Back to School

When I set step into the crowded hallways of the high school building, I felt like I'd just stepped through a time portal making everything appear in slow motion. Every student I walked past as I headed towards the first class of the day was moving sluggishly slow. The usually loud chatter that ricocheted off the plain walls were absent, replaced by the soft droning of people whispering and releasing heavy sighs as they lingered about their lockers and made way for class. Yet, there was one thing I picked up on that explained the behavior. On the faces of each and every student was a blissfully satisfied expression and I knew in that moment of clarity - this was just the after-shock of Thanksgiving break.

The four days had passed by in a breeze. Following Thanksgiving dinner with the extra company of Damien, the next three days had spent spending what little time I had for grabs with dad and trying to convince him to stay home from work. I knew there was a lot being piled upon him but the selfish side of me came out more than it had before, demanding more of his time. Of course, it didn't work, as much as he wanted to stay back too. Instead of enjoying the days off school with dad, I ended up spending the remainder of it completing all my homework assignments and finding solace in the entertainment that I could derive from texting the gang. Nick, however, had been so kind as to pick up on what I was upset about without me even openly saying it, and did something to boost my spirits. And boost it, it did.

I felt like the only one happy to be back at school as I skipped (actually skipped) all the way to the English Lit classroom. Nick was the first to notice as I came prancing into the room, humming happily under my breath. Waving at me from behind his desk, he shot me the world's biggest grin, amber eyes twinkling at the sight of me happy.

"Look at you all chipper. Now, I wonder why that must be."

I returned the smile and before even greeting the other two, launched myself at Nick who stood up and out of his chair to catch me. My arms wrapped around his waist as I laughed and squeezed him tighter in my hug, feeling one of his hands rest on the top of my head and pat it affectionately.

"Thank you so much. Honestly." Looking up at him with starry eyes, I continued voicing my gratefulness. "You have no idea how much I needed it."

"No problemo kiddo," Nick said, doting on me the way my dad did sometimes. He didn't let go of me as I stepped back, and neither did I, having one arm still wrapped around his waist with his casually around my shoulder. Facing the other two, I greeted them happily, "Morning fellas."

Damien, of course, was the first to pounce on us with an extra dose of curiosity than needed. "What's going on? Am I missing something? How come Nick's getting all the Makayla-love?" Leo, however, was more civilized...or perhaps, trying to cover up his lack of interest on the topic. "Good morning Makayla. Nice to see you in high spirits this early in the morning," he responded before going back to leaning against the wall and staring out the window at the sky.

I rolled my eyes. Typical. Finally letting go of Nick, I detached myself from him and set my bag down on the top of my desk to unpack what I needed for class.

"So?" Damien prodded me on the hip, taking a step closer till I could feel his back pressing against mine as he loomed over my shoulder, trying to get a look at my face. "What's going on? What could Nick have possibly done to merit an early morning hug session from you?"

"You want to know the secret?" Nick teased Damien who shot him a glare, no doubt feeling envious.

"N-Not exactly," Damien answered. "I just want to know what happened is all."

"Jelly Damien."

Nick's taunting would have earned him a more than 'friendly' punch from Damien if it hadn't been for Mrs. Hammond entering the class and telling us to settle down. The lesson started and the classroom soon settled into a state of silence as every student's attention was on the whiteboard and Mrs. Hammond's lecture. I was flicking through my textbook and marking down some pages for future reference when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

Fishing it out, I unlocked the screen only to be face-to-face to another of Damien's nosy interrogative rounds. And he'd even gone through the trouble of setting up a group chat for it.

Damien: I demand answers here people!
Leo: We're in class, Cross. You're breaking the rules.
Damien: Oooh, I'm so scared now that the student body Prez is on my case. =P
Nick: Guys - I can't afford to chat right now. I can't keep up with Mrs. Hammond's lesson.
Damien: You're kidding, right? She speaks at the rate of one word per minute. 
Leo: I can pass you my notes if you'd like.
Nick: Thanks, that would help Leo. (totally ignoring Damien)
Damien: I guess that means you'll have to tell me May.

Will he ever give up?

Setting down my pen and propping up my textbook on the desk so Mrs. Hammond wouldn't be able to see the funny business I was up to, I started contributing to the group chat (minus Nick who I noticed had slipped his phone into his bag and was scribbling away in his notebook).

Damien: I'm waiting here.
Me: Jeez, impatient much?
Damien: So what happened?
Me: Quit bothering me, I'm typing. Just wait a little, will you please?
Leo: Oh.

Leo: I know what this is about.
Leo: Talk later.
- Leo Harper has left the chat. -
Damien: What. Why am I always being left out? D=
Damien: ...still waiting here...
Me: Nick basically figured out I was feeling a bit low during the break since dad had to work and couldn't spend much time with me after the night of Thanksgiving. So, without me even asking, he sent me a little cheer-up present on Monday morning. First, it was a bouquet of different flowers at 8 a.m. I didn't know who it was from until an hour later, Amy showed up at my doorstep and said that Nick had sent her over. We had a girl's day out, went shopping and all that jazz. She lifted my spirits up. And apparently, Nick cancelled some reserved trip to some expensive amusement park they'd had planned and sent Amy over for my sake, thinking it might be good for me to have some girlfriend company. Amy didn't tell me how much it cost him, but she doesn't need to. It really meant a lot to me that he was worried and did that.

"That's it?"

My head snapped up at the sound of Damien's deep whisper, not expecting him to have read the text that fast, or to have even turned around in his chair to talk to me about it. I peered up at him from behind the top corners of my textbook, having slouched a little in my seat, and nodded silently.

"That's all Nick had to do to get a hug?" he frowned. "I'm disappointed. Makayla Summers's hugs are worth more and you're giving 'em out too easy."

"Too easy, huh? Even then, I don't see you getting any," I retorted, giving him a smug grin which he didn't return.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Cross?"

"No ma'am!" Damien answered, not taking his eyes off of me before whipping around to face the front of the class again. Mrs. Hammond had an eyebrow raised, looking between me and Damien before deciding not to question us further and returning to the lesson. Looks like she was suffering from a case of post-Thanksgiving laziness as well. Any other day she would've bitten our heads off.

"You just wait," Damien grumbled to himself. He didn't know I could hear him but I could, and I had to stifle a laugh at his next words. "I'll rock your world soon enough and you'll be smothering me with your hugs. I swear it."

Shaking my head to myself, I went back to focusing on the task at hand just as my phone vibrated in my hand again. Ducking my head, I checked the screen and the words on them made a warm smile itch at the corners of my lips.

Damien: But on a serious note - if you're feeling lonely, you know you can text or call me anytime right? I'm always around.

Me: Yeah...I know. :-) Thanks Damien.

*

The day went by smoothly. Most of the teachers were starting off the sessions slowly, not loading off too much work on us just yet. I guess the 4-day weekend had gotten to the whole school. Still, that didn't stop Maddie from questioning me again during third period. I had walked straight into the AP Chemistry classroom only to see everyone's eyes eagerly set on me. For once though, I didn't freak out immediately and had simply walked over to my front-row seat and sat down next to Maddie.

"Hey, hey, how was your Thanksgiving?" she'd asked, giving me a friendly smile, happy as ever.

"It was good. How was yours?"

"Wonderful! My grandparents visited."

"That's sweet of the-"

"So any updates?"

I had stopped taking my textbook out of my bag and looked at her, eyebrow raised. Her eyes were then dazzling and with folded hands in front of her chest, it looked like she was praying to hear something juicy out of me. I had suppressed the sassy remark and shrugged.

"I'm sorry to disappoint Maddie. I'm not sure what exactly you want to hear."

"Oh come on Makayla!! We're friends! You can tell me you know."

A nervous giggle had erupted from my lips. From the corner of my eyes I'd been able to see the students that sat around us leaning forwards in their own stools to hear what I had to say, their minds drooling for the latest bling. Nevertheless, I hadn't given in. It's not like I had anything to say in the first place.

"Nope. I've told you time and time again, I'm just friends with...DNT, as you girls put it."

The collective sighs of disappointment that had filled the classroom still echoed through my mind as I sat in the middle of the cafeteria, slurping the chocolate milk through the straw. Although it didn't disturb me anymore, I knew it would get me a long while to understand the whole dynamics of student psychology in a public high school. Back in Florida, I had been one of the observers. One of the girls who'd stand to the side when the 'it' crowd walked through the halls, catching the attention of everyone there. Now, I was the one in the spotlight, and although I wasn't particularly an expert at handling my position in the social food-chain, I was glad to know that I was getting used to the system. The rumors no longer bothered me.

"Oi." Damien poked the side of my head. "What are you spacing out for?"

I waved his hand away, turning my head to give him a steady glare. "Don't you have nicer ways of grabbing my attention?"

"I do. But you would call it 'flirting' and I don't want to go around upsetting my princess, now do I?" He wiggled his eyebrows. I let out a huff and went back to slurping at my now empty milk box. "Are you going to eat that banana muffin?"

I pushed my lunch tray toward him and watched as he hungrily devoured the muffin. We had decided to eat in the cafeteria till the weather got warmer again. Winter had officially begun, with the temperatures dropping steadily and occupying our usual spot out in the field and beneath the tree would have been a stupid idea, and resulted in at least one of us catching a cold. Nevertheless, as I cast a glance around at the noisy cafeteria and at the ruckus the students were making, I couldn't help but hope that summer would come by faster. The outdoors had a charm of its own.

Damien was sat to my right with Leo and Nick on the opposite side of the table, Nick in front of me. He was happily chatting on about classes while Leo nodded from time to time, letting him know he was listening despite the fact that he was playing around with his iPhone. I finally stopped pointlessly sucking at my straw and set down my finished drink, standing up and stepping out of the bench.

"You done?" I asked Damien, tilting my head at his muffin. He nodded like a puppy and set the wrapper down on the tray which I picked up and proceeded to walk over and dump into the nearest trash-can, setting the empty tray on top of the wooden surface. I could feel the eyes of people from the surrounding benches on me as I dusted off my hands, but I played the fool and ignored them. Not bad, Makayla. You're getting good at this.

When I returned to the table again though, my inner praise monologue was wiped away in a flash and replaced by something else: suspicion. I knew something had happened in the short span of time I had been gone as Damien waved his hands moments before I had arrived, gesturing something at the boys to quiet down. As I settled down at my spot next to him, my eyebrows shot up at the way he so obviously started to cover up what was going by the Tom and Jerry theme song under his breath.

"Spill it Stable Boy," I said in a dead-pan voice.

"W-what?" he laughed, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "I was just waiting for you to come back." He shot me an ear to ear grin that was dripping with conviction. That, in itself, was a dead giveaway. In addition, one glance at Leo and Nick told me that Damien was lying. Leo, for the first time all through out lunch had set his phone aside and was looking at Damien the way someone would if they saw their pet puppy rolling around the floor and barking cutely - as if this were a show. Nick, on the other hand, was blushing and fiddling with his fingers, avoiding making eye contact with me.

Sighing, I slumped forwards on the table. "Don't tell me you were showing off about spending Thanksgiving dinner at my place."

"Eh?" The look that crossed Damien's face was something of pride. Like he wasn't that desperate to go around announcing that to people. That's what told me he was lying when he said, "Yup. That's exactly it."

"You lie."

"N-n-no I'm not!"

I sighed. Why was he putting up the act?

"He's trying to trick us into telling him who your date was with," Leo spoke coolly. The sound that escaped into the air the next second must have been that of Damien's heart strings snapping. Slapping his hands down on the surface of the table, he shot forward, looming closer to Leo.

"I told you not to tell her!"

"Not that again!" I groaned, sinking lower on the bench. "You know too?" I peeked up through the strands of my hair that had fallen in front of my face at Nick. He winked and said in an overly joyful voice, "I sure do."

Leo was unfazed, his eyes meeting mine again and glinting in mischief. "Forgive me Makayla. I meant to say that he was trying to pry the information out of Nick and I. Damien lacks the sophistication to trick anyone into anything."

"You!" Damien started clawing at him like a wild bear cub but all Leo did was raise one arm in front of him to defend himself and give Damien a bone-chilling glare. That and he said just one word to make him stop: "Sit."

With a huff, Damien plopped his butt back down next to me, and I could swear I heard him whimpering under his breath. The connection the two shared was worrying. No - not worrying. Scary. I wondered if Leo really did consider Damien as his pet. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that were the case.

"He's been badgering us to tell him since after Thanksgiving," Leo said, filling me in on what I had missed. "Texts, calls, you name it."

"It's not fair," Damien whined, rubbing at his eyes even though he wasn't crying. "I'm the only one who doesn't know. Why am I always the last to know the important things?" He turned to me in the middle of the laughter that escaped my lips, grabbing my hands in his. My laughter died as my eyes settled on his face, and from across the table, I heard Nick and Leo let out their groans.

"Ugh. He's doing it again," Nick muttered. Leo merely sighed and agreed with Nick by saying, "He'll crack her, alright."

And they were right. He was doing 'it'. Damien's eyes grew to be ten times their normal size, and as I stared into those welling pools of green, I felt like I was staring right into his pleading heart. And it wasn't just his eyes that were going all goo-goo at me. His cheeks were flushed baby-pink, his mouth pulled into a pout that could work it's way into even Satan's heart.

"Please Makayla. Tell me," he whispered. Even his voice had changed - prompting an image of peaceful meadows and flower gardens to pop up in my head. Damien was trying to hypnotize me. But...it wasn't working on me. Not the way the trio thought it would. I saw through it - it was an act, or perhaps even a trump card that Damien always used on people to get what he wanted. Letting out a sigh, I broke the moment with answer that would have his hopes crashing down.

"No can do amigo."

Nick's elbow slipped on the table, his face chaotically hitting the surface as his eyes widened in what I could only place as shock. He was the only one to make an audible reaction at my answer, with all three boys gawking at me as if I had just done something miraculous. With a sigh, I shrugged and asked, "What?"

"Nobody breaks my puppy eyes. No one," Damien sobbed dramatically.

I snorted, "Calm down Flynn Rider."

Apparently, Damien wasn't joking based off the looks that Nick and Leo were giving me. It was like I'd transformed into a goddess in front of them. Nick grabbed my hand from across the table and gave it a hearty shake.

"Thank you. You have restored my faith in humanity."

"Mine too," Leo added, shaking his head to himself. "This is truly a once in a lifetime occurrence."

Before I could point out that they were all blowing the issue way out of proportion, Damien's hand came down firmly on my shoulder and turned me roughly, though not painfully, to face him.

"You must tell me Makayla," he pleaded, shaking me hard enough to make my head feel like it might detach from my shoulders. "Your love life is of the utmost important to me. Papa can't handle it if you're dating someone without my knowing."

"P-papa?" I sputtered, trying to free myself from his grasp.

"That's a new one," Nick murmured, going back to watching us from the sidelines. I threw both of them a helpless glance, realizing they would do nothing to help me before deciding to give in to what Damien wanted to hear.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you."

"YES!" Damien let go, clapping his hands together and shot a wide-mouthed grin at the guys, as if to say, 'See? I did it!' "So who's the guy?"

"Well..." I started, shifting ever so slowly on the bench and moving toward the corner where my bag rested on the ground. I eyed Leo who seemed to know what I was going to do. A tiny smirk made it's way onto his face, before he too, started to edge off of the bench, one hand reaching to his bag. "He's really cold."

"Cold?" Damien blinked. "You mean his personality? Did he do something to hurt you? Do you want me to kill him?"

I bit down on my lip, hard, to stop from laughing. I nodded sadly and reached toward my bag, setting it on my lap and playing with the zip to make it look like I was thinking.

"Where does he live? Give me the address and I'll pay him a visit." Damien had to be joking. He had to be but the fiery glint that appeared in his eyes and the way he started to crack his knuckles told me otherwise. Nick, across the table, had one fist propped in front of his mouth in order not to give away the fact that he was stifling laughter. Leo too was facing the other direction.

"Can I text it to you? I can't remember it off the top of my head so I had it saved somewhere on my phone."

"Go ahead."

I turned away to take my phone out of my bag, using the opportunity to crack a grin at Leo who grinned evilly back, enjoying this way too much. Clearing my throat, I begun to type out the address and before clicking the 'send button', shot one last glance at Leo and nodded. The moment the audible message notification tone rang off of Damien's phone, Leo and I bolted out of our seats. I grabbed his hand so he wouldn't get left behind as we moved through the crowds of the cafeteria, several 'excuse me''s and 'coming through people''s being thrown about.

I sneaked a peek over my shoulder to see Damien staring blankly at his phone. When he finally looked up again, he met my gaze from halfway across the cafeteria and boy - did he look furious.

"Makayla Summers, I swear in the name of all that's good, if you don't get your butt back here I will..." Everything else he yelled was blocked out as Leo and I burst through the cafeteria doors and outside, our lungs breathing in the cool wintry air as we laughed and tried to catch our breath. People both inside and outside the building were eyeing us suspiciously, no doubt thinking we'd gone insane.

"That. Was. So worth it," Leo huffed through catching his breath. I giggled and was about to agree with him when I could make out Damien squeezing his way through the cafeteria - and toward us. His ears were pink. His face was blushing furiously and when his eyes met mine, I knew I'd be worse than dead if he caught me. Grabbing Leo's hand again, we made a break for it, our loud laughter escaping into the air as we ran toward the field. Damien soon joined us, hot on our tail, his shouts and threats only making me double over in even stronger fits of giggles.

I knew he would catch us soon enough, and when he did, I would get an earful but for now, I wanted to enjoy making him chase after me.

--------------------CHAPTER END---------------------

A/N: If you guys have noticed, my chapters are getting longer. I do this with the intention of trying to finish Act I faster. If the long chapters bother you though [too much to read in one go or anything like that], let me know and I'll just split it up into shorter ones again. So yes! The gang is back at school, and now, the drama is going to rev up a whole lot. 

Teaser of the next chapter: May and Leo breaking the rules and spending some quality time together, and Leo, cryptic as ever, hints at something more?

P.S. Guys - I started off a new story called "Change Is Not Enough". It's actually old, in the sense I wrote it ages ago, and I thought I might as well publish it on here. Please check it out and let me know what you think! <3

P.S.S. Isn't this perfect? 

Oh Dylan/Damien. I can no longer tell the difference. 

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