Tuesday, September 13th, 2016

"Don't be mean." Amber pushed Annika out of her way, hurrying towards Cory, who had just dropped a stack of papers after yelping in surprise. Though Sid wasn't sure what it was that had surprised him.

Annika, Davy and Sid couldn't help but laugh at the whole ordeal as Cory's eyes had gone wide before he mumbled 'go away' and 'not now'. He forgot about the papers he was holding for a split second, staring at a wall in shock, before he kneeled to grab some of the papers.

Amber helped him pick up the rest of the papers, handing the ones she collected to him as they both got up.

"Thanks, Amber," Cory whispered insecurely, keeping his eyes focused on the floor between them.

"No problem," she told him with a smile. "Why don't you come and join us for lunch?"

"Am!" Davy hissed, gesturing for her to come closer.

Amber simply rolled her eyes, pulling Cory with her when she walked up to her group of friends. "He's joining us for lunch, okay?""

"What?" Sid pulled up his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." Amber sent him a displeased look, gesturing for Cory to follow her, which he reluctantly did. But not without sending the rest of them an apologetic look. At least he understood they didn't want him there. At least he felt sorry for Amber forcing them to lunch in each other's presence.

"There's another dent in my rep..." Davy grumbled, heading outside too.

"Like you had one to begin with!" Sid called after him, before Annika and he started laughing. Davy flipped them off but continued walking outside without another word.

"Maybe we should give him a chance, though." Annika suggested with a sad smile on her face. "Amber worked with him during chemistry and he seemed really nice, and smart. We could use a smart guy in the group."

"Hey!" Sid called out, feeling insulted. "I'm smart too." He told her, before tickling her.

"Oh, you're so smart," she answered with a laugh.

"I'm smart, because I fell for you," Sid hummed while he pulled her in his arms.

Annika giggled in reply, putting her arms around his neck before she kissed him. "I love you, Siddey," she whispered as her lips left Sid's. "Can you believe we're almost together for three years?"

"I know," Sid answered with a nod. "I'm planning an awesome date."

Annika wasn't flawlessly beautiful. She couldn't be described as a model. She wasn't skinny like the fashionable popular girls in their school. But to Sid, she was perfect. He loved how she fit in his hold perfectly. Her curly ginger hair usually wasn't tameable, and on lazy days she would just put it in a messy bun. But a few strands of hair always managed to escape during the bike ride to school, and it made her look cute.

Her green eyes always seemed to sparkle, and Sid loved how her light skin had freckles. He knew she hated the sun because she easily got sunburned. But Sid wasn't the biggest fan of the sun either, so it was something they had in common.

She wasn't a girl that used tons of make-up, she only ever used a bit of mascara. She didn't prance around in tiny skirts or hotpants. She wore decent clothes that made her look more of an adult. She was sophisticated, yet casual at times.

Annika was just Annika, and it was exactly what he liked about her.

"Want to join the rest?" Sid asked, shortly looking in the direction Davy, Amber and Cory took off in. "And Cory?" Sid slammed his locker shut after he swapped some of his books around. Annika nodded, entwining her fingers with his as they started walking towards the door to go outside.

As they walked up to the rest, Sid noticed that Davy, Edward and Amara all seemed a bit uncomfortable with Cory seated next to Amber. Cory was listening to a story Amber was telling him. Nothing seemed unusual, except for the fact a lot of people were staring in Cory's direction.

"Let's give him a chance, okay?" Annika squeezed his hand, and Sid nodded. He did feel kind of bad for the guy when he noticed just how many people were shamelessly staring at him, whispering behind their hands.

"Yeah, let's give him a chance," Sid agreed right before they reached the group. And since the only free spots were next to Cory, Sid had no choice but to sit next to him.

There was something that felt off, though Sid couldn't exactly pinpoint what was off. There was an energy he couldn't describe that seemed to come from Cory.

"I love how it's not too hot, not too sunny, but bright enough..." Annika started, staring up at the sun.

"Bright enough to go swimming," Amara suggested, her eyes darting from Cory to Annika. "We haven't been together with the whole group since summer started. I mean, not outside of school."

Amber cleared her throat, and all of them turned their heads in unison, to see her nod her head in Cory's direction. "Can Cory join? I mean, if he wants to?"

"Oh, I mean... I don't have to..." Cory mumbled, casting his eyes down while his face flushed. "I get it if they don't want me there... or here, really."

Davy rolled his eyes and turned away from the pair as if they hadn't interrupted, while Edward had already turned and was looking anywhere but at them.

"I guess Cory can join, if he wants," Sid shrugged a shoulder. "But then he has to bring stuff too."

"Wh-what stu...stuff?" Cory stammered, his face red as a tomato.

"Oh, you know," Annika answered with a smile. "Alcohol, snacks, spliffs..." She summed up still smiling at him. "And a good mood, which is compulsory."

"Oh, eh... I don't... smoke," Cory mumbled, fiddling with his hands nervously. "Or drink..." Cory sent Sid a short look, biting his lip while waiting for a reaction.

"You don't drink?" Davy was interested, and he leaned over the table to smirk at Cory. "Why wouldn't a guy your age drink?"

"It's..." Cory cleared his throat. "My meds... I'm not allowed..."

"What medication do you take?" Amber asked politely, though Sid got the impression Cory wasn't all that keen to talk about it.

"Eh..."

"Is it because of what happened?" Davy blandly asked, staring at his phone as if he wasn't all that interested. Sid knew him better, he tried playing it of as if it was nothing, but it was. "Like, loony meds?"

That caused both Amara and Amber to hit him with a fist.

"Auch, dude!" Davy complained, rubbing the sore spots on his arms.

Sid wasn't looking at him, but at Cory, noticing Cory's face went even redder than it already had been.

"You can't just ask that!" Amara called out in anger. "That's really immature, impolite and most of all insensitive."

"As if you care..." Davy muttered annoyed. "I'm just curious. He started about the meds himself."

"To explain why he doesn't drink," Amber snapped at him. "Jeez, Dave, grow up. No wonder you can't get a girl to like you."

"It's... okay," Cory held up his hand to stop them from bickering, and Sid was impressed by how steady his voice suddenly sounded. "They think I'm... a loony," he told them, using Davy's word describe himself. "So, I have to take medication to keep me sane."

"They think you're loony, and you disagree, right?" Sid tried to clarify. He did get a feeling Cory didn't agree on his diagnose.

"Pretty much..." Cory nodded, sending Sid a small smile.

"Then why take the meds?" Sid cocked his head to the side, staring at Cory, trying to keep a neutral expression on his face.

"Because that was the deal to go home," Cory answered, still smiling at Sid in a grateful way. "But I know what I saw. They can tell me what they want, I know I'm not crazy."

"So, what is it that you saw?" Davy asked casually, again pretending as if he didn't care about the answer. But he was way too eager to find out.

"It doesn't matter." Cory bit in his direction. "It's in the past, and I like to keep it there."

"That's so mysterious. You do realize people think you got ra—" Davy leaned in, but before he was able to finish his sentence, Amber slapped him in the face and cut his question short.

"We are not going to pry out ans—"

"I wasn't raped, and there were no wolves. And I didn't witness a murder or got chased by a murdered." He debunked the most popular stories all in one go, and Sid felt even more impressed since he didn't seem that insecure while he was telling them the stories and rumours were wrong. "Those stories are made up, and they're false."

"Then tell us what did happen, so people stop gossiping about it."

"People won't listen, because their level of perception isn't the same. Just like with you."

Davy opened his mouth to answer but closed it as soon as he realised that he didn't have anything to say.

Sid even wondered if Davy understood what Cory meant, and that fact made him laugh at Davy.

"Nice," he chuckled, patting Cory's shoulder in appreciation. But when his hand touched Cory's shoulder, it almost felt as if it froze at the touch; Cory's shoulder was that cold. He pulled back, and noticed Cory cringed at the touch too.

Sid was still staring at his hand in shock, while the rest continued the original conversation; going for a swim later that week. Only Cory was focused on Sid, and he seemed to feel busted.

"Wha—" Sid started in a whisper, not wanting to gain more attention.

"Don't ask. You wouldn't believe me anyway," Cory simply replied, turning away from him in a flustered state.