The Next Day

I walk into TBHS, knowing that I wasn't nervous anymore.

I go through the chain-smoker group and the jocks, the preps and the nerds, finally finding the group.

Chris had a man bun, Grady was slurping on that Big Gulp again, and finally, seeing Lisa.

I had only seen Lisa twice yesterday, at assembly and in seventh hour.

"Hey." She waves to me.

"Hi, Lisa. How was yesterday?" I ask.

"Bad. You'd know...Logan told me about what happened."

Logan Forsythe is such an asshat.

"Why were you in detention?' I ask her, trying to change the conversation.

Lisa adjusted her Bring Me The Horizon t-shirt and shrugged.

"Um." She paused. "It's kind of a long story."

"What are you talking about?" I asked her.

"Like I said," Lisa spoke harshly, "it's a long story. So if I were you, I'd drop the subject."

"You apparently don't know Hollis Santiago." I remind her.

"I really don't know you, actually." Lisa submissively tells me.

"I'm just saying. I can keep secrets. Seriously." I reassure her.

"Fine," Lisa says, "but you cannot tell anyone....especially not Grady."
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Lisa leads me to the bathroom, and secures herself on the counter top.

"What's the word?" I ask her.

"Look, here's why I was in detention." She starts.

Just then, Lainie Hoffman walked in, and gave us a scowl.

"What are you doing in here?"

Lisa gives her a stare. "What are you doing here?"

Lainie turns around and hisses, "Well, we all know about your suicidal past."

And with that, she sachays and leaves.

Lisa stares at me dumbfoundedly.

"Now you know." she whispers. "My life's been a fucking mess for 16 years, and there's no sign of stopping."

Poor Lisa. I wish I could do something.

"My dad's abusive. My mom's a shitface. Do you think me and my brother get a break? Hell no."

Her voice starts to crack, her eyes glistening with tears.

"I can't help it. I can't fucking help it. I had a panic attack, teacher got mad, I kicked a chair, I went to the office. So there. I hate my life."

I lean over and give her a hug.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

First Hour

I walk into AP English Lit and assume my seat next to none other than Grady Sizemore.

"G'mornin, Hollis." he tells me, smacking happily on his Cinnamint. I know what he chews, the distinctive smell is pretty obvious.

"Grady. Chew with your mouth closed. It's annoying." I politely remind him.

He looks at me. "I had two tacos from The Taco Mart this morning. Damn, they were good. But? Bacon, potato, and bean and cheese don't mix. So," he loudly chomps on his gum, "you can kiss my ass."

Chris wades his way over and taps my shoulder.

"Hi." he says happily.

"Hi." I wave. "Someone had Starbucks this morning."

"Nah." Chris stated. "But guess who may become president of National Honor Society?

"Chris!" I high-five him. "Congratulations! How do you-"

Of course, being the dipshit he is, Grady interrupts my thought.

"Who is, or was, the president? Is it still Meghan Baker?"

"Yeah, but she slipped up, dude." Chris began. "She got arrested for underage drinking in St. Pete."

"Bro!" Grady whisper-yells.

"How old is she?" I ask.

"Seventeen." Chris says. "She's a senior. But she is the dumbest person I've ever met. How she got into NHS?"

He starts to quote that hundred-year old Tootsie Roll Pop commercial.

"The world may never know."

As Mrs. Stout talked about William Shakespeare and how influencing he was to today's generation, Grady whispered something.

"Psst. Hollis."

I ignore him, continuing to listen to the teacher.

"Hollis?"

"What?" I hiss.

"I'm bored."

"You're an idiot."

"Study hall. Second period. Hit me up."

"And Mister Sizemore. Name 3 Shakespeare works."

Grady assumed a dead fish expression.

"Romeo, And, and Juliet." he replied.

"Grady, you're in an AP class. That is a first grade answer."

The class laughs.

Chris raises his hand.

"Mister Archer?"

"As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, and also Hamlet."

"Correct." Mrs. Stout smiles at him.

"Hamlet?" Grady says. "I thought it was called Omelet."

Laughs erupt again.

"What's the sequel, Sizemore? Cheeselet?" some kid named Matt Holliday replies.

"Green Eggs And Hamlet." another, named Brandon Guyer, shouts.

"That's enough." Mrs. Stout says. "I feel like I'm teaching preschool."

Second Hour

Mr. Urlacher was a very funny teacher, but a very lazy one as well. He lets our second hour do whatever we want.

Anyways, I had to sit by Grady again, and something got passed around.
I had no idea what it was until I opened it.

Petition To Nominate Chris Archer As NHS President

I turn to Grady, who had given it to me.

"What's this?"

"A petition I made. I'm hoping for most TBHS students to sign it. Look at who's signed it."

And so I did.

Grady Sizemore, Brandon Guyer, Tim Beckham (so that's Lisa's brother!), Lizzy Ayers, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Holliday, Patti Syndergaard, Kevin Kiermaier, Lauren Charles, Logan Forsythe, Evan Longoria, Giancarlo Stanton, and-

Hollis Santiago.

I signed it. For Chris.

"Thanks." Grady said, and passed it to some guy named Peralta.

"Grady, you wanted to talk to me about something?" I ask.

"Oh. That. Well...I just wanted to get you adjusted, that's all." He nods. "I'm real sorry about Kevin, dude. His mom's real sick, actually. So his emotions are mixed right now. Chris got upset, and wanted to tell him his thoughts, but I told him not to. Arch, he's one dude to have on your side. But Kevin? Approach him lightly. And the other guys, they are chill dudes. So don't worry about it." He smiled.

And I didn't.
But Kevin was an obstacle I could get through-after a little adjusting.

A/n:
This was a very emotional chapter of sorts. Lisa, Kevin.....it's kind of a long story.
You may have seen the different baseball players- Clayton Kershaw, Matt Holliday, Giancarlo Stanton? Throughout the story, you'll see different players, but the main characters are Tampa Bay players.

Teaser: A week later. Hollis approaches Kevin, and the outcome may not be what you think. This will probably be a really long chapter, so be prepared.