The second lunch started I was looking for Xael. I figure that if we eat together, then the chances of Conner fucking with us goes down.
The issue wasn’t that I couldn’t find Xael. I found her pretty quickly.
The issue came in the form of a boy named Crayton.
“Hey Xael.” I walk up behind the girl and tap her shoulders, startling her. The kid next to her jumps too, then looks at me and smiles.
“Hi!” he exclaims, holding a hand out towards me. “I’m Crayton, it’s nice to meet you!”
I smile and shake his hand, taking a seat. “Jason. I see you’ve met Xael.”
“Yeah! She’s been showing me around school and keeping me company all day. She’s a really good friend.”
Xael looks at Crayton with an annoyed expression.
“Jason, I’ve been meaning to talk to you all day.” Xael stands up and grabs my wrist. “Can we talk now?”
“Sure.” I stand and allow Xael to lead me away from Crayton. We end up behind a bookshelf with Crayton in our sights. “What’s his deal?”
“He came here today and decided to completely ignore what one of Conner’s friends was saying and now he won’t leave me alone!” Xael whispers. “He snapped at Lake earlier so fast and hard it was ridiculous. He scares me and I don’t want to be around him anymore because I’m afraid he’ll turn on me- on us.”
“If he turns on us, then we go away from him.” I rest a hand on Xael’s shoulder and look into her eyes. “He doesn’t seem like the type of person to just turn on someone, but I’ll take your word for it. You’re a people reader.”
“Why do you trust me so easily?” Xael shoves my hand off of her shoulder. “We barely know each other. You read my stories and I follow what your mother is doing and the only common thread we have is being bullied by your brother. For fucks sake, we met yesterday! You shouldn’t put all of your trust in me!”
“We have been torn down our entire lives. We are in the same boat which- I think, at least- is why we trusted each other so fast. We’ve lived a life of backstabbing and pain, so when we came across someone who’s been through the same thing we latched onto them because we know they won’t leave us because they have nothing to gain from it. Nothing I tell Conner will get him off my back and nothing you tell him will get him off yours. We wanted a friend because even though we like to be alone, we don’t like being lonely.”
Xael looks away, chewing on her lower lip. “You’re right.”
“How much longer can you tolerate Crayton?”
“An hour ago.” Xael looks at me with a deadpan expression. “He got on my nerves about an hour ago. I can’t even pinpoint the exact reason, he just did.”
“He looks like he’s made to irritate people.”
“He doesn’t, but okay. It’s your turn to babysit him by the way.”
“What?”
Xael goes and sits back down at the table, putting both of her earbuds in her ears as she does.
“Wait, Xael, no.” I sit down and attempt to catch her attention, only to fail every time. I feel Crayton’s eyes move from Xael to me and silently scream.
“Are you two dating?”
I whip my head towards Crayton, shocked. “Pardon me?”
“Are you and Xael dating?” Crayton gestures between us, curiosity etched in his face.
“No? We’re not? It’s none of your business whether we are or not anyways,” I answer. Crayton raises his hands, still smiling.
“So you wouldn’t mind if I asked her out?”
“You’ve known her for half of a day. Yeah I mind.”
“So you’re not dating, but you like her.”
“As a friend.” I slam my hands on the table. Crayton doesn’t flinch and his smile doesn’t falter. “Let me explain something to you: she and I have been bullied for our entire lives. We met yesterday and we are the closest friend each other has- we are the only one each other has. We are friends because we wanted the company of another being, but not in a romantic way. A friend is something we’ve never had. You are crossing a line that shouldn’t even be visible.”
“How am I crossing a line?” Crayton cocks his head. “I never said I was planning to ask her out, I asked if you would have a problem if I did.”
Well now I get how he pissed off Xael so fast.
“Look.” I lean closer to Crayton, a growl rising in my throat. “You will not be friends with us.”
“I think you’re wrong, because she and I are already friends-”
“No.” I narrow my eyes at Crayton. “You aren’t. She sees you as an annoyance, not as a friend. You are a parasite sticking to her side even though she doesn’t want you around.”
“I’ll believe it when it comes out of her mouth.”
“You are fucking ridiculous,” I hiss. Out of the corner of my eye I see Xael pull her earbuds out of her ears. Crayton and I watch her shake her head, her curls falling over her shoulders before she brushes them back.
“I see that went great,” she grumbles. “Jason, be quiet.”
“But-”
“Quiet.”
I snap my mouth closed. Crayton grins at me before looking at Xael.
“So-”
“You too.”
“I just wanted-”
“Quiet.”
To my surprise, Crayton closes his mouth. Xael nods before looking over at me.
“Nothing Jason said wasn’t true,” Xael begins, glancing back at Crayton. “He’s right- you and I aren’t friends for the very reasons he told you. And yes, you did cross a line that wasn’t possible to cross.”
“So we’re not friends yet.” Crayton flashes finger guns at Xael. The sharp snaps make her flinch, and for the first time Crayton’s smile falters. “Sorry.”
“No you’re not.”
“I really am. I promise.”
“Look, Crayton.” Xael locks eyes with the boy in question. “I’m going to give you a chance.”
“A chance to do what?”
“Walk away.” Xael leans back in her chair, maintaining eye contact. “As you’ve noticed, Jason and I are outcasts. We’re bullied. You don’t have to go through what we do. This is your chance to leave and go fit in, go make friends with people and have a happy year of high school.”
“I’m leaving after this year is up, so what’s the point in making fake friends?” Crayton shrugs, leaning forward and folding his hands together. “I’d rather stick with people I like than go to people I hate.”
“Are you sure?” I ask. Crayton looks at me and nods, his smile returning.
“Of course. You two are so much better than the other people. You’re nice- well, actually, I guess that remains to be seen- but you’re passionate-”
“Okay, you know nothing about us.”
“I want to learn, though.” Crayton extends a hand towards me. “Restart?”
I shake it slowly. “Sure.”
“Now that that’s settled, welcome to the club that was made yesterday,” Xael replies. “Expect to get bullied.”
“I can hold my own.” Crayton flexes his left arm and pats his bicep. “I doubt even their leader could handle this.”
“I’m sure you’re right, but don’t let him hear you say that.”
“I will say it to his face!”492Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19c65CgDZS
“Well.” Xael and I freeze at the voice, our gazes immediately dropping to the table. “I heard that you two were friends, but to actually see it? That’s a completely different story.”
Crayton turns around, probably still smiling. “Who are you? Are you friends with one of them?”
“Why would I be friends with a pathetic waste of space like these two?” Conner growls. “Why would you just throw your life away? Is it because you find her attractive?”
“Nope.” I finally look up at Crayton, as does Xael. He’s smiling. He’s still fucking smiling. “I want to be friends with them because they seem like better people than you do.”
“I’m sorry?”
Crayton stands up. My eyes flit from his figure to Conner’s. The height difference is clear as day but Crayton is still more intimidating than Conner, despite being at least five inches shorter.
“Then you better be ready to go through what they do.” Conner grabs Crayton’s collar. His face falls as Crayton pries his hands away, grinning at him.
“Sorry, what was that? I better be ready?” Crayton slowly takes a step forward, pushing Conner back. Conner tries to pull his hands from Crayton’s grip, only to have Crayton hold on tighter. “Better be ready for what? For you to be a dick? Yeah, I don’t think so.” Another step forward. Conner takes another backward.
“That’s right. You better be ready to get beaten up after school.”
“Oh, you’re the leader!” Crayton exclaims. “I guess that makes you the strongest of your group, yeah?”
“That’s right. What about it?”
“I think I’m stronger.” Crayton flexes his arms. Conner grinds his teeth before shoving Crayton back, his wrists still caught in Crayton’s hands. “Well, there’ll be none of that.”
“Fuck!”
Conner grimaces as he’s forced to his knees, his arm held in a terrible position behind his back.
“Get off of me,” he gasps, trying to reach Crayton’s hand. Every attempt is only met with Crayton pushing him closer to the ground.
“Leave these two alone.”
I meet Xael’s eyes. Crayton’s terrifying.
I understand her concerns about him. If he turns on us, we can’t run away. We have to accept what’s going to happen to us.
“Get off of me!”
“Leave Xael and Jason alone.”
“You don’t get to tell me what- fuck!”
“Let him go.” I find myself on my feet, tugging lightly on Crayton’s arms. “Please.”
“Jason-”
“Let him go!”
Xael grabs my arm and pulls me away from Crayton, who lets go of Conner’s arm. My brother springs to his feet, whirls around, and shoves Crayton into the table.
“Don’t ever touch me again,” he gasps, starting towards the door and glaring at Crayton. Crayton shrugs and sits back down, smiling innocently at Xael and I.
“Are you two going to sit back down?” He gestures towards our chairs. Xael lets go of my arm reluctantly and moves back around to her side of the table, sitting down with trembling hands. “Was he the leader of the group that bullies you?”
“Could you not tell?”
“I need to hear one of you say it.”
“Conner is Jason’s brother,” Xael begins. “And yes. He’s the one who tells the others what to do.”
“So he’s the reason that your lives are hell?”
“Yeah.”
“And Jason, you live with him?” Crayton turns his head to look at me. I nod, sitting back down in my chair and avoiding eye contact. “Shit. I’m sorry. I might’ve just made it worse.”
“That’s why I was trying to stop you,” I mumble, looking down at the table. “I don’t need him to lash out more.”
“Why don’t you sleep over at my place tonight?” Crayton offers. I shrug, lifting a hand to trace a knot in the wood of the table.
“Maybe. I’ll have to see if I’m allowed.”
Yeah, my parents are in a different country. Whatever. I just don’t want to seem desperate.
“Think I can come over for a bit after school?” Xael asks. Crayton nods enthusiastically, sliding his phone out of his pocket. “Thanks.”
“No problem, Xael.”
Xael smiles gratefully.
“Aren’t you helping Sadie today?” I ask. Xael’s smile falls and she nods.
“Shit,” she answers. “I forgot about that. I don’t think I can come over today, Crayton. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, we can all go help Sadie!” Crayton exclaims.
“You guys want to go help do chores?”
“Sure, why not?” I shrug. “Seems like fun.”
“We can hang out with the kitties!” Crayton says, putting his phone away. Xael laughs and pulls out her phone.
“You guys can help name a few, too. We have names for seven of the nine,” she explains. “This is the first batch. Trinket, Indie, Hopper, Dexter, and Moon. Then the second batch: a white calico, Domino, another grey, Domino again, still Domino-”
“How many pictures do you have of Domino?” Crayton questions.
“Yes,” Xael replies. “And this is the other calico, Rose.”
“Rose’s mouth is cool.” I lean closer to the screen and point at her mouth. “It’s divided into four equal quadrants of color.”
“She’s the alpha of the batch, but she’s also the smallest. Not very cuddly either. Moon is fat as hell, Indie and Hopper are cuddly as fuck, Trinket is either cuddly or not but she’s the fluffiest, Dexter is the same as Trinket just not fluffy, Domino doesn’t like being picked up but is okay being pet.”
“And that’s your favorite?”
“He was shy and skittish at first but then warmed up to us,” Xael explains. “He still doesn’t love people, but he’s okay with being around them.”
“Again, how is he your favorite?”
Xael shrugs in response. “He reminds me of me. Closed off to people, avoids them, but gets nice when he knows them. Also, he’s adorable and has marshmallow paws.”
“Marshmallow… paws?” Crayton and I exchange a look. Xael’s frowning when I look back at her.
“His paws are large and fluffy.” She holds up her hands in demonstration, curling her fingers to act like claws. “And he doesn’t claw or bite people. He’s amazing and I love him.”
“Okay?”
Xael sighs in frustration. “You’ll see when you meet him tonight.”
“I think we’ll be busy with the actual cuddly cats.”
“We can play with Domino too.” I frown at Crayton, who blinks at me and shrugs.
“I’m just saying that our hands might be full with the other eight kittens,” he mumbles. “Didn’t mean anything bad by it.”
“Jason, can you give Domino attention until I can come hang out with the cats?” Xael looks at me with a soft look and I can’t help but nod and smile at her.
“I’ll be sure to give Domino pets until you join us,” I promise. The bell rings, startling Xael and I. “We gotta go. I don’t want to be late to English two days in a row.”
“Oh, I have English now too!” Crayton exclaims, jumping to his feet. Xael and I exchange a look before getting to our feet.
“How many classes does Crayton have with us?” I whisper to Xael as we walk out of the library.
“He and I share every class,” Xael grumbles, crossing her arms. “And the teachers decided he can sit next to me. In every single one.”
I cringe and pat her shoulder. “That’s fucking awful.”
“What’re you guys talking about?” Crayton runs up behind us and wraps an arm around our shoulders. Xael and I roll his arms off in unison, shooting him a glare.
“Please don’t touch me,” Xael requests as I open my mouth. I slam it closed, avoiding snapping at Crayton.
“And don’t touch me either.” I take a step away from Crayton at the same time Xael does. Crayton frowns as we walk into Alex’s classroom.
“Hey Alex.” Xael raises a hand in greeting. Our teacher waves enthusiastically at us. “This is Crayton.”
“Nice to meet you!” Crayton steps over to Alex and extends a hand for a handshake, which Alex accepts with a bit of hesitation. “I’m Crayton Dowle.”
“Welcome to our school!” Alex exclaims brightly, a smile gracing his face. “Is there anyone in particular you want to sit by?”
Crayton turns a bit and gestures towards Xael and I. “Those two, please.”
Xael and I look at each other, worry set in our eyes.
“Jason, no one sits by you in the back, right?”
I nod in response, sighing with defeat. Alex grins at Crayton and points towards the table at the back.
“You can sit back there with Xael and Jason,” Alex says. Xael opens her mouth to say something but decides against it and closes her mouth, walking over to her seat and grabbing her bag.
“This day is just going absolutely fantastic for you, isn’t it?” Xael and I sit down at my table. Xael’s eyes widen in response as her bag drops to the ground.
“No kidding,” she mutters, watching Crayton grab his bag from next to the door. He skips up to us and takes a seat next to Xael, beaming at the both of us.
“So, what are we doing today for English?” he asks, resting his chin on his hands.
“We’re taking a quiz so you need to shut up and let us review,” Xael replies, sliding her phone out of her pocket. I mirror Xael’s movements and pull up the Quizlet review.
“Do you think we could quiz each other?” I point my phone at Xael’s.
“That would be a better review than just scrolling through the questions.” Xael sets her phone facedown on the table and turns to face me. “Go.”
I read the questions and Xael fires back answers as fast as she can. She knows the material inside and out so the fact that she thought she needed to study amazes me.
I, however, don’t know the material nearly as well as she does.
“I’m gonna fail,” I groan, sliding down in my chair and covering my eyes. The tardy bell rings and Alex talks about Crayton, then the test.
“I’m giving you all twenty minutes to finish the test,” Alex states. “If you’re not done by then, you’ll be staying after class with me to finish it.”
The class starts to whisper amongst each other. Xael pats my shoulder in reassurance when I let my head bang against the table.
“I’m so failing this,” I whisper, looking over at Xael. “I’m dead.”
“You got this.” Crayton flashes me two thumbs-up, accompanied by a smile. “Both of you got this.”
“The test is now in classroom,” Alex announces, straightening up from his computer. Xael and I pull our laptops out and go to the test.
With each question I answer another curse word is muttered under my breath. I’m failing this test. Straight up zero. Donezo.
I’m a failure.
Xael closes her laptop and looks over at me, frowning. She waits patiently until I finish my test and close my computer.
“You are not a fucking failure,” she hisses, jabbing a finger in my direction. “Understand?
“How did you-”
“Jason, you did well on the test,” Crayton interrupts. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you nailed it.”
“You don’t even know what the test was like,” I growl, narrowing my eyes at him. “How do you know whether or not you failed?”
“Hey.” Xael leans over and blocks Crayton from my view. “Look at me. You didn’t fail. You aren’t a failure, okay? You aren’t your downfalls.”
Question of the chapter: how do you think Conner's going to react to getting shoved around by Crayton?492Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBOSsC6hyN
