Message In A Bottle

Feb 10

A/N: It's happening! ;) I'm in a silly goofy mood. No seriously this suddenly became a crackfic lmao.

By the way, forgot to mention this last chapter but we've got lovely MIAB fanart by @BookLoverFriend12!! Thank you so much, it's so cute!! Please check it out! <3

https://www.wattpad.com/1311717477-paper-rings-art-portfolio-1-3am-miab-fanart

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It should've been a normal day.

It had been two weeks since the rumours and the interest was dying down. Sure, Eugene getting punched caused a bit of a commotion, but Jason was let off with a stern talking to (and no real consequences), so people stopped caring.

But just as Eugene was mad for his friend's behalf, Jason's friends were also mad on his behalf. A handful of them had never felt fond of Eugene for whatever reason, and now they had a legitimate reason to dislike him. Some of them were normal teenagers and kept their dislike hidden in private conversations and petty messages. But one of them was rather impulsive and had a notorious temper.

Mack had always been jealous of Eugene because Eugene won a place on the basketball team while he didn't. And he'd always felt superior over Eugene when it came to basketball (their height difference probably played a part). Hence Mack's ego felt personally attacked when he failed to get into the basketball team but that wimp did. But back then, Mack actually had enough common sense to kept his petty grudge hidden, because even he knew it would reflect badly on him.

Now, Mack's impulse control was virtually non-existent.

How dare Eugene mock Jason? How did Eugene get away scot-free when he started all of this by asking Jason for a fight?! Ohh, Eugene was devious all right. He knew the discipline teacher was round the corner, and he manipulated the situation to make him seem like the innocent party. (No wonder he was buddies with Danielle Rowland, they were both the quiet shy kids who pretended to be the victims when they were not.)

And the worst part was that nobody else thought Eugene was also to blame! Surely that punk needed to be taught a lesson.

So Mack decided to knock some sense into Eugene. In between classes, Mack cornered Eugene in the corridors. Eugene looked supremely unbothered. The mark on his cheek was starting to fade, which irritated Mack. In Mack's opinion, that punch was well deserved.

"Can I help you?" Eugene asked sarcastically.

From his tone, Eugene clearly didn't think he did anything wrong. He was unapologetic even though he'd gotten Jason into trouble, and that pissed Mack off even more.

"You should apologize to Jason," Mack informed Eugene in what he hoped was a stern tone, but it came off like a toddler ordering an adult to get them a popsicle.

"For what? Standing in the way so I could get punched?" Eugene's sarcasm was as strong as always.

Mack's temper flared. "I see you clearly feel no guilt."

"It wasn't me who threw that punch, so no."

Mach remained insistent. "You were goading him into it."

Eugene looked elsewhere, again uncaring. "Mm, goading. Nice word. You must've been working on your vocabulary. Good for you."

Who knew that kid could be so sharp-tongued and spiteful? As Mack struggled to think of a reply, Eugene thought of one already.

"Well, I'll be going now," he clearly stated.

"We're not done here," came Mack's voice as he blocked Eugene.

Eugene tried to move again. "Well, I am."