𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙈𝙚 𝙄𝙣.

What Was The Reason?

Paul had returned to work that week. They had given him a hard time at the hearing, but eventually decided not to fire him because he was a 'valuable asset' to the company, and probably because his boss was very fond of him. He had been working there since he was 18, after all. With the news of him not getting fired, came a celebration, and Paul's definition of 'celebration', involved getting shitfaced and then later accusing your son of shit he didn't do, which also lead to punching him in the face for no reason.
-
West managed to ignore Killian for an entire week. He gave him the cold shoulder at school and took the week off at Shirley's. He made sure to compile the word document that Killian had requested, though. He may have been ignoring him, but he didn't want Shirley's business to suffer because of it.

"How long are you gonna avoid the poor guy? Look at him. He's miserable." Brittany remarked.

West looked up from his tray of food, and his good eye zeroed in on Killian's table. True to Brittany's word, he looked horrible. Killian looked like he hadn't slept in days. His usual sleek, tapered hair, now looked too oily and was sticking out in different directions due to him worriedly running his hand through it every five seconds.

"Crap. He caught me looking."

"That's because he's been staring at you this whole time, dumbass."

West brought his eyes back to his tray, "I don't want to talk to him." He asserted, while absentmindedly tossing his salad around with his fork.

Brittany released an exasperated sigh. "I don't understand, it's not like you guys kissed."

"Still. I told myself I wasn't going to get involved with him."

"Oh, well." She shrugged as she bit into her celery stick. "I totally ship it, though."

"What?"

West had a genuinely confused expression on his face. Modern pop culture references were never his forte.

"It's... never mind."
------

"What do you think happened to him?" Harper questioned.

Killian's friends from football had been making fun of West's swollen eye since the start of the week. Clancy, being the gossipmonger that he was, was the first to spread rumors about what had supposedly happened.

"I heard he lost an underground wrestling match to The Viper."

"I was there. It was epic."

Harper picked up the last french fry off his tray and popped it into his mouth, deliberately making loud chewing noises to annoy everyone at the table. "Fletch, you don't have to lie. We all know your curfew's at 5pm. You couldn't have possibly been at an underground wrestling tournament."

You'd think that the star of the football team, the star of the whole town, really, would have more freedom to do whatever he wanted. Fletcher's parents were hardcore Christians and were extremely strict. They were also on the school board; they literally wanted to keep an eye on their son 24/7, make sure he wasn't breaking any rules. He wasn't even allowed to breathe the wrong way. The girls at school loved Fletcher, he was tall, brunette, and had honey brown eyes, his Japanese and German roots also made him look kind of exotic. In fear of his parents, though, they didn't dare go near him. Because of this fact, their Team Captain was also the only one in their little group who was still a virgin.

Killian grimaced at Harper's loud chewing then narrowed his eyes at Clancy and Fletcher. "You guys don't know what you're talking about."

"You've been defending this dude since day 1, Kill. Is there something going on between y'all or something?"

Killian glowered at Clancy then pointed at him with his plastic fork. "I'm feeling very stabby right now, I'd suggest leaving me alone."

"Damn, what's got into you?" Fletcher chaffed.

"Weston's dick."

The whole table, except Harper and Killian, erupted into snickers. Killian flipped Clancy off, then picked up his tray and marched out of the cafeteria. He had no patience for those fucktards today. He was sure he would've ended up bashing their heads in if he stayed.
-
"Beanheaaaad."

"I came here to be alone, Harp."

Harper shamelessly ignored Killian and propped himself up on the grandstand alongside his best friend.

"Then we'll be alone together, buddy."

"I hate you."

"Of course."

They sat in silence while watching the cheerleaders practice their routine on the field. Yolanda, the head cheerleader, noticed the boys on the grandstand and gave them an excited wave, which they didn't return.
Somehow, she took that as an invitation to join them. Killian and Harper exchanged looks, then scurried off the grandstand before she could get to them.

They managed to escape into an empty classroom. Harper stood by the door, peeking through the small window above to check for any signs of Yolanda.
She inspected the hallways then went back outside when there was no sign of the boys.
When the coast was clear, they stepped out of the classroom and burst out into fits of laughter.

"Man, she can never take a hint."

"I don't blame her, we're hot."

Harper struck a pose, then dramatically started fanning his face with both hands. The corners of Killian's mouth twitched, he gave a barely noticeable smile then drifted his gaze to the floor, his happy mood disappearing in thin air. Harper could tell that there was something bothering his friend, he figured that Killian would tell him when he was ready, though.

"Don't worry about Fletch and Clancy, they're idiots, okay?" He checked his phone and noticed that there were 20 minutes remaining of their break. "I have to go meet George... For my lessons."

"Okay..."

Harper gently lifted the underside of Killian's chin with the back of his hand and smiled.

"Chin up."

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