ELEVEN

She sat on her own in the library, her back was facing the entrance to the library as she slipped her earphones into her ears, the soft melodies of Beethoven played smoothly as she opened up her textbook and began reading.

The library was possibly her favourite place in the whole sixth form side of the school, plus it was one of the only places a lonely person could hang out without being embarrassed.

She glanced up when she saw movement out the corner of her eye, it was Vikram and Tobi, they were looking through biology textbooks.

Vikram gave Cleo a sympathetic smile as she smiled at him. She had no friends anymore- everyone saw her as an enemy- she was one of them.

As she sifted through the chapters of the book she wondered what Sapphire and Claire were doing right now. Everyone thought they were so innocent, little did people actually know, Sapphire was what some would call a 'hoe' while Claire snorted cocaine on the weekends until she couldn't walk anymore. Cleo had to drag them both home multiple times. Cleo had stuck up for Simon Minter a few times and suddenly she was the Donald Trump of her Sixth Form.

Cleo didn't mind being alone, it meant she had more time to concentrate on her A Level's and with that, her future. Plus she'd gotten rather close with Simon, and she liked him, a lot.

Vikram and Tobi borrowed three books from the library before they left, and they were quickly replaced with a couple from year 11 attempting to get away with making out between the shelves. No doubt they'd be caught out by the librarian sooner or later. Cleo just chuckled to herself as the couple disappeared behind the hundreds of books.

She found what she was looking for within her textbook and decided to write up some notes- that was before Joshua Bradley walked into the library. It was odd for Cleo, to see him alone.

He walked past her desk at first, but he stopped about a metre away and turned slowly to face her, their eyes met and he gave her a smile as he pointed to his own ears. Cleo took this as a symbol for her to remove her earphones, so she paused the music and took them out, placing them on the table.

"Mind if I take a seat?" Josh asks, referring to the chair on the other side of Cleo's desk.

"Be my guest," She says and he smiles and sits down.

"I'm not here to shout at you or anything, you can relax," Joshua says, still smiling.

"Right...So what are you here for?" She asks, she was trying to keep her voice low so not to attract unnecessary attention.

"Simon, I'm here for Simon," He says and Cleo's eyebrows furrow.

"Simon? What about him?"

"He's in love with you, like madly, deeply in love with you," Josh says and Cleo frowns at him.

"And this has what to do with you?"

"He's my best mate- I don't need him getting hurt anymore than he already has been," Josh replies snappily.

"Okay...Well, I don't want to hurt him," Cleo says and Josh nods.

"I know, but he told me you want him to talk to someone about his father...Now that, that might hurt him," Josh explains softly.

"But not doing anything will make it worse- what happens when Simon moves out? The hits his mother get will double," Cleo fires back, trying to keep calm.

"You don't know what his father is capable-"

"Don't," She warns, her eyes looked like they might catch fire, she was practically burning holes in Joshua, "He turned up in my shed, a few times now, beaten and bruised, I've stitched that boy back together, Josh, I've been there as he's been crying in pain over what he's been through...You think I haven't seen the scars that litter his back? The belt marks? I've seen them, I've never seen anything like it,"

As Joshua listens, he can hear the strain in her voice, he can see the tears in her eyes- she sounded and looked like she was in pain.

"I'm sorry Cleo, but if anyone finds out...I'm scared for him, for Simon," He says and Cleo nods.

"Me too Joshua, thats why we have to tell someone," Cleo says and Josh frowns.

"At one point, I thought you could never, ever care for someone like Minter,"

"But I do care. I care about everything too much," She whispers.

"Thank you," He says as he stands up.

"For what?"

"For looking after my best friend...He needs you more than you know it," He smiles before walking away, Cleo watches him walk out of the library. 

She didn't really understand what had happened- had Josh agreed with her in the end? It was all unclear as Cleo picked up her headphones, just as she was about to put them into her ears she watched the younger couple come from behind the shelves, her lipgloss smudged and both of their uniforms and hair messy.

They walked in her direction, aiming to avoid the librarian's desk.

"You might want to go to the bathroom- your hair and lipgloss make it obvious what you two were doing," Cleo says as quiet as she can.

The couple look at each other before rushing off. Cleo smiled as the couple managed to evade the librarian and escape the booked filled room with their dignity still intact- mostly.

Cleo checked the time on her phone as she put in her earphones. Bach played in her ears as she packed away her things and pulled her bag over her shoulders. She headed out the library, giving the librarian a smile as she walked by. Cleo walked towards her lesson, as she passed by an empty classroom, the door opened and her wrist was grabbed. She was pulled swiftly into the classroom and the door was closed behind her.

"What the hell?" She mutters before she even turns around.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean for it to be so...Dramatic," She looks round to see Simon Minter.

"Oh of course it was you! I should have guessed," She says, her voice suggested she was annoyed, but a half smile sat on her lips.

"I haven't seen you all day," Simon says, moving closer. He pulls her body against his before lifting her up and placing her on top of one of the lab counters, they nearly knock over about 5 testing tubes as her back and his both drop onto the floor.

"This classroom will be getting filled with students and a teacher soon," Cleo comments and Simon's hands run up her legs, to her waist. He squeezes gently before pressing a kiss to her lips. She moves her hands to rest at the base of his neck, her thumb running along the shaved hairs that seemed to be stood on end as she pushed her hips down on his, he could feel himself growing excited.

"We might need to call this quits," Simon chuckles as he pulls away, "I think I'm getting a bit too excited,"

"Such a shame," Cleo says, she pushes him back using her hands before she slides off the counter, landing softly on her feet.

She picks up her backpack before passing Simon his.

"You can use the backpack to cover up your..." She gestures to his crotch.

"Yeah, thanks, that doesn't make it obvious at all," He says sarcastically, causing Cleo to roll her eyes.

"I'm already late to my lesson, Mister Minter, so I have to go," She says and he grabs her hand and pulls her close once again. He kisses her tenderly, it was a loving kiss- not too harsh or too soft- just perfect.

"I'll see you later, Simon," She says as she opens the door of the chemistry lab.

He smiles at her before winking and saying, "Yes you will,"

___________________

Thank you for reading!

That was a longer chapter than I intended because I felt bad that there wasn't any Cleo/Simon interaction in it, so I added some suggestive classroom make out scene to the end of the chapter to keep you all happy

thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed

Much love to the most Savage fam on Wattpad!

~lachys-loch❤️