"For the moon never shines and the stars never rise without bringing me dreams." - Jetsabel Removes the Undesirables

-

So far today, I have almost tripped and had my backpack stolen and returned soaking wet from a mystery substance. Something was bound to during lunch, it was inevitable. The real question was when.

All of this on top of the usual tormenting and name-calling has convinced me that there should just be a banner over the front doors of the school that read: Welcome to Hell Avery Leon. Calling it Hell may even be a little generous.

"Okay everyone," Seth yelled throwing his arms in the air. "We need to come together and make a list of positives for Avery because her vibe is killing me."

He said it as if I didn't have a reason to be grumpy. Sophia obviously agreed with me because her response to Seth was a harsh glare. Drake didn't even bother acknowledging him, and just continued to eat his lunch.

"Fine, I'll start. Avery, I caught you, and you didn't fall. That means that you don't have to go back to the hospital, and you still have one good leg that you can use." He offered, with a firm nod of his head.

I suppose he was right. I am not a fan of the hospital and not having to go back any time soon was pretty exciting.

"I didn't have anything in my backpack," I added with a small smile.

"Because somebody glued your locker shut." Sophia reminded me in a bitter voice, and my smile instantly fell.

"Yeah. Jokes really on them." Drake chimed in sarcastically.

Seth and I shared a look. Seth and I shot each of them a look. Looks like somebody hasn't warmed up to Seth's idea yet.

"Drake you are required to say something nice, or I'm spilling the beans to my brother." Seth threatened, leaning across the table towards Drake.

Sophia waved him off. "Don't fall for that Drake. A good best friend would never do that." She disparaged with little interest.

"You're right Sophia. I am a good best friend." Seth agreed, then turned to give Drake a hard look. "So why shouldn't I tell my brother, my other best friend, that our mutual best friend has feelings for him?"

It's common knowledge that Seth is awful at secrets. He blurts things out with thinking and forgets who's not supposed to know. However, this time around it's personal, and he's slowly become antsier and antsier about the secret-keeping. It was only a matter of time before he burst.

Drake looked Seth dead in the eye, his fingers tapping on the cafeteria table. His lips twisted into those of contemplation before he made his decision.

"We're having a party tonight," Drake said, giving in to the game with a shrug. At the mention of the party, Seth's face lit back up.

"We're having a party? Since when? Why didn't anyone tell me this?" Seth exclaimed, eyes darting between the three of us.

"Sophia was supposed to tell you," I said, redirecting the attention from Drake and me. I did not want to be on the other side of Seth angry about not being informed of food.

Seth was now glaring at Sophia, who just offered him a guilty smile.

"Hey Seth, we're having a-"

"Don't even." He interrupted, turning away from her.

Drake and I were doing our bests not to laugh, keywords here being: doing our best. It wasn't long before the laughter burst out of our puffed-up cheeks.

There were tumbles of laughter rolling out of us until Drake's eyes fell on something behind Seth and me, and his laughter suddenly halted. Sophia's eyes fell dull, and when Seth turned around his teeth began to grind together. I didn't even bother looking. I saw our lunch being ruined by something coming 30 minutes ago.

"What do you want Chris?" Drake growled, slowly standing up from his seat. What a surprise. I would've never guessed he'd come to see me today.

"I just want to talk to Sophia." He spoke in a terrifyingly calm tone.

I risked turning around and saw only Chris standing there. Not Chris and his friends. Just Chris.

Immediate danger. Warning. Do not proceed.

"Funny, I don't remember wanting to talk to you." Sophia quipped crossing her arms over her chest.

If there was ever a time to not poke at Chris. It was right now. Chris's friends not coming along either meant that Chris was getting so strong that he didn't need back up or that Chris's abuse had become too crazy for them. Either way, their absence screamed danger louder than Chris' screaming ever has.

"Is that the answer you're sticking with?" Chris questioned in a suggestive tone. My stomach grew more and more uneasy the longer this conversation went on. Drake and Seth both were also beginning to fidget restlessly in their seats.

"I believe that's what left my mouth," Sophia answered with sassy resolution.

Chris shrugged nonchalantly before slowly beginning to walk away.

"That's too bad because we might've been able to discuss what happened to Avery." He threw out nonchalantly, beginning to walk away from the table.

"Wait!" Sophia called out, jumping out of her seat and running over to him before Drake or I could catch her. We shared a look of wide-eyed fear before Drake got up and followed her.

Drake and I both knew there was no way Chris was going to tell Sophia the truth. But we also knew there was no way to call him out on it. Me telling Sophia that Chris is lying will lead to her asking me for the truth, which I still don't want to give her right now. If Drake tells her Chris is lying, she'll know that Drake was lying before and then get upset.

Even if I wanted to tell Sophia the truth, at this point, I'd be risking my life. Chris almost killed me the last time because that's what he thought I did. If I actually do tell her, then he really will kill me.

Chris turned back around with a smug smirk, waiting for Sophia to continue.

"Tell me what you know," Sophia demanded, staring up at him.

"Sophia, don't truth him. He -" Drake tried, but Sophia held up a finger at him to stop him.

"Why not? Avery won't tell me who it is. You and Seth can't figure it out. Even if he's lying, at least we'll have someone else to rule out." Sophia defended, turning her attention back to Chris.

At least now Chris knows that I'm telling the truth about not telling Sophia.

"Yeah. Why not Drake?" Chris provoked.

Drake was practically shaking with anger at this point. The way his fist were balled tight at his sides, told me just how much he wanted to ram them into Chris' face. He wasn't the only one.

"Don't talk to them. Only to me." Sophia interjected, intercepting Chris' view of Drake. Drake's fury didn't fall an ounce, but it helped break up some of the overall tension in the air.

Chris placed his hand on Sophia's shoulder, and bile rose in my throat. "Come over to mine tonight. We can-"

Sophia flicked his hand away and took a step back. "I'm busy tonight. Tomorrow." She declared evenly.

A flicker of anger passed over Chris's expression, and I flinched out of habit. Luckily Sophia's back was towards me, but Seth saw the whole thing. His mouth fell open in slow realization as he stared at me.

"Fine. I'll text you." He eventually muttered and then walked away from us without another word.

Sophia and Drake came back to their seats, and Sophia rested a gentle hand on my back.

"Are you okay Ave? You look like you've seen a ghost." Sophia whispered in concern.

I have. My own.

Δ

"Why didn't you tell me?" Seth eventually asked after lunch as we walked to our next class.

I shrugged the best I could with my crutches. "I've always thought the fewer people who knew, the better. I would've told you after the incident, but Drake told me you can be unpredictable when you're angry." I explained.

"I am not!" Seth gasped defensively, pink coloring his ears. I stared at him with a knowing look until he turned away with a scowl.

"I'm just visual about my anger. That's all." He corrected tersely, nodding in confirmation to himself.

"Is that what the kids are calling it now?" I joked. Seth glowered at me playfully, and gently pushed past me to walk into the classroom first. He always had to go in first to rearrange a few of the desks so that I could maneuver through.

I studied my shoes absentmindedly until I felt Seth's hand on my shoulder. I began to walk inside of the classroom, but Seth redirected us to we were walking down the hallway.

"Seth what-"

"Nothing. We're just going to skip for the rest of the day." He spoke through gritted teeth. I struggled to keep up with his fast pace as we hurried towards the exit. Fear tingled underneath my skin, and I instinctively checked behind me every few steps.

"What's wrong Seth?" I asked again once we were outside.

He unlocked his car with a sigh and opened my door for me.

"I saw a bunch of push-pins littered all over your seat." He revealed, his teeth gritting again towards the end. My mouth went dry, and I struggled to buckle my seatbelt with my shaky hands. Seth leaned over and helped me with an apologetic frown.

"His little 'pranks' are getting a little too dangerous for you to stick around today. I mean, did we ever even figure out what that strange liquid was on your backpack? Should I take you to the hospital?" He continued in a ramble as he backed out of the parking lot.

"Absolutely not. No more hospitals ever." I immediately protested, with a shake of my head. Seth glanced over at me and nodded in agreement.

"Fine, but we need to call Drake. Tell him we're going grocery shopping or something, so he doesn't freak out." Seth suggested.

"Shouldn't we call Sophia took?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Absolutely not." Seth immediately shot down. "She'll freak out anyway and then accuse me of kidnapping."

I rolled my eyes but didn't argue because he was right. I dialed Drake's phone number, listening to the periodic ring in my ear.

"Avery, what's wrong? I thought that Seth was with you." He immediately panicked when he picked up.

"Why does something always have to be wrong with me?" I joked nervously. "Seth and I are just going to skip for the rest of the day, and go grocery shopping for tonight."

Drake was silent for a minute, and it felt like he was running a lie detector over what I just said.

"Let me get this straight. The girl who was anti-skipping just a few days ago is now going to skip. And not just skip but skip with Seth Meyers. The most the notorious skipper in the world?" Drake asked slowly, and I could tell he didn't believe a word of it. But if he's not going to call me out on it, then I'm not going to admit to anything.

"Yep. We'll be back at the end of the day to pick you guys up from school. Bye!" I sang hurriedly, before ending the call as soon as possible.

Seth shot me a horrified look, his eyes bulging out of his head.

"Did you just hang up on Drake Weston? The biggest worrywart on the entire planet?" Seth squeaked in fear.

I paled a little and nodded carefully. "Yes. But I didn't lie to him so he should forgive us later. Right?" I asked, trying to convince myself.

Seth shook his head and rested it on the steering wheel once we reached a red light.

"I'd suggest buying sedatives at the store so he doesn't kill us, but it's pointless. We're doomed! It was nice knowing you!" Seth wailed dramatically, throwing his hands up.

I snickered in response, turning my head out the window. At least Drake will be gentler about it than Chris.

Chris is going to cut me to pieces, put me back together, and then do it all over again. And over and over again.

I'll never escape him.