𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙈𝙚 𝙄𝙣.

Coffee.

The weekend passed by speedily with no major events and soon enough, it was time for another dreadful week of school.
West managed to avoid his dad all together, only monitoring when he left and when he came back from work, if it was safe enough for him to stay home or if he'd have to find another party to crash. Thankfully he made it through the weekend without having to see his schoolmates get drunk again. But he'd missed his best friend.

"This weekend probably sucked for you, huh?" Brittany teased as they walked side by side on their usual route to school.

"You have no idea."

"Work, I'm guessing?"

West shrugged casually, "Went to a party on friday night, worst mistake of my life. Nothing on Saturday, worked half of Sunday."

"You at least enjoy yourself at the party?"

West could list a thousand things he hated about friday night, but he decided to shorten it for Brittany's sake.

"I didn't know anyone there. The music was too loud... and sucked. It smelled really bad." He expressed as he forcedly reminded himself of the smell of sweat mixed with alcohol and God knows what else.

He went on, "A guy named Killian approached me, started singing Greenday, then threw up on the floor, passed out, and I had to take him home. So, no, Brittany. I did not enjoy myself."

That seemed to stop her in her tracks, "Killian? As in Killian Ackerman?"

"Do you go around asking for people's last names at a party, Brittany?"

"Asshole." She smirked with a playful roll of her eyes, "He's blonde, blue eyes, running back on the school's football team... Very popular."

"I don't pay attention to the school's football team or the popular kids for that matter."

"To be fair you don't pay attention to anything that happens around you. That woman that just walked by us, she only had one arm, did you notice that?"

"What?" West turned around to get a good look at her, but was met with nothing but empty road.

"There was no woman, dumbass."

This time it was West's turn to roll his eyes, "Whatever. And, yeah, I guess it was Killian Ackerman. You like him or something?"

"Nope." Brittany said all too quickly, a blush creeping up her neck. West noticed.

"Right, of course."

"Stop. I'm being serious."

She tried to hide her reddened cheeks with her hair, but it was a futile effort. Thankfully, West didn't mention it, he just went back to staring at the road ahead of him.

Brittany did have a crush, though.
Not on Killian, but on his best friend, Harper Graham. It had been that way since middle school. She never got noticed, though.

She was the girl who sat in the back of the room and blended into the background. She'd met West in that same back of the room, they were what some people considered outcasts, the weird kids, so naturally, they'd drifted towards each other.
She'd found someone like her, someone she could relate to, who loved her for who she was and would've never changed a thing about her, someone who cared, who listened, someone who could made her laugh until she cried.
West was everything and more to her, but she never truly did get over that crush.
-
When they got to school, they said their goodbyes, and headed to their respective lockers. Brittany's locker was nowhere near West's, so the only time they saw each other was during lunch, since they also had no classes together.

West inwardly groaned when he saw who was waiting for him at his locker. A beautiful, wavy haired brunette with long legs and hazel green eyes that he'd once been crazy over.
Her name was Ophelia, she and West had dated in junior year. That fact alone made her think she could pop up whenever she felt like it.
But it's not like West could do anything about it, they went to the same school, attended the same classes, for heavens sake.

"Ophelia." He acknowledged with a curt nod.

"I wanna go to prom with you." She stated.

Oh. Straight to the point, then.

"No. But, thanks for the offer."

"What?" Ophelia scoffed, "You already have a date or something?"

West was determined to wipe that arrogant smirk off her face, "And what if I do?"

That earned a condescending laugh right out of her, "Right."

West had heard that exact laugh more times than he'd liked during their short relationship. She never failed to make him, and others feel bad about themselves, it was like she enjoyed it.
He turned his back on her and walked towards the exit doors. Talking to her had really put him in a bad mood, so he decided to calm himself with a smoke.

He headed to his usual spot - under the bleachers. A place where no one ever came around, no one in authority, that is.
But his bubble was soon popped once he came across the horrific sight of a couple sucking each other's faces off.

West recognized the both of them, it was Ophelia's best friend, the head cheerleader and all round mean girl, Yolanda. And of course, the infamous Killian Ackerman.
Not wanting to disturb the happy couple, he temporarily abandoned the idea of a smoke and headed back in the direction he came from, deciding he had seen quite enough for one day.
-

Once the two had detached from each others lips, Killian saw a retreating figure out of the corner of his eye, then inclined his head to get a good look of them.
He recognized the person instantaneously, then started running towards him without warning.

"Hey!" Yolanda called out after him, but he blatantly ignored her, and continued running towards West. He had some unfinished business with the boy.

Up ahead, West could hear someone's footsteps pounding on the concrete, he hoped to God it wasn't that blonde jerk.

"Wait up!" Killian called out.

West sighed, exasperated, but decided to wait and hear what he had to say. Probably nothing useful.

"Hi... Hey, It's Killian." He beamed, gentler now, nothing like the monstrosity from Friday night. West liked his smile. This smile.

"You remember me, right? From the party?"

"If I remember correctly, you were the intoxicated one, Killian."

"About that, I just wanted to thank you..." He conveyed, a soft look settling on his features, making his eyes twinkle. And West found himself staring. "For getting me home safely."

A beat passed, and then, "Cool." Before pulling his eyes off Killian's face and walking away.

Killian, though, was persistent, he'd approached West for a reason that night, he wanted to know him. And the fact that West was behaving so nonchalantly only intrigued him more. He followed after him.

"Let me buy you a coffee, at least. Just to say thanks."

"You've already said thanks."

Killian gently grabbed a hold of West's elbow and spun him around. "Properly this time."

West hated when random people touched him without permission, he hated when anyone touched him without permission. He yanked his arm back before fixing Killian with a hard glare, "No." He spat.

West pushed Killian out of the way, leaving him quite stunned, then made his way to homeroom wishing nothing more than to never cross paths with that wack-job ever again.
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