Between Worlds

•×'~Chapter 1-Distraction~'ו

"Tate! Pay attention and stop lollygagging, turn to page 152!" Tate's teacher, Mrs. Phillips said sternly, slapping a ruler on his desk.

Tate jumped and turned his head, all of his classmate's eyes on him as his face flushed a bright red against his dark hazel skin. He flicked through the pages of his book until he reached page 152, and kept his face hidden, to rid himself of any embarrassment.

"Hey, Tate!" His friend Jackie said, tapping Tate's shoulder. "Be lucky you didn't get pantsed like Trevor."

"It's still fucking embarrassing to have half of the students in this hell hole staring at you like you killed someone!" Tate hissed, clicking his pen frantically as he tried to focus on the boring lesson of pre-calculus.

"Tate, Jackie, I won't ask again, focus on the lesson," Mrs. Phillips said again, raising her voice. "Save your voices for after class."

"Yes ma'am." The boys said, both lacking enthusiasm.

The rest of class was focused around the basics and review. Tate leaned back in his seat and tapped his lip with a pencil. Jackie tried catching Tate's eye but was unsuccessful. The bell rang loudly and Tate and Jackie sped out of the room.

Jackie's real name was Jackson, but he preferred Jackie because it was more gender-neutral. My real name is Taylor, but I go by Tate because it keeps people away from me. Everyone seemed to avoid us, but I understand why. A few boys liked to pick on us, and nobody wanted to become a new target.

As if on cue, one of the boys from the group punched me in the back, causing me to stumble and drop my pre-calculus book. One of his pals placed his large foot on the book, preventing me from picking it up.

"Hello, Taylor," One of them grinned a disgusting toothy grin. "Did you forget our little talk?"

"Oh shit," Tate muttered.

Jackie inched backwards, running into the largest of the group: Brian Anderson. Brian kicked his calf, causing him to fall to his knees, whimpering. Jackie licked his upper lip, where he had bit it to the point of breaking.

He quickly lashed out with his foot, striking Brian in the shin. Brian doubled over, grabbing at his shin, and hollering. Jackie grabbed Tate's wrist and stumbled away from the three, who were in hot pursuit.

"Where are you two gentlemen going in such a hurry?" Mr. Crowel said from his office door.

Jackie kept running, but Tate slowed down.

"Tate, what the hell are you doing?" Jackie hissed, tugging on Tate's wrist with more force.

"He's had it out for me since freshman year! He'll get me expelled if I do something he dislikes."

"Hey! Taylor, Jackson! Get your asses back here, we aren't done yet!"

"Boys. Seems like you left your friends mid-conversation. That's not very nice, now, is it?" His voice was filled with disdain.

The final bell rang at that moment, saving the boys from a large chance of suspension.

"Sorry, Mr. Crowel, I have to go pick up my sister!" Jackie shouted, pulling Tate along with a force he didn't know he had.

Jackie drove his mother's car on the weekdays since she had weekend shifts. It was an old pickup truck, and had a lot of problems, but Jackie said he would fix it over summer break. Jackie unlocked the old rusted truck and helped Tate climb in.

"Was that true?" Tate asked after they had gone a few miles. "about your sister?"

"Surprisingly, yes. She has to get to a volleyball game in about an hour."

"I thought that was a spur-of-the-moment excuse you made up, but I guess it wasn't."

"You don't know much about my outside of school life-" Jackie was interrupted by a loud siren, startling both of the boys.

•×'~664 words~'ו