New Beginnings

Chapter 29 : Same old problems

Chapter 29

A few days later...

Nick POV

I was in the car on the way back to Dalton.

"I'd better not hear about one toe being out of line, do you hear me, Nicholas?" My dad asked.

"Yes, loud and clear."

"You're lucky you only got suspended and not expelled."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Next time you might not get so lucky. I don't want to hear about any more fights. I don't want my son getting into trouble. And you need to study harder and get better grades. I want A's, Nicholas. Not A's and B's. A's. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, dad..."

"Good. Now get out. We're here."

I took off my seat belt, and got out of the car.

"I will email you later about your next visit to home. I hope you learned your lesson."

"Yes, dad."

"Good. I'll talk to you later."

"Ok. Bye, dad."

"Bye, Nicholas."

I walked into Dalton, and went up to my dorm room. I didn't have my key, so I knocked.

"NICKY!"

I almost fell over. Jeff had jumped completely into my arms, and was hugging me so tightly, I could barely move.

I put Jeff down on the ground again. Alex walked over, and gave me a hug.

"Ooh... You've still got some battle wounds," Alex said, tracing her finger over some of the marks on my face.

"Yeah, Sebastian got me good... But I also got him pretty good, so... We're even, I suppose."

"How was home? Did you get in trouble?" Alex asked.

Jeff grabbed my hand, and dragged me over to the bed. I sat down beside him. Alex came over, and sat down too.

"Yeah, I got in big trouble. I've never done so many chores in my entire life. It was awful. He'd wake me up around the time school starts, and I'd have to get up, do the dishes, clean the house, make the meals... Ugh, I'm still so tired!"

Alex laughed.

"Was it worth beating him up?" Alex asked.

"Honestly, yeah, it was. He deserved it. I don't trust him."

Jeff's smile faded.

"Look, you guys. I don't trust Sebastian. I'm not saying you guys can't be friends with him, but I'm not going to. And if you guys get hurt by him, or even break up as boyfriend and girlfriend, don't come crying to me because I warned you, and I don't want to hear it. Ok?"

"Why can't we all just be friends!?" Jeff asked, starting to cry.

I sighed.

"Ignore him. He's been doing that all week. Look. I get where you're coming from. But I want to give him a chance. I promise I'll be cautious around him. And I'm putting Jeff first. I just want Jeff to be happy. That's partly why I'm giving Sebastian a chance. And since he used to be Jeff's bully, and Jeff's ok with being friends again, I think Jeff is old enough and smart enough to make his own decisions. If he wants to be friends with Sebastian, then I'm not going to stop him. If the situation was different, maybe I'd try, but Sebastian saved him 3 times, Nick."

"No one was there to see it. What if he's lying?"

"Look. I talked to Jeff about it. You know he's a bad liar. He wasn't lying. He was telling the truth. And that's one of the only reasons I trust Sebastian now. I think you should give him a chance."

I sighed, and looked over at Jeff. He's curled up on the bed now, whimpering.

"I don't want to give him a chance right now. I don't have a good gut feeling about him. I'm not saying my mind is made up forever, but right now, I'm not being friends with him. And you guys have to accept that. It's my decision."

Jeff started making all these whiny noises, and he just buried himself under the covers. I looked at Alex. She just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"So did I miss much this week?"

"No, not really. Everything was pretty slow and chill. It'll be a little bit difficult to catch up with math, but that's only because you missed 4 lessons. And a quiz."

I sighed. This sucks.

"Alright... Well I'm going to take a shower, and then go talk to some of my teachers before it's time for dinner."

"Ok."

Jeff POV

Once I heard the bathroom door close, I crawled out from under the covers.

"Do you think Sebastian is back?" I asked, wiping my tears.

"Maybe."

"Can I go see?"

"Sure."

I jumped up, and ran out the door. I knocked on Sebastian's door, but nobody answered. I knocked again, but got no response. He's probably just not back yet.

I went back to my own room, and flopped over on the bed.

"Any luck?" Alex asked.

"Nope..."

"He's probably just not back yet."

"Probably..."