The Kings IV II

34

Henry

I walked into class, desperately searching for Hero.

"Hey, Mrs. Thompson, have you seen Hero?"

She looked up at me, her lips parted. "N-no. I haven't."

"Fuck, where is he?" I muttered, walking backwards through the classroom as I looked around for him.

I bumped into something, making me turn around. "Sorry-"

I froze when I saw Zach, a small smile on his face.

"You're good," he said, "maybe be a little more mindful of where you're going?"

"Y-yeah," I muttered, nodding.

He smiled and brushed past me, making me sit down at our table. We hadn't had much of an exchange at all since the party, and I was left in a state of confusion and honestly, embarrassment.

Hero walked into class, making me open my arms and lean back in my chair. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Woke up late," he said, his eyes dragging down Mrs. Thompson's body as he walked past her.

He threw his bag down and collapsed into his seat, rubbing his hands down his face.

"We've got a game tonight, man," I said, cautiously looking over at him.

"Yeah, I know," he said, rubbing his extremely tired looking eyes.

Zach walked back to our table and sat next to me, earning my eyes.

"Good morning," he greeted, looking over at me.

"H-hey," I said.

He smiled, looking forward.

"Listen," I said, looking around to make sure no one was near, "I-I'm sorry, for you know. What happened at the party."

"What happened at the party?" He asked, looking over at me.

"Well, you know," I began, searching for the correct words, "you know."

He smirked. "No need to apologize. I'd be lying if I said I'd never gotten hard from Henry King."

My eyes went wide, making me watch as he leaned forward.

I followed his movement shortly after, bracing my arms on the table. "A-are you for real?"

He looked over at me, his eyes boring what felt like holes into my own.

"Yeah," he whispered, his eyes darting down to my lips for a split second.

"Since when are you two friends?" Mrs. Thompson asked, grinning down at us as she held out our packets.

"Oh, we hate each other," I teased.

"Yeah, that's the look of hatred," Zach said, earning a small giggle from Mrs. Thompson.

I looked over at Hero, seeing her standing at his table.

"We need to talk after class," she whispered down at him, barely even loud enough for me to hear. I knitted my eyebrows together, but chose to stay out of Hero's business. Because that's what he hated most- someone being in his business.

"I broke up with her."

I looked over at Zach. "Oh. I'm sorry."

He doodled on his packet, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "No, you're not."

"Well, is she okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, "you know, I never pegged you to be so caring."