Fixing You

chapter nine

Daniel's POV

I sat eyeing the clock as it edged its way closer to eleven. I was tapping my pen impatiently against my desk, and other students were beginning to pack up their books. We had our first game of the season at twelve, and I was pumped.

It wasn't a big game at all. It was only going to be an hour long, and it was against Oakland Community College, the school my brother Hudson attended. From what he'd told me, their team was absolute crap anyway. The game would be short, and I couldn't wait to kick their asses.

Our team had practically no chance of losing, and that was mainly down to me and Shaun. Despite the fact that Shaun and I were the school's 'fag' and 'fag's best friend', frowned upon by almost everyone, on the field we were the leaders. On the field, there was no talk of gay and straight, because that's not what's important. And that's what made us such a good team- our trust and respect.

My love for football wasn't natural, though. It was forced.

After Hudson's accident, I trained myself to carry on his outstanding devotion to the sport. I wanted to make my brother proud of me, and I hoped I had achieved that.

The bell rang and I sprinted from the room, earning myself a disapproving look from Mrs Cooper, my Trigonometry teacher. I guessed she had noticed my lack of focus.

I walked into History and took my usual seat with Shaun at the back of the room. Shaun looked absolutely ecstatic.

"Dude, I am so excited for this game," he grinned. He was practically bouncing on his seat. I guessed that while Shaun loved football, he also loved being top dog again, being accepted by his old friends, just like old times.

I laughed. "Calm down man, you're drawing attention." I looked around to see a couple of assholes glaring at Shaun. I stared them down until they looked away. I was sick of people looking at my best friend like that, like he was in some way inferior to them.

I turned back to Shaun. "So are you going to tell me what's got you so high?"

Shaun shook his head.

"Fine," I conceded, taking my phone out of my pocket. "I'll just ask Adam."

At the mention of Adam's name, Shaun's face lit up. "Go ahead," he said with a quick smirk. I knew what that smile meant.

I put my phone away. "You didn't."

Shaun grinned like an idiot.

"Dude!" I whisper yelled, unsure of whether to scold him or high-five him. "Seriously? In school?"

"Oh, don't even pretend like you've never wanted to do it on a desk."

I rolled my eyes. "I've thought about it, sure, but you don't actually do it. There are cameras everywhere!"

Shaun shrugged, clearly not bothered by any of this information. "Not in the art room," he said, although he didn't seem too sure/ "At least I think there isn't. If there is, they'll get one hell of a show."

I groaned. He was literally incredible. "Too much information!" I almost yelled just as the teacher walked in.

Mr Garcia had to be a candidate for the worst teacher on the planet. He was always late, his personal hygiene was non existent and by looking at his clothes you'd assume he was homeless. But my main reason for hating Mr Garcia was probably the fact that he hated me. Nothing I ever did went unnoticed by the man- I could hardly breathe without being glared at.

After half an hour of listening to him drone on about World War One, I zoned out. My thoughts led me back to the girl who had occupied my mind all weekend. My mind was full of Ashling, with her beautiful long black hair and cool blue eyes. I remembered her telling me that she would be starting school here, but unfortunately I hadn't seen her around yet. I was hoping to run into her at some point.