Notice how the amount of friends is growing in this story and something about Diego that'll make you feel sorry for him.
Chapter 14: About Diego and Growing Friendships
A few hours passed and Frankie, Max, Hoagie, Josh, Manny and Ryan all went back to the group house for dinner where they're serving pizza and breadsticks and pasta. All of them were pretty much hungry as they started sitting down and eating with them. Camille walks by with a few girls and sits down in another chair, where she sees Max. They look at each other and Camille giggled and waved at him while Max waved at her back with a shy smile. Frankie looked at Max and teased him a little bit about him and Camille.
"Are you guys in love?" asked Frankie.
Max scoffs while Frankie laughs sheepishly. Max responded, "Like I said, we're just friends. Nothing more."
"Sure you are." Josh said, sarcastically.
Camille rolled her eyes and said, "You guys are so immature."
"We're immature?"
"Yes, you are. Max and I are good friends and that's how it'll stay."
"Okay. Just as long as you guys don't start dating."
Max and Camille looked at each other and both said, "Oh, whatever."
They started laughing and Frankie said, "Hey, Max. Don't take it personally, man. We know you and Camille are just friends."
"That's all we are."
Then, some other girls were looking at Max and one girl said, "Heard you gave Hector and Nate what's coming to them."
Max froze and then, stared at her and asked, "You saw that?"
"Yeah, I did."
"I kinda lost it, so..."
"It's about time they got what they deserve!"
Max looked confused at that comment and asked, "You...did? Why?"
"Those two are torture me because of my dress, the music I listen to and that I can't do anything boys can do. How bogus is that? I mean, seriously?"
"They're just stupid. Trust me."
"Absoultely stupid." another girl said.
Ryan looks up and sees another who-black and grey striped fur, 5'7, 154 pounds, brown eyes, 14 years old, dark midnight hair with blue and green bangs with a small mohawk with a few fringes on his left eye, wearing a dark blue T-shirt and light blue jeans with a necklace that says 'Friendship'-coming downstairs to join him and his friends as he sat down with Ryan. He looks at him and asked, "What's the haps, man?"
"Nothing much, Ry. Just came downstairs after playing some basketball with the other guys. Not to mention, I beat out Diego."
"How'd he take it?"
"Not so well. A few hours ago, I beat him at his own game and his response-storming to his room, slamming the door and pounded the walls 12 times."
"Man, what a sore loser." Manny said.
"You're telling me?"
"So, what happened, Jared?" asked Ryan.
"When I went up to his room to tell him 'good game', he locked me out and screamed, 'Go away' on the other side of the door. Like he's not over it." Jared answered.
Camille scoffs and said, "Diego is such a sore loser."
"Not to mention, totally nuts." Manny responded.
"Hey, Max. I saw you beating up Nate and Hector. What possessed you to beat them up?" asked Jared.
"I couldn't take being bullied by them anymore, so I wanted to get them back after all those years." Max replied.
"I gotta say, you've got nerve."
"Well, as good as it felt, I have a feeling I'm gonna deal with another set of Nate and Hectors of the world."
"We got your back, dude." Josh said.
"Yeah, no matter what the odds are against you, we'll be right with you until the end." Hoagie said.
Suddenly, Diego comes downstairs, picks up a plate, grabs some food and off he goes back upstairs to his room. Somehow, they were surprised that he was quiet and also not as angry. Manny looked shocked and asked, "Did you see that? He didn't say a word nor express any emotion."
"Normally, he would break a few walls and scream at people." Hoagie said.
"Sounds weird."
"But at least he isn't giving us any trouble now." Frankie said.
Max wasn't sure that Diego's like this and felt a little worried about it. He kept his mind off of it for a second and continue eating and talking with his friends. Unbeknownst to them, Diego's door cracked open and he sees Max and the others just talking and laughing with his friends and Diego just looked at them and felt somewhat...lonely. He sighed heavily as he closed the door softly.
The next day, Frankie, Max, Josh, Hoagie, Manny, Ryan and Jared went to Whoville High School together and somehow, they saw Diego walking behind them and when he walked past them, they realized that he's silent and not as much as a brute as possible. Hoagie looked at Ryan and asked, "What's his problem?"
"I don't know. Maybe he's not as menacing as ever." Ryan responded.
Diego soon accidently ran into a freshman and glanced at him in a menacing way and asked, "What are you looking at? Get out of my way before I pummel you down!"
The freshman was scared and ran another direction and Diego kept walking. Manny looked at Ryan and said, "Yeah, not so much."
"I can admit I'm wrong, can I?" asked Ryan.
They all went to the entrance of the school and suddenly, some water balloons were thrown directly at them. Suddenly, it was clear that it was Eric and his crew along with Nate and Hector and they all laughed hysterically. Max was dumbfounded by the fact that Nate and Hector were at it again. Manny said, "I thought you taught them a lesson, Max."
"It's no surprise to me that they're still doing it. It's obvious that they'll never change." Max said.
They soon met up with Mike in the hallways as he sees them appearing half soaken wet. He sighs and said, "Let me guess, Nate and Hector?"
"Who else?" asked Josh.
"Don't ya think they would've learned by now?"
"Sadly, no." Max said.
Mike recognized Ryan from the group home and asked, "Ryan, right?"
"Yep. We meet again." Ryan said.
"And who's he?"
"This is Jared Ortega. We met pretty much the same time we were in group home, like five years and we've been buds ever since. Jared, Mike."
"What's up, man?" asked Jared.
"Same here. Welcome to Whoville High. You'll meet the gang later on today." Mike said.
Soon, they saw Diego pass through and he walked past them, looks at them and keeps walking. Mike looked puzzled and asked, "What's his deal?"
"Not sure." Manny said.
Later, they all met at lunch, just talking and stuff and soon enough, the whole gang-Jojo, Caitlyn, Austin, Seth, Misty, Cody, Jonah, Cyrus, Travis, Sam, Hawk, Dustin, Noah, Zeke, Chad and Marcus-all sat down and have lunch with them. Jojo was surprised with the gang expanding. Jojo chuckled and said, "So, we've got some new members of our club here."
"Yeah, we do." Mike said.
"Guys, half of you remember Ryan from yesterday and this is his friend, Jared." Manny said.
"What's up, guys?" asked Jared.
"Pretty good."
"I'm Jojo McDodd and these are my friends, Caitlyn, Misty, Seth, Cody, Noah, Chad, Zeke, Dustin, Marcus and I see you already met Mike and thse are my brothers-Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis and Sam."
"Nice to meet you all."
"What he said." Ryan said.
"So, you're in group home too?" asked Dustin.
"That's right?"
"How come?"
"Ran away from home when I was 6 and I went to every foster home until I went to group home and remained there for five years." Ryan said.
"Same here, only I've been in group home for almost 6 years, so. My parents never wanted me, so they gave me up immediately after I was born." Jared said.
"What?" asked Misty.
"True story."
"That's suprising." Noah said.
"Isn't it, though?"
"Ryan and I became best buds when we were eight, because we've been in one foster family where it was literally dysfunctional and violent, so we were survivors."
"Amazing." Jonah said.
"You guys make an excellent fit in this group." Cody said.
Manny clears his throat and said, "There's something I have to tell you. I've been in and out of foster home for several years when I was a baby. I've actually been in foster care and in group home my whole life. I didn't want to tell you guys the real story, so I covered it up."
"Why'd ya do it, though?" asked Austin.
"Because you wouldn't be my friends if I told you that."
"We'd still be friends with you even if you did tell us that. Just try to be more honest with us."
"You really mean that?"
"Most definitely. No member of this group gets left behind." Zeke said.
"I wouldn't say the same for Misty." Mike said.
"You think you're so funny." Misty said, sarcastically.
"Don't you forget it."
"Too late."
Suddenly, they all saw Diego walking through the cafeteria and suddenly, some of the seniors threw food at him and started laughing at him. That really ticked Diego off and we went in and grabbed both of them and screamed, "LEAVE ME ALONE OR I'LL CRUSH YOUR FREAKIN' SKULL! I've already been through enough and I don't need you to make it worse for me! Got it? Now, beat it!"
Some of the seniors fled the scene and Diego was totally angry with this situation and when he turned around, everyone was staring at him and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Everyone turned away and Diego went back to his seat and resumed eating. Manny stared at him and then back at the table and said, "I'm not sure who should I feel sorry for, him or the seniors."
Max never realized that Diego's been bullied too. Ryan sighs and said, "Well, bullies are all the same. They never know when to stop until they get in trouble."
"You get bullied too?" asked Max.
"Constantly. So did Jared. Mostly, because of the way we are, way we dress, way we look, type of music we like. It kinda sucks that anyone like to hurt your feelings."
"Don't you wish bullying would end permanently? Don't you think they ought to accept us for who we are?" asked Jared.
"That's what we're all thinking." Jojo said.
"Have you been bullied before?" asked Ryan.
"A lot. Mostly because of the way I am and also, I get called 'emo-freak' and say stupid things about my dad."
"They do that?" asked Jared.
"Yeah. You guys don't know what it feels like to try to please your dad when you don't want to do something he wants you to do and get bullied every single day for it."
"That's harsh. I never actually knew my dad."
"You haven't?"
"Nah, I never see him around, because he died when I was a month old."
"I barely even know my dad and I never see him growing up." Ryan said.
"We didn't actually know that." Jonah said.
"You'd be surprised. At least you guys are lucky to have one."
The rest of the gang continued talking to each other as they ate lunch and got to know each other very well. Jared looked at the others and said, "This is a group I'm welcomed to anyday."
"Well, this is only the beginning." Jojo said.
Not surprised that Nate and Hector are still bullying? Neither am I. Stick around for a side of Diego you've never seen before! See how Diego got bullied? What does that tell ya? Anyways, stay tuned for Diego's ultimate true colors!