Clover-
I felt like I had shown up to school naked or something. During my next two classes, while walking down the halls, or even going to the bathroom my fellow classmates openly stared at me and chatted amongst themselves.
Girls were shooting daggers at me, and it felt like all I had heard in the last two hours was:
"Omg is that him?~"
"Why does Jackson like him, he's not even cute!~"
"He should leave Jackson alone~"
"I give it a week~"
Honestly, I didn't mind it that much. I wasn't fond of being the center of attention, but I could see why they would be upset that the most objectively handsome guy at school was trying to get with some freckled, ginger boy. Hell, if I was a girl here I'd probably be jealous of me too.
However, what the guys were saying was really starting to get to me:
"I'm not gay, but…~"
"You think Jackson's tapping that?~"
"Maybe he's actually a girl with short hair? He's got a girl name~"
"Once Jackson's sick of him I'm giving him a try myself hahaha~"
I felt disgusted, and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I had tried to challenge one of them to a fight, but he just thumped me on the head and said "I'm not tryna get ripped up by your boyfriend" and walked off laughing.
Honestly, I wish he had just knocked me out… if he did I wouldn't be feeling so shitty. I made a mental note of the bastard's face, planning on challenging him to a fight once I trained up a bit more. There was no way I was letting him get away with disrespecting me like that to my face.
I didn't really know too much about boxing or anything, but maybe Jackson could teach me a couple of moves, he owed me for ruining my quite senior year after all. I didn't really want to hang out with him, but if I was just using him for training it should be fine.
"You want gravy?" A middle aged woman who seemed more over this day than I was furrowed her brow.
"Huh?"
"Gravy, yes or no?" she scooped up the white goopy mixture and held it over my piece of chicken.
"Oh… uh yes please." My cheeks flushed. I had gotten so lost in thought planning revenge that I had zoned out and started holding up the lunch line. My mom packed me a sandwich, but the chicken fried steak they were serving today looked and smelled absolutely delicious, and I couldn't resist getting some for myself.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I quickly shuffled through the rest of the lunch line and paid for my meal in cash. Yeah, this school was so outdated that there wasn't even a digital system set up. At my old school I'd just tap my student ID and pay with a prepaid balance I had uploaded at the beginning of the year. Though inconvenient, the lack of a system wasn't too big of a shock, considering the fact that I was out in the middle of nowhere, but it did take me a bit off guard, and a couple of kids behind me in line snickered at my confusion. Like they had anything to laugh about.
Thanking the lunch lady, I turned towards the seating area. Finding a nice quiet place to sit would be easier said then done. There weren't any open tables, so I'd have to sit with at least one other person. Some tall guy gestured for me to sit next to him… I think his name was Wyatt?
Naturally, I ignored him and walked towards a scrawny kid with glasses who was eating alone. He was a much safer option than one of Jackson's goons. I gave Wyatt a quick glance before sitting down next to Harry Potter, he looked a bit hurt, but that wasn't my problem. If he wanted to be friends with me he shouldn't have let me get abducted from pyschics and carried off like some damsel in distress.
"Hey, I'm Clover." I shoveled some mashed potatoes in my mouth and stared at the kid in front of me waiting for his reply.
He didn't say anything.
"I said my name is Clover." This time he looked up from his book, staring at me blankly.
"Umm okay." He mumbled looking back down, acting like I was some sort of weirdo for telling him my name
"Bro, tell me your name!" I'd make this rude little twat speak to me if it's the last thing I did. I had been taking shit all day and wasn't about to have this guy be a dick to me too.
"Sorry, Mathew's a bit shy." Some girl wearing an all pink sweatsuit, flashed me a fake smile and slid her arm around Mathew's shoulders. He flinched a bit, and shot me a nasty glare.
"Oh… uh he's fine." I shoved more food in my mouth, trying to ignore the awkward atmosphere. Mathew seemed visibly shaken now, even though some hot girl was cuddling up with him. I didn't think she was his girlfriend… I mean, she was way out of his league, but hey, stranger things have happened. If she wasn't, maybe I'd try to get with her myself. That is if I could get Jackson to back off. He got all jealous after my mom gave me a kiss goodbye, so there was no telling what he'd do to this poor girl if I expressed interest in her.
"Ya'll make a cute couple." I smiled back at her.
To my surprise, instead of saying "thank you" or something normal like that, she laughed. It wasn't normal "haha" laughter though. It was screeching, loud, and seemed to last for well over a minute.
If the situation was awkward before, it was unbearable now. The entire cafeteria had quieted down and it seemed like everyone's eyes were fixated on us.
"Uh… my mistake then." I continued eating, despite the weird atmosphere. The chicken fried steak really was as good as it smelled! I had been dealing with crap all day and wasn't about to let these freaks ruin my lunch.
"I think you and Jackson make a cute couple though…"
"Cough– WHAT?!" I choked a bit on the bite I was chewing, but she just smiled at me cutely while forcing it down.
"I am NOT dating Jackson!" I said rather loudly. If I had a large audience already I might as well make the truth known, since these people had nothing better to do than to sit around and gossip nonsense all day.
"Oh?" She tilted her head to the side. "Then why are you wearing this?" She gripped the pullover I was wearing and pulled me forwards, almost causing me to dirty the front of it in my tray.
I smacked her hand away and smoothed the front of Jackson's pullover. "What? Bros can't borrow each other's clothes now?!" I stood up and looked around at the tables watching me. Some students turned away in embarrassment, but most kept watching me with a blank stare.
"That's enough, Ashley." Wyatt walked up behind her and rested his hand on her shoulder.
Ohhh so this is Ashley. I guess she has a crush on Jackson or something. Too bad he's a raging homesexual with a thing for gingers. I was ticked off, but couldn't help but feel a bit bad for her. It seemed like she really liked him…
Correction, I did feel bad for her until she hurled Mathews' lunch at me. It was a pretty good throw if I was being honest. A nice direct hit to the face. Half eaten chicken fried steak, momentarily stuck to my face before falling off with a loud splat. Then the tray, while falling, somehow hit my tray just right, causing even more food to fling all over my clothes. Our audience gasped in shock and began to murmur quietly amongst themselves.
"Fuck off Wyatt!" She roughly shoved the tall boy and stormed out of the lunch room. The guy I had tried to fight earlier got up and hurried after her, shooting me and Wyatt a glare before he left.
I figured Wyatt would follow after them, being Jackson's goon and all, but he just rushed over to me, with a look of absolute terror in his eyes.
"Oh my God!" He started frantically wiping off the pullover. "Evan! Get some more napkins!"
I swatted Wyatt's hands away and took off the soiled pullover, wiping mashed potatoes and gravy off with the undirtied backside. Thrusting the article of clothing into Wyatt's hands I ran after the perpetrator. There was no way I was letting this bitch get away with that. I didn't want to even think about what Jackson would do to me after finding out I dirtied the top he let me borrow. He was way more frightening then some short blonde chick.
"Clover, come back!"
I didn't have long to find her. Jackson's idiot friends were coming after me. Fortunately, finding her wasn't a particularly difficult task, as I could clearly hear her screechy voice down the hallway.
I bolted toward the sound of her voice and stopped in front of a classroom door. After taking a deep breath I flung the door open. "Running off after soiling my clothes? Huh bitch?!"
"Clover?!" She jumped in surprise, clearly not expecting me to hunt her down after the debacle. It seemed like she wasn't used to getting stood up to.
"You owe me money for ruining my clothes!" I put my hands on my hips and scowled at her. I can't believe I ever thought this girl was cute.
The look of shock quickly wore off, and she smirked cooly at me. "Hehehehe– You're so dumb it's actually a little cute. Don't hurt him too bad Todd."
I was so fixated on Ashley that I hadn't even noticed the large figure hiding in the corner of the room.
"You're really tryna get me on Jackson's bad side huh?!" He said poking me roughly in the chest, causing me to stumble back.
"You wanna go bro?" There was no way I was winning this fight, but I wasn't about to be humiliated again. However, before I could even think about throwing a punch, I was yanked backwards out of the room.
"Hey! Get off me you–"
Shit.