Chapter 5 – Will

    Thoughts were something you couldn't run away from. They were like an internal shadow, haunting you and plaguing you, unwilling to leave you alone. I was an over thinker, and it was one of my many faults. I hated that I thought so much, too much – and it wasn't something I could control. Since I was younger, if something happened of significance, or I learned something interesting, I couldn't stop thinking about it until something else came along to distract me.

And the focal point of my thoughts as of lately was Analise Loughty.

Analise was crazy. Absolutely nothing had run through my mind since last night at the carnival besides her. The gasps from the people around us were imprinted in my memory. I had scooted to the edge, afraid to look down, only to see Analise had landed on the trampoline they used to bungee people into the air. There was a sign on the gate in front of it, that read closed for maintenance.

After the ferris wheel had continued on and they had gotten us all off, I had met Analise by the hot dog stand and we left shortly after that because I couldn't get out of my thoughts. I was still finding it pretty difficult. Why had she done that?

Part of me felt like she was trying to get me to stop talking to her by doing that, but how would that work? It only made me more curious about her. It reminded me of when we had first met at that bridge and she had momentarily let go. Back then I thought she was suicidal or something, and I still kind of thought that. What was it with this girl?

I still had her on my mind as I walked towards my locker, and Mallory and Justin were already there. They greeted me, and Mallory's eyes lingered on me a little longer than Justin's.

"You okay?" She asked, putting a hand on my arm. I nodded, smiling a small smile and I knew it didn't quite reach my eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothin'," I mumbled to myself. I took some books out of my locker and looked down like I was studying something. "I just can't wrap my head around something from last night, that's all."

"Well the Sadie Hawkins dance is coming up," Mallory told me, smiling. Justin looked at her and shook his head before slamming his locker.

"Fun."

"Are you gonna go?" She asked me.

I shook my head thoughtfully. Analise probably wasn't a dance kind of girl, and especially not the kind to ask a guy herself. "Probably not. I don't even know anyone around here."

"You know us," Mallory told me, motioning to her and Justin.

"Are you guys going?"

Justin shrugged while Mallory said, "Hopefully."

I walked to theater class after bidding them adieu and saw that Analise was already here, her head on her hand and her elbow on her desk. She looked bored, and I so badly wanted to walk up to her and ask why she had jumped off the ferris wheel, but I was sure it wasn't something she wanted other people knowing. Or maybe she did want people to know. I didn't really know her well enough to judge yet.

But I planned to get to know her. I don't know if she had done it in hopes to deter me but it only made my curiosity soar. I wanted to know what she hid behind those eyes that reminded me of hot chocolate on a cold winters night. I wanted to know why she had almost fallen off a bridge and why she had successfully jumped off a ferris wheel.

I wanted to know about Analise. All I knew was that she acted like she was too good for anyone and I knew there was more to her than that. She was breathtakingly beautiful and could have been on a runway, so why did she decide to stay in Chicago? I'm not saying it wasn't a great city, but with the looks this girl had, I was truly surprised she wasn't a model.

I couldn't get her off of my mind and I hated that. Back home, I had girlfriends that were great but they didn't even stay on my mind as much as Analise had.

And she wasn't even my girlfriend.

Our teacher Mr. Matthews walked in then, interrupting my thoughts. He walked to the front of the classroom, putting his bag down and taking a couple papers out. "So I decided on the parts for the play."

We all got up and went to see the list, everyone except Analise. When I finally got to the front of the line and saw the list, I saw my name and I was the male lead – the love interest. I looked to see who would be my leading lady and I almost gasped, but Analise's friend – who I found out was Tommy – did it for me.

"Ana!" Tommy shouted, eyes wide as he brought the list over to her. The other students who hadn't yet saw if they got a part grumbled incoherent complaints at him taking the list, but a glare shut them all up. I watched as he brought it to her and she looked it over before a look of shock crossed her face.

Then, just when I was about to walk back to my seat, she slowly looked up at me, casting me a murderous glare. I shrugged. It wasn't my fault the teacher had paired us together. It's not like I had told him to pair us together. I hadn't even done a good job on my audition, in my opinion. I thought I'd get a supporting role or stage crew or something.

I went back to my seat and I didn't miss the dirty looks that Tommy and Analise were sending me. I gulped nervously, waiting for the teacher to start talking again before they killed me. It wasn't even my fault!

"So, as you all saw, hopefully," he sent a pointed glare at Tommy. "Analise is our leading lady and William is our male lead. The rest of you, if you don't know your part, come to see me after class. Rehearsals start in two days, but Analise and William, I want you two to practice outside of class before we start rehearsals. And I mean it, I want proof."

"How would we prove it?" Analise asked, voicing my thoughts.

"I want a dated picture of the both of you, every day."

She scoffed, physically showing how funny she thought this was. "You're joking."

"I'm not. I want a picture of the two of you, with a date, every day."

I sighed. I wouldn't mind, but I knew Analise and her group of whatever-they're-called's would mind. And they'd mind a lot, judging by the looks Tommy and Analise were spotting – matching glares. If the deadly look in their eyes wasn't so terrifying, I might have actually laughed. They looked like they'd practiced that look, and practiced when to sport it.

"Sir, can't we practice individually?" I asked, not seeing the point of rehearsing together besides to build the chemistry for when it came time to actually take the stage. I knew Analise wouldn't want to build any sort of chemistry between us, though, so I figured I'd try to help aid in getting us out of this.

Mr. Matthews shook his head, pushing his glasses up that had fallen to the tip of his nose. "No can do, Mr. Gryer. We need actual chemistry to impress the critics coming from colleges, and you and miss Loughty have the chemistry of a cat and a mouse."

I visibly gulped, nervousness clouding my thoughts. "Let me guess, Mr. Matthews, I'm the mouse?"

The class erupted into laughter when Tommy chuckled loudly, pivoting in his seat and saying, "Well you sure aren't the fucking cat."

Ignoring the curse word, I narrowed my eyes in his direction. "Did I say Tommy?"

Tommy stood up, his folder full of papers falling to the ground as he pushed against the desk. "What'd you say?"

Mr. Matthews called our names, telling us to stop, but after one look at Analise had me feeling brave – and maybe a little bit stupid. I stood up, matching his defensive stance. "You heard me."

Tommy came up towards me when the guy who sat next to me stood up, holding his hand up. "Relax," the guy said, acting as a barrier between the two of us. He pushed back on Tommy, making Tommy send me one final glare before stalking to his seat, and then pushed on my shoulder, signaling me to sit down.

There was no need, really, I was a pacifist at best and the most I could probably do to Tommy would be to hurt his precious ego. I'm sure deep down I could fight, but I had never once explored that possibility and if I'm being honest, I didn't want to. Nonetheless, I appreciated the intervention and when the teacher returned to his monotonous teaching, I turned to the guy and thanked him.

"No problem man," he said, putting his hand out for a shake. I put my hand in his, firmly shaking it. He was obviously of Asian descent, but I wasn't sure what. "I'm Toby Fuller, but you can call me Toby. Or ass saver, whatever."

I chuckled, nodding. "I'm William Gryer, but you can call me Will, or person-who-needed-ass-saving."

He shook his head, laughing. "You look like you can handle your own."

I wasn't so sure about that.

"So you like that girl?" Toby asked, nodding towards the back of Analise, who was deep in conversation with a heated looking Tommy.

I shook my head. "Not really. I don't know her that well, really. She just interests me."

He nodded thoughtfully. "She's cute."

I agreed. "I've never seen you around the halls, just in class. Do you go invisible when you leave here?" I joked.

He laughed, his eyes crinkling at the ends. "Nah, I just stay to myself. I'm kind of a... mediator at this school. You'll learn about Tommy and Analise and their two friends, Raelynn and Colin. The four of them would never turn down a fight, and they won't hesitate to start one either."

"How do you know so much about them?"

"Well, besides the fact that everyone pretty much knows about the outcasts, or at least the rumors circulating about them, it's kind of hard not to. But I'm also that dickheads cousin, which is why he listened to me so fast," Toby said, nodding towards Tommy.

My eyes widened in what I'm sure was a mixture of shock and disbelief, because that's what I was feeling. Toby laughed quietly. "Don't be so surprised. I know I'm Asian and he's white, but I promise we're cousins."

I faltered slightly, "No, that's not what I-"

"Relax," Toby put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm kidding. Only slightly though, that is the first thing people think when I tell them. His mom and my mom are sisters, and my dad is Korean, so I'm a mutt."

I nodded, absorbing this information. "What do you know about Analise?"

He pursed his lips. "I know enough. She's Tommy's best friend, she rescued Raelynn from a bad time she was going through, or something. She's gorgeous, obviously, but that's no secret to anyone. Oh, and I'm pretty sure she's the love of Tommy's life."

I felt my stomach drop at the news. "Oh, I didn't know they were together."

Toby shook his head, taking a swig of the water bottle on his desk. "They aren't. She probably has no clue he even has feelings for her because he's too chicken shit to tell her even though they've been best friends for like forever."

"Interesting," I mused.

"You want my advice?" Toby asked, and I nodded. "Stay away. But I'm sure you've heard that from Justin and Mallory."

I faltered. "How do you-"

"I said I'm the mediator around here," Toby reminded me. "I know everyone, pretty much. But I stay out of any certain group so I can mediate, because god knows this school needs someone to do it."

I nodded, absorbing the information from Toby, about to turn back to the teacher when his voice stopped me once more. "And if you don't heed all the warnings from everyone, all I can say is good luck. Besides Analise being basically untouchable, you don't want the full wrath of Tommy if you do somehow convince her to catch feelings for you. Because, mark my words, there will be wrath if the girl he's been in love with for forever falls for someone else."