You Don't Understand

Chapter 3

A normal day:

'What's you next lesson?' James asked Jay as they walked to their lockers.

'Biology, same as yours, James,' Jay replied.

'Oh, yeah, makes sense,' James stated with a dumb smile.

Their lockers had one in between each other, almost next to one another. Jay switched around his books, grabbing the ones he needed for the second half of the day. Suddenly his locker was slammed shut and a hand hit his back, causing him to fall into the locker.

'Watch it, freak!' A voice yelled at him. George, Mike's friend.

'Tell your little boyfriend to watch it, too!' Mike shoved James into his locker as well, 'stay apart, I don't want to be seeing any stupid gay ass action, got it?'

'We're not dating!' James yelled back.

'Whatever, fairy boy!' Mike said with a disgusted expression as they walked off. James and Jay simply stood, staring at the guys who laughed down the corridor.

'How do you deal with him, Jay?' James asked.

'I don't know,' Jay replied, 'I get to sit in front of him in Biology.'

'Good luck,' James smiled pitifully before the bell rang and he walked off.

Jay sighed heavily and made his way to his class. He walked in, taking his seat. Ally, the girl who usually sat next to him, wasn't there that day, leaving an empty seat. Behind him sat Mike and George, as always he ignored their not-so-subtle remarks about his appearance.

Throughout the notes were various drawings of cells, drawn well and keeping Jay distracted. Behind him, Mike and George talked and laughed, annoying the class and interrupting the teacher.

'Right, Mr Vertez, I'd like you to move!' Mrs Miers finally snapped, throwing down the white board ben onto her messy desk.

'Why? What did I do?' Mike acted innocent whilst George muffled his laughter.

'You know what you've done, now move!' Mrs Miers yelled at him.

Mike scoffed, 'where? There's no seats.'

'In front of you is an empty seat, Mr Verdez, it's not hard to spot,' Mrs Miers dipped her head down slightly, 'now, move.'

'Fine, I'm moving, whatever,' Mike said, collecting his things and moving seats.

'If you dare turn around, you'll have detention for a week, understood?' Mrs Miers questioned, to which Mike nodded, 'good', she said, before continuing her class.

Mike turned to look at Jay, who was still drawing the diagrams of his own, 'what the hell are you doing, gay boy?'

Jay didn't respond, he never did. Whilst Mike knew this, he was almost desperate to get a reaction out of him. Even just to hear his voice.

'Hey, talk to me. Look at me!' Mike demanded, but Jay didn't move, 'are you deaf or something, fairy? Why don't you talk, freak?'

'Mike Verdez! Stop talking for once in your life!' Mrs Miers sighed and turned around, her sudden outburst earned laughter from the class.

'Blame him,' Mike pointed to Jay, 'he's distracting me, he started talking to me.'

The teacher almost laughed, 'right, I'm sure Jay would be interested in talking to you. The quiet kid who gets straight A's and has never talked in my class would definitely be interested in talking to you, keep dreaming.'

The class laughed again at the teacher's words, Mike turned a little red from embarrassment and sunk into his chair.

After the final bell rang, it released the students from school. Another day survived, that's how both Mike and Jay viewed it, but for different reasons. Jay walked home with Thomas, side by side in a comforting silence, until Jay broke it,

'How was your day, Thomas?' His voice was soft and sweet, Thomas usually spoke to Jay if he were to speak to anyone.

'It was alright, I guess,' Thomas mumbled, 'oh, I can't meet up tomorrow to walk to school, dentist appointment.'

'Ah, that's ok. Don't get drilled by a psycho dentist.'

Thomas laughed silently, 'I'll try not to. See you later.'

'Bye, Thomas,' Jay waved goodbye, Thomas waved back before entering his house.

Jay continued on walking to his home, only passing a few houses before reaching his own. Inside, he was greeted with Charlie, his husky dog. She was smaller than most huskies, but had an adorable face and gorgeous blue eyes. She jumped onto his knees, attempting to lick his face. Jay laughed and was gentle as he pushed her down.

'Jay, is that you?' the sound of his mother's voice came from the other room.

'Yeah it is,' Jay answered back.

'Jay, where's your bag?'

'Shut up, Madison, I've heard that joke twice already today,' Jay said to his older sister.

Madison laughed, 'it's funny.'

'It's also not original,' Jay crossed his arms.

'Doesn't matter, Jay, it's still funny,' Madison smiled cheekily at him before walking off.

Jay walked up the stairs, walking past his younger sister, Mia, who was sat at the bottom of the stairs visibly sulking. Time out already? Jay thought, she just got home. At home, Jay acted differently than at school, it was like he was a whole new person. At school, he was quiet and reserved, but outside of school, he was laughing and talking. His household consisted of him being the only guy, then his mother, two sisters and dog. Their father had left just after Mia, his younger sister, had been born. He was abusive, and their mother would never emotionally recovered. Regardless, they managed. Madison had left school and already started working full time for a year. She felt it was her responsibility, being the oldest by 3 years compared to Jay, who was 16. Then Mia was only 11.

Jay entered his brightly coloured room. Walls were white, furniture cream, then the bed covers and curtains were a deep purple. All the decorations were bright and light, too. His bag was placed next to his door, which was shut behind him. Jay opened his bag, bringing out his books and his phone. As he organised his books, ready to do his homework, his phone pinged. A news article informed him that the coffee shop he went every morning had just closed down. Jay felt saddened by this, he had gone there every morning for just over a year, he knew the staff well and they found him adorable. He just hoped the staff would get better jobs and have a better future.

That night, Jay finished his homework and went to bed, feeling happy and comforted by the bright colours that gave off a happy aura.