I follow Michael out the door, huffing at the tense silence between us.

He hasn't spoken to me since last night because of the whole boner thing. He's probably really embarrassed and stuff, but I still want to talk to him.

I sigh and hop into the car with him. Another tense and awkward silence.

Joy.

I silently pray that he's simply grumpy because it's Monday and that he isn't mad at me.

"Are you mad?" I ask him quietly, so quietly I can barely hear myself.

He glances at me sideways and looks back out the window with a sigh. "No," he admits, but his tone doesn't exactly leave it open for discussion.

I run a hand through my hair as the car pulls into a parking spot. We both get out of the car, drawing a few looks, but neither of us pay attention to them. He's too preoccupied with something, and I'm mulling over what happened.

"Hey guys," Austin jogs up to us with his hoverboard lazily slung over his shoulder, and Blake follows suit, holding a board of his own.

I smile at them, only for it to fall short as I glance at a certain brooding blonde.

Being able to read the atmosphere, the boys don't comment and begin making small talk.

Our odd conversation about "the function of a rubber duck" is cut short by two loud motorcycles pulling into a spot nearby. Of course they're automatic just like cars are.

Blake practically swoons as Damien steps off of his bike, his helmet slightly ruffling his closely cropped hair. The redhead bites his lip as the boy approaches, followed by Alex, who's been stared down by Austin the entire time.

"Hey," Damien greets us casually while Alex is extremely polite.

"Hi," Blake says rather shyly, scratching the back of his neck with a blue hue staining his face. Austin and I silently laugh as we watch the interaction.

Damien practically poses for the nerdy boy, who's having a hard time speaking. All the while, Damien smirks devilishly.

I roll my eyes once the bell rings. "Come on guys. We gotta get to class."

Damien says something to the redhead and bumps his chin gently with his fingers. Blake bites his lip as the bad boy struts away after Michael and Alex.

"I ship it," I tease once he's out of earshot.

Blake rolls his eyes and shoves me playfully before sighing dreamily. "He's the one," he says in a singsong voice.

"You just met him," Austin points out.

"Love at first sight," Blake returns, sticking his tongue out.

"Come on guys," I order with a laugh. "We're gonna be late for class."

*TIME SKIP BECAUSE NOTHING HAPPENS IN CLASS*

"Hold up, guys," Austin calls to Blake and I as the school empties. "I left a book in Biology."

Austin turns and runs down the hall to retrieve said book. Meanwhile, Blake and I stand around boredly as the halls start to empty.

"Well, well, well," some guy sings in a singsong voice.

A small group of guys strut down the hall with smirks playing across their faces.

I've never seen them before, this being my second day at school, but Blake knows them, judging by the way he sucks in a breath nervously.

"Who's your friend, red?" The leader asks in that classic mocking tone all bullies use.

"Why does it matter?" I counter as Blake stumbles over words. The redhead gives me a warning look, but I don't really care at the moment.

"Ohohoho," he chuckles with an amused smile. "Sassy one, aren't we?" He's arrogant.

I don't like him.

"He your boyfriend, red?" The guy asks, slowly stalking towards Blake and I. "Or are you too lame to even get another loser?"

God, this guy needs to come up with better insults.

I scowl at him. "What? You jealous 'cause you can't get a guy?"

His arrogant smirk falls and he sneers at me. "Hold em down."

Three of his buddies hold me down against the lockers. Normally, I'd be able to get loose, but I'd bet my soul they're on drugs. The last two grab Blake and pin him as well. Their leader stands in front of the redhead and throws a punch into his stomach, making Blake groan. I struggle in their hold, trying to get loose, but they're too strong.

"Now," he mocks, his ugly grin returning. "Say you're sorry, and I might let you go." He looks at Blake expectantly, getting closer, in the threatening way.

"I'm so- ACHOO!" In the middle of his apology, Blake sneezes onto the bully's face. His smirk contorts into a face of disgust as Blake's eyes widen in panic.

After disgustedly wiping his face, the boy turns on Blake, punching him across the face angrily. Blake spits to the floor, having a split lip and looks to me helplessly.

"What the fuck is going on here!?"

Damien walks down the hall with the most furious gaze I've ever seen, followed by his two worried looking friends.

I expect the leader to make some almost snappy comment, but instead, he falters, backing away from the dark haired boy. "Look, man, they're just some freaks," he defends weakly, holding up his hands in surrender.

Damien scowls at him and continues marching forward, making him back into the wall. "Well, those 'freaks' happen to be very important to me." He punctuates his statement with an angry right hook to the boy's face, making him groan in pain. The guy's friends immediately let us up and run off, followed by their staggering leader.

Blake falls to the ground in relief as I lean against the wall. Immediately, Damien rushes to the collapsed boy and pulls him to his chest. It's a bit dramatic for my taste, but each to his own.

I watch their interaction curiously as Michael annoyingly keeps his distance.

Damien gently strokes the redhead's hair, pulling apart slightly to check the damage. Blake has a split lip, that oozes a bright sapphire liquid. A purpling bruise stands out on his cheek and small tears cloud his eyes, magnified by the glasses.

"You okay?" He asks the redhead worriedly, gently cupping his bruised cheek.

Blake nods, sighing softly, and closes his eyes, leaning into Damien's hand, making the human have to fight off a smile.

"Woah, what'd I miss?"

Austin walks over, perplexed and holding a thick copy of Moby Dick in one of his hands.

I laugh a little and casually sling an arm over his shoulder, not missing the way Michael's jaw clenches angrily.

"Damien just saved us from captain of the dickwad team," Blake says bitterly, taking off his glasses to clean them from spall specks of blood and tears.

Damien smiles softly and helps the redhead to his feet, making Blake blush heavily as he puts them back on.

"Ugh, that asshole?" Austin shakes his head. "I can't stand him."

"That makes two of us," Blake replies bitterly, instinctively grabbing Damien's arm, who only grins softly. "Let's go to my house," he adds. "I may be able to hack into the company system from there."

"I'm up for it," Damien speaks up immediately, eagerness painted across his face.

"Of course you are," Alex teases, getting a glare of Damien and a blush from Blake.

Slowly, we make our way out of the school to find a mostly empty parking lot. In fact, most of the grounds are barren.

Blake and Austin take out their hoverboards, but Damien stops them. He turns to Blake. "I've got an extra helmet." He swallows and scratches the back of his neck. "Wanna?" He asks, nibbling on his bottom lip.

Blake puts the board away and smiles shyly at him. "Yeah," he tells him softly.

Damien holds out a hand that Blake takes gingerly and leads the boy to his bike.

"Come on," Alex says, nudging Austin into following him.

Once again, I'm left alone with Michael.

"Hey." I turn to him, hoping to get a response.

He nods at me and starts towards the car.

I groan and grab his wrist. "We'll be a little late!" I call out to the boys and drag Michael off to the side of the school.

Dragging him is surprisingly easy, but I doubt talking to him will be.

"Okay," I start, staring into his face. "What did I do?" I scoff and run a hand through my hair. "Look, I'd rather have you be an asshole than ignore me!" He stares at me in silence with an unreadable expression. I shake my head. "What did I do? I thought we were on good terms!" I gape like a fish, opening and closing my mouth, trying to find the words. "I-I thought we were friends. I thought you and I could maybe get to know each other. I thought..." I swallow and shift, shaking my head. "God, just say something. Do something! This silence is killing me!" My voice cracks at the end, and I fight off tears.

God, I sound like a girl.

Tears escape my eyes as I finally look back to him. He looks almost heartbroken, like he's the one in pain.

"I'm sorry," he finally says, his voice weak and quivering. He steps towards me. "I'm so fucking sorry."

He gathers me in his arms tightly, surprising me.

He pulls away and looks down at me, tears of his own spilling onto my cheeks.

"It's okay." I give him a soft smile and hug him tightly, relief flooding through me.

Finally.

He mumbles something quietly, making my brow furrow in confusion. "What?" I ask, pulling away to look at him.

He looks down at me with something gleaming in his gaze. "Nothing," he says with a grin.

Confused but decidedly pleased, I nod. "Alrighty, then let's go," I say, pulling away completely.

"We got a system to hack."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, I swear I don't do drugs, but I'm not really sure what the hell I'm doing. :/ ANYWAY I hope y'all nuggety readers enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to comment or leave your suggestions! See y'all nuggets in the next update! Bai!!! >:3

-IggyScones