"Sir, It is impossible for two guys to mess up a hallway within such a short amount of time. No, wait don't count Hamilton in. Correction- I cannot possibly do all this in like- what- 10 to 20 minutes?"
I didn't know Jeff could be this serious.
Seeing him here.... I would not have thought it was him-but be thoroughly convinced that the person i'm seeing is simply another person who looks like Jeff.
I'm not a stranger to the principal's office. Alright, perhaps THIS principal's office but in the past I used to sneak in my Gameboy and PSVita so that Alan and I could totally ditch boring classes with these cool babes. Yes, we tried to be careful, but we were only middle- schoolers and there's only so much you can go to being careful. Especially if you break your high score in Tetris or you beat Marioland in the fastest time.
Ah.... memories.
Every time we were caught and yelled at, we'd just snicker and laugh together, though I some what had a gut feeling that most of the time Alan some how tried to weasel his way out of detention, I just ignored it. I see it clearly now, Alan wasn't even really my friend in the first place. I'm the kind who puts others first while he's the type who is nice and smiling to everyone but puts himself first.
I remembered when I compared Jeff and Alan together.
I secretly measured them by their attractiveness. They were both good- looking in their own way. Their personalities, though.
So.... different.
Jeff just downright told the principal not to involve me. And judging by the look on his face, he was dead serious.
This is the first time, in my life, someone stood up for me. I wanted to hug him and say thank you.
"Sommers, I know you didn't do this. And I know very well about Hamilton."
I felt relieved that he remembered the first time I met him with my parents as they explained a bit about my.... 'psychological state'.
"Now I understand about your medical condition, but that does not excuse you from skipping classes. The latest one being the art class."
Huh? I skipped art class?
"Sir, there's been a mistake."
"You're not in visual arts- you're in performing arts."
"Principal, he skipped a meeting. Not a class. Besides, he was not informed about that meeting."
"Really? Katrina Chang came to me, with this letter, to consider the meeting as part of class. Afterwards, they were all working on task and fund management together."
Principal Davis pushed a folded piece of paper across his desk toward us. Jeff was the first to pick it up, unfold and read. He gave a thoughtful nod before returning the parchment.
"It's just one class."
"That's not it. Hamilton has skipped others as well."
"Principal Davis, I don't think that's-"
I stopped Jeff with a light tap on his shoulder. And then nodded to Principal Davis.
"I-I-I....It's- It's- um... It's tr-ue. It's true. I did skip.."
My voice faded, head down embarrassingly. You've put your standards too high on me Jeff.
"I'm sorry," I said as I turned to the big man seated. I just didn't feel safe at times. How I hated it when I didn't feel like I was going to be safe. Anytime I felt the nightmare would begin again, I just walked out from wherever I was and sat down at some place quiet as I calibrate my thoughts.
The three of us stood there silently, each waiting for the other to respond first. Finally, the older guy became the first to end the stillness with a short sigh.
"Hamilton," he called me and with a short pause, continued with an exasperated tone, "I don't mean to sound unsympathetic but, you have to correct this.... human phobia of yours."
"You don't have to sound that way if you are going to be unsympathetic."
I looked up at Jeff in utter disbelief. And so did the principal. Even more shocking to me, he still stood there, his face and expression perfectly unfazed as if since from the moment we stepped into this room, he hadn't lost a touch of seriousness.
But in all honesty, I can't tell if he is serious or if he is in a bad mood.
"I have a lot already on my plate. Our school is one of the best schools in the state and I intend to uphold its reputation."
"Sounds like a far- fetched ideal if you'd look at our hallway," Jeff smirked.
"Precisely. I assume you both can give me a few names. They will be dealt with strictly."
We ended on a note that from now on, I was to attend classes. Regularly. Also, since Jeff was being 'highly' defensive on my behavior, Principal Davis found it befitting that Jeff be my 'mentor and counselor' (which I think he means babysitting) and we were assigned some mission to find out who was going around destroying CCTVs.
That last part in my opinion was really unnecessary. C'mon, when Jeff questioned Principal Davis, the man himself admitted it could be anyone! It just so happened we were walking down the trashed battlefield the same time he did.
Oh, that's right!
I glanced up at Jeff.
He looks awfully pissed but here goes nothing.
I inched closer to him as we walked and, turning back to make sure we were the only two people at this time, hugged him.
Both of us stopped in our tracks. I could feel how tense he was.
And my arms were going to stay wrapped around his muscled torso until he relaxed.
"Thank you," I breathed into his shirt.
I felt him immediately relax and all of a sudden-
"Awwww.... I love you too."
Eh? I looked up.
I squeaked a soft "What?" in bewilderment. Did I just hear him say what I think he said? Or at least hope that some day some guy would say that to me and he just said it?
"I... uh- said," eyes darting in all directions while fingers clawed at his dirty blonde locks, "I.... love... You.....tube."
I do not know if this is amusement and disappointment I'm feeling right now, but I definitely raised an eyebrow.
"What I- what I mean to say is... uh..." we broke of our physical connection as he struggled to explain himself, "you missed class right? But during the meeting, I kinda- I mean, we know, what you have to do. We didn't forget about you and so... you still have your... props to do! And I was just thinking... since uh... since Tuesday was the meeting AND CLASS... that means today, you don't have to stay back."
I nodded some what confusedly. What does this have to do with Youtube?
"I was thinking.... now that you're free, you wanna come to my place? I know what you have to do, so we could work together and I'll fill you in on all the important details. Also, if you...get stuck, that's where Redtu- I mean that where Youtube comes in! It's got lots of tutorials there.
I could hardly believe it.
"Go to... your house?"
"Yeah, uh... you don't have to meet my parents though. I don't think they'll be home today. So, just the two of us and we're going straight to my room."
"Jeff?"
"Yes?"
"Your..." I gestured with my fingers in an up and down motion just where my nostrills are, "there's blood."
Immediately, he backed away (wait, I didn't even notice he was pretty close to me at that moment... how odd....) and both palms smashed onto his nose with a huge slap.
"Sorry it just happens- ugh," he sniffed. "Anyway, let's go back to class."
When we got back to our homeroom we had an ugly surprise waiting for us.
Alright, it was for me.
Ms Tennet was standing in front of the class, beside a student around my height. "Ah," she saw us enter and waved us over to where the two of them were.
"Hamilton, Sommers, you have a new classmate."
"Hamilton?" the boy said almost surprisingly. "Hamilton....." he repeated this time but like he was recalling something.
"Alan," I breathed around the same time the teacher said his full name.
"Are you...?" Alan had his hand outstretched as if he wanted to touch my mask when another hand slapped his instantly.
"Don't touch him." Jeff said coolly as he stepped in between us.
Alan retracted his hand and blinked, my guess being he must have been shocked by the sudden reaction from a larger, taller guy.
"Whatever," he shrugged. "It must have been my imagination."
Next, Jeff turned in my direction and silently mouthed 'you okay?' to which I nodded and we each returned to our seats. I was absolutely mortified when I remembered that the seat to my right was empty. There were no other empty seats left which meant I would be sitting next to Alan.
Throughout the lesson, Alan kept glancing at me. I recognized Alan the moment I saw him but he did not. It was strange even why he would keep looking at me. As if he would wonder what happened to Caspar Hamilton after the break up.
He must have looked at me for the fiftieth time because it was getting really hard to concentrate. My palms were already beginning to sweat from the ever- present vacuum of anxiety just sucking me back into it. I'd made a promise I wouldn't be skipping anymore classes. If I'd knew today that by some divine stroke of luck Alan would be transferred here, I would have not made that promise at all.
We had a five minute break just when I needed it most. Alright, so maybe I take it back.
Alan just turned to me and said "Hey."
I just pushed myself into the wall like if pushed hard enough, I would eventually just fall through it.
"Um..." he dragged his seat closer and I pressed with all my might just wanting to get away from him, "are you by any chance-"
"Anderson, stop," Jeff said from where he was and marched right up to Alan.
A clear chorus of "OHHHHH SHIIIITT" rang from just about every single football player in the class.
For one moment I was really frightened of Jeff. More specifically, I was frightened by what he was going to do because right here and now, Jeff looked like he gonna punch someone through the wall. And as much of an asshole Alan has been, it's his first day here. I know how it's like to be bullied on the first day of school and again, even after the heartbreak, I didn't want to see him go through it.
Without thinking I ran in between the two of them just as Jeff cracked his knuckles. Cracked his knuckles?!? I stayed there for about one second before I made a straight dash out homeroom. I know Jeff wouldn't punch me....but somehow, somewhere, instinct told me someone was going to shove me.
And laugh at me.
It's so real I can hear them.
I finally came to a stop when I tripped on my own shoelace and collided with the floor. Ouch! My elbow.... I think I put my full weight on them.
Getting up was painful. I wondered if some joints got dislocated because now my shoulders were starting to hurt as well. I might have stayed in this position if not for a pair of hands that grabbed me by my waist and gently lifted me up. They were delicate like Jeff's... yet, they didn't feel like his.... Only Jeff would help me up this way. In fact, only he could touch me this way. But at the same time.... who is this? Whose hands are these?