The Kings IV II

44

Hero

"The man!" Henry yelled, pushing through everyone in the hallways to make it to me.

I chuckled as we did our handshake, and he pulled me in for a hug.

"Bro, school is not the same without you," he said, "we've missed you."

"Welcome back!"

My eyes went wide at everyone crowding my locker with a huge banner, earning a laugh from me. Fran, Josie, Eros, Brian, and Amelia were all standing there with huge smiles on their faces.

"Thank you guys," I said, smiling a warm smile.

Life had seemed to begin to feel normal again- as much as I didn't want to admit it in hopes of not ruining it or off-putting my progress.

"Hero motherfucking King, everyone!"

I turned around, chuckling at the football team standing behind me.

"Jesus, you guys missed me, yeah?"

"Fuck yeah," one of the guys said, "how was football camp? Did you give Chicago a good rep?"

"Hell yeah," I said, smiling as I pulled away from him.

I hated that everything was a lie, but it was better this way. Dad had really done me a solid by not letting everyone know that Hero motherfucking King, as everyone referred to me as, had in fact fallen apart.

"Bro, Mrs. Thompson? Yeah, she had to pack up her shit a few days ago. Got in trouble with a student."

"No fucking way?"

"Yeah," Eros said, "student got transferred, too."

"Shit."

"Lucky ass student, though," one of the football players grumbled.

"Bro," I muttered, looking back at him.

"Hey, bell's going to ring in a few minutes, kids," one of the teachers said, "get to your classes."

"Happy you're back," Josie sweetly said, wrapping her arm around my neck for a quick hug before she and Eros ran off.

"Why the hell's your arm around my sister?" I asked, earning Brian's eyes.

He stammered on his words, making me chuckle. "I'm fucking with you. Relax, Baker."

Fran smiled up at him, gently rubbing his hand that was hanging over her shoulder.

"See you after class?" He said, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Yeah."

He walked away and I walked over to my locker, looking down at her. "Yeah?"

She laughed. "Hey, please text me if you need me."

"I will," I softly said, nodding.

She rubbed my arm before walking away, and I turned around to look for Henry, but he'd disappeared. I was left with Amelia, making her smile a sweet smile.

"Hey."

"Hey," I said, looking down at her.

"So, football camp, huh?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding, "yeah."

She slowly nodded. "Well, it's good to see you again. I texted you, you know."

"I know," I said, "a-and I'm sorry. I wasn't really-"

"It's fine," she said, "I can't really get upset with you for not texting me back. It's not like we're anything."