Better Let Them Know Who's Boss {mxm}

7.

"God damn it, Troy! You always start stuff and get us roped up in the mix!"

That was the first thing that I heard as soon as I stepped onto the Toronto campus.

I blinked weirdly as Avery staggered over to me, disgust written all over his facial expression. "You good, dude?" I peered in to see his pale and sweaty complexion, pupils unusually small in his grey eyes. "I would be if you didn't constantly put me in scenarios that I have absolutely no purpose of being in. You want to break the law, Troy," His voice gradually got deeper and louder, attracting a crowd of students. "That's on you, but don't think that I want to be apart of it." I stared at him, wondering where all of this was coming from, Jade arriving next to me on her hoverboard. "What's going on?" She looked at me, speaking with uncertainty in her voice. I went to answer but Avery cut me off.

He started coughing, his eyes glitching as if they were changing a series of colors in under a few seconds. I furrowed my brows, wondering if I was seeing shit. "A-are you okay, man?" I went to reach for him as he crouched over on his waist. "Get away from me!" He snapped, slapping my hand away. I was taken aback, slight hurt recoiling in the pit of my stomach. It was like that? With a snarl, Avery stood upright with his eyes narrowed, so much hate embodied in those orbs. "Matter of fact," There was a shiny silver liquid dripping from his lips and I frowned, wondering why he seemed so against me all of a sudden.

"I don't need you."

I blinked, confusion filling my core as Jade stepped closer to him, her face mirroring her saddened emotions. "I never needed you, Troy," Avery spat coldly and my heart throbbed, my eyes stinging with unshed tears. Why was he acting like this towards me? Had I done something wrong? "And I never will." He finished with a harsh glare sent my way, his hand coming up to wipe the silver liquid from his lips. He looked at Jade once more before walking off in the opposite direction of the school. I stared at the spot that he was standing in, questioning everything that just happened.

Did I just lose one of my best friends?

"I'm sure he didn't mean it Troy," Jade pulled on my arm, her voice pleading with me. "You know how Avery gets. Please don't take his words to heart," The crowd around us looked at me with glances of concern, pity, and mirth as if I deserved him yelling at me like that. As if that was my retribution for all of the laws that I had broken. I frowned as my brows clumped together, a way to stop myself from letting even the slightest bit of a tear fall. "...too late for that."

I snatched my arm out of her grasp, free hand reaching up to grip my bookbag as my umbrella hovered over me, the fallen raindrops reminding me of pain. "I'll see you later in class." I masked my voice, void of emotion as I walked forward, wanting to get to class so that this day could be over. I didn't know if this was a horrible dream or what, but Avery was deathly serious about what he said. To me, he seemed to have nothing but contempt for me and it was understandable.

Though I saved his life, I got him into countless situations with demon cops. It was only a matter of time before he got fed up. I rolled my eyes with a sigh, making way towards the history building, wanting this day to go by as quickly as the weekend did.

I walked into class alone, mugging the students who thought that they could stare at me. I didn't say anything like I would normally, just taking a seat at the back of the classroom. Seconds later, Jade walked in, shooting me a look of concern. I had no idea why she was here and not looking for Avery. All of those traitorous thoughts made me wonder if she felt the same way as well. There was no telling.

The seats in the class were filled and Pazul floated her way in, scanning the crowd with her narrowed eyes. She seemed to be on edge and it made my mind start conjuring up theories. "Good morning, class. Today, we will..." I tuned her out, looking out the window. My brain was not on today and the information she would be teaching regarding the demon lord would not resonate with me. It was as if I lost the last brain cell inside my head.