WHAT?! A NEW CHAPTER?! BLASPHEMY! Yes guys, I know. It's been forever, but I can explain. School, work, and Youtube hindered me from doing anything to fics. The weird thing is, I finished this chapter about 2 months ago, but I promised myself I wouldn't release it until I finished the next one, but that's not fair to you guys. So here it is. Eh, it could have been better, but I don't know how to fix it. Plus I'd probably couldn't fix it for another year or two. So here you go, and I hope you enjoy this. I'm trying so hard to update more, so please be patient. FMS is being worked on too, just tiny little steps at a time so...
"And so students, if you take a look on page 424 in your textbooks," the elderly history teacher spoke loudly in a thick, raspy voice in front of a classroom full of annoyed and bored students, "You will notice a map and how the triangular trade was formulated." He continued on with his lecture, having his back turned to begin his note-writing rampage. David and Matt, were watching the clock slowly tick down its final minutes, their minds filled with anticipation for lunch period.
"So how are you going to ask Ian out?" Matt nudged David's arm as he whispered with a slight grin on his face.
"Haven't seen him yet, but I have a plan," David grabbed his backpack, pulling out a folded up piece of paper, and handed it to Matt. "Hopefully this won't scare him off." David's face began to show signs of red, as he patiently watched as Matt skim through the note.
"…From your secret admirer?" Matt's face turned to disgust. "What the fuck is this? There's no way he'll say yes to this." David's facial expression started to crack, showing hints of sadness and disappointment. "But," Matt sighed. His best friend needed his support, regardless of how dumb he thought the note was, "there's no harm in trying. He won't know it's you until the last minute. You can reveal yourself after he says yes. I'm not saying it'll work, because it probably won't. Either way, I'm right by your side just in case." David forced a smile, grabbing the note, and placing it into his jacket pocket.
"It's worth a shot man. I'm going by his locker after class to plant this," he said with a false push in confidence. "So any luck on the new date? Or did you even try?"
Matt sighed, "Why bother? Everybody probably already has dates. I should have just asked her sooner."
"Just go and ask someone already. It's not that hard." David rolled his eyes, groaning.
"Then go and ask Ian right after class, face to face." Matt retorted, raising his voice slightly.
"That's different. I like Ian. You just have to ask a random person."
"Yeah, but I don't want a random person. I want Mari."
"Yeah well, she's alr-"
"Mr. Sohinki, Mr. Moss, can you do the class a favor and stop talking? We don't care about whatever dilemma you two are currently having. Of course you can always tell me more in detention after school if you wish." Their history teacher turned around and glared at the two boys.
"Sorry sir." they sighed simultaneously. They spent the rest of the class jotting down notes until their relief arrived. As the bell sounded, the students filed out in complete chaos and disarray, dashing towards the door as if they were kept as prisoners for years. Matt and David were among the first to leave, and proceeded to head towards the cafeteria, until David stopped in his tracks and sprinted the opposite direction.
"I'll meet up with you later. I need to drop off this note." David yelled, waving to Matt. While he looked as calm as ever right now, David was feeling sick to his stomach. What if Matt was right and this idea was never going to work? What if Ian finds out it was him and only laughs? David's confident demeanor was dwindling away as anxiety and nervousness quickly took over. Each step he took towards Ian's locker was harder to take, and David felt like he was going to crash below the ground. He had to bring that note over, but at this rate, what would it take?
After several minutes of battling with his anxiety, David finally managed to reach Ian's locker. The moment he's been waiting all day for was finally here, and he was beginning to feel accomplished. David pulled the note out of his pocket, and was about to slip it into the little opening, when a familiar voice appeared behind him.
"What's up David? Aren't you going to lunch?" David felt a hand on his shoulder, forcefully shoving the note into his pocket.
"Anthony? Oh, um yeah. Was handling some stuff, but I guess I could do that later…" David took a deep breath to conceal his annoyance. Anthony chose the absolute worst time to show up, and there was no way he could go through with this now.
Anthony Padilla was one of the few people, along with Ian, that David has ever looked up to. Not so much as an older brother figure, but Anthony was the kind of guy that girls fondled over. Most guys envied him, while others were completely jealous. Despite his jock status, he had the brains and sweet guy personality that everyone couldn't help but love. He also was Ian's loyal best friend, which only meant that he'd do anything to protect him, even if it meant keeping others away from him.
"Good, 'cause I need to talk to you about something," Anthony sighed, carefully eyeing David's jacket pocket. Unbeknownst to David, Anthony knew what he was up to, and he had to do whatever it took to prevent it.
"Sure, what's up?" David rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what he was about to get into.
"You know it's been months since that breakup, and he's still ignoring me," Anthony started, slowly leading David away from the lockers, "I want to be his friend, but he's just not giving me a chance." Anthony sighed, slowly lowering his arm down from his shoulder.
"You know I can't do anything about that. I'm his ex, not his keeper." David was concealing his irritation, trying to act calm and helpful for his friend.
"Right, you're his ex. And now you two are best friends. I mean how did you do it?"
"I didn't fuck up like you did," David sternly replied. "You know as well as I do how fragile Joshua can get. I can't tell him to just get the fuck over it. I can't tell him that you only made a mistake. It takes time for him to recover through shit; so whether it's months, or years, you'll just have to wait. I know you still like him, but seriously dude, you fucked up really bad." David noticed the harshness of his tone, and took one more deep breath. "You need to either fix it another way, or wait for him to come to you." Anthony looked down at David in defeat. He knew he was right, but it was hard for him to admit. Anthony did screw up with his ex-boyfriend, and as much as he wanted to argue and just win him back, he had no choice but to wait.
"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" David glanced behind his shoulder and suddenly froze in place.
"What's up Ian? We were just about to head to lunch," Anthony answered calmly.
"In front of my locker? Okay then." Ian shrugged, placing his hands in his jean pockets, and walked past the other two boys. David's gaze never hindered, yet wasn't noticeable enough for Ian himself to spot. This, however, was something Anthony took note and advantage of.
"Let's head to lunch," Anthony whispered soft enough for David to barely hear, dragging him along behind Ian. With David fully mesmerized by his daunting school crush on Ian, Anthony slipped his hand into David's jacket, pulling out the note he eyed on earlier. He was no master pickpocket, but way he pulled that off couldn't have been any better in his eyes.
"So Anthony," Ian spoke up, snapping both David and Anthony from their own ordeals, "I'm thinking of skipping chemistry after lunch, maybe catch a movie or something. Want to join me?" Ian stopped in his steps and looked back at David, "You can tag along too, if you want." David wanted to smile and say yes in a heartbeat. He felt excited to be considered to join Ian in whatever he was planning. Even if Anthony was going with him, just spending a period or even the whole afternoon with Ian was something he couldn't pass up.
"When was the last time you even went to chem? Why do you go to school if you never go to the classes in the first place?" Anthony intervened.
"Suit yourself bro." Ian shrugged, "How about you Moss?"
"I'll…think about it." Every fiber in his being hated giving Ian a "maybe" as an answer. He wanted to go, so why couldn't he just say yes? Especially since it'd be the two of them, as Anthony clearly stated his opinion. An afternoon of him and Ian was something that was exciting, yet terrifying for him. He just didn't know if he could face that kind of situation.
"Alright, if you change your mind, let me know." Ian pushed open the double doors that leaded to the cafeteria. At that very moment, a young looking woman stomped over towards them.
"So you decided to join us for lunch, but not for math class?" The woman gave Ian a very intimidating glare, stopping in her tracks face to face with her student. "You think you're better than the rest of the students? You think you could just show up anything you want? I think I'll have the pleasure of seeing you next year. Maybe not graduating will convince you in coming to class."
As Ian's altercation continued, David quietly branched off away from the scene. All he needed was to be by his friends, even though deep down he wanted to jump back in and defend Ian. The way the teacher screamed at Ian, how she was up close to his face, it slightly irked him. No one gets to yell at his Ian like that. Regardless of his emotions, he focused on finding his friends within the frenzy of hungry students wandering about.
"Get your ass over here!" Joshua shouted from across the room. David's face showed a sign of relief as he made his way through the loud, semi-busy crowd. As he sat at his usual spot next to Matt and across from Joshua, he noticed Matt staring off at the distance a few tables over. That was where David noticed Mari was seated, talking and laughing moments before Anthony sat at the spot next to her, and propped his arm around her shoulder. The change in Matt's facial expression was heavily noticeable, morphing from despair, to complete jealousy and desperation. David couldn't help but feel sorry for his best friend, but there was nothing he could say to make light out of this.
"He looks so love-stricken. Poor Matt," Joshua whispered to David, who tried his best to ignore the whole situation. Deep down, he knew what was coming up next. This was destroying Matt inside, and the ticking time bomb inside him was ready to go off.
It was then when Matt jumped up from his seat. With desperation changing into anger and fury, he was ready to unleash it to get what was rightfully his; Mari in his arms, not Anthony's.