the hating game ; lrh

fifty

"NOW, DON'T FORGET YOUR final assessments are due next Friday!" Miss Fernandez screeched to the class as we begin packing up our bags, already chatting about college applications and plans for the weekend ahead.

I slip my notebook and pencil case into my bag, distracted as I chat with Ashton about the upcoming Battle of the Bands competition. Thankfully, Ashton had continued to sit beside me throughout our Spanish classes ever since Anna and I had our unfortunate falling out so that I don't have to sit alone.

"Rory, you're letting us use your song," Ashton tells me, acting as if I have no choice in the matter.

"I still haven't decided," I remind him, sending the brunette boy a playful glare.

"If you don't, I'll tell Calum about you know who," Ashton threatens, seemingly teasing although I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to actually do so if it came down to it.

I remove my hand from where it is wrapped around my Spanish textbook and reach up to smack Ashton lightly on the shoulder. "Ashton!" I scold, though laughing lightly regardless.

"I'm joking," he responds, standing up from his desk and looping his bag over his shoulder. I follow suit, my bag feeling strangely lighter than usual. "I'll just get Calum to steal your notebook from your room."

"You will not," I order as we exit the classroom, making our way through the bustling hall toward our lockers.

Halfway there, I begin to really think about the weight of my bag and how oddly light it is -- almost as if it is empty. I quickly open it and peek inside, realising almost instantly that I have somehow forgotten my Spanish textbook back in the classroom.

"Crap," I scold, stopping in my footsteps. Ashton stops too, turning to me with a questioning glance. "I forgot my textbook."

"Oh, I'll come," Ashton agrees instantly, already turning back toward the classroom before I stop him.

"No, it's okay," I assure him, letting out a rough sigh and running a hand through my hair. There has been so much on my mind lately that I'm now even forgetting my textbooks moments after I am about to place them in my bag. "I'll meet you at Michael's."

"Alright," Ashton agrees, changing direction back toward his locker. "I'll see you at band practice."

I wave goodbye to Ashton one more time before making my way back to the classroom. Despite it only being minutes since the final bell rang, the school halls have already begun to clear out significantly, with only a few stray students wandering back toward their lockers here and there. I had always considered schools to be particularly eerie when empty -- something about the big, open halls and all those windows. It feels like a horror movie.

Just as I am about to reach our classroom, I catch sight of something strange in my peripheral vision in a classroom nearby. I stop in my tracks, speeding instead toward the door to a nearby science lab, and squint my eyes to confirm whether what I am seeing is really there or not -- and it is. Inside this closed classroom, Finn and Luke appear to be arguing -- well, more like Luke yelling at Finn. The latter appears to be simply standing there, dumb-founded, while my boyfriend waves his arms about like an absolute lunatic, speaking so loudly that even I can hear him through the doorway.

Why are they speaking in a closed room like this -- a classroom, at that? I wasn't aware that Luke and Finn are even friends. At most, I had assumed that they are team mates. Luke never really appeared to like Finn at all. This information combined with the strange warnings that I had been given by not one, but two, people over the past few days spikes my curiosity, and before I can control myself I find that I am pressing my ear up to the door to listen in on their conversation.