Danny Clark is a Nobody

Chapter Seventeen

"You're a dumbass, Sam. Why the fuck would you be shirtless? You know it's cold as hell today." Freddie said. "I couldn't find my shirt." Sam pouted. Freddie rolled his eyes again and Michael re-entered, holding a white shirt in his hands. "Here." He said, handing the shirt to Sam. "Thank you, thank you!" He said, he took off my blazer and handed it to me. "Thanks, Danny. I felt like the Hulk for a little bit." He laughed and did the buttons on his shirt. I blushed shyly. I needed to go to the gym; that way, I wouldn't be a skeleton.

"Sam, what's for breakfast?" Freddie asked. "How should I know?" Sam frowned. "What? Aren't you going to make something?" Freddie asked, returning the frown. "Wow! So you think of me as your personal chef?" Sam replied. Freddie rolled his eyes once more. "You literally said you wanted to make breakfast every school morning, you imbecile." He said.

"I did? Was I drunk?" Sam asked, his frown deepening. Michael feigned a cough and Sam's face grew red. He'd forgotten Michael was there. "Shit- I mean, I was just- I was joking. Haha." Sam lied unskilfully. "Mhm." Michael said, raising his eyebrow in disbelief.

"Dad, I'm sorry." Sam said, jutting his bottom lip out innocently. "You're grounded for a day, that's all." Michael said, humour in his tone. Sam hugged Michael and faked a sob, "you're the best, dad. I promise I won't disappoint you again."

My phone vibrated in my pocket. Taking it out, I saw that I had a text from Lily.

Lily
good morning danny!!

Me
Morning, Lily

Lily
just wanted to remind you that i'm going to kick your ass in the physics test today ;)

Me
Yeah, like that'll ever happen
Remind me who's beaten you in every test so far?

Lily
i scored the same as you in the math, biology, and chemistry tests

Me
I scored higher in everything else
Give up, Lily
You'll never beat me

Lily
whatever makes you feel better
just don't come crying to me when i score better than you in the upcoming exams

Me
We'll see about that, won't we?

Lily
yeah, we will >:)

I realised that I had been smiling absentmindedly at my phone and quickly tried to hide him. Sam gave me a curious look but then looked away. "What are we gonna have for breakfast?" Freddie whined. "Fine, I can make like, eggs and bacon if you want." Sam mumbled, annoyed. Freddie smiled. "That would be lovely."

Sam rolled his eyes and opened the fridge to get the eggs. I continued reading and silently longed for some more coffee. Sam kept muttering insults, directed at himself and at Freddie who smiled in amusement.

I peeked at Michael, and then returned my gaze back to my book. He had spoken to me last Tuesday about therapy. I had declined and he seemed disappointed, but I wasn't keen on going to therapy. It never worked for me. Countless times did Kim try to 'fix' me with shrinks and psychologists who put labels on my feelings and mental health. All their efforts were in vain.

"Here you go." Sam grumbled, handing a plate full of scrambled eggs and bacon to Freddie who smiled with false politeness. "Thank you, dear brother." He said and began eating. I wasn't keen on the bacon; the thought of eating pig, one of the most disgusting animals in the world, made me nauseous. However, Sam handed me a plate of eggs without bacon. "You never liked bacon as a kid. Do you still feel the same?" He asked. I nodded. "Thought so." He smiled at me and handed Michael his plate. Quickly, we cleared our plates and Michael drove us to school. It wasn't a daily occurrence, since Michael was a busy man, but he tried his hardest to make himself available to us.

•••

It was second period, where I had P.E. Reluctantly, I made my way to the boys' locker room, the filthiest place in the entire school. Readying myself for the abominable stench of poor bodily hygiene and excessive sweat, I opened the door, and the warm, nauseating air assaulted my face. Managing not to gag uncontrollably, I quickly changed in a dark corner.

I was in and out before half the class even entered the locker room from hell. I grabbed my water bottle and sat on the bleachers. There was a large football field, and I watched as some teenagers — who were skipping class — started playing around, laughing and giggling.

Will and I shared one class; physical education. Apparently, each group of sophomores were divided according to rank. Since I was at the top of my class at my previous school, and Will unashamedly was at the bottom, we didn't have any classes together.

"You look disgusted. Visited the boys' locker room, I see?" Will said, plopping himself down next to me. I nodded, frowning in self-pity. "God, those gym obsessed jocks have no fucking shame. I felt like I had just stepped into a chronic case of athlete's foot. Fucking foul, vile, ghastly, sickening, appalling, revolting..." I was surprised at Will's wide vocabulary as he kept going on.

"Right! Listen up, delinquents! The hell are you doing sitting on your fat asses?! Get up!" The gym teacher, Mr. Johnson, bellowed at us. "Fuck." Muttered Will as he glared at the despised teacher and got up. "C'mon." He told me. I got up reluctantly, and walked down to the football field. The others in my class also walked up, shivering against the cold.

"What is it, Sharma? Huh? Would you rather be inside, stuffing your face with junk food?!" He yelled at a short, shy guy, who's face reddened. I was furious for him; nobody deserves to be spoken to like that. "Run 5 laps around this field. Sharma! You run an extra 2 laps, god knows ya need it!"

"That fucking bitch." Muttered Will from beside me. Mr. Johnson turned to glare at him. "What the hell did you just say?" Will rolled his eyes and said, "nothing, sir." He then turned to me. "Hey, Gumby, what did he say?"

"Nothing." I replied. "Listen here, spaghetti stick, I don't care if he's your boyfriend or whatever. Tell me what he just said or it's detention for both of you." He said angrily. I crossed my arms over my stomach insecurely. Beside me, Will clenched his fist in anger. "I said that you're a fucking bitch." He said loudly. Other students looked around and muttered.

"GO TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE RIGHT NOW!" Mr. Johnson yelled at him, almost breaking my eardrums. Will rolled his eyes and started walking. "You too, daddy long legs." He told me. I followed Will, who scowled at the horrible gym teacher.

"You okay?" He whispered to me, worry in his eyes. I looked away. "I'm fine." I mumbled. "Start running!" I heard Mr. Johnson yell at the other guys. "Sharma, want me to dangle a burger in front of you or what? Faster, fatty!Move that lazy ass of yours!"

Will stopped in his tracks. He breathed heavily and I could tell he was too angry for me to reason with him. He turned around and stomped up to Mr. Johnson, then he punched him square in the jaw. I could swear I heard a crack, even standing far away. The teacher yelled in pain. Will looked smugly at Mr. Johnson's pain. "You're a fucking asshole." He said. He was going to be in so much shit.