Saving Laurel

10. He's Not Subtle

Laurel Gilroy

I grip my books tighter to me, the corner of my math book digging into the fresh cuts on my arm. It gives me some relief, the stinging pain. That is until I remember Molly's phone call.

Squeezing between two groups of students that are overtaking the crowded hallway, I try not to think of Mason, cuffed and in jail. If he was hurt. If he needed me.

"Hey!" Someone shouts behind me. "Laurel hey!"

I watch as the pink haired girl falls into step beside me. "I'm Ellie, friend of Wes. We have music together."

Her hands are gripped around her backpack straps, rings decorating them, nails covered in black polish. I don't respond to her greeting.

"So, I just wanted to stop and say that Wes is a really good guy." She says.

I raise my eyebrows, instantly skeptical. How typical. The bad boy has a girl that somehow sees the sensitive side of him. Maybe before Mason, I would have fell for it. I would have given him the benefit of the doubt. But I did that, I believed in someone with everything that I had, all that I was and he shattered me.

"He said he tried to talk to you." She continues on, ignoring my lack of participation. "He usually doesn't branch out and talk to new people."

Before I can catch myself or think better of it I mutter a very quiet "Mhm".

"He has Tourette's do you know what that is?" She asks me.

She navigates the crowded halls beside me continuing on when I don't really answer. Sure I've heard of Tourette's. But I wouldn't say I actually know what it is in it's entirety.

"Well basically he has tics which are things he can't control. So sometimes he moves or jerks his body around, sometimes he swears." She shrugs her shoulders. "It makes him nervous trying to meet new people because some people think he's just being a jerk or he's crazy or something. He's not though."

"I heard him call Sawyer a cocksucker." I repeat the phrase much more confidently to Ellie then I did to Wes.

She grumbles, dark blue eyes meeting me as she looks over. "Sawyer likes to try and make him tic."

"What does that mean?" I ask, I'll admit my curiosity is sparked.

I fall into step behind her as the crowd forces us to condense. She doesn't miss a beat, spinning around and walking backwards so she can keep explaining, not bothered by the fact that she can no longer see what she's walking into it.

"Certain things make him tic. Like stress, anxiety or if he sees someone else tic or they say certain things. Sawyer thinks it's funny to make him swear." She says. "Especially during class. It has a name, the swearing, I can't remember what it is? You'll have to ask Wes."

She says it like I'm actually going to talk to him.

We turn a corner, my eyes sweeping my surroundings and I find him. Like the fact that we're talking about him made him materialize right before my eyes. He seems so normal from a distance. And I almost ask about his violent head hitting but then Ellie links her arm through mine, snapping my eyes back to her.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone." She's a springy, bouncy little person, reminding me of Teagan from my old school. Except Teagan was a cheerleader and I doubt that Ellie is.

Before I even have the chance to protest we're at her group of friends, Wes's back to us as he rifles through his locker.

"This is Brett, Savannah, James and Wes." At the sound of his name I watch as Wes turns around his eyes locking with me and instantly his face turns red. "This is Laurel, she's in music with us."

"Cymbals right?" Brett asks clearing his throat, he's my height, wiry, with glasses and mossy green eyes. I nod. "Saxophone."

I already know that though.

Savannah gives me a polite smile, watching Brett's interaction with me. I instantly want to tell her I'm not a threat, they must be dating, I think.

James shakes my hand, muscled arms and a large frame that towers over everyone. He's wearing his letterman coat and it informs me he's on the basketball team and in choir. Weird combination but whatever works I guess.

And then there's Wes, who's talking in hushed tones to Ellie before his shoulder jerks and his head strains to the side his hand flying up to his nose.

Ellie gives him a flat look and shakes her head at him and I wonder what's been said between them.

He turns his gaze to mine, his eyes are definitely hazel, not green, and says "hi Laurel."

I smile slightly but it falls as I watch him do the same sequence of movements. When he stops he stares at the floor.

"We're about to head to lunch, you can sit with us." Ellie says.

I'm ready to decline but the words die in my throat as Wes shouts "bitch" into the air and then jerks his body around again.

I watch Savannah put her hand on Wes's arm and for a moment my thoughts wonder if maybe they're dating but then I remember Cora's words. He's single.

Ellie links her arm through mine, pulling me along with her as she chats to the rest of her friends. No one acknowledges Wes when he whistles or twitches his shoulders, then his head and then from where I'm positioned behind him I see his hand fly up to his face.

"That's his main tic. It used to just be his head but the other tics joined in." Ellie says beside me. "We just pretend they don't exist."

I nod my head, not exactly understanding what she means but curious as to how you can pretend that something doesn't exist when it's so loud and in your face. He's not subtle, whatsoever.

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Who's excited for Wes and Laurel to interact? Me, I am. 🙋‍♀️