(Y/N) - Your name
Reader: I always picture the reader as female because that what I am but I don't think it actually says so whatever floats your boat I guess
Warnings: Underage drinking, bullying - nothing really severe in my opinion, plus some swearing.
Word count: 4516
Y/N's POV
I walked through the loud school halls, casually laughing and joking with my group of friends.
We were the popular kids.
We could walk down the middle of the hallway and part the crowd like the Red Sea; we all had respect here. Our group mostly consisted of guys, but their classic cheerleader girlfriends often tagged along. I didn't mind, but I suppose I preferred things a few years ago when status wasn't an issue among our group.
Brad was a quarterback on the football team. He was a classic bully and I found myself having to physically restrain him most days so that he wouldn't beat up freshmen. He always wore a varsity jacket paired with a white shirt and blue denim jeans, he hardly wore anything else except for special occasions. His brown hair was always gelled into place and like every other high school villain, he was tall, white, and very muscular.
Steven was also on the football team, and was the jokester of the group. I was probably the closest with him than anybody else due to the simple fact that he was the nicest. The two of us always got along quite well when he wasn't poking fun at others alongside his friends. The only time he was ever remotely mean was when Brad was beating somebody up and he would get carried away. Steven also wore a matching jacket to his fellow teammate but would wear more colourful t-shirts underneath to match his bubbly personality. He had curly hair that bounced around in short curly locks above his gorgeously freckled face. His skin was more tanned than Brad's but still a nice white privileged shade.
Chris was another Brad, they could have been the same person had they not looked so different. The only thing they didn't have in common personality wise was that Chris had been kicked off the football team and used up all his extra energy by jumping people. We used to be good friends until something changed one day and his violent tendencies over ruled his nice ones.
Jessica was dating Chris and seemed to be a permanent attachment to our group, everything about her was basic from head to toe. I couldn't describe her if you paid me, there was no personality to describe, she was just a pretty face. Her skirt was shorter than most cared to acknowledge and there was always three buttons undone her on her shirt. She had rich, dark skin with gorgeous curly hair and was unfortunately the prettiest girl I knew. It was a shame that someone who looked so good all the rime was such a shitty person.
Alex was the school drug dealer. Every day he would come to school stoned out of his mind but since his parents funded the school nobody really cared. I didn't much like Alex, he could be violent one minute and dead silent the next. You'd think all the drugs would lighten him up but it was very rare to see him smile. Alex never really had a specific style, he just wore whatever expensive clothes he could find in the morning when he woke up. His skin was a sickly shade of white, he would have been quite attractive had he not wasted himself away on drugs. It was a shame that most of my friends were now such a mess.
I on the other hand was the peacekeeper of the group. I didn't mind Brad jeering at people every now and then, but if it turned into harassment I was always the first to come to the rescue. I had broken up more fights than I could count and dragged him away from too many helpless teenagers. I was always first to tell Steven that he was being a jerk, and constantly found myself comforting teenage girls in bathrooms that had fallen victim to Jessica's cruel bullying. From time to time I would help Alex sober up for a test or help him study when he couldn't focus, but recently I could see he was becoming a lost cause.
Needless to say, I had the best reputation out of the lot and I carried that with me. I was the only person in our group who had earned respect rather than forced it or had it brought upon us accidentally. But my dark sense of style often caused people to leave me alone, I certainly didn't look approachable. Outside of my group I was quiet and brooding, not caring for the rest of the world to see me in my happier state. I was always ready to be there for someone, but I enjoyed being left alone.
We arrived in our maths room and sat in a line at the back, choosing our seats ourselves since our teacher was off ill. We were supposed to be studying for a test that would happen once all the class had arrived, but we had taken the seats earlier to plan the party that we would be hosting after school.
I kind of zoned out, not interested in the multiple types of alcohol that we would be smuggling. I didn't have a problem with drinking, smoking or doing a few harmless drugs. But I didn't want to do that sort of stuff in the middle of a semester.
Not bothering to study for a test that I already knew I was going to pass, I doodled on a piece of paper that I had found in my bag. From beside me I could hear Jessica yapping about how long her parents would be gone for and how perfect tonight was as she sat on Chris's lap. Steven was staying uncharacteristically quiet, probably to avoid slapping Jessica, and Alex was dissolving some sort of psychedelic on his tongue.
"I'm not gonna get beat up if I sit here right?"
I turned my head away from my friends towards a boy with fluffy brown hair and deep brown eyes. I recognised the boy to be Tyler Joseph. We shared a few classes and he was known to be one of Brad's favourite jeering opportunities. I glanced at Brad who seemed preoccupied by whatever conversation he was having and turned back to the anxious Tyler. His eyes were darting around the full room and I could see that he regretted getting here so late that his only seat option was close to such a mean person. I smiled at him warmly and pulled the chair out next to me.
He released a deep breath and took a seat, taking his pencil case out of his bag and placing it carefully on the desk.
"Thank you." He nodded curtly to me, resisting eye contact by instead warily keeping an eye on my friends.
"Don't mention it, he's a bit of an asshole sometimes." I smiled at him before kicking my feet up on the desk and closing my eyes for a few minutes until our substitute got in.
___
I was awoken by a soft hand gently shaking my shoulder. I looked over to see Tyler motioning towards the door where our teacher was entering. I nodded my thanks and then dragged my feet of the desk, now crossing them on my chair and pulling out a pen.
The test papers were handed out and in a few seconds we were told that we could begin. I finished the paper quickly and smiled to myself. I did quite appreciate being smart without any studying involved. I looked around and noticed Tyler chewing on his pencil out of frustration. He was on question 13, and I had to give it to him, it wasn't an easy question.
After witnessing him struggle for another minute or so I pulled the pencil from his hands and jotted down the workings and answer. He looked at me surprised before turning back to his paper and analysing what I had just written. His mouth made a small "o" shape and he then continued on with the test. I couldn't help smirking at his embarrassment, it was almost quite cute.
Another 15 minutes passed and our teacher came round to collect the papers. He sighed at the state of my friends' papers and I chuckled lightly, locking eyes with Steven who sent me a quick wink. Wondering what he'd written on his paper that was making him so proud, I put my feet back up on my desk and pulled out my phone. I'd find out once it had been graded.
I had a couple of notifications from my friends Katie and Sarah but that was it. I replied to them and then went to start a conversation with Steven.
Before I could do so, I felt a small tap on my shoulder.
"Y... Y/N? Thanks for um, helping me on that question." Tyler said embarrassedly. I giggled at him, he wasn't making eye contact and was fiddling with his hands.
"Nothing to worry about, thought you might like to get a good grade is all," I replied, flashing him a smile before walking over to sit on Steven's lap.
As soon as I sat down however, Steven pushed me off.
"Get your own chair you lazy bitch," he groaned in mock annoyance. Putting my hand to my heart as if I was in pain, I sat down on the floor beside him. I wiped some fake tears from my eyes and turned my head away from him.
"I cannot believe that our friendship has reached the point that you won't let me sit in the same seat as you. No, no, this relationship must be terminated!" I sighed dramatically. When I heard no response come from my friend, I looked up, only to meet his smirking face.
"Good."
I gasped and moved away from him, now perching on the table opposite him.
"Hey Y/N! Why were you sitting next to that freak?" I glanced to my left to see Brad glaring at me. I shrugged.
"He sat next to me. It was the only seat left."
"I don't care if it was the only seat left, I don't want him near us!" He said indignantly. I rolled my eyes as he prepared to go over to the poor boy.
"Keep your seat Brad, it's fine - he's really nice. Just chill out for a second." I shook my head at him but he walked over to Tyler anyway.
Frowning, I watched as Tyler leapt defensively from his seat and Brad grab him by the collar, pushing him against the wall. I knew that he wouldn't get too violent in the classroom since there was a teacher here, however much the teacher was ignoring us. This didn't stop him from whispering something very harsh in Tyler's ear. The boy's eyes widened and then met mine. My expression softened immediately as I saw how scared he was. I pushed myself off of my table and walked over to Brad, wrapping one of my arms around his waist to pull him backwards.
"Sit back down man, school's almost over, you don't need to harass anyone else." I looked up at him with a hopeful but firm smile. He looked back at Tyler who's gaze had shifted to the floor.
"Harass? I was simply having a friendly conversation, wasn't I?" Tyler nodded and I frowned, finally managing to drag Brad back to his original seat. He wrapped his arm around me protectively and pulled me onto his lap. I played off the awkward situation by poking my tongue out at Steven as his raised his eyebrow.
"Some people don't mind sharing chairs, Steven."
___
Once school was over I met up with Katie and Sarah to get ready for Jessica's party. As much as I didn't really like her, she threw really good parties. Since it was Friday, my friends didn't really care about getting wasted. I on the other hand was going to be driving the two girls home so I made a strict one drink rule for myself. They were busy giggling with their makeup done and vodka bottles in hand. I fixed my hair up and reapplied my usual light layer of makeup. In all honesty, I didn't look that bad tonight. I had a cropped band tee on rather than a normal one, paired with some ripped black jeans with fishnet tights on underneath. I had platform boots rather than combat boots which was also a nice touch. I gave myself a small wink in the mirror before grabbing my car keys and walking out the door with my two friends on my tail.
___
The three of us arrived at Jessica's party at eight. There were a fair few people there but I knew that the numbers would rapidly increase as the night went on. I walked down to her large basement to find all my friends sitting on her sofas, chatting loudly whilst drinking.
Making eye contact with Steven, I walked over to them as Katie and Sarah talked behind me. Steven's eyes were transfixed by Katie and I smirked at him knowingly. His cheeks dusted red as he averted his gaze and I sat down next to Sarah, making it so that the two lovebirds had to sit together.
Alex was smoking something off to the side and Brad was sitting next to Chris and Jessica. I looked around and saw the other small groups of people standing and talking and laughing together. It was quite calm at the moment, but I knew that something would happen sooner or later and kept an ear out.
Our conversations flowed more than they usually did, I guess alcohol gave us something to talk about than just bullying. More and more people were showing up to the house and I found the atmosphere a lot busier and more enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, I loved my time alone, but it was a Friday night and I was in the mood to dance without being watched too closely.
Katie and Steven had started flirting which turned into a deep conversation about something, I smiled at the two proudly before glancing to the other people in the room. One boy caught my attention as he stared longingly at Sarah, we locked eyes and I smirked as he turned away blushing.
"Sarah,"
The dark haired girl turned to me and smiled, "Yep?"
"Twelve o clock, lavender hoodie." I giggled. She turned around nervously and her eyes met the boy's. She turned back to me and grinned, then raised her eyebrow as if asking if I would help her out. Of course I would. I stood up and held my hand out to her. She took it and stood from the couch gracefully, she was now carefully performing every movement in case the boy was still watching her. I laughed as she did so, knowing her intentions.
I walked over in the guy's direction and nodded at him curtly.
"Hey!" I said warmly as Sarah stood behind me nervously.
"Uh, h-hi" he stuttered abashedly as he looked anywhere but our eyes.
"You were staring at my friend?" I could feel Sarah's eyes burning into the back of my head, but I knew what I was doing. A guy like this wasn't going to make any moves on someone as high up in the food chain as Sarah unless he had serious balls. It was best to just get his obvious crush out in the open.
I laughed as I watched his mouth open and close silently, not knowing what to say. I pushed Sarah forwards in response as she glared at me. The boy seemed to gain his composure and smiled at my friend and held out his hand.
"Brendon, Brendon Urie. But you can call me your future husband," he winked dramatically, making her giggle. I sighed thankfully and watched as the two interacted. He made her laugh a lot which was nice because I knew that her last break up and hit her very hard and deserved someone as nice as this Brendon seemed.
I returned to my original seating area to find Katie and Steven making out heavily as Jessica and Chris made our sloppily opposite them. Instinctively, I turned to find Brad but saw that he wasn't here anymore.
I scanned the room briefly before heading upstairs to find my friend, it wasn't like Brad to move around during a party, even if his friends were making out. Or if he did, it was usually to come and talk to me. I frowned and turned the corner and my eyes widened instantly.
I front of me was Brad holding Tyler by the arm as he forced some kind of drink down his throat. It was probably alcohol judging by his wincing. My frown turned to anger as I marched towards the scene, pulling Tyler away from Brad's grip and behind me protectively.
I'd had a bad history with drinking and he knew that. I'm not going to get into it now but he knew how sensitive I was to alcohol and consent. I was horrified by his violation of the two things I made him promise to value.
"What the actual fuck Brad?" I shouted. It was common to see him throwing punches, but I never would have thought I'd see the day where he forcibly poured alcohol down someone's throat, I couldn't comprehend it. Like I said before, I was horrified.
"I told you earlier, friendly conversation!" He slurred drunkenly, "I saw him here and he was quiet, I said... I said to loosen up but he tried to leave... I was showing him a good time you stupid bitch!" The crowd around us gasped at his words but I only noticed a blue haired boy move towards Tyler. I guessed he was a friend so I let go of the boy's arm.
"Brad. I don't know what kind of shit your playing at, but you don't force alcohol down someone's throat. Especially when they're underage. That's disgusting. You might be okay with underage drinking, but definitely not everyone. So back off." I spat at him. He moved towards me menacingly.
"I'll force something down your throat if you're not careful!"
I didn't have to hear what he was going to say next before my first made contact with his face. He gaped at me wordlessly as I shook my hand out from the sudden impact.
"You really know how to ruin someone's night. Go home." I said sternly as I shook with rage. I couldn't believe he'd threatened me like that. I thought we were friends. The crowd dispersed and I immediately looked for Tyler and the blue haired boy. I spotted them by the kitchen and ran over to them immediately. My arms wrapped around Tyler as he shook slightly.
"I'm so sorry - this was probably about earlier. I never thought he'd do something like that." I rambled before pulling away from him and seeing how terrified he was. The blue haired boy was also looking petrified, his eyes darting around the house. Everyone else on this floor had calmed down a down were back to partying. Brad was nowhere to be seen which calmed me a little. I turned back to them and sighed.
"You don't belong here. I'm driving you guys home, this isn't the place for nice people." I frowned as I marched towards the back door and held it open for them, neither hesitated to follow me.
"Why are you guys even here? I wouldn't have placed this as your scene?" I asked more calmly as I pulled my car keys out from my pocket.
"A friend took us, I didn't really realise where we were going until we got here. We tried to stay off to the sidelines but that oaf, Brad seems to gravitate towards me." Tyler sighed sadly.
I looked over to him and nodded. I was ashamed that I could call myself Brad's friend. Well, not anymore it seemed.
"Blue, what's your name?" I asked, tuning to the Tyler's friend. He smiled at me weakly before answering.
"Josh." It was a short answer.
"You doing okay Josh?" I asked him, he seemed fragile, even though he looked like he could have delivered a solid punch if he wanted to.
The boy frowned and shook his head. "I'm not really a fan of closely packed spaces like that, and when your friend... you know... it was a bit much for me. I'll be fine though." He mumbled the last part quietly but I got what he was saying completely. I wasn't a stranger to social anxiety.
"I'm sorry you guys had to come tonight, honestly it really sucks." I didn't have much left to say, I didn't know if I could even provide that much comfort.
We arrived at my car in silence, Tyler got in the passenger seat while Josh got in the back. Before I started the car I opened up the glove compartment and pulled out a bottle of water, then passed it to Tyler. He looked at me questioningly.
"It's for the alcohol intake. I don't know how much he made you drink, but I'm guessing it was something strong and you were chugging it. Not good. Especially if it was your first time drinking proper stuff, which I'm guessing it was. You'll want to balance it out. Have a sandwich once you're home just in case."
He looked at me astonished before taking a small sip from the bottle.
"Thank you, it wasn't that much I don't think. I don't really know how it happened. One moment he was yelling at me to 'loosen up', when I tried to leave he had grabbed me and was pouring it into my mouth. He was mumbling something about me being a coward... I don't know what his point was. He seemed really drunk. I'm just glad not everyone in your friendship group is an asshole." He finished and smiled at me shyly. I took this rare moment of eye contact to take in his chocolate brown eyes. They were soft and watery, and really pretty. I turned away before I caught myself staring.
Instead I shrugged and shook my head.
"It's the least I can do."
The car journey back to Tyler's was more lighthearted. He seemed to have taken his mind off of the night's events and was now talking to me quite normally. Josh would say something every now and then but more or less kept to himself. I was driving them both back to Tyler's since they were initially supposed to be staying together despite the party.
I was glad of this. I liked talking to Tyler. I had only ever had a few conversations with him in school during class. I guess he wasn't afraid to talk to me since I was known as the nicer one of my friendship group and was quite easygoing. Any time we had interacted it had always been pleasant. It was never to the point where we were laughing whilst crying, and we never got really deep either. He was just an interesting person to talk to during class. Not to mention he was also quite cute.
I was noticing how cute he was now, actually. When I made a joke he would scrunch up his nose and laugh, his smile was warm and genuine. Not like when I would hang out with Jessica and her fake laugh would make my ears ring. He had small silly stories to share with me and thoughtful insights on the world around us. He was a smart person to talk to but not to the point where I couldn't follow his train of thought.
We arrived at his house in only about twenty minutes or so. I got out of the car and opened the door for Josh who laughed quietly at my mock chivalry. Closing the car doors and locking it, I walked the two back to the front door and knocked for them, smiling timidly.
"I'm still sorry that tonight was rough, I don't doubt that I'll be spending less time with them in school from now on. I guess it's a good thing." I rambled a little as we waited for someone to open the door.
Tyler looked at me shyly and Josh smiled at Tyler. I wasn't in the mood to think about it that much. I just figured they were awkward.
It only took about a minute for someone to open the door, it was a boy of about 15.
"Hey I'm Zack, why do you have my brother and his friend?" He asked me curiously. I giggled at him before turning to Tyler who looked at the boy exasperatedly.
"She's just being nice Zack, let us in now please." I smiled at them as the door opened wider. I leant in the doorframe was the two got inside. It looked very tidy, a lot tidier than my place for sure.
"Y/N, did you wanna come in for a drink or smithing?" Tyler turned to ask me quietly, not meeting my eyes again. I shook my head politely at his offer.
"I promised I'd drive my friends home, I'll head back to the party and stick around for a while. Keep more people out of trouble." I smiled to myself, amazed that I really was the peacekeeper in our group.
I looked to Tyler and he was also smiling whilst shaking his head.
"They don't deserve you Y/N," he mumbled quietly. I blushed a little at his kind words, then looked down to his brother Zack.
"Are you sure there's nothing we can get you?" The young boy asked me politely. An idea came to mind and I bit back a chuckle.
"Your brother's number maybe?" I asked him slyly. I looked at Tyler to see his eyes widen with shock. I could tell that Zack was laughing at my request and looked to Tyler too, his eyes bore into his younger brother's as he nodded forcefully.
Zack turned back to me and grinned as I smirked, "Yeah, do you what to hand me your phone?"
After he'd finished setting up Tyler's contact I smiled at him one last time and said goodbye to the three boys in the entrance hall. This night had been a rollercoaster but at least I had gotten the cute guy in my math class's number.
We texted each other all night once I was back at the party, waiting for my friends to ask me for a ride back home. I suddenly couldn't wait for Monday to come around so that I could see him at school again.