The Goth and His Psycho.

The Goth and His Psycho: [Chapter Twenty One]

Alex stumbled to a stop at the back of the school, having cut through gardens and back roads at a fast jog for the last twenty minutes. His body really wasn't designed for running or climbing, he'd discovered this after about ten seconds of jogging and after heaving himself up a wooden fence and falling off the other side of it. Brilliant. He checked around the side of the building, eyes finding the entrance to the school. Not the main entrance, a little side entrance that was rarely used by students. 

He straightened up and ran his hands through his hair, frowning and swatting the leaves and twigs from the dark locks. He really should just go home, he thought. Just wait for Dylan to forget that Bree had beaten him up, and then everything would be fine. 

But if the school called his mother due to his absence, she would freak and rush home, probably assuming him dead or abducted. 

Sighing, he decided to man up. Well, he decided to stay hidden for as long as possible and sneak home quickly after school had ended. He didn't have it in him to face Dylan, not after everything that had gone on. He had bigger problems now. 

Pushing open the door, he ducked into the warmth of the empty hallway, breathing a sigh of relief at the absence of his fellow students. First lesson of the day - English. Dylan was in that class with him. Alex chewed worryingly at his lip as he thought; if he showed up early for class Dylan would just sit close to him when he got in and corner him when he tried to leave. If he showed up just as the bell was going there'd be no seats left, and perhaps he'd be able to dart out afterwards. 

It was a flimsy plan, but he had to at least try. 

He lingered in the hallway for a while, until it was around two minutes until the bell. After checking his phone to confirm the time, he headed slowly towards class, on the other side of the school. The bell shrieked just as he reached the corridor, and he rounded the corner in time to watch Dylan and his friends file in, laughing loudly and talking. 

Alex ducked in behind a few girls and quickly scanned the room, Dylan and his group were taking up the back row, as per usual. Alex quickly slid into a front row seat and ducked down in his chair. In the brief glimpse that he'd gotten of Dylan, he'd seen an angry looking bruise around his cheek where Bree had slapped him, and his nose was red and puffy where she'd punched him. 

God Alex loved that girl. 

Their teacher flounced into the room, gangily and blond with a habit of letting them watch a lot of films. He offered Alex a lot of books too, which was cool. The lesson was focused on nothing but how to write reviews, and as a result they spent most of the lesson watching episodes of BBC's 'Sherlock'. Alex had come to the conclusion long ago that the teacher really didn't care at all. 

The bell rang in the middle of one of Sherlock's elaborate deductions, and Alex threw a quick glance over his shoulder. Dylan and his friends were already out of their chairs and attempting to push past the other people filing out. Dylan was looking at him. 

Heart racing, Alex leaped to his feet and grabbed his bag, sliding from his space and barging in front of a boy who'd been patiently waiting for a girl to file out. Both boy and girl muttered after him angrily as he burst out of the classroom and made a break for the end of the hallway. 

At the corner he glanced back just in time to see Dylan push from the classroom himself, and two of his friends fall out of the doorway after him. Alex didn't stay around very longer to wait for them to catch a glimpse of him. 

Just go home! Alex thought to himself, annoyed. But the fact remained; he couldn't have his mother running home, it was getting harder and harder to hide Bree, he couldn't have his mother becoming suspicious, assume he was on drugs (like she had before in the past) and strip search his room, where she would find Bree.