Being a helpless teenager was a never ending experience. James had spent most of his life trying to piece together what was left of his childhood, while for the most part it wasn't anything special. He needed that piece of his past self to help redeem whatever was going on for him right now.

If he had known in less than twenty four hours he'd be knee deep on his bedroom floor. Searching desperately for a condom, he would've smacked himself for being such an idiot. He spent three helpless hours cleaning his bedroom, and not a single condom was hidden anywhere beneath the layers of clothes he had thrown all over the floor.

So he took the overall defeat and now he was standing inside the shop grabbing a pack while he avoided whispers from the group of girls who walked inside. Events felt pretty intense the last few hours, how he got from dropping Andrew off to a friend's house to buying condoms from the store was beyond him.

He didn't even remember the points in time that lead all the way to this shitty store with barely any lights inside. To make matters even slightly worse (or better) he is a hormonal teenager after all.

The group of girls who just so happened to walk inside the shop were Daisy (the new girl). The girl who had single handedly texted him nonstop the last twelve hours just about random shit she hated about her new life and home.

Sweet was definitely a persona she only showed the world around her. Because hidden beneath that beautiful smile was a wicked smirk and he was the only one who could see it. Her two friends beside her made his hair stick straight out of his flesh. Ruby Matthews looked like a menace joking beside the girl as she pushed her purse against her shoulder.

The other girl James didn't recognize but she must've been friends with Daisy rather than Ruby. James walked quickly towards the next aisle shoving the condoms deep in his jacket pocket as he looked at a random bag of cough drops in front of him.

Lemon flavor, like that, would remotely taste good. James felt like a star struck fan when Daisy walked down the aisle towards him, she smiled at him so sweetly and he felt his chest tightened.

"Are you getting sick or something?" the boy smiled slightly "no, but sometimes I like looking at the shitty flavors they come up with. So what brings you here?". Daisy pushed his hair behind his ear slightly making him chuckle as she shrugged.

"Getting a tour of the place I suppose, or maybe I just saw you through the window looking at condoms and thought. Why not go inside and talk to him". James huffed slightly "thought I got away with it".

Daisy smiled "almost, but maybe next time don't linger too long in the aisle. Also the box is sticking out of your pocket, not that hard to miss". She grabbed the box from his pocket "who's the special lady friend then?" he grabbed the box from her hands as he looked down at her.

"Depends on why you're asking" she hummed slightly as she turned around "I'll find out sooner or later" she walked out of the aisle. James smiled slightly as he turned to approach the register but he bumped straight into Ruby. He felt like a lost puppy as he moved back "so you shagging then new girl already?" he rolled his eyes as he looked at Ruby.

"What does it matter if I am? Not like we're together anymore. You made sure of it when you and Otis became official the other day. Why don't you go and bother him instead". He walked past her but she grabbed a hold of his arm making him turn slightly as he looked down at her.

"Stop pretending like it doesn't bother you so much, you've barely even looked my way. You used to look at me differently before... you're different".

"Maybe it's because you ruined my life, let's get one thing straight here Ruby. I will never love you again, you lost that chance the second you fucked Otis. Everything in our relationship broke because of you".

"It's not my fault, you stopped caring. We were happy and then one day you just stopped caring, you were cold and distant". James huffed "that was you Ruby, you're the one who was being secretive and weird as the months passed. I gave you everything and all I got in return was utter bullshit. I fucking loved you".

"James..." he walked away ignoring her words as he stormed out of the store. Everything was spinning and no amount of breathing helped him relax as he angrily drove off. Rain poured down harshly onto his car and he could hear the loudness of thunder in the distance.

He imagined peaceful thoughts and nothing happened, the world kept spinning and he screamed as he smacked his hands down on his steering wheel "Fuck!" the world stopped spinning. His body felt weightless as he felt the weight of it shifting inward.

His head smacked into his window and the constant beeping of the engine made his ears ring as his car came to a full stop. He inhaled sharply as he lifted his head upwards, he winced at the throbbing headache he felt as he weakly pulled open his car door.

He didn't care about the rain that soaked his clothes as he limped away from his car. He didn't care about the people asking if he was okay, he didn't care about the sirens in the distance or the way his head was spinning. He just kept going forward, until all that remained was utter silence and bittersweet suffering.

—

He didn't know how he got home, but when he woke up his head wasn't hurting as bad. He sat up as he shoved the blanket off his body, last night was still fuzzy and he knew he likely did something stupid. He got out of bed rubbing at his face as he walked into the bathroom. The new school uniform was hung up on the door and he hated the look of it already.

He showered quickly before putting the new uniform on. While he's never really used a tie before, he just weakly wrapped it around his collar before he walked into the kitchen. Andrew was sitting beside the counter eating a bowl of cereal "when did you get home? I thought I dropped you off at Josh's place".

Andrew stood up "Ruby picked me up, she was actually kinda nice. I was walking and then next thing I know she's driving beside me and she's offering me a ride so I thought why not".

"Andrew stranger danger, did I not teach you that!" Andrew huffed "would you rather I walk home alone? There's some real creepy people out there, at least it was just Ruby who found me".

James sighed deeply "alright let's just get to school, I'll pretend you didn't say that". James grabbed his jacket and shoes "the car is in the shop, that place called and said it's gonna cost a lot of money".

James walked outside "Maeve's taking us! The car is likely gonna be stuck for the time being. We don't need it anyways, we can walk to school if we want".

Andrew walked outside "walking is too much work, I have tiny legs". James chuckled "you were walking yesterday, what's so different about today?".

"You're here, so that means I don't have to walk?" James walked across the trailer park towards Maeve's car. "Just get in the back, you don't have to walk". The little boy climbed into the back of the car as James walked towards Maeve's door.

He knocked, he could feel the soreness of his hands as he looked down at them. The bruises he was used to seeing but this time it was mainly little cuts that sting whenever he would flex his fingers. He looked upward on cue when Maeve opened her door, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. "Mind giving me and Andrew a ride today? Sorta lost the car".

She smiled "of course, also your tie isn't on properly" she grabbed hold of the tie around his neck "I was going for the crazed look today, this new school uniform is outrageous. It itches around the neck".

Maeve chuckled as she fixed his tie "well if the new headteacher saw your mess of a tie she'd likely expel you on the spot. Can't have that happening".

"I wouldn't mind being expelled, means I did something right in my life. It's considered an honor in my family to be kicked out of school early. Mom and dad both dropped out when they were my age".

He climbed into the passenger seat "well you're different from your parents, so don't drop out of high school, you'd likely get bored".

The school looked like a horror show when James got out of the car. Everyone was perfectly walking in a straight line along the hallways and it made his head hurt. He huffed as he pulled his tie off letting it dangle around his shoulders as he pulled open his locker.

The second he slammed it shut Daisy smiled at him as she leaned against the locker beside him. "So, you feeling better than? I saw you running off yesterday in the store. I can assume you and Ruby used to date".

He sighed "yeah, but that's history. She's with my best friend now, so I can't really be bothered". Daisy shrugged "I'd be pretty bothered if my ex got with my best friend. Were you and your friend close?".

James nodded as they walked down the hallway "we've practically been friends since we were in kindergarten, I used to stay at his house a lot with his mom and dad, I mean Jean is like my mother almost the amount of times she's helped me out over the years. I haven't really been around lately".

Daisy grabbed a hold of his tie "you should really fix this, my mother will...". She paused as she looked down the hallway "of course she's watching me, gosh I can't have one conversation with a guy. She assumes the worst, I looked at this one guy yesterday at the assembly and she had an entire lecture about eye contact and how a man doesn't deserve it".

James chuckled as she fixed his tie "she sounds controlling, do you ever get to do anything you want?". Daisy shook her head as she moved back "not really, I'm on a strict schedule every single day, it's kinda exhausting trying to please her".

James smirked slightly "then don't, why don't you just do what you want for a change? Could be fun, don't listen to your mother". Daisy smiled as she watched James pull his tie off again "she's coming this way, you really gonna pretend?".

Daisy grabbed a hold of James hand and they both laughed as they ran off down the hallway. He could hear the loudness of Daisy's mother calling after her as they jumped down the flight of stairs.

James pushed Daisy against his side when she nearly ran straight into a locker. The girl laughed as she tugged on his arm and led him down another hallway where she shoved him inside the locker room.

She slammed the door shut before she locked it, James melted into her arms when she grabbed a hold of his face and kissed him. Everything felt perfect, the world around him wasn't spinning and his head felt clear for once as he held onto her.

Ruby sat alongside everyone else in class as she sighed, after the events of yesterday she felt confused. She knew everything she did was all her fault but she didn't even know where to start.

James, with his perfect hair and smile or Otis. The boy who couldn't even say I love you back, she felt humiliated just thinking about it. James loved her, he's said it numerous times before and he didn't even hesitate. Everything felt more normal with Otis though, she could walk around and he wouldn't question her choices. Her friends hated him deeply and that's all she ever heard when they were around.

Yet for James it was different, he got along better with her friends and he even used to hang out with them outside of school. She wanted to cry, being a teenage girl was difficult, and the loud shouts and laughing in the hallway made her frown.

Everyone in the class practically stood up when the door burst open "holy shit! James is shagging the new girl in the locker room!". Everyone ran and the world felt like it was spinning as Ruby angrily stood up and walked into the hallway.

Two parallel lines, across from one another they never touch but they're perfect together. They never end, they go on forever and when the world starts to spin they don't crash into one another. Ruby and James were the definition of parallel lines and yet the paper the lines were drawn on was slowly burning.

The crumbles in the paper were fading away and the flames were consuming everything that was once perfect. The lines would never touch again, always watching one another closely but never getting what they really want in life, each other.

—
authors notes:
yes you can gasp, I actually updated again! And guess what.... I'm updating again later. I already have the next chapter in the works, I'm literally gonna write the second I'm done publishing this chapter. Proud of myself for getting multiple updates out again, I'm tempted to finish this overall act of the book by the end of this week. I might but idk yet. I don't wanna rush it and it turns out shitty, anyways enjoy!