The World Below [DNF]

Chapter 8: Mysterious boy

Clay POV

It was just another day in October and Clay had just arrived at school. English seemed to be his first lesson. However, when he went to his locker to get his books, Karl hastily interrupted.

"Clay! You've got to help me; I'm supposed to help the new transfer student but Alex just texted me that they got in some trouble with Luke and Noah again. I've to go and clean up the mess. Could you just make sure that George gets to the right classroom and everything? You guys have English together."

"Sure, but two questions: How do I know who he is? Second, is any of them hurt?"

"Nah, Alex said that Nick got some hit and that there were some bickering between them. But they both seemed fine. Though, I would just like to make sure. I'll drag their asses back here to lunch as well. As for George, he's about Nick's height, dark brown hair and got a British accent, so if his looks don't give him away, his accent certainly will."

Clay nodded before Karl ran off again. A transfer student in the middle of the semester? Clay thought. It wasn't unheard of but most new students tended to arrive at the beginning of the semester. He was excited to the new guy nonetheless. Clay had always enjoyed meeting new people and maybe it would be a distraction from school, which certainly wasn't something Clay cared much about. His grades were decent but lack of physical activity in most classes drove him insane. Focusing on boring tasks for a long period of time was definitely one of his biggest weaknesses.

Turning around the corner to the classroom, he was met with the sight of a person with dark brown hair and a black hoodie sitting on the floor. Clay could only assume that it was George, he didn't seem to noticed him. After weighing  his options, he chose to just go up to him and introduce himself.

"Oh – Hi, are you George?" The guy quickly switched his attention from the phone to meet Clay's gaze. A pair of deep brown eyes found his and a confused expressing flashed through them before a guarded look replaced the confusion.

"Well it depends, who's asking?" The guy's guarded front was a little intimidating and his eyes felt like they saw straight through him, which made Clay slightly nervous. So, he decided to explain the situation in an attempt to make it less uncomfortable. He explained that he was Karl's replacement for now because he had to leave. After the explanation, George seemed to slightly let his guard, which Clay saw as a win. He saw that the guy had moved a bit to the side in, what Clay assumed, was a gesture that he was ok with him sitting down beside him. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't find the British boy, with the delicate dark locks that framed his angled jawline and warm-brown eyes, a tidy bit good-looking and apparently, he wasn't the only one...

A voice nearly anyone in the school could recognized interrupted them. Cayla stood in front of them with her sight set on the boy beside him. George looked as confused as ever. Did the guy not know that he was, to be frank, really attractive? Clay thought to himself. Cayla complimented his accent and George still seem oblivious to her intentions. Clay couldn't help the tiny smile that crept upon his lips. For someone who seemed to analyze every little detail of a person, flirtatious intentions seemed to be an exception. 

The awkward conversation that had occurred before him eventually ended. Clay could saw how the dark-haired boy was handed a piece paper before Cayla left. The situation that just had happened awoke Clay's curiosity and even though George seemed rather unwilling to reveal too much about himself, Clay couldn't stop himself from asking about what just happened. As he'd suspected, Cayla's seemingly obvious flirtation had totally gone over George's head. He couldn't help but find the whole situation quite comedic. George's confusion and seemingly total lack of interest in Cayla caused Clay's mind to wander and he chose to try and be a little bold before he could change his mind. Cayla didn't appear to appeal to the brit. So, he asked the boy about his type, George confirmed his suspicion that she definitely wasn't his type. However he didn't elaborate further either.

George seemed a bit taken back by the question. Clay had assumed that the brit would have had some experience with dating, judging by his looks. But he appeared very uncertain on what to answer and when he finally answered, it just awoke more questions. Clay got the sense that the boy he was speaking to, definitely withheld loads of secrets and something about him awoke a strong interest in trying to figure out more about this new person that had been presented into Clay's life.

Class began shortly after and the two seated themselves in the back of the class. Clay would be lying if he said that he felt a strong interest in what was going on. He spent most of the class zoning out and speaking with the British boy. Clay found George's presence very distracting. It urged him to want to unravel the mystery that surrounded the boy beside him. His presence wasn't just distracting, something about the brunette felt intriguing, in a quite exciting way. Every time he made George smile at one of his lame jokes or at his witty comments, felt like a small prize.

When the class ended, Clay offered George to follow him to the cafeteria. George didn't seem to have anything against it. So, the two make their way through the sea of people. They eventually reached the table were his friends usually sat. He heard how Nick, Alex and Karl had a rather heated argument and when they got closer, Clay understood why. Nick was badly bruised and seemingly pissed off. 

Both Clay and Nick definitely had a short temper, but Nick always managed to get in way more trouble than Clay ever could. He'd know Nick ever since he moved to LA, they quickly became close and he knew that Nick had a big heart but didn't know when to shut the fuck up. Clay could already guess the reason why his friend was all beaten up. The skatepark was a nice hangout place but they weren't the only people who thought so, and some rivalry between his friends and two guys, Luke and Noah (occasionally also a third, slightly scarier guy, who always seemed to seek out fights, called Dave), would get on each other's nerves. And today must've been one of those days where it had escalated. 

Clay was a little afraid that George would get a bad first impression of his friends, seeing them all beaten and bruised but George looked more curious then frightened. You're just full of surprises, aren't you George. 

After some explaining, Clay got his suspicions confirmed, Noah and Luke were the cause of this. Nick didn't seem to be in an all too bad shape because his next move was trying to convince the group to skip the rest of the day and return to the park. Everyone seemed to think that it wasn't such a bad idea. Even George agreed, despite it being his first day.

The park was thankfully empty upon their arrival. Nick and Alex threw themselves right on their boards again, Karl sat at the side laughing and chatting with them while they tried to remain on the skateboards. George, however, sat down at a bench a little further back. Clay saw it as a perfect opportunity to get to know the dark-haired boy better. He asked him a few questions about England, why he moved and hobbies, stuff Clay considered to be rather easy questions. Though, he'd definitely misjudged how thick the mental walls surrounding George's thoughts and feelings were. He got a little insight but something told him that there was a lot of hidden information beneath the hard surface.

The conversation didn't last long before angry voices shouted from the other side of the park. To Clay's horror, was it not only Luke and Noah that was approaching, Dave had joined them this time and that never ended well. The situation escalated quickly. Dave's primary target was clearly Nick. 

Both Clay and Alex tried to help, but Luke and Dylan made sure they wouldn't reach them. Punched where thrown around and Clay felt a hard punch to his ribs, causing him to sink to his knees. Alex seemed to be knocked out as well. Clay heart began racing when he saw that Dave had a knee pressed against Nick's throat. Panic erupted in his body but the punch he'd received to his stomach had made every movement extremely painful. 

Then everything took an unexpected turn. Everything happened so quickly. A was suddenly blade pressed against Dave's throat. The blade belonged to George, that seemingly unnoticed had sneaked up behind the guy and was now pressing the blade against his throat.