bad influence 》h.g.

Fifteen || The Old Library

It was like déjà vu that day. By that I mean it was a repeat of being unable to find Heidi and Kyle once again. They knew I hated it. I suspected they were up to something but I couldn't begin to imagine what. It could be anything. Although, surely, it couldn't be bad since they were my best friends, right? I shouldn't have gotten myself so worked up over nothing. I was still annoyed though that they had gone off somewhere together without telling me, they could've at least warned me in advance so I could find someone to keep me company. I sighed and leaned against my locker, pulling out my phone and checking my Facebook inbox: nothing. I messaged Cam last night and he didn't reply, but he read it a couple hours ago. Wow, okay.

I decided to send Nash a message instead, and subtly asked if he knew why Cameron was ignoring me. He opened the message almost instantly, catching me by surprise. But after 2 minutes of ignorance I lost hope. Okay, fine, I don't even care. I'm just gonna call them. I scrolled through my contacts and found Cameron's name before pressing 'call'.

The phone made the familiar, repetitive purring sound to indicate his phone must be ringing. He never went anywhere without his phone- not the bathroom, not to bed; he even had a waterproof cover so he can use it in the shower. Yeah, he's weird, I know. No answer. I tried again: no answer. My frustration was almost overwhelming. As a last resort I called Nash's phone 3 times, only to be faced by no response. Christ, what is this- Ignore Ava Day? I gritted my teeth and decided to call my big sister to let off some steam. Besides, we hadn't spoken in a while since she's so busy with work and all.

As I found her name, the bell went, signalling third period, so I couldn't call her. I growled and punched my locker. A searing pain shot through my knuckles but I pretended I didn't feel it.

"Woah, easy, Ava. Are you alright?" A familiar voice asked. I turned round to be faced with Logan. I nodded slowly before shaking my head and bursting into tears after failing to convince us both that I was okay. "Hey, hey, shh. Come with me." He said, gently taking my hand and leading me through the sea of kids on their way to lessons. I kept my head down to avoid drawing attention to myself, since I probably looked like a drowned rat right now, minus the wet hair.

He opened the door of the old library and ushered me inside before closing it behind us. It was now silent and no one was in here besides the two of us. This place was pretty much abandoned, waiting for refurbishment that was meant to take place about a year ago but never did. It was kind of dark and dusty, but I liked it.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly, holding my forearms with his hands gently.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just having a bad day." I sighed, wiping my tears with my hand.

"Here, let me get that." He said kindly, tenderly wiping under my eyes with his hoodie sleeve.

"I'm sorry I got your sleeve all wet." I sniffed.

"You think that matters? All I care about right now is making sure you're okay." He chuckled, causing me to smile. "Talk to me."

"About what?" I asked in confusion.

"I don't know, anything. What's on your mind, what made you hit your locker? That was a pretty good punch by the way." He smirked.

"My brother taught me." I smiled. His eyes latched onto mine and I knew he was waiting for me to tell him what was up. I paused for thought. "Well, I'm pretty pissed at Kyle and Heidi since they keep sneaking off somewhere together without telling me so I'm constantly just left alone. Cam and Nash are ignoring me after blowing me off-"

"Blowing you off from what?" Logan interrupted.

"They were supposed to come visit us for my birthday and then they just bailed and all I got was a lttle message saying 'sorry, we can't come now, miss you'. That's all I got." I said in annoyance. Logan frowned. "Then there's Hayes, being a complete dick as usual."

"He's really cool once you get to know him, Ava."

"I do know him. I know him very well. We were best friends, Logan."

"Yeah, sorry. I forgot." He said, scratching the back of his neck.

"And then I'm sick of being treated like a little kid by my mom and nothing I do is never good enough for her. And then there's my relationship with Jack that I don't even understand." I sighed. I was surprised I was telling Logan Caniff, of all people about my problems. I hadn't even told Heidi or Kyle.

"You should break up with him." He said quickly.

"What? No! I can't."

"Why not?"

"I love him."

"But he doesn't love you." Logan sighed. I was shocked.

"Look, Logan. I appreciate you listening to me and all, but I really don't think you're in any position to tell me whether Jack loves me or not. He does." I insisted. He just shook his head and threw his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry." He apologised.

"No, don't say that. You'll make me feel bad." I uttered.

"Sorry." He smirked.

"Funny, asshole." I smiled, wiping the remains of my tears onto my sleeve.

"I must be, I got you to smile, right?" He grinned.

"Yeah, I guess you did. You do realise we're gonna be in so much trouble for being late to class, right?" I asked.

"Correct. So let's not go." He shrugged.

"Skipping class would land us in even deeper shit, Logan!" I chuckled.

"Ava?"

"Yeah?"

"Live a little."

I smirked and nodded- Ava Dallas, skipping class. I was breaking a rule that wasn't even on the list. Logan and I hung out until the bell rang to signal lunch. "Wanna sit with us?" He offered.

"Who's us?" I asked uncertainly.

"Me, Riley and Hayes."

"Me sit with Hayes Grier? Logan, are you feeling okay?" I smirked, feeling his forehead. He chuckled, and shook off my hand.

"Okay, wanna sit with me?" He requested.

"Sure." I accepted, knowing Heidi and Kyle were probably still hiding away together. I followed Logan into the cafeteria where he chose us a table and we sat and talked. The familiar sound of skateboard wheels clattered along the floor as Riley and Hayes approached. I rolled my eyes.

"She's not sitting with us, bruh." Hayes scowled.

"Actually, she's sitting with me." Logan replied casually. Riley just looked confused while Hayes shot me an icy glare.

"You out to steal my friends now?" He spat. I opened mouth to respond but Logan beat me to it.

"Nah, dude. I asked her."

I saw Hayes' jaw tense as he stared at me before riding away and gesturing for Riley to follow. "Sorry about that."

"No, it was my fault." I sighed.

"It was Hayes' fault really, he overreacted. Don't worry about it." Logan shrugged.

"Trust me, I won't." I responded with a raised eyebrow, earning a grin from Logan.

Minutes later, around 40 kids shot up from their tables and ran to the courtyard. Logan and I frowned at each other in confusion and followed the crowd. Pre-pubescent ninth grade boys chanted "fight, fight, fight" repeatedly as a circle formed around whoever was fighting. I pushed my way through the gathering, dragging Logan with me by the wrist. Then, as I saw the two opponents, my heart dropped. Hayes and Jack.