Freak (Troyler AU)

Chapter Eight

*Troye's POV*

I turned the corner, letting out a shaky breath now that I was out of their sight. I hated confrontation, especially when it put my health at risk. Come to think of it, what sort of confrontation doesn't do that for me? I sighed, forcing myself to get back on track and head toward the gym. Hopefully they'd still be set up for the stragglers like me and I wouldn't have to go pick it up at the office. Partly because that was a long walk, but mostly because I knew that was where Caspar was headed next and I wouldn't have Tyler there to save me next time. I froze in spot, stumbling only a little bit at the abrupt stop.

Since when do I rely on anyone to come save me? 

Much less Tyler freaking Oakley.

I leaned against the lockers, my brain suddenly swamped with a ton of thoughts, none of them very pleasant. When had this happened? Not only did I not hate my time around him, I actually liked it. I liked it a lot, to the point I'd missed nearly half of class talking to him about nothing in particular. I'd read his mind, on purpose. I'd kept myself from talking to people for so long, from putting myself out there, and now I open up to possibly the worst choice of all. If he found anything out about me, he could have the whole school alerted in a second. Not to mention the fact that one of his closest friends had just had me held off the ground by the scruff of my shirt. I raised a hand up, running it through my messy hair. 

So much for sliding through my final year stress-free and unnoticed.

I decided I couldn't waste any more time thinking about it. I'd worry about all the details later. Chances are he doesn't want to see me again anyway. He only talked to me for something to do while he was skipping. I shoved my hands in my pocket, continuing toward the gym. 

Much to my disappointment, there was only one teacher left in the gym to wait for stragglers. It was the unfamiliar woman from earlier, the one who had done the goat wrestling. Technically I didn't know that she was a teacher, but why else would she be the one set up here? 

"Hello! You're the same kid from earlier, right?"

"Yeah, Troye Mellet." I said, answering both her question and which paper she should look for. She nodded, taking the hint that I wasn't the talkative type, and began sorting through the remaining stack of papers.

"I'm Mrs. Lynds, the new student teacher." She mumbled, biting her lip in concentration. I just gave an awkward nod, not really knowing what I was supposed to reply to that. She let out an exclamation of triumph, holding up one paper in particular. 

"This is yours, I do believe." She beamed, shoving it toward me. I grabbed it, slightly annoyed with her overly peppy attitude. She opened her mouth like she was going to add something more, but I spun around and started walking away before she got the chance. I had a class to get to, and if I didn't skip to talk to Tyler I surely wasn't going to for her. I scurried down the hall toward my first class before stopping in my tracks. Shit. What was my first class?

I glanced down at the schedule in my hands and a smile spread across my features. English. It wasn't my favorite or anything, but it was definitely better than having to sit through something like History or Math. I didn't think I could right now, to be honest. My mind was way too distracted to seriously focus on anything.

I stood outside of the wooden door, the numbers '53' hanging on it blandly. I was kind of hoping the door wouldn't be closed, now everyone was going to look up when I walked in. I took a shaky breath, opening the door and nearly cursing aloud when it let out an annoying creak. As predicted everyone looked over at me, a few immature girls bursting into giggles over it despite it not being funny. They were all scattered around the room, doing some sort of exercises by the looks of it. Probably some weird game to get to know your classmates. The first day back to school was hardly ever taken seriously, especially not when your teacher is wearing a lime green dress adorned with polka dots. I can tell I will be learning a lot in English this year already.