In Too Deep [BXB]

I

Dan

"I'm getting tutored by some algebra slut."

He side eyed me, a strange look on his face.

"What?" Callum asked me.

I shuffled around on the plastic seat. A moderate level of noise filled the room. Enthusiastic conversations between people seated across the dining hall plus the clattering of plates and cutlery raised the volume.

I prodded my fork at my own meal, cold due to my reluctance to eat it. It was hardly a meal, a splatter of soggy pasta and flavourless red sauce on a plate. Somehow, school deemed it appropriate to serve it to its students. My stomach rumbled sadly at the sight of it.

I glared harder at my plate of food.

"It's because of that bitch Ms Williams," A deep scowl etched across my face as the image of my maths teacher appeared in my mind. I gritted my teeth. "She threatened me."

Between mouthfuls of pasta he responded. "Really?"

I turned to face him, his skeptical, pale blue eyes met mine. A small smile appeared on my face.

Callum's eyes were probably one of the first things I noticed about him the first time I met him. A sharp gaze that would startle you on first glance, but after many years they had become somewhat familiar.

"What did she actually do?"

"You know how on the last maths test," I lowered my voice, not particular about the other eight people seated at the table hearing. "I erm... failed?"

Callum and I didn't have an interesting story on how we first met. It was the first day of year seven, both young children yet to reach adolescence. The blond, wearing a blazer ten sizes too big for him, had sat next to me in our very first French lesson. And I had to admit, that at first my eleven year old self had no interest in becoming friends with the boy.

It wasn't until football trials the following day when I realised that he was almost as good at football as I was. And, because young me made the executive decision on whether or not to befriend someone based off of their athleticism, I made Callum my friend.

"You didn't do that badly did you?"

"Callum you laughed uncontrollably when you saw my score."

He bit back a smile.

"Sorry."

I smiled back.

As silly as my reasoning behind it was, I didn't regret my decision to become friends with Callum. After six years I didn't think I could imagine my life without him, and I hoped he felt the same way.
From day one it'd been Callum and I against the world, and although I'd never tell him. I did love him, a lot.

I brought my juice bottle to my lips, taking a sip of it, before placing it back down on the table.

"Yeah well she said if I don't get it up to a C, she'll tell Coach."

His lips curled into a frown.

"She's taken it too far now."

"I know right, coach is scary." I shuddered at the thought. "She'll bench me. And I'm too thick to get a C on my own apparently, so she's assigned me some fucking calculus whore to tutor me."

"Damn..." He smiled. "Sucks to be you."

"...Yeah."