Gosh, was Zander Hayes hot or what?
Everybody thought so. As did Asher Tyson. You could call him a nobody. He wasn't bullied. He wasn't a nerd. He was just Asher. Some knew him, some didn't, but he was and felt invisible most of the time.
But not t...
zander (warning: this chapter will contain fighting and blood themes. please read with care.) ▪︎
When I heard the rumours that somebody from Solomon High was transferring here. My stomach just dropped. I left that school to get away from everyone. Never did I want anyone following me and finding out where I moved to.
I was sitting in history. Bored out of my fucking mind. Thinking of things I could do with Ash. When some red headed bimbo next to me started ranting on to the football player beside her about the new, hot lacrosse player transferring to this school.
At first, I thought she was talking about me and was just several months behind. Soon enough though, everyone was talking about it. I didn't realise rumours like these spread through school like they did in books and movies.
Since I was outed to the whole team without any hassle, I'd become a lot closer with them. I was now talking to Conan, Isaiah, and surprising Jasper a lot. Jasper didn't sit with us at lunch most of the time, so I was surprised when he approached me and started fan-girling over his boyfriend to me, he was properly gushing over him.
I was thinking of messaging Ash, seeing if he had heard the rumours. It was stupid idea though, cause there was no way he would know. I mean, come on, he's Asher.
I'll just send a text in the group chat instead. I don't know who chose the name, but it was titled 'Fuck the footballers. We're hotter!' . I wasn't going to lie, this school's football team wasn't a good one, we were far better.
Fuck the footballers. We're hotter!
Zander Has anybody else heard about a rumour of a new lacrosse player going around?
ConanT. Yeah. Tiffany was telling everyone in the library.
Theo D. I heard it from Stacy. Who heard it from Jennifer. Who heard it from Scott. Who heard it from Billy.
Jasper P. no?
Levi H. Yeah. Apparently the guys name is like Mason? Michael? Matthew? Mitchell?
Something like that.
Mitchell? It better not be Mitchell.
There was only one Mitchell I knew of from Solomon in our year. It just so happened that he also played lacrosse. And another thing? He used to be my best friend.
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"Alright guys, I'm gonna head off," a chorus of goodbyes came my way. I picked up my finished lunch packets and left the cafeteria.
I wanted to go and see Ash. Apparently, according to the team, my mood changed drastically when I didn't see him. I didn't notice it, but everyone else did.
"Oh! Look who it is. Zander. Come here bro, give me a hug!"
The reason I came to this school was to get away from them. People say you can't run away from your past, but I thought I did so well.
"Fuck off Mitchell, why are you even here?"
I turned around, becoming face to face with him. I looked dead in his eyes. They were horrible and I hated them. They reminded me of a dark past.
"Come on Zander. Don't treat me like that," he placed a hand over his chest, symbolising that I pulled on a string to purposely get in my head. It wouldn't work though. I was stronger than that.
"I said why the fuck are you here?" I wasn't giving up. I'd get an answer out of him one way or another.
"Please Zander, how many times do I have to tell you it wasn't my fault for you to believe me?" I don't think I could ever believe him or any word that came out of his mouth. I still can't believe we used to be best friends. "Don't you remember all the good times we used to have? Why would you ruin that?"
"Me ruin it? Everything was your fault!" I was getting heated. The crowd surrounding us seemed to grow and the end of lunch neared. I wasn't afraid of starting a fight with them around though.
"Man up Zay! I didn't do anything wrong."
I threw the first punch, directly to the side of his face. It didn't take long for him to fight back though. I hated that name and he knew it too. Soon enough, we had gathered a whole crowd. But I didn't care, I was in the mood to completely knock him out, with everyone around. He had it coming anyway.
"Come on Zay! You can hit me harder than that surely? I never realised how soft and weak you'd gotten!"
I delivered punch after punch. I only saw red. My whole focus was on hurting him and only him.
I could feel blood on my face. He'd hit me right above my eye. The blood was running down my face from the gash about my eyebrow. I could bet he looked worse though. I had the upper hand for sure.
He fell to the ground and just as I was about to deliver one last knockout blow, arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me away. I didn't want to finish yet though. I was out for blood, and I would get it, one way or another.
"Oi Zander. Calm the fuck down. What are you doing?" it was Isaiah. He'd pulled me right out of the commotion. I didn't notice at first but as soon as I saw Asher's face. I was full of guilt. My rage dissipated and now I felt horrible. Horrible that he had to see that side of me.
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bit of a short chapter. i didn't want to add anymore though cause im cheeky hehe.
anyway, i want to say thank you to everyone that has been supporting me on this book. whether it was through voting, commenting or just reading! i find it very impressive that it made it to #2 in school cause there are so many books under that tag. again, thank you to all of you that got it to that number. hopefully they continue to rise!!!!
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like... look at that. a book with only 4.8k reads amongst those in the MILLIONS!!! i know it won't stay there very long but, at least it was there to begin with.
q: for those that go to school/uni/college, are you back yet?
