I Am A Monster (David Escamilla A.U.) (#Wattys2015)

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"Operator is there anybody at all that can explain why I gave everything and more up for her?  I know I sound so gullible, but something 'bout her just drew me in...but that bitch didn't even notice me" - Makeshift Chemistry ~ Crown The Empire

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"Music class." Dave groaned, leaning back in his chair. "The best damn class in this school, if I may say so myself."

"You're so biased," Andy teased him. Dave ignored him, however. I frowned and looked over my shoulder at Hayden who was calmly picking at his nails and looking at his phone.

"What do we do in the class?" I asked, tearing my gaze away from Hayden and let it fall on Dave.

"What do you mean, what do we do?" Dave smirked, raising his eyebrow. "It's pretty simple, Vogelman. Do you play an instrument?"

I was about to answer but the door opened, startling me and the others, thinking it was the teacher. We were all pleasantly surprised when Danny walked through the door, panting a little and wiping his brow from the sweat that had gathered. I waved and grinned at him and he smiled back, trudging his way over to where I was seated. The music room didn't have any desks, but they had wheely office styled chairs and long rectangular tables. It fit at least eight people comfortably. The room was split in half, one side had the tables and such, the other side had interments of all sorts and a television on a riser and wheels.

"Charlie!" Danny chuckled, sprawling himself on top of me and planting a kiss on my cheek. "I have a class with you!"

"Oh my God, Danny, you smell like ass!" I giggled, poking him in his side, making him squeak and wriggle around trying to avoid my tickling fingers.

"Shut up!" Danny laughed back.

"Wow, can you say incest?" snarled a voice, causing Danny and I to immediately halt. The voice belonged to a boy with brown spiky hair. He had a mean looking sneer and his lip was curled. He was accompanied by another boy who was looking at his feet, nervously twisting his thin braid in his hair. He had a star wars shirt on and he was anxiously looking at Dave, who was giving the two one of the meanest glares he could muster.

"I mean, seriously, Tone, look at 'em. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't know what I'm saying, either. Their parents are probably brother and sister too." the boy scoffed. "Inbreds."

"You watch your goddamn mouth, Preciado." snapped Taddie, surprising me. "Or I'll fucking kick your teeth in."

"So intimidating." the boy laughed, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, Tone." The other boy, Tone, or perhaps Tony, gave an apologetic look before he walked after the bully, shuffling his feet.

"Pricks." Dave muttered from next to me and Danny, making me jump. Danny rolled off of me and sat in his own seat, suddenly quiet and mood-less. It wasn't like Danny not to be smiley and happy, so I knew this must've affected him more than me. I was, unfortunately, used to this bullying already, but something tells me Danny wasn't expecting it. He must have already made some friends or something aside from Dave and the others. This confrontation must've sealed his shitty fate.

The door opened again, and this time, a thin man stumbled into the room, dressed in a blue suit and shiny black shoes.

"Uh, hi. Mr. Iero is out today. The little goofball got sick, so I had to clean up after the prick." the substitute mumbled, rolling his eyes. "So, I'm subbing again. Woo. Go ahead and pull out something that'll keep you busy for 45 minutes or so."

The class instantly erupted into chatter, girls gossiping with girls, guys talking about guy things. Our table just pulled out their phones and earbuds, plugging into their music world. Danny was one of them. I fumbled with my fingers, not really knowing what to do. Andy and Dave, who were in a quiet conversation, looked up at me, giving me a skeptical look.

"You're not going to fuck around or nothing?" Dave asked, raising his eyebrow at me.

"Uh...no." I shrugged. "I'm still settling."

"Ah." Dave pulled out his phone and plugged in his earbuds, turning up his music loudly, obviously blocking me out. I frowned and picked at my nails.

"Hey, don't take it personally," Andy said, pulling me out of my self pity. "Dave is just an asshole."

I smirked at that and Andy smiled, scooting closer to me. "That's Mr. Way. He's one of the best teachers here. He fills in for Mr. Iero all the time. I'm surprised he's still allowed to work here. He's Mr. Iero's husband."

"They're married?" I asked, glancing over at Mr. Way, who was looking in his phone like a mirror, licking his thumb to swipe his eyebrows to keep them flat.

"Uh, yeah. They are. You should see Mr. Iero. He's so little. Anyway...do you have any questions about this school?"

I shrugged. "Yeah...how come most people here are assholes?"

Andy snickered. "It's because everyone has a stick up their ass." I rolled my eyes and Andy let out a howl of laughter. "Okay, okay, I know what you mean. Okay...well, that chick - Dave's booty call - she used to be Dan Flint's girlfriend. When they were together, Dave got pissed off at Dan - they used to be friends and play football together - and fucked his girlfriend in revenge. Dan's way of retaliation was to get Dave kicked off of the football team. Dave fucked his girlfriend again and then Dan and Syd broke up. But then, they just kept going at it, and then Dave...well...Dave got angry and separated himself from Dan's group entirely. It's been a war ever since."

"Oh." I numbly looked at my hands.

"Yeah." Andy looked off in space before he jumped, snapping his fingers. "Hey, what do you have next?"

"Uh, a free period." I smiled at Andy when he gave an excited squeak.

"Great! Me too! You wanna go home right now? Mr. Way will let us go if you wanna."

"Really?" to be totally honest, being home right now sounded really nice.

"Yeah!" Andy nodded excitedly. "Let's gooooo!"

I nodded, "okay," I sighed. I was about to tell Danny, but he was now consumed in a conversation with Brandon, so I decided to text him later. Andy and I stood up, getting the attention from Dave.

"Where're you going?" he asked, sounding freakishly calm.

"Andy said he would drive me home now." I mumbled, rubbing my arm nervously. Andy sensed my nervousness and he nudged me.

"I'll go tell Mr. Way." he said, skipping away from me. Dave cocked his head slightly.

"I thought I told your brother I was going to drive you home." Dave said, his brows rising slightly with a smile still plastered on his face.

"Oh...yeah, but Andy offered because we both have G free." I said awkwardly. Dave bit his lip and I couldn't help but blush a little when I saw how incredibly attractive Dave could look while biting his lip.

"Okay. Well, tomorrow, you're all mine then. What say you?"

I swallowed hard and nodded, blushing harder. "Okay, but I'm driving to school though."

"Fine. I'll drive to the apartment, park in the garage and you'll drive us to school." Dave said, his eyes boring into mine. I nodded, not breaking eye contact. He had this way to him that made me agree with everything he said. It wasn't bad - no, it was absolutely breathtaking, but he made me feel so fuzzy inside and I have no idea why.

"Deal." I smiled at him. Dave smiled too and put the earbud back in his ear, leaning back in his chair. Andy arrived back and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Ready, Charlie?" he asked, bobbing slightly from foot to foot. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, sure."

"Good!" Andy squeaked. "Bye guys!"

We got some mumbled 'bye's and a few waves, but I was looking at Dave. He wasn't looking at me, though. His eyes were glued to his phone. I sighed and followed Andy to the exit. I turned one last time to look at Dave, to see if he even acknowledged my existence. Dave glanced up at the door, gave me a small smile, and slightly raised his hand at me, extending two fingers slightly before retracting them in a form of a small goodbye. Even that small gesture of goodbye sent butterflies in my stomach. Damn. I'm so screwed.