Truth Comes Alive At Night

Chapter 4- Proud Loner

Y/N---

I take pride in being a loner at school.

Even though sometimes, I admit, I want someone to talk and relate to.

But I've grown used to it.

Avoiding friendships means avoiding unnecessary drama, unhealthy dependency, and tons of things.

Like falling in love with them, rejecting you, never talking to you again..

I shut that thought up.

To be fair, it's not that I make myself completely unapproachable. I always give people a 5-day trial. To judge their character, get to know them.

But no one's ever exactly clicked.

I've met a lot of people that have failed the trial. Almost always, it's because of their personality. Whether it be spoilt brats, mindless sheep, reckless riskers, people who close themselves off..

Actually, I can't talk on that last one. That's what I've become.

I sigh heavily, back to reality. I slip my earplugs on and get ready to play some Nirvana, vocals only this time. Sometimes it's a whole nother experience to hear the singer's voice on its own, especially Kurt's. The first song I pick is You know you're right, my favourite one. As soon as it starts to play, I'm sunk into a state of bliss.

Song after song, I wander aimlessly around the field, drawn into the music.

I almost don't hear the school bell ring.

Drat.

In double history, I actually enjoy myself. This subject is one of my favourites with how interesting it is. There's everything in history- funny things, sad things, stupid things- it just all appeals to me so much. But you know what doesn't appeal to me?

Damian Scott being in the same class.

Appearance wise, he's got quite the look. I don't completely despise him.
But it's becoming more and more apparent my previous assumptions about his behaviour were true. He's sort of a jock. He easily, confidently chats to guys, sometimes girls too. He's not too fussed about his education. He can be funny, even.

I don't get what he sees in me to want to be around me though.

He's sitting far away from me and yet I can still feel his gaze towards me from time to time. I catch him once and stare at him- he pretends to ignore me and faces the front. I sigh, toying with a lock of my hair which serves as a distraction. I twirl it repeatedly round my finger, then watch as it's released, bouncing in the air.

As long as I ignore Damian, he'll be less of a bother to me.

The moment lunchtime begins, I escape the room and take refuge in the field. Noticing a bench that wasn't there last year, I head towards it and check it out. The armrest is comfy. I settle down and prop up my lunchbox. I choose what goes in it, but Mum usually packs it for me when I forget about it, or simply don't have the time to sort it out. Which is good, because I totally forgot about it yesterday.

The main is a beautiful chicken sandwich I cannot resist immediately digging into. Heck, I devour it fully, not realising how hungry I was before. I only stop eating to wipe my mouth, then continue. I eat until everything in my packed lunch is gone, washing it all down with some classic apple juice. My eating habits are a little questionable but hey, who can blame me, food is awesome.

A basketball flies through the air in front of me and catches me off guard. What the heck? I jump off the bench, pack away all my stuff and just as I'm ready to flee the war zone, Damian appears once more.

"Sorry about that- I was passing it to that guy over there, but I wasn't expecting him to be so bad at catching." He chuckles lightly.

Orrr maybe you're just bad at throwing.

"It's fine. Watch where you're playing next time. You were lucky the ball didn't hit me." I reply firmly and start walking off. He pulls me back, which clearly takes very little effort considering the size and strength difference. "Hey, want me to make it up to you this evening? I'll get you a milkshake, on me."

His tone is overly casual. Is he trying to flirt? I walk off without giving a second response. This time he doesn't try to hold me back, only rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. The other guy catches up to him and they return to the court, hopefully with being more careful in mind.

I sigh quietly, pushing open the door to inside. At least no basketball can hit me-

No sooner than I had thought that, a football hurtles itself in my direction and lands at my leg.

FOR FUCK'S SAKE-