The person in the picture above is Todd 

The next morning the whole hallways burst into song when Carter entered the school with his gang of popular boys. Everyone in the school, even if you weren't friends with Carter were singing happy birthday to him right when he walked through the school doors. 

Some of the teachers walked into the halls, trying to calm the kids down who were more shouting out the lyrics to happy birthday rather then singing it. 

Carter walked down the hallway with a smile on his face, feeling like he was already ruling the school with his presence. Even though he smiled and looked like he was happy about everyone singing him happy birthday, he actually hated it. He wanted to be angry and tell everyone to shut up, but he couldn't do that. He had an image to maintain, and he wouldn't ruin it just because he hates his birthday. 

Kevin managed to walk up to Carter and the others by pushing past the other students around them who were trying to wish Carter a happy birthday. "Kevin, where were you?" Carter questions, looking at Kevin with a smirk on his face. 

"I was getting your present ready, you know how you told me you wanted the new Iphone?" Kevin questions, bringing his backpack around him so he could unzip it and pulled out the latest iphone, still in it's box with the plastic on it. 

"Really Kevin?!" Carter asks in an excited tone, grabbing the box with both hands and looking at it with a smile on his face. "I didn't know you'd actually get it for me?!" Carter asks in shock. 

"Well you're my friend, aren't you? I only get the best for my friends. Plus, I got myself one too." Kevin answers, pulling out his new Iphone out of his pocket. 

"Jeez Kevin, sometimes it scares me how rich you are." Todd says in a smirk, a bit surprised because since it was released the other day, they were all still very expensive to get. 

Kevin smirked hearing Todd's comment and then looked off to a side where he saw Nate being pushed into the corner by someone. "Guys" Kevin says, trying to get the group's attention to be brought onto Nate, but everyone was too focused on Carter and his new birthday present. The only one actually listening to Kevin, was Jake. 

Jake stared at Kevin, meaning a small 'yes' and Kevin pointed to where Nate was being harassed. "Should we do something? We do know him now after all..." Kevin asks, sounding uncertain about helping their new club leader. 

Jake looked at Kevin for a silent moment again before deciding on his own to go and help Nate. Jake walked up to the boy who was bothering Nate and pushed him away. "What're you doing, Jake?" The boy asks, sounding a bit surprised that Jake was sticking up for someone.

Jake didn't say anything to the boy, but the boy knew that Jake wasn't pleased. With a loud groan, the boy turned around and stormed away, leaving Jake and Nate alone. 

Nate stared at Jake in astonishment. He was surprised and mesmerised that Jake was able to help him without saying a single word, let alone do anything like hurt the boy. "Jake...thank you so much!" Nate says, holding Jake's hand while saying so. 

Jake stared down at Nate holding onto his hand and thanking him. Before staring at their hands for a second, Jake looked at Nate who was looking at him in a smile. 

Even though Nate was smiling at Jake, thanking him for helping him, Jake stared back at Nate with no expression on his face, more to say no emotion. He didn't reply to Nate, he didn't even give him a smirk. After hearing Nate's thank you, Jake turned around and walked away without saying anything. 

Nate watched Jake walk away with a confused expression on his face, raising one eyebrow. "Is something wrong with him?" Nate questions to himself in concern. He hoped that nothing was wrong with Jake. 

When Jake got back to his group of friends, trying to push past the other people around them, he now saw Jackson was with them as well.

"Come on you guys, start heading to class!" Jackson says, trying to control the huge mob of kids in the hallway. 

"Mr.Student council president coming to save the day." Carter says in a smirk as he watched Jackson direct everyone to go to their classes. 

"You should be going to class too Carter, come on" Jackson says, looking back at Carter once he heard his comment. 

"Oh, and don't you have something to say to me?" Carter asks in a smirk, sounding like he as teasing Jackson in a way. 

"Yeah, yeah, happy birthday, now go to class." Jackson says in a tone like he didn't really care much for Carter, motioning his hand down the hall meaning for him to go. 

As the hallways were cleared and everyone was walking to their first period class, Ethan walked into school late. He had bags under his eyes, like always, but today they looked worse than usual. He walked with his head down and his shoulders hunched. 

Ethan made his way to his first period class where everyone was singing happy birthday to Carter once again. Carter glared at Ethan as he walked into the classroom but kept the same smile on his face. When Ethan saw Carter stare at him in a glare, he brought his attention back to the floor and made his way to his desk. He felt his throat getting tight and his stomach turning like he was about to throw up. 

"Okay class, come on calm down." The teacher says as she entered the room and the happy birthday song had come to an end. The teacher knew that getting the class to calm down today was almost impossible considering it was Carter's birthday. She decided to have the period be a free period and everyone could do whatever they wanted to. 

Carter was with Jake and a couple of other kids in the class. They were checking out the new Iphone that Kevin had gave to him this morning. "Jeez you're so lucky to have a guy like Kevin as your friend. That guy can get you anything." One of the boys who was staring at the phone says in jealousy. 

"I know right" Carter answers in a smile, downloading a couple of apps so he could use social media on the device. While he was waiting for the apps to load, he looked around the room to see either people crowded around him, or talking to their own friends. The only person who looked out of place was Ethan because he was sitting alone. 

"Hey, emo fag?" Carter yells from across the room, trying to get Ethan's attention. 

Ethan didn't want to show Carter any attention, and when he heard Carter call out to him, his stomach turned in pain, the same pain like before. 

Carter let out a deep sigh hearing no response coming from Ethan and stood up from his seat. He walked over to Ethan where he grabbed Ethan's hair from the back of his head and forced him to look up at him. "Shit man, you look worse than yesterday." Carter points out, seeing Ethan's dry pale skin, and the darkish purple bags appearing under his eyes. His eyes looked pink and puffy as well, either because he staid up the whole night, or because he was crying. 

Carter chuckled seeing the pain Ethan expressed with his eyes and threw his head back down at the desk. Ethan's head banged onto the desk, where a couple of people were laughing and cheering Carter on. Jake gave no expression to the situation and just watched it happen without saying anything. 

You could hear the 'party' that the class was having from all the way down the hall. Every year since Carter had been in the school, it was like a tradition for everyone to go crazy on his birthday, like he was some sort of God and they all celebrated it.

Meanwhile Jacob was sitting under the stairs and was playing video games on his laptop. He didn't feel like going to first period, and the whole birthday thing going on was giving him a headache. The only way Jacob could ever escape reality was when he was playing video games or talking to his online friends. 

The only problem with having online friends, was that you could never see them in real life. They can never totally sympathise with you because they're not really there. Jacob would always tell his online friends that he was bullied in his school, or that he was having a tough day at school. They would show their concern for a minute or so, telling him everything would be okay and then continue talking about the next level they have to complete in their next multi-game. 

Jacob was messaging a couple of his friends on Kakao from his laptop and at the same time playing his video game when he heard people walk down the stairs. He wasn't too concerned because they didn't sound like teachers, they sounded like students. 

When Jacob saw the group of boys, they looked to be a couple of people he wasn't too familiar with, but someone who did look familiar was Todd. 

"Look, it's the nerd, Jacob!" One of the boys from the group says, seeing Jacob with his laptop in his lap. 

Jacob was ready to withstand the beating he was probably going to get, but was surprised when he heard Todd say "come on guys, don't bother him."

"We're just having a little fun." The boy who had called Jacob a nerd from the beginning says, looking at Todd, like he couldn't take a joke. 

"You guys head to the caf first, I'll meet you in there." Todd says, shooing the group away in an annoyed tone. 

"Whatever, we'll see you in there." The same boy says before turning around and continuing to walk away with the others. 

Todd and Jacob were now the only two under the staircase. Todd stood before Jacob as Jacob looked up at him. "You didn't have to defend me..." Jacob reassures, without really thanking Todd for helping him. 

"I know I didn't, but I can't let a club member get beat up. Aren't we the social justice club?" Todd asks in a smile. 

"I'm not a part of that club" Jacob answers in a sharp tone.

"Yeah, yeah whatever you say" Todd says as he sat down beside Jacob in a groan. 

As Todd sat down, Jacob scooted a bit away from Todd and looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "What're you doing?" 

"Sitting down." 

"Why're you sitting down next to me, don't you have to go to the cafeteria to meet up with your other friends?" Jacob questions in a confused tone, still staying a distance away from Todd. 

"I don't need to meet up with them, I just said that so they could leave. I wanted to see what you were doing. Where're your friends? If you're going to skip class, you might as well do it with your friends." Todd explains, now scooting closer to Jacob again so he was sitting right beside him, their thighs touching. 

Jacob couldn't scoot any farther or he'd hit a wall. He was at a dead end in a corner right underneath the staircase. He sighed lightly to himself before answering "my friends would rather be in class then skip. I should really be in class too, but I just wasn't feeling up for it today." 

"Oh yeah, you're a part of the nerd clique, I forgot...you know, you guys are pretty cool." Todd answers in a smirk, smiling at Jacob with his eyes. 

Jacob looked at Todd surprised and questions "really...you think we're cool?" 

"Well yeah, you guys are one of the coolest groups in the whole school! Well, maybe that's just my opinion, but you guys aren't afraid to be yourselves which is pretty cool to me. Honestly, I think I'm a total nerd on the inside, but I have a 'popular guy' image to maintain. You guys are a hundred times more braver to show your true nerdy colours compared to me. Who has to hide behind this macho outlook." Todd explains in the same smile, still looking at Jacob. 

Jacob was surprised, he would never picture Todd, one of the best looking guys in the whole school to be a nerd. He also felt for some reason he became closer to Todd in a way, with Todd sharing a bit about himself with him. "Why'd you tell me this?" Jacob questions, looking at Todd confused. 

"I don't know, you looked a little down, like you needed a bit of cheering up. I can tell when someone is upset...if you need someone to talk to, you can always talk to me." Todd reassures, standing up once again and ruffling Jacob's hair. 

"Don't be afraid to approach me to talk Jacob, I'd love having a conversation with you." Todd says  in a welcoming tone before turning around and leaving to head to the cafeteria. As Todd walked away, Jacob watched the door close and his heart started to lightly beat in his chest. 

~~~

Hey guys, tell me who you want to see more of in the next chapter since I didn't show everyone in this chapter. It's still going to be Carter's birthday in the next chapter. Tell me who your favourite is so far by the way!