Chapter 12 - "There's nothing to say, Carter."

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Donovan pounded his fist against the punching bag over and over again. In his mind, he heard Link's voice break, felt his pain on his shoulder where Link cried. The memory of it made Donovan swing harder and faster. He was just a kid. A kid faced with a hard situation but one he'd manage to make the best of for six years. Until Carter.

Donovan pummeled the bag, driving his anger into the leather. By the time he stopped, sweat slid down his back, his arms ached, and his fists throbbed. But his anger towards Carter had lessened.

She was a stupid girl with no boundaries. He corrected himself. She wasn't stupid, that was the problem. She was a brilliant girl with no boundaries. That was worse. As Donovan removed his boxing gloves and began to unwrap his hands, a knock echoed on his door. Monica stood on the other side. Donovan stepped back, letting her in.

"What can I help you with, Monica?" he asked, inspecting his knuckles. They were bruised.

"You can tell me what is going on with my son," she said.

Donovan sat on the armrest of his couch, meeting Monica's gaze. He'd thought about telling her what was going on but refrained. After Link had released all his hurt, Donovan had made him walk through the whole interaction. Carter had told Link she wasn't like everyone else, eager to spill his secrets. Donovan didn't know if he believed this, but until he was certain of Carter's intent, he didn't think concerning Monica would help. Not yet.

"Friendship problems," Donovan said. "Being in school with Mason is not helping either."

Monica nodded and crossed her arms. "Should I find him a new school?"

Donovan had seriously considered this the night before and hadn't come to a good conclusion.

"I honestly don't know," he said. "I say we finish out the week and talk to Link about it this weekend."

"I'm worried about him. I came home late last night and he was still awake. He looked terrible."

"It's a lot of adjustment."

They stood there, both thinking of Link, their hearts filled only with concern for him.

"This weekend," she said. She smiled at Donovan. "I am happy he has you."

As she left, Donovan sat there, hurting. Link had Donovan but what good had it done him. He hadn't protected him from the pain of Carter. Donovan pressed his hands into his knees. He didn't know how to fix this. Avoid her was the main solution but that was difficult when they shared classes. Maybe transferring again was the answer. But he wouldn't be able to monitor Carter's actions. Would leaving give her more of a reason to spill the truth?

Frustrated with indecision, Donovan collected his uniform and headed towards his shower. The weekend, by the weekend they would decide what to do. By the time he was ready to leave, he'd manage to smother his emotions towards Carter. Link didn't need Donovan's anger when he was already struggling on his own.

Link looked like he hadn't slept at all and didn't speak all the way to school or through the hallways. At the chemistry classroom, Donovan tugged on Link's shoulder.

"Do you want me to ask Mr. Miller if we can switch spots?" he asked.

Link pulled on his hair, staring into the room.

"No," he said. "You sit in a place where you can see Mason and I don't think I can handle that today. I'll just ignore her."

Donovan wanted to do a lot of things to Carter, the top one being telling her off for being selfish, inconsiderate, heartless, evil, a pain in the a-

"Thanks," Link said, cutting into Donovan's raging thoughts.

"Of course," Donovan said. "I'm always here for you."

Though Link didn't reply, Donovan saw how the words fortified him.

They entered the classroom and Donovan forced himself to part ways with Link.

Throughout the class, Donovan kept his gaze fixed on Carter and Link. He didn't register the world around him, the pattern of rain beat against the glass or the dull undertone to Mr. Miller's voice. What was being said made no difference to Donovan. Link angled his body away from Carter but still, his shoulders remained tense. Never once during the class did he look over at her.

In contrast, Carter couldn't seem to focus on anything other than him, though she never stared. The tell of her attention was the way she reacted when Link would shift or write something down. When he did move she would look to him, but he never met her gaze.

Donovan didn't know how to read Carter's actions. Were the looks guilt, regret, or something else. The curve of her shoulders said it could be regret, but the tension in her jaw said something different. Along with Donovan's anger towards her, he found irritation at not being able to discern her current state.

The bell rang, bringing about the shriek of stools on the linoleum floors and the rise in voices as conversations were taken up.

"Link," Carter said, the sound making it over the waves of conversations.

Roughly shoving his notebook away, Link stalked off. Donovan quickly ducked around a group of meandering students and caught up with him at the door. Wordlessly, they cut a path through the dense hallways.

"Link," Donovan said, his name an unspoken question.

"I just don't want to talk about it."

Donovan nodded in understanding. He squeezed Link's shoulder once, letting him know he was there. Time was what was needed. Whether Link would ever let it go or not, was a guess Donovan could only make with partial certainty. For now, he simply let Link feel what he needed to. His life was a lie and the price of that was an ever-present worry that it would be shattered. Right then Carter was the one with the sledgehammer.

The walls rang with laughter as students exchanged gossip and jokes as they passed each other. Locker doors banged shut and footsteps filled the air, competing with the storm of conversations and flirtations. All of it echoed the hidden storm shared by the two companions.

When they got to history, Maddy was already waiting there. Upon seeing Link, her face brightened. It was a look that managed to pull Link a fraction from his darkened thoughts. In a world so small, she was an unexpected happiness Donovan was glad he had.

Though he couldn't think about Maddy being that to Link without thinking about how Carter had been the one to make it happen. He shook his head. Why did she have to be so contradictory?

Slowly, Maddy drew Link into a conversation, determined where Link was shy. Bit by bit Donovan saw the pain of the previous day recede. They were talking about lunch when Carter entered. Though she kept her face blank, Donovan noticed a weariness in her eyes. Silently, she took the spot beside Donovan.

"Hey, Carter," Maddy greeted.

Carter offered a smile that was half convincing to anyone, but Donovan. And that frustrated Donovan more. She pretended but why?

"Hi, Maddy," she said.

She glanced towards Link, but Link averted his gaze. From the corner of Donovan's eye, he saw that the lightness Maddy had caused dim. Right then Carter acted as a reminder that he would never be normal, whatever happiness he found with someone was always tainted by the deceit he was forced to give. It turned a simple conversation with Maddy into something off. Whether Maddy cared or not, he would have to still hide.

Donovan balled his fist, hating Link's father and hating Carter for turning an already rough situation into something worse.

"I was just telling Link, all of you should sit with my group during lunch," Maddy said.

Link tensed and his jaw flexed, the reaction stirring something in Carter's expression.

"I know Link and Donovan would love that," she said. "I might be busy, but thanks anyway."

"Alright," Maddy said, unable to detect the lie or the stiffness between Carter and Link.

As Carter turned back to Link, he met her gaze for a second. Swallowing, she faced the front. With her back to them, he resumed his conversation with Maddy. Carter cast a furtive glance back at Link, then twisted towards Donovan.

"Donovan," she said, in a quiet voice.

He looked at her, struggling to keep his emotions in check. There was a note of regret on her face, but it didn't matter. One thing had always been clear about her from their first meeting, she was smart, possibly brilliant. She possessed an understanding of human nature yet she'd walked into Link's past and tore it wide open.

Even knowing how a secret like that could affect someone's daily life, she pushed him anyways. All because she could. Whatever words she could offer would not be enough at that moment. Not to Link and not to him.

"There's nothing to say, Carter," he said.

When he shifted his attention to the front of the room, Carter slid deeper into her seat. Mr. Philips stood as the bell rang and silenced the class.

"Modern-day politics," their history teacher said. "That's our topic for today. Now, something you have to know..."

Despite how much he wanted to forget about Carter, Donovan remained aware of her through the whole class. He noticed how she didn't respond to anything Mr. Philips said, took no notes, or stopped frowning at nothing.

When class wrapped up, Carter didn't try to talk to Donovan or Link again. Instead, she bent over her satchel like she needed to put away her notebook, the only problem being she'd never taken it out.

Donovan was fine with this, the less she tried to intrude in Link's life again the better. At the first meeting, he'd seen a girl isolated by lack of social status. Now he saw a girl isolated by her own choices. And he didn't care.

"So you're going to sit with me?" Maddy asked Link once they were out in the hallway.

He nodded the beginnings of a smile appearing. As small as it was, it made Donovan feel relieved.

"Great! Let's go!" Maddy said.

Letting them take the lead, Donovan followed behind. The mass of students converged on the cafeterias, only to disperse inside. After the trio grabbed food, they took open spots at Maddy's table. Keeping the entrance insight, Donovan sat down. A girl beside him smiled, but he used the excuse of adjusting his tray as a way of avoiding it.

When Carter walked in, she scowled, an expression that only deepened at the chaos before her. Donovan watched her. Instantly, she scanned the crowd and found Maddy's table. Her gaze lingered on it before she wandered off to her empty table near the trash cans. Despite the distance, it was still within sight of them.

Against his better judgment, Donovan almost felt something other than anger towards her but this situation had been caused by her. He couldn't help but watch her. She stared at the table without seeing it, clearly working something out in her head.

She looked up when a muscular, brown-haired guy approached her surrounded by a horde of friends. The guy said something and Carter schooled her expression, appearing impassive, almost bored, though there was a heaviness about it. She replied and mocking laughter echoed from the guy's friends. In response, the guy leaned forward, pointing a finger at her.

Before he could speak, Carter stood up and shouldered her bag. As she stepped over the bench she spoke. Donovan didn't want to admit it but she looked tired, weary. At least she did feel something, even if it wasn't close to a fraction of what Link felt.

Before she left the cafeteria, she looked back to Donovan and Link. Beside him, Link turned away, but Donovan watched her until she disappeared down a hallway.

When he focused on Link, he was looking towards the door. For a second, Link met Donovan's gaze then went back to talking to Maddy. Carter was out in the cold and neither of them were letting her back in any time soon. 

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Yeah! You better walk away!

Oh my gosh never mind, don't walk away there are so many more chapters to read and these aren't even the good ones! Well, that's my opinion. I had more fun writing the others.

Does it make sense now why Link was so pissed?

I know a lot of people thought he was being a whiny loser but hopefully now you can see why he was so hurt. Or not and he's still a whiny loser. Whateves.

Onward ho!
Before you go!
Vote, comment, follow!

Dang I feel like I've done that one before, it sounds way too familiar 🤔


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