The Bad Boy and the Other Bad Boy

Chapter 18

thanks for 4k 

JAX:

We were leaving campus for lunch when I spotted a familiar head of curly hair.

"Wait here. " I told Ryan and the others - Marc, the french guy who played soccer, Oscar, the short grumpy jacked-up one, and Vinnie, the asshole who was always starting shit but was also fucking good at baking. Brownies were his specialty. 

This was my lunch gang - we always went off campus for lunch together. Sometimes there were more of us who joined, but us five were the OG's. 

He was walking kinda fast when I grabbed his arm. He turned, obviously surprised. His eyes were guarded, but he relaxed when he saw me.

That felt good. 

"Duncan. " I said. "Wanna come to lunch with us? " 

He turned slowly to look over at my group of friends, who were watching me curiously. His mouth opened. 

"Uh. I - " 

"Dude. Come. " I insisted. 

He turned back to me. "What, you think I don't have friends?" 

"Yeah. " I said. 

He looked down, laughed slightly at my tactlessness.

 "Fine, I'll go with you and your ugly friends. Might be a laugh. " 

I turned to face my clueless friends who were still looking at me in confusion. "Yeah, they are kind of ugly. Let's go. " 

We went back over to them. "Guys, this is Duncan. You're allowed to call him Scabbers. " 

"No, you're fucking not - " said Duncan.

"He's coming with us to lunch. " 

The guys' eyes flicked between me and Duncan, still unsure what the fuck I was doing with a "loser" and a "f*g" or something. However, it wasn't like they were worried about being "uncool". It wasn't like any of us would ever get shit for anything - we were the small percentage of the school who couldn't get bullied ever. 

"I'm Ryan. " Ryan broke the uncomfortable pause, extending his hand to dap Duncan up. The rest of the guys introduced themselves also - even Angry Oscar. 

I fought back a grin. 

------

We always went to the same place for lunch - Ambicton was fucking small, if you hadn't caught on. 

Grub'N'Stuff was one of those vintage diners with red vinyl seats and shit - but more like, sleazy. The air was always slightly smoky, and the interior was always dimly light, with only coloured neon lights. Below it was a nightclub - me and the boys had sold there before. 

On the drive here Duncan had hit it off with Marc the French Guy - to be honest, everyone hit it off with Marc the French Guy. 

When my eyes adjusted to the dark interior of Grub'N'Stuff, I spotted Denver and his girl in one of the booths. 

I frowned. The fuck? Denver never came here. His mates did, but today they were nowhere to be seen. 

I raised my eyebrows and looked down in disgust. 

"Ew, what's he doing here. " Ryan said from beside me. 

"Who? " Duncan said. 

"Over there. That's Rocco Denver. " Ryan gestured. 

"I know who Rocco Denver is, I'm not dumb. What's wrong with him? Why don't you like him?" 

"What's to like." I said, my eyes glued to them.