Jaren's POV

"Baby, are you sure you want to go back?" Eri asks, threading her fingers through my hair as we stand at the door.

"It was nothing, Eri. I'll be fine." I reply, smiling up at her.

"That's what you said yesterday." She complains, hands on her hips now.

"Just drive me to school, please." I sigh out, shaking my head at her.

She nods softly and opens the door, watching me closely as I head over to the car.

I get in the passenger seat and let out a soft sigh.

This school isn't like my old one, and no one from my past is here.

I have nothing to worry about.

I've even made a few friends.

This will be ok.

My thoughts drift back to John and how easily he got into fights. How easily he got angry.

But they also drifted to his funny jokes and laid back attitude when we were alone in the bathrooms, vaping our problems away.

Maybe it's silly, but I think I want to be friends with him.

I don't know if I'd be able to handle him getting mad at me, but I think I can handle him when he's mad at someone else.

I think I'm alright now that I know what to expect.

John seems like a pretty cool guy, with a hell of a lot of demons.

The jokes he makes are dark, depressing, racist and sometimes even self-degrading.

He's been through some shit, I can tell.

I know a broken guy when I see one, some would call me an expert in that field.

"Jaren? You alright?" Eri asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, just thinking." I reply, staring out the window.

"Uh oh." She jokes, causing me to scoff at her slightly.

"Ugh, I have music today." I complain, sitting up in the seat and looking over at her.

"Gosh, what a bore." She replies, rolling her eyes.

"I know right! Ugh, I hate music. All you do is hear kids play instruments terribly, I'd much rather listen to rap." I state, crossing my arms.

"Maybe you'll have some friends in that class." She points out, causing me to nod.

"Hopefully. Cameron seems like a cool dude." I say, looking over at her again.

"What about Luke?" She asks, still focused on the road. I gulped at that and looked out the window again. "He wasn't mean, was he?" She asks, parental concern kicking in.

"No, I was the mean one." I reply guiltily.

"You? Being mean? I can't imagine."

"I called him and his friends faggots."

She slams on the breaks, causing the car behind her to beep loudly.

"You what?" She asks, eyes wide in disbelief.

"It slipped. I was thinking about my old school and instead of saying 'gays' I said 'faggots'." I explain. She nods her head slowly, but continues to drive.

"Did you apologise?" She whispers, I can tell she's disappointed in me.

"Of course." I reply, looking down at my lap as I play with a loose thread of my hoodie.

"Did he forgive you?" She questions.

"I don't know." I answer honestly.

Does he forgive me?

He probably still hates me, especially after hanging out with John and Cameron.

He must think I'm the biggest ass of them all.

My stomach sinks at the thought, and suddenly I'm wishing I could stay at home.

But I've got to be tough, even though I know Eri would turn this car around and pamper me all day.

I need to tough it out.

It's school, for fucks sake.

I can't be a pussy bitch and stay at home like a loser all day everyday.

I have friends now.

Hopefully I didn't scare anyone, and hopefully everyone will forget about it.

I understand John will have questions. I'll answer them as best I can.

"See you later, ok hun?" Eri says, pulling up to the school.

She leans over and kisses my cheek before unlocking the car door and letting me out.

I notice Cameron and his friends hanging out on the front steps and they instantly wave me over, Cameron running out to meet me with a hug.

"Dude we were so worried, are you ok? Are you hurt?" Cameron asks, sounding like Eri.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" I insist, laughing as he seems to check me over.

"You gave us a scare." Toby says as the rest of his friends come over. Some I haven't been introduced to.

"Hey, I'm Matt, this is Jay, that's Ezra and that's Griz." Matt introduces, shaking my hand.

"Nice to meet you all." I say, grinning slightly.

"So you're completely fine?" Eric asks, Mason's arm around his shoulder.

"Perfectly fine. Physically, that is." I joke, causing them all to laugh. "Where's John?" I ask, and Cameron looks down at his phone.

"Almost here." He replies, and just on cue, John pulls up in a car and parks.

He hops out and makes his way over to us and I instantly notice his bruised cheek.

He didn't get that from his fight with Jonathan.

"What happened?" I ask, grabbing his face with both hands and examining it.

"Jonathan." He replies, grinning at me. "Wanna make out?" He asks, smirking at the suggestive stance we're in.

"Gross." I grumble, pushing his face away.

"Ouch." He says, feigning hurt.

"The player got rejected." Ezra coos.

"Shut up Ezzy." John shoots back, causing the other fuzzy haired male to gasp.

"We discusses that you would no longer call me that!" Ezra whines, crossing his arms.

"Relax, babe." Griz says, rolling his eyes.

"Ok, I've got to know. Is everyone at this school gay?" I ask, causing all of them to laugh.

"To be honest, it's like a fifty fifty split. Plus all the bi, pan and asexuals." He replies, causing me to groan.

"This place is like a pride fest." Toby jokes, causing everyone to laugh.

"So what are your views on gay people?" John asks me, turning to face me. Everyone quiets down to listen.

"I have no issues with them." I reply, deciding that even though it seems safe, I'm not gonna let it be known.

"Alrighty then." John says, throwing an arm around my shoulders.

We all stood outside, laughing and talking for a while.

And then I noticed Luke's group walking up the stairs.

Everyone went silent.

God, how tense.

"Morning, Jaren." Luke greets with a nod as he walks past with his arm around a new boy I hadn't seen yet.

"They piss me off." Eric grumbles after they head inside.

"Agreed." Everyone But me says at the same time.

"Why do you hate them so much? They're pretty nice." I say, not wanting to make them mad but also wanting to know the reasons.

"We all used to be friends, but they had different views then we did on different topics. Eventually we split up and well... They just sort of changed. They all became popular." Cameron replies.

"You guys are popular too though." I point out, a few chuckles coming from the group.

"Yeah but for different reasons. We throw parties, get shit faced, do drugs and are classed as bad kids. They're the athletes and cute kids." John says, throwing an arm around my shoulders.

"Oh." Is all I can manage to say. Lame, I know.

"What class you got after home room?" John asks as we all walk inside.

As we walk I notice that we're getting stares. More like me and John are gettin stares.

"What's up with all the looks?" I whisper, glancing around carefully.

"They all think I'm banging you, probably." He replies, shrugging his shoulders.

"Why?" I ask, my face going red at the mental image.

"Because I'm a player. I sleep with every cute guy I see, and you are totally my type." He replies.

How is he so confident?

"Rightttty." I mumble, elbowing him in the side when his had goes lower than my shoulders.

"Ouch, chill." He grumbles, pulling away from me and sticking his hands in his pocket.

"Don't play with me boi, I'll cut you." I joke, making him laugh.

"Come vape with me." He whispers, not giving me a chance to answer and pulling me away from the group and down another hallway.

"I'm down." I reply as he continues to drag me out the back.

This is the loading area for food and supplies.

Typical druggie area.

John hops up and sits on the rail, patting beside him. I climb up and sit next to him and we vape until the bell rings.

"See you in music." John says, helping me down.

"Yeah, See ya." I reply as we walk inside and go our seperate ways.

I think I like him.

Two days in and I already have a crush.

He has the best fashion taste though. Those boots though.

I head to home room and sit next to Cameron and Mason again, ignoring the looks I'm getting from Luke and his friends.

"No!" I gasp out, laughing along with them.

Mason is a literal retard! It's funny.

"It's true!" Cameron says.

"Nah." Mason says, crossing his arms and pouting like a child.

"Yea." Cameron replies.

"Don't—."

"Nah."

"Yea."

"Nah."

"Yea."

"Shut up!" I hiss, not letting them continue on. They both look at me and then look at each other and glare.

I slam my head down on the table and groan at their idiocy.

"They're staring at us." Mason grumbles. I lift my head and look over and sure enough, Luke and his friends are watching us.

I shift uncomfortably and look back at Cameron.

They're very intense at times.

"Jaren, Mr. Patterson would like to see you in his office." The teacher calls out, surprising me.

"What?" I mumble to myself, giving Cameron a strange look. He just shrugs his shoulders.

I stand up and grab my bag, heading to the front of the class. I take a glance back at Cameron before exiting the class.

When I get outside, John is there.

"John?" I question, watching as his face lights up and he grins at me.

"I totally bailed you out of homeroom." John says, making me laugh.

"You lied?" I ask, chuckling slightly at his goofy smile.

"Anything for my bitch." He says jokingly.

God, the rumours I've heard are so detailed.

It's like these people want to describe us having sex in the most detailed possible ways, like who does that?

"Dude, I literally can't stand the looks I'm getting." I wheeze out, leaning against the wall.

John stands in front of me and nods his head in agreement.

"I mean, I love attention, so this is perfectly fine for me." He says, messing around with my backpack straps.

"Don't tighten it!" I hiss at him, swatting his had away.

He laughs and shakes his head slightly.

"You confuse me." John says, grinning at me.

"How so?" I ask, shifting slightly under his gaze.

"You say you aren't used to gay people, but it's painfully obvious that you're gay. Why do you hide it?" John replies.

I feel my face pale at that.

How does he know? Is it obvious?!

"You're right." I breathe out, looking away from him. "I understand everyone is pretty accepting here, but I've got a bad history and too many sob stories to count. I hide it because it's easier than accepting it and reliving those bad memories." I explain.

I don't know why I feel like I can trust him.

He said it himself, he's a bad boy, a player.

"Hey, everyone's got past shit. If yours is really that bad, don't feel pressured to tell me. You've been here a day, I don't want you to feel like you're under pressure." He says.

How is he an asshole again?

He's like, the nicest dude I've ever met. He's so calm, he's laid back and he's able to read me.

Which is not an easy thing to do.

I find myself smiling. And then I hug him.

I feel safe around him, and that is a very important feeling to me.

"You ok?" He asks, and I realise I'm crying.

Shit.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I reply, hugging him tighter.

"What's wrong?" He asks, sounding worried.

"Nothings wrong, I'm just an emotional bitch."

||.:.||