Start Again (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 16 - Fire

Chapter 16

I went to school feeling great. I had a nice sleep, although it was hard to do it at first because I couldn't stop thinking about the time that I shared with Russell last night. We had a rough start but all went well. I hope we had a rough end too, if you know what I mean.

I'm kidding. I can't even kiss him on the lips anymore because I want to try hard not to be the neighbourhood flirt. Will this day get worse or better? We'll see.

Walking in to my photography class, I was expecting to be left alone because Jean has just been gone for a while. But, I was mistaken.

"Hi!" She said in a shrill voice.

I was just so excited to see her that I ran towards her and hugged her.

"Oh, my god. Where have you been?" I said as I raised my voice.

"You know, just taking some time off from this prison that we call school."

We just started laughing and we were just scolded by the teacher.

"I swear, you two are such a big distraction to this class! I won't think twice of dropping you both out."

Jean and I just stared at each other. You know that feeling when you're just sending secret messages through gazes with your friends. Yeah, that kind of feeling.

We just grabbed our cameras and headed outside again because we wanted to make some noise. We had an hour and a half to do a lot of foolishness, so might as well start early. This time, we went farther than the school grounds to shoot photos. We just went far away where we wouldn't see anyone from school.

"So..." I trailed off.

"What?"

"Are you okay with your life right now? Like, school and social support wise?"

She just raised an eyebrow, questioning my motives. "Yeah, why? It's just been really hectic for me when it comes to academics that's why I haven't been hanging out with you guys for a while."

I just nodded. I know that something was bothering her.

To kill time, instead of taking photos of each other, we decided to enjoy nature. Flowers. Playgrounds. Trees. The homeless man living underneath the tree. It was such a sight to see. But once again, looking at Jean and feeling like she's been quite indifferent lately throws me off. So, I asked again. This time, I wanted to be direct.

"How's it going with Tanya and the others?"

I saw her jaw clench and muscles tense. I knew it. Those bitches probably did something bad to her.

"They're fine." She shot me a smile afterwards.

"THEY'RE fine. Are you?"

Her smile faded and it just turned into a blank stare.

"I know you're not fine. If there's anything wrong, you know that I'm here to help you out."

I reached out and hugged her. I don't like seeing my friends like this. You trust a person and they just have a nasty attitude that will have you running to the hills, but some people actually stay and endure someone's bad habits because they really want to be with you.

I noticed that she was starting to tear up and I released her.

"Do you want to grab ice cream after school?"

"No, I'm fine. Thanks. I'm just going with them after school." She said as she was wiping her tears.

"Do you want me to go with you, then?"