High School is NEVER easy.
But through all the turmoil we go through,
We always find those special people who walk side by side with us.

The hallways were always flooded with students walking from place to place. Teachers were always scanning the hallways for troublemakers. It was lunch time, and the majority of seniors were at their lockers. A young man stopped in front of a top blue locker, spun the dial, and opened the door. He threw his books in and grabbed some in return. His rugged look wasn't hard to miss. He wore ripped blue jeans, white sneakers, and a black hoodie with a white shirt underneath.

"Hey! Jon!" a voice echoed from down the hall.

"What's up?" He responded as a posse of 3 teens approached him.

"What happened yesterday? You were supposed to meet us in the lot at 8 last night." The young man had a very bitter, but friendly tone towards the rugged teen.

"Somethin' came up. Couldn't make it."

"Jon, you've been doin' a lot since last year. We're beginning to think we don't matter anymore. I'm gonna let it slide for now, but we're goin' to the parking lot. Come on." The teen's voice was very demanding and controlling. Somehow, it didn't seem to faze Jon.

"Nah, I'm good. I… uh… gotta handle something."

"Jon… you're scaring me. Whatever. We'll catch ya' later." The posse walked down the hall, students backing away from them at any cost.

The young man slammed his locker door shut, seemingly in anger. He quickly scrambled to get to the cafeteria. After taking a couple of steps, he was stopped.

"Mr. Good? A word, please?" A teacher had stopped Jon dead in his tracks.

Jon groaned as he answered in displeasure, "Sure Mr. Powers, what's up?"

"Jon. I'm very concerned with you. Your grades are slipping; you've been skipping class, and showing up late. You're not going to have the necessary requirements to graduate this year if you don't shape up. The English exam you'll be taking is worth sixty percent of your semester grade." Mr. Powers was one of 7 senior English teachers in the school, and he was Jon's third period teacher. He was the only one who seemed to care about Jon's performance in school.

"I'm ready for the test. I can handle it." Jon answered.

"Are you sure? Your book reports can speak for themselves, especially your quiz grades. You are aware that both Hamlet and Titus Andronicus will be the main topics on the exam, right?"

"What's there to know? They all end the same. Plus, I just don't find them interesting." Jon protested the system constantly. He was ready to defend himself at any cost.

"It's not a matter of what you think, Jon. It's what you have to do as a student. Maybe if you weren't hanging around with those thugs you call friends, you'd be in better shape this year."

"Those guys protect me, more than you. Why should I listen to you about this?" Jon was growing angry. He had a very short temper.

"Because I don't want to see you back here next year for idiotic mistakes," Jon was silent. "Take it for what it's worth, but I want to see you be someone. Now, I hope you take this to heart." Jon looked up and sighed, knowing he was somewhat right.

"If I say yes, can I go to lunch?" Jon answered jokingly.

"Go on. Stay safe." Mr. Powers let Jon go on his merry way.

Jon made his way down to the cafeteria with a reasonable amount of time to spare. Jon usually brought his own lunch from school. As he walked into the large hall, there was a clamor of voices flooding the sound waves. The cafeteria was seemingly divided into different sections. There were individual, smaller tables set towards the entrance of the cafeteria. Jon scanned the lunchroom and sat down at one of the tables. Eating alone was a norm for him. His friends never showed up for lunch, and he never talked to anyone. He got up from his table and walked to get some napkins. While he was walking, he passed by a table. In that table sat the varsity football team, who were usually causing a ruckus. As Jon was walking back to his table, he passed by a large man. Jon glared at him as the sounds of girls giggling from the nearby table pierced his ear. The teen sat down at the table, calm and relaxed.

"JOE!" The table of jocks rejoiced simultaneously.

"What's going on fellas?" He responded.

Joe Anoa'i was the varsity's defensive tackle, and unanimously, the school's most popular sports star. Joe wasn't a stereotypical jock. He was a very good student, keeping his grades up for his own benefit. He helped out a lot at home and was respectful to everyone he met. At that moment, two girls walked past Joe as he sat down.

"Hiiiii, Joe." The girls flirtatiously said.

"Shannon. Jennifer." Joe responded to the two females as they giggled and walked away. As he turned his head, Joe saw a pair of eyes glaring at him from the back of the cafeteria. Jon was fixated on the Samoan.

"Joe, what's wrong?" The quarterback asked.

"That guy, he keeps staring at me. He's been doing this since sophomore year." Joe replied. The table turned around to see Jon still staring.

"Good? Jonathan Good?" The quarterback bitterly asked. "Don't worry. He's a loser. He hangs out with those assholes that smoke in the faculty parking lot." Joe kept his eyes on Jon. It was an eerie feeling that he had never felt before.

"I just want to know why," Joe questioned. He couldn't understand why Jon hated him. He never said it, but the way he glared at Joe was enough."I feel like he has some animosity towards me."

"I'd knock his teeth out." Another player said.

"I think I'm just going to as-." Joe was cut off by the two girls who had just walked by him.

"Hi, Joe," the blonde Shannon said, "We saw you at practice yesterday. You looked so cute with your shirt off." Joe lowered his head and shot a shy smile.

"Shannon, you're making him blush. What she means is, you looked really good out there. We'd love for you to… show us a couple of plays." The brunette sensually said as she caressed Joe's shoulders.

"Glad you ladies enjoyed. Stop by the field anytime, but right now, I ha-." Joe looked up to see that Jon had disappeared.

"You have to leave?" Shannon said.

"Joe, you're leaving?" The quarterback asked. Joe looked at everyone at the table. His mind was still buzzing over the Jon situation.

"I guess not." Joe replied.

"Yay!" The two girls exclaimed simultaneously as they took a seat on either side of Joe.

Joe was the only one whose mind was not on the conversations. He kept thinking about Jon. What made him tick and what upset him? Joe ate his food as he concluded he was going to find out.

A/N This is the first chapter! And My first time using and publishing my work. Leave reviews on what you think so far and what I can do to make it better! Chapter 2 is on it's way. Stay Tuned!