𝐷𝐴𝑌𝐿𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇 - 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑅𝑇𝐸𝐸𝑁 𝑅𝐸𝐴𝑆𝑂𝑁𝑆 𝑊𝐻𝑌

15. ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ ʙᴀᴄᴋ

Clay Jensen stood in front of Hannah's locker, his hands by his sides as he stared at it. Never would he expect to lose two of his close friends in such short time. He was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a presence close behind him. He turned around to face Justin, who stared at him furiously. Clay's eyes moved a little lower and his eyebrows rose as he saw Armani.

The smaller girl was standing by Justin's side, his hand holding her finger loosely as they both faced Clay.

„What the hell are you doing?" Justin hissed, taking a step closer. Mani stayed put, looking at Clay without any emotion.

„Nothing. I'm just..." Clay trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

„Looking for something?" Mani picked in, tilting her head slightly. The boy looked at her, his eyes wide as he shook his head.

„What would I be looking for?" he asked, making Justin huff as Armani sighed and tugged on her bag's straps.

„You tell me." Justin said, leaning closer as Clay took a step back.

„Do you even know my name?" Clay asked, straightening his back as Justin rolled his eyes, stepping back towards Mani.

„Course I do, Clay." he spat and went to say something else, but a voice sounded through the hallway, making the three teens look in its direction.

„Guys. Second bell." Mr. Porter said, looking between the three closely. Mani nodded and grabbed Justin's hand, intending to walk away, but the boy leaned closer to Clay once again.

„You're not that innocent, Jensen. I don't give a shit what she says." he whispered and Clay looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, confusion written on his face.

„Justin." Mani warned and the Foley boy stepped back, walking away. The latina sent Clay a tight lipped smile and went to follow Justin.

„Armani." she shut her eyes as Mr. Porter approached her, going to put his hand on her shoulder but she flinched away. Justin turned around and quickly returned to her side after realizing that she hasn't followed him.

„Yeah?" Mani asked, forcing a smile as Porter smiled at her too. Justin stood behind her protectively, staring at the man.

„How are you?" he asked, knowing there was no use in asking Justin to leave. Ever since she came back, which was two weeks ago, she always had at least one of her friends by her side - most of the time it was Monty or Justin, other times Zach or Jess.

Mani still hadn't talked to Zoya. She wasn't mad - after all, the redhead did everything she could to prevent what happened that night. She just wasn't ready, and Zoya was willing to wait.

„I'm fine." she waved her hand, but the counselor frowned, seeing right through her lies.

„Mani, I know you're not." he said gently and girl's face hardened.

„It's Armani." she corrected, giving him a pointed look. The man nodded.

„Yeah, sorry. I can see that you're not fine, Armani." he persuaded and it was Justin's turn to speak up.

„She said she's fine." he snapped, not caring that he was talking to a teacher when it came to Mani. Mr. Porter narrowed his eyes, but after a moment sighed and took a step back.

„You know where to find me if you need to talk. Both of you." with that, he turned around and walked away. Mani sighed and Justin threw his arm around her shoulder.

„Come on, Ma."

„So, there are a number of ways to get help if you need it, or if a friend does, okay?" Ms. Bradley said, looking at every student in the classroom.