their friends into the woods in the past stuck with you, and it was especially at the forefront of your mind now…

…At the end of the road, to the side, was a two-story, blue-colored house, with a garden entrance and a smooth stone path leading up to the front door. Off to the left side of the front door was the garage, and as you glanced up, you took notes of the two large windows in front of the house, as well as the one directly to the right of the front door. All of which had their curtains closed, meaning that you couldn’t see inside them, yet.

“Your house is a little out of the way, huh?” You cracked.

“Just a little.” He replied, gesturing with his thumb and index finger. You grinned, the location of the house already piqued your interest, and you were excited to take a look around.

"Hey, follow me this way." He said, motioning with his head for you to follow him off to the side of the house. You began to freak out again, but figured, it’s just Jacob, and you’re overthinking things. You followed him, shooing away the fucked up and unlikely thought that he was trying to lure you into a trap to kill you. The both of you approach a big black tarp that's held down with a paint bucket and some large rocks on the corners.

"Bring your bike over here, we're going to hide it under this." He said as he moved the bucket from the corner and picked the flap up.

"Are you sure this is a good place to store them?.." You ask him looking at the underside of the tarp, with the majority of it covered in debris.

"Yeah, it's okay; I put my bike here all the time." he said as he slid his bike in a spot where it would be covered by the tarp. You hesitantly pulled your bike and put it beside his, laying it on the floor, before stepping away so he could put the cover back over it. Surprisingly, once the paint-can weighed down the tarp, the very noticeable bump that should've been there from the bikes was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh." Was all you were able to say before Jacob waved you over to follow him, 

"Alright, let's go inside." He said as he began to walk back around to the front of the house.

“I can’t lie…” You began, “...your house being out here scares me.” You mentioned.

Jacob looked at you perplexed,

“...Why?” He asked.

You shrugged, 

“I dunno, I just didn’t think it’d be in the middle of nowhere.” You said honestly.

He nodded, then replied,

“That’s fair..”

Making it to the front, you walked through the garden, and up the stone path, trailing behind Jacob; and upon reaching the door, Jacob began to reach into his bag for something. You felt a chill as your mind raced once more, taking a small-imperceptible step backwards.

Could he really be trying to-

Jacob pulled a key from the bag, and you calmed down.

No idiot, it’s actually his house.

Jacob puts the key into the keyhole of the door and twists it to the left, before pressing down the doorknob, pushing the door open. The light from outside poured into the house, flushing out the darkness that was once inside.