Blue Eyes (bxb)

Twenty Four

As soon as I arrived at school the next morning, I caught sight of Brandon and one of our teammates, Lewis, by some lockers. "Alright, lads?" I greeted, patting them both on the back.

"Mornin', Zak," Brendon welcomed. "Hey, uh, sorry about the whole Finley thing. We are cool, right? I'd hate for things to be weird between us."

"Yeah, definitely. I appreciate you being nice to him, though. That kid just has to go through a lot. I don't want you dipshits making his life even worse."

"Yeah, and I get that. Promise you we'll stop." He jutted out his pinkie finger to me, grinning childishly. Typical Brendon.

"Okay." And I interlocked it with mine, an equally goofy smirk present on my own lips.

Brendon and I ended up walking together to first lesson. The class was silent when we entered, nothing but the tick-tocking of the clock above the whiteboard. Mr Smythe glared at our late showing, but we paid no attention. Instead, I focused in on what we'd missed in the first ten minutes of the lesson. Algebraic equations. Great.

I caught  a glimpse of Brendon chatting to some mindless blonde from across the room. Her school shirt was buttoned up so that her lacey blue bra was exposed whenever she leant over and she had fake eyelashes that looked like she'd glued spiders onto her face. I felt bad for Brendon having to speak to that idiotic, attention-seeking slut in public. Only, he was the one talking to her. His smile with her was genuine and flirtatious, he honestly seemed interested in her. What I couldn't understand was how he could like someone like her. Those fake lips and fake boobs and fake nails were obviously enough to capture him in nothing but pure adoration. But why? He didn't chose to like her, he just did. And I guess that applied to my feelings towards Finn, too. I didn't choose to... well... like him (kinda), it just happened, and I shouldn't fight it.

I glanced down at my backpack under the table. Finley's sunglasses were peaking out the zip. I was planning to return them to him that day. The thought of his toothy grin when I get down on one knee and hand them over made butterflies spill out of my stomach. A warm fuzziness settled in my chest, I didn't know if I wanted to spew or giggle. It was raw pain, but it felt so motherfucking good.

The bell rang indicating the end of the lesson. I was about to leave when Mr. Smythe called me up to his desk. Everyone else filed out the door, leaving only me and him standing by his ancient laptop. "Am I in trouble?" I asked, cautiously.

"Actually, Mr. Peters, quite the opposite. I just wanted to praise you on your work ethic today. You've really cleaned up your act since the last time I saw you. Carry on like this and you'll be sticking on that football team for sure." For the first time in, like, ever, he smiled at me. And it was genuine, not like those plastic ones I flash Skai when she compliments me on my footwork in rugby. It kind of shocked me, to be honest. I'd never been complimented by a teacher before. My whole life, I've just been told how much of a nightmare I am and how I need to get my act together. It was definitely a weird conversation to me.

"Oh... uh...thanks, Sir," I managed to choke out.

"No problem, Zak, now get out. You don't want to be late for your next lesson."

"Okay, see ya' tomorrow then, I guess." I made my way out the door, looking back at the chubby, middle-aged man who just told me I did well in class. Wow. Never thought I'd see the day.

It was soon lunch. I told Brendan and Jacob I had something to do, and by something I meant Finn. I saw him at his usual bench with Georgie, Jack and Ellie. As I approached, I heard Georgie talking about one of her recent musical obsessions and saw Jack chewing vigorously at what appeared to be a cheese sandwich. Ellie was giggling with Finley about Georgie's fangirling antics. "Hey, guys," I interrupted.