Our little arrangement💫

-4- Duncan💫

I mentally cursed under my breath and covered my face with both hands. It was morning and I probably had a few minutes left but all I could think about was the message I sent to Axel. I stared for hours until I fell asleep and he had no reply. I had gotten his number from Erick and lied about my reason. I felt bad about what Jake did and I just wanted to do something about it. I closed my eyes and five minutes later my mother banged on my door signaling me to wake up.

After I took a shower I put on some clothes and hurried downstairs. My breakfast was already on the table and mom was talking to someone on the phone. After a few minutes she sat down and didn't touch the food in front of her.

"Duncan , I'll be gone for a week on a business trip. You'll be okay on your own? asked Mom

She didn't look at me directly but I knew she was speaking to me. I sighed and nodded before getting up and collecting my bag.  The fresh air outside felt great and on the way to school I opened my car windows. It wasn't something I always did, just when I was upset. I blasted my music on full volume and sang my heart out. When I got to school I felt a little better and met Jake in the hallway busy giving some kid a black eye.

The kid ran away when Jake turned around and saw me. He hugged me and I returned it then saw Nick and greeted him too. We walked in the hallway and Jake was going on about some girl. I wasn't really listening. Jake shook me out of my daydreams.

"Dude you okay? he asked making a joke of it.

"What? Oh yeah. Just pissed cause we got a meeting with coach today.

It wasn't a lie. We did have a meeting with coach about the future and stuff. I always zoned out whenever I was having a serious talk with a teacher in general but I had a feeling I couldn't do that today. Jake nodded and agreed with my answer by complaining. We were now standing by the lockers as kids were walking past. The cheerleaders joined us but stayed far from me. I had warned them from the first day that I wasn't interested in them. Still they tried to change my mind.

My phone buzzed and I looked down to see who it was:

Axel: Thanks for the advice :) ~ A.

I smiled. So he didn't think I was pathetic. At least it didn't seem so.

Me: No problem :)

I smiled and quickly put my phone away before Jake could see what I was busy with. He was occupied talking to some girl and I joined in which made him pretty mad but it was worth it. It was a few minutes before the bell wrung and we headed to our classes. I hated Thursdays since I had history the first period and I was terrible at it. No matter how hard I tried I just never could remember all the important dates and what people did centuries ago.

I passed with an average mark which made me happy but wasn't good enough to my teachers. My parents didn't actually care about my grades and that somehow made me so bad, or so my therapist said. I focused on the words on the board and copied them down. Penelope Wood, the main gossip girl of our school, sat in front of me talking to her red haired friend whose name I couldn't remember. I tried not to listen but history generally irritated me so I decided to anyways.

"Did you hear? Erin Reeves got a note in her locker. She says it's from a secret admirer.

"Wait really? Lucky! I wish I could get notes from a guy. This schools guys are all jerks.

The teacher motioned for them to be quiet but after a few minutes they started gossiping again.

"Who's it from? whispered the red haired girl.

"I don't know, there wasn't a name. All Erin said is the guy who wrote it must be really smart since no jock in our school could have an IQ like that.

"Maybe it's one of the nerds?

"Oh please Vanessa! No nerd would stand a chance with Erin. It must be a jock.

I stopped listening after that and soon class was over. Erin was standing at her locker reading a note and showing it off to all the kids standing around her. There were some jocks there too and they all seemed to be jealous or upset. Other girls were there giggling and taking pictures with their phones. I had a feeling the news would spread.

I hurried past before Erin could see me and ended up at the end of the hallway where I bumped into someone.
I turned to see it was Amber and I bent down to help her collect all her stuff. I handed her all her books and she put them in her locker giving me a smile.

"Hi Amber. Sorry for knocking you over.

"That's okay. This is my locker anyways. But thanks.

"Duncan right?

"Yeah. That's me.

"I wanted to thank you for being so nice to Erick. Jake and Nick , those guys are jerks but I can tell you're not like that. You're different.

"Thanks Amber. That's nice of you to say and Ericks a nice guy. Don't tell Jake I said that.

"I won't. As long as you don't tell them I called them jerks. They'd come after me for that.

"I promise.

We stood in silence until I saw Jake approaching Erin and ran to meet him. He was pretending that he had no idea about the letter and I seriously wanted to knock some sense into him but remained still. We entered the cafeteria and only after being seated at our table did I see Amber enter with Erick and after a while Axel who came running and joined them. He was focused on a book and I watched him for a while. He seemed to ignore the world around him.

He looked up and his gaze met mine. We stayed like that for a few seconds until I looked down feeling ashamed. When I looked at Axel again Erick sat next to him and he flinched as he moved his shoulder. I guess the bruise was still there. I felt angry at Jake but mainly at myself for allowing him to be so cruel with others. I decided not to focus on Axel the entire time but instead on the table around me.

And so the conversation went from drugs to girls to parties and pretty much didn't change from there.