Days Like These

Ch 14

On Monday, everyone avoided Vic. He received either disappointed looks or glaring eyes. The only people who actually talked to him were Alex's friends, and even then, Jack still doesn't like him much. Today, he's sitting with them during lunch ignoring the way his old friends stare at him while Alex kisses his neck, marking him in the process. A teacher walked by, clearing his throat, making them separate.

There was a loud squeal throughout the cafeteria and everyone turned to the noise. When Vic looked over, he saw Alan, with a smile on his face, hugging Kellin, who was blushing madly, tightly.

"I call dibs!" Alan shouted. Kellin covered his mouth with his hand, making a shushing motion. He caught Vic's eyes and looked away quickly.

"Ugh, they're so fucking weird. Especially that soulless ginger." Vic didn't defend Alan like he used to when someone called him soulless. He was one of the most carefree people he ever met and he was so caring. "Vic, do you want to skip last period?"

"I can't.' Alex pouted at the news. "I have a test. An important test."

"Fine, then I'll meet you at your house after school. Anyways, I gotta go." Alex got up with his stuff and left, leaving Vic with the other three boys in an awkward silence. Vic caught Jaime's eyes and Jaime looked away with disgust.

"Um, I'll see you guys later. I need to talk to someone." Grabbing his backpack, Vic walked over his old table and everyone got quiet. "Uh, Jaime can I talk to you?"

"Oh, now you want to talk to me?" there had been few times where Jaime was mad and this is one of them. Vic was scared.

"Please?" he asked, while looking down. His face was heating up while he felt everyone's eyes on him. Being roughly grabbed by the elbow, Vic was led out into the empty hallway.

"What do you want?" the spikey-haired boy asked rudely.

"I, um, wanted to say sorry a-."

"I'm not the one you should apologize to."

"He won't accept it."

"Damn right he won't." the statement made Vic's heart crumble a bit. But ... it's not his fault. He left. "Look, I won't tell you what to do but you better choose wisely because if you don't, you'll lose both of them."

"Both?"

"Uh, your brother and Kellin." Jaime said oddly. "Look, I've said too much and I want to get back to my real friends. You know the ones who were there when Alex left."

"You don't know shit that happened between me and Alex." Vic said through tight teeth.

"You're right, I don't, but I do know that you were crying your fucking eyes out. So, let me guess. Alex left you right. It was never a 'mutual agreement' shit was it. He left and brought back Jack didn't he."

"They're just friends."

"Not what Danny said. But look, you're giving me a headache so I'm leaving."

Vic watched him enter the cafeteria, his joyful mood coming back as he sat next to Kellin and gave him a big, wet kiss on the cheek. He could always make up the test.

*

"So, um, what did Vic want?" Kellin asked as he nibbled on a few Cheetos.

They were at the community center playing soccer in one of the small gyms. Mike, Austin, Tino, and Aaron were playing against Jack, Gabe, Justin and Jesse, making Phil the referee. Tony, Alan, and Jaime sat with Kellin on the bleachers that were against the wall.

"Um, he wanted to apologize."

"And what did you say?"

"That you weren't going to accept it." Kellin made a noise, confirming that he had heard Jaime. "You're not mad right?"