HEY GUYS. THIS UPDATE WAS A LOT QUICKER, LUCKY FOR YOU ALL. IN THE LAST UPDATE, I MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT MY FRIEND AND HOW SHE HAS WRITTEN A STORY OF HER OWN. WELL, MY BEST FRIEND HAS MADE A WATTPAD UNDER THE NAME _ArchAngel AND SHE IS MAKING A STORY CALLED "The School Of Love". FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE INTERESTED IN ROMANCE, DRAMA, RELATIONSHIPS AND SUCH, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU. THE STORY REVOLVES AROUND THREE COUPLES, A BOYxGIRL PAIR, A GIRLxGIRL PAIR AND A BOYxBOY PAIR, AND EACH STORY IS CONNECTED. IT'S PRETTY A PRETTY AWESOME CONCEPT. SO CHECK THAT SHIZZ OUT AND GIVE HER SOME FEEDBACK FOR ME! SHE'S REAL EXCITED TO WRITE ON WATTPAD SO IT'LL MAKE HER FEEL HAPPIER! THIS WAS A PRETTY LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE ACTUALLY. MMMMM OKAY IMMA DO QUESTIONS REAL QUICK.

QUESTIONS!!:
-If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? (I'd probably go to places like Brazil, Japan or Italy.)
-Do you like video games? Which one(s)? (Bioshock Trilogy, Alien: Isolation and the Little Big Planet series all the way bro)

THANKS FOR READING THIS GUYS. I'M GONNA SHUT UP NOW AND LET YOU READ. SEE YOU IN THE NEXT CHAP! c:*

Stay Creepy, My Friends!~

Chapter 18

I scribbled my pencil across the notepaper of my notebook and looked up every so often at the projection board to see the teacher's notes. The class was quiet as we all wrote and waited for the next set of notes. Craig was behind me doing the same, and so was Kayla who was sitting in the row next to me. I checked the time to see there was only fifteen minutes of class time left before the bell rang.

As I was writing, my pencil tip broke off and I sighed. I got out of my seat and walked towards the pencil sharpener, without struggle. I stood around as I sharpened my pencil and I was not bothered by my ankle. The only reason why was because it's completely healed. I don't need that annoying splint anymore and I won't feel that stupid uncomfortable pressure in my ankle every time I walk or stand.

It's been a whole week since it healed, and it took another whole week before that to finally let it. Two weeks since Craig and I's duet. Two weeks since that time in the backyard with Jack. It's been two weeks since I've last seen him. I've grown worried for him. I don't know where he could've gone or why, but I only hope he's not doing this to ignore me. I hadn't meant for what happened to actually happen and I feel terrible for putting him through that, despite how elated I was at the time. I just hope to see him again and apologize for what I did. I can't stand to not have him around, even if it's every other day. Sam keeps convincing me that he might just be focusing on his own business, and I've thought the same to myself too, but I still can't help but feel that I scared him away. When I get the chance, I'll apologize as many times as I can. Hell, I'll kowtow in front of him. Whatever it takes to make him feel better-.

"Ao, are you okay?" I heard a voice, and I turned around to see my teacher giving me a concerned expression, along with the rest of the class. Blinking, I realized that I had been standing around even after I was done sharpening. I looked from the teacher to Craig and Kayla, then back to the teacher. "Uh," I started with a murmur, "yeah, I'm fine. I just...zoned out for a moment."

"Do you need anything?" He asked.

I shook my head and said, "No, I'm good. Thank you, though." Quietly and calmly, I walked back to my seat and continued with the notes. I tried not to let the awkwardness of the moment prior get to me. I'm in school and I should focus on school only. Once the day is over, I can fuss over everything later. I can't fuss or else this will become a bad day. I don't want a bad day. 'Just want things to be regular, that's all.

I looked up at the notes on the board and memorized a part of it to write down. Though, as soon as I placed the pencil tip onto the paper, it broke again. I stared for a few moments, sighed, then slowly got up from my seat to sharpen my pencil once again.

...

The lunch room was bustling with students as it usually is, and I maneuvered my way through crowds to get in line for a bit of food. Once I found a line, I waited and waited until I received a lunch tray and carefully weaved my way to the booth Craig, Kayla and I usually sit at. I placed my tray down onto the table and slid into my spot. Sighing, I opened my bottle of water and took a few swigs before placing it back onto my tray. Craig came strolling in out of the corner of my eye and I looked up at him. He had gotten his own tray of lunch and sat down. He brushed his hair back and said, "Ahh, how I praise the...slight sanctity of lunch...!"

I smiled. Craig opened up his orange juice bottle and took a few gulps before setting it down onto the table. He leaned back into his seat and sighed, saying, "Sucks that Kayla had to leave for a doctor's appointment." I glanced over at the spot next to me where Kayla would've sat in, but of course she wasn't here to fill it.

"Well, she'll be back tomorrow," I said optimistically. Craig nodded and drank his OJ again. After he set it down, he asked, "How's the ankle? Is it doing anything weird again?"

I chuckled. "Craig I've told you many times, it's completely healed. There's nothing to worry about anymore."

"Just checking," he said, "I'm glad it's still doing fine. Don't go busting it again, though."

"I won't," I laughed and took a bite of my food.

"So, hey, do you still have those guards around?" Craig suddenly asked. I looked up at him and nodded. "Yup, they're still undercover and I still don't know who they are," I replied.

"Ah, okay," he said, and took a bite of an apple he had with his lunch.

"Though," I added, "since it's been so long since anyone attacked me, I think my father will call them off soon."

"Aren't you worried that there's a possibility people will start coming once the agents are gone?" Craig had asked, concerned.

I muddled over that but then shrugged. "I've still got an electric fence," I giggled.

Craig chuckled and playfully rolled his eyes. He took another bite of his apple and I drank some water again. After setting the bottle down, I asked Craig, "So, how is tutoring with Xavier?"

He looked at me for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and answering with, "It's not awkward like I had thought it would be. Tutoring him is actually pretty simple."

"How so?"

"Well," he started, "for one, he's pretty cooperative, he understands the material and he doesn't bicker with me at all. In fact, he's so well intuited that I don't even think he needs tutoring."

"Then, why are you tutoring him?" I asked.

Craig shrugged. "Beats me," he said, "maybe it's because he knows he's such a dumbass and he knows he's gonna screw up at some point so he needs someone to keep him in check."

"Or," I intoned, "maybe it's because he's trying to get close with you."

Immediately, Craig scowled and said, "No way he'd do that! He's a purebred dumbass and that's it!"

"Aw, do I see a blush coming on?" I cooed and Craig huffed and looked away.

"Tutoring him is strictly business," he muttered, "Nothing more, nothing le-."

Something hit Craig in the back of the head, which caused him to jerk forward and groan. He turned around with an irritated expression on his face and rubbed the back of his head. "The hell?" He grumbled and glared down at an empty water bottle that was now lying on the floor. I stared at it too and then wondered who had thrown it. Craig's and my questions were answered as we spotted Daniel Lennon who was waving at us for our attention. "Hey, Holland," he called, "Pick that up for me, would ya?"

Craig frowned at the bottle and then at Daniel. It took me a moment to realize that there was a trash bin behind our booth all along. Daniel must've been aiming for it, but since Craig was sitting on the side near it, the bottle had hit him instead. Despite this, Craig was pissed off. As his answer to Daniel's request, he shouted back, "Why don't you come over here and pick it up yourself? You're the one who threw it! Come pick it up!"

The area around us grew quieter as some people watched Daniel smirk, get up from his seat and casually stroll up to our booth to pick up the water bottle he had thrown. He crouched down, picked up the bottle and then properly threw it into the trash bin. Craig was just staring daggers. Daniel looked at him and asked, "How come you can't throw it for me?"

Craig replied, "Because it's your trash and you should be the one to throw it away, not me."

Daniel scoffed, and as he turned around, he remarked, "You just can't get up because your ass hurts from too many late night fuck buddies."

Craig lost it.

Before I could even utter a word to calm him down, he had jumped up from his seat and growled, "You shut the hell up!"

"Huh, so you can stand up," Daniel commented, "I guess you mess around so much that you're used to it."

"I do not mess around," Craig said, stepping closer to the football player. Daniel backed away and said very loudly, "Hey, don't touch me! I'm not into you!"

Everyone around us stared after Daniel's outburst and Craig's face was growing red from both anger and embarrassment. Oh, please don't say anything smart...! "I-I wasn't trying to-," he stammered but Daniel just cut him off with another rude remark, "Listen, Holland, I know you're gay but that doesn't mean you gotta go after every guy you see. Geez, have some restraint."

Craig was growing frustrated fast and I knew I had to make this stop. I got up to interfere but Craig had gotten in the way to say, "I wouldn't fuck a guy like you even if you paid me, and I'm pretty sure paying people is the only way you're ever going to get laid...!"

God dammit Craig! Daniel laughed and said, "Well, at least the only way I'd get laid would be with a woman, alright? Though, you can't really understand that can you? Right, you must be confused about how that works or you hit your head!" Daniel put a hand on Craig's head, saying loudly and slowly, "You don't fuck guys, you idiot!" Then Daniel bumped his hand against Craig's forehead and laughed. I could just feel the anger rising off of him and Craig grit his teeth. I grabbed onto his arm when I thought he would lunge but I was surprised to see someone else clap Daniel on his shoulder and pull him away from the fiery Craig. It was Xavier.

"What do you think you're doing?" He had asked in a calm yet threatening voice. He had that same poker face plastered on like he usually does yet I could tell his body was far from flaccid. I could feel Craig's body go limp and I hugged his arm tighter to keep him calm. Daniel stared at Xavier for a few moments before his eyes lit up and he laughed, "Oh hey, Xavier! What brings you here?"

"I was coming over to ask Craig for notes but obviously I have to get my hands dirty first," Xavier muttered, tightening his grip on Daniel.

"Oh, right," Daniel drawled, "He's tutoring you, correct?"

"Yes," Xavier answered blatantly, slowly dropping his hand from Daniel's shoulder.

"You're not having any trouble with him, are you?" Daniel asked and Craig started tensing up again.

"What do you mean?" Xavier asked.

Daniel smiled. "Well, you know, he hasn't tried pulling anything on you has he? He's a pretty unpredictable, perverted guy." He leaned in closer to Xavier and hissed, "You might wanna be careful around him. I heard he likes to stare at the other guys in the locker rooms when they're all changing..!"

"Does he now...?" Xavier muttered.

"Yeah," Daniel added, "I'm just looking out for you. Wouldn't want a nice guy like you getting fondled by this disgusting faggot over here.." He pointed to Craig.

Craig exploded and yanked himself out of my grip. "Craig!" I exclaimed but it was already too late. He pushed Daniel away from Xavier and onto a nearby table. Everyone was taken off guard and they rambled over what was going on. Not only were the people in our area staring but everyone else on the other side of the cafeteria too. Some people were quiet, some were saying for the situation to stop, others were encouraging it, either cheering for Daniel or Craig. Craig had only meant to shove Daniel away but it was Daniel who decided to throw the first punch. Soon, Craig followed his actions and the both of them growled and grunted from hitting each other.

"Craig!" I screamed and ran to go in after him but Xavier caught my waist and pulled me back. "Let me go! I need to help him!" I told him frantically. Xavier put me down and said, "I'll do it." Then he left me to go break up the fight. He tried pulling them away from each other but the boys were like alley cats, clawing to each other and all. I watched Xavier and noticed how he was growing impatient and annoyed. He tried different ways to seperate them but nothing worked and he turned down help from anyone else watching. Finally, he decided on a different tactic and grabbed someone's soda from off of another table. He shook it vigorously, before opening and spraying the contents onto Daniel and Craig, all with that same poker face he wears. The boys stopped and groaned as they rubbed away soda from their faces. Xavier fiercely grabbed Craig by the back of his shirt collar and dragged him up onto his feet. Then, the blonde boy threw the empty soda can at Daniel's head and said, "Clean this shit up." Daniel glared up at him and wiped off a bit of blood from his busted lip. "And you," Xavier scolded Craig, "get your shit together." Xavier started walking away while dragging Craig along. "Thanks," I heard Craig mumble but Xavier had only answered with, "Shut up and walk."

The blonde boy had motioned for me to follow him and I was quick to do so. I grabbed my bag and ran up to catch up with him as he shoved his way through crowds of relieved or disappointed watchers.

...

"Ouch, that stings...!"

Craig was sitting in the nurse's office while the nurse was cleaning up his face. I was sitting on a chair next to him while Xavier stood around. Sighing, I said, "I'm glad Kayla wasn't here to see what happened."

"Why? Because she would've been upset?" Xavier asked.

"Worse," I replied, "She would've helped."

"Yup," Craig added, "she gets pretty feisty when there's a commotion. Kind of runs in the family-OWW!! ARE YOU CLEANING MY FACE WITH ACID?!?! CHRIST ON A CRUTCH!!" The nurse gave no reply as she just kept doing her task.

I looked up at Xavier and said, "Thank you for helping."

He shrugged. "It's nothing special."

"It was still a good thing," I said, and flashed him a smile.

"He sprayed soda on me," Craig remarked and I gave him a look that said "quiet". "And you," I told him, "you should be thankful that Xavier came in to help."

"I thanked him earlier but he just told me to shut up," he muttered and glanced at Xavier with annoyance. But then he continued with, "Why did you come help me anyway?"

"I explained it already," Xavier sighed impatiently, "I needed notes. Though I ended up having to keep your ass from the E.R. instead."

"It wouldn't have gotten that bad," Craig said, "It's not my fault that stupid Neanderthal doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut."

"And apparently you don't either," I added and Craig stared at me with surprise. Then his face turned red as he looked away from me, ashamed. My facial expression became sweet and I said, "The argument was Daniel's fault but you shouldn't have been the one to start the fight. You need to ignore him. You know how he is."

"Yeah, I do...," he mumbled and I could tell he was remembering a lot of things he doesn't want to. At this, I started remembering too. I remembered the day Daniel started hurting Craig, when we were all little kids. He used to shove Craig around, steal his things, hit him, make fun of him and he was relentless when doing so. I was around when it happened and of course I tried to help Craig. I tried. Daniel wouldn't have it. I could never get near to help Craig or get near him in general. That's when Daniel began blackmailing me for something I don't quite remember. But it was because of what I did that he would bully Craig further so I was torn between two decisions. There was only one way I could help him, at least a bit. I had chosen Craig. By doing this, I helped Craig instead of whatever else I did and he was able to go through elementary at least a little easier. The bullying never stopped, it just wasn't as often. It's still like that to this day. Only now Craig has me by his side to help him out.

"I'm sorry," I heard him say and I gave him a soft smile.

"It's fine," I said, "he deserved it anyway."

Craig chuckled but then whined again as the nurse patched up his bruised eye. I folded my hands on my lap and sighed again. The office was quiet except for Craig's wincing. Another minute passed before the nurse was finished treating him, and she put away her things. She grabbed a little baggie of ice from her fridge, wrapped it in a paper towel and handed it to Craig. "Cover up your eye with this in the mean time, okay honey?"

Craig nodded and took the ice pack, then held it to his bruised eye. I stood up and looked at his face, seeing how his busted lip was bandaged and his knuckles too. His hair was disheveled from the fight so I loomed over him to fix it. After I was done, he stood up from his seat and groaned as he was still hurting.

"You all should get going to your classes," the nurse said and the three of us left the office. I had said my thank you to her when none of the boys did and we were walking through the quiet, empty halls.

After a few moments of silence, Xavier had finally spoken again and said, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but this was a pretty crumby day."

"Agreed," Craig and I said in unison and the both of us shared chuckles and happy glances.

"Hey, Craig," Xavier called, "I meant it when I said to get your shit together earlier."

"Yeah, I know," Craig mumbled.

"Good," Xavier replied, "I don't need my tutor getting his ass handed to him by a jock."

Craig's face turned red but Xavier hadn't seemed to notice. I knew why he had gotten like that, which made me happy. I smiled at the scene before me and kept walking. It seems like Craig's already feeling better by how he's blushing. I was glad.

...

I was dropped off at home by Craig, who had done so as one of his many attempts to have me forgive him for today's commotion despite that I already have forgiven him multiple times. I opened up the gates with the correct code and walked in, afterwards the gates automatically closing behind me. I walked up to my front door and unlocked it with a spare key. The comforting atmosphere of my house took me in and I could already just plop down onto the foyer. "Today was tiresome," I said aloud as I dragged my school bag along as I walked up the stairs.

It seemed that way.

Sam had said. I sighed tiredly and responded, "What I wouldn't give for a relaxing bath..."

What's to stop you from that?

"Agh, I have homework," I groaned.

Oh, right.

"Aye, Sam," I whined, making it up onto the second floor, "why do I have to be so smart?"

Wow, I can't believe you're complaining over that.

"It's exhausting," I phrased, "There's so much advanced work that's given and then there's all the studying and learning...! Why can't I just be a little dumber? Why won't you let me be dumb, Sam?"

Well, for one thing, I don't want to have to deal with a ditzy teenage girl, and second, because being smart is good for you.

"But it makes me so tired," I murmured and finally made it to my bedroom door.

Then that means you're doing a good job being smart.

"Well, now I want to do poorly," I said and opened the door. I was so tired that I dropped my bag by the doorway and just fell onto my bed. "Sam, why don't you do my homework for me and I catch some Zs," I suggested weakly.

Hell no.

"Oh, fine then," I muttered and sat up on my bed. I was begging for a nap but I knew I had to do my homework before anything else. "Could you grab my bag for me?" I asked Sam, while reaching out for it from my bed with little effort.

You have legs. I don't.

"You can still move things," I stated.

Just get up and get your bag, Blue.

"Alright, fine," I groaned and plopped over onto my side, then rolled off of my bed to hit the floor. I started scooting my body across the floor towards my school bag until I was in the center of my bedroom. I was seriously dying for sleep. I was so tired that I didn't care that I was on the floor. I was so tired that I didn't care about how I had painfully gotten off of my bed. I was so tired that I hadn't even noticed the man sitting quietly on my blue papasan in the corner.

Wait a minute.

I shot my gaze onto the figure and froze. Then I screamed and bolted up onto my feet. I ran out of my room and flitted down the stairs as fast as I could. How had that man gotten inside my home? How had I not noticed him before? Oh god, what do I do?! With my mind being in a panicked state, I ran into the kitchen and looked for the first thing that I could use as some physical weapon.

Footsteps sounded near the entrance of the kitchen and I blindly grabbed onto something near. With good aim, I ended up throwing a ladle at the man who was just entering. He grunted loudly and fell back onto the tiled floor. The island counter between us covered his fallen figure from my view so I carefully walked around to see the man. All I could see was a mess of black hair as he covered his face with his hands.

I heard him groan and then he began dropping his hands from his face. That's when I lunged forward to grab the ladle and then step on his head. "Ow," he grunted and he whined the more I squished him. Raising the ladle up in the air, I demanded, "Who the hell are you?" That's when I had finally noticed his features, which were just as bone chilling as I had remembered. I was so panicked I hadn't paid attention before. Not only have I seen this man before but I know his name too. I formerly knew him as BB but I learned his actual name weeks ago.

Frowning down at the man, I uttered his name in surprise. "...J-Jeff..?"