(Jack's P.O.V.)


School. Yay. Just the wonderful paradise I'm looking forward too. No, in all honesty it actually wasn't that bad last week. Again, there were whispers and stares, but other then that it was fine. I just hope it stays that way. I know that this school isn't particularly the nicest. Last year I heard lots of people wished to join my group just so they could beat up Mark. Others tried to already, heck... He even got stabbed because someone hated him so much! 

But, and this is gonna sound terrible, I'm not just worried for Mark. I'm scared for myself too. I've dealt with the bullying, I've dealt with being beaten, and I never want to deal with it again. I look over at Mark, who's currently getting books out of his locker. I love Mark with all of my heart, and I never want to see him hurt again. He is more important then me, and I will do everything I can to protect him. 

"Hey hey hey!" My thoughts are interrupted by a loud voice I recognize quite well. Mark and I both turn towards the source of the voice. I smile.

"Wade! Bob! Ken! Hey!" I say, smiling. Mark shuts his locker and stands next to me, slinging his bag over his shoulder. The three walk up to us and Ken waves. 

"Hi!" Wade says. 

"So, what's up with you guys?" I ask. Two of them shrug, Bob answers with a "nothing much". 

"What about you?" Ken asks. Mark nods a bit. 

"Same. Nothing really." He says. I nod in agreement. 

"Cool, cool." Ken says. 

"So, we didn't see much of you guys last week. Why's that?" I ask, genuinely curious. Wade and Bob just shrug, Ken answers. 

"Well, I've actually been hanging out with a girl I met over summer break. Her name's Mary. She's pretty cool." He says. My eyes widen, and I bounce from side to side. 

"Ooh! Nice! You two just friends? Or...?" Mark asks. Ken nods from side to side. 

"It's more like a platonic girlfriend/boyfriend thing." He says. I gasp. 

"Yay!" I say simply. Ken chuckles at my reaction. Then it's Mark's turn to start jumping around. 

"Sooooo..." He looks at Bob and Wade. "What's up with you two?" He asks. Bob sighs and chuckles, Wade shakes his head. 

"Aw, it didn't work out?" I ask. Bob shakes his head as well. 

"Nah. We're cool with being friends." He says. I nod. 

"Well, I'm glad you two tried anyway." I say, still smiling. However Mark frowns a bit. 

"Aw no fair! Your guys' OTP becomes real but mine doesn't?" He says jokingly. Bob laughs, Wade stares at Mark disapprovingly and Ken sighs. 

"I swear, you are a teenage girl at heart." Wade says. Mark looks at me and I look at him. 

"We literally just went through this." I say. Mark nods. 

"Yeah, we did." He says. Then we both burst out laughing, for no reason at all whatsoever. Then Bob starts laughing, and soon Wade and Ken join in. So we're just a group of five giggly bitches in the hallway. Eventually we all calm down and the stares and whispers are more obvious. Bob, Wade and Ken notice this and it seems to spark something in Wade's mind. 

"Oh yeah! I meant to ask you guys..." He quiets down. "How is it? How are you?" I chuckle. It does baffle me sometimes, how much these guys care about me. About us. It makes me happy. Mark answers the question. 

"It seems to be fine. I mean, yeah, half the school doesn't like us but they haven't done anything so... Yeah. We're good." He says, smiling. Bob looks at me. 

"Jack?" He asks expectantly. I nod. 

"Like Mark said, even though they don't like us they haven't made any move towards expressing that besides some hate comments or laughter. So, it's all good." I say. I look at Ken, expecting him to say something, but instead he's staring at his phone. "What's up?" I ask, nodding towards him. He chuckles. 

"Well... Apparently you two are more popular than you thought." He says. I frown. 

"What do you mean?" Mark asks. Ken turns his phone around, showing all of us. 

"Some people have made a Twitter page directly for pictures of you two and hate comments." He says. I sigh, though I'm not surprised. I knew something like this would happen eventually. I just hope these people don't decide to turn all this hate physical. Keep it online, mk? 

"Ouch." Wade whispers, staring at the screen still. Mark nods, Bob shrugs. 

"I mean, can you really put it past them? I swear, this is the most homophobic school in the entire area." He says. I chuckle. 

"I don't even think half of them are homophobic." I say, taking the phone and scrolling through the hate. "They just hate me." I say. Mark quickly takes the phone away, not allowing me to read anymore hate (which is probably a good idea). 

"Well then they're stupid and need to get to know the real you before making assumptions and forming rock solid opinions." He says, kissing my cheek. 

"Aw!" Bob says. We all turn to look at him and he just raises his hands in defense. "Come on! You two are so cute!" He says. I roll my eyes, leaning my head on Mark's shoulder. 

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." I say, and with that everyone's laughing again.

A/N: Fun fact: This chapter took me about two months to actually write... But I did it! You proud of me? Yeah... I'm proud of me too...