I decided to break up the chapters again b/c I wanted to get something out since it's been a bit since I last uploaded. Also I wrote all this today lol I feel accomplished


The hallway was empty. Not a single person within his line of sight. It was dark except for the dim overhead lights that hung from the ceiling. It was so silent he could've heard a pin drop to the floor. The air is limited, it felt suffocating, like he was being grasped at his throat. There came an impending feeling of doom he couldn't shake off. He took a step forward, shoes thudding against the marble flooring. All while feeling as though someone was going to reach out and snatch him-

At least, that's what it felt like.

In reality, the hallway was buzzing with people. The multiple voices blended into one in his ears. The air was taken out of his lungs. Mouth dry, his tongue licked his chapped lips although they weren't any better. No one was technically looking his way, but it felt like it. It felt like every single pair of eyes that belonged to a student in the school were peering down into his soul.

I cannot do this

I just can't

I...I have to leave

How? Where?

Jessie will know

She'll find out and you'll be in huge trouble

You'll be grounded until graduation

"I can't do this," his breathing was quickening, whispering repeatedly under his breath. Beside him, Shelby was still there, looking at him out of her peripheral vision.

"It's okay," she murmured. "I'm right here. I'm not gonna leave you. I'll be with you all day. Well, not all day because we don't have every class together. But most of the day. I promise. Don't worry, you'll get through this"

She's wrong

She knows it

No one will ever let you forget this

You'll never ever live this down

He took a shaky step forward, quietly gulping.

And that was when things took an abrupt turn. Instantaneously. Almost as if someone had flipped a switch. They all noticed him. For a split second, silence overtook the hallway until they all busted out into mocking laughter that was reminiscent of Friday night at the party.

Ravi wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

"You shouldn't do that," Shelby admonished them but it was drowned out by all the noise. "It's very rude, you know."

This was just what he needed. Her to scold them. That was sure to make it cease. They just needed to be reminded of how rude it was, as if they seemingly cared about that aspect. Just what would he do without her? He thought, bitterly.

"Come on," Shelby said to him, taking his forearm into her hand, forcing him to move. "We should go to class. Unless you have to go to your locker? Oh, I think I need to! I need my algebra book. Don't we have that quiz today? I think it's today but I can't remember. I hope I pass. I barely passed the last one. I'm horrible at graphs. I really tried, but I barely got a sixty-five."

They walked down, in between the laughter, the jeering, the couple people that remarked loudly that they hoped his pants weren't coming off again, which sparked more laughter at his expense. Ravi was humiliated. His face was on fire. His head ducked down to avoid looking at anyone. He wanted to leave. He didn't even care about his classes, having homework due and a quiz, a possible test in another class that needed to be done today.

He didn't care.

He just couldn't be there anymore. He didn't want to be there if what was happening now was an indicator of how his day was going to be. At this rate, it might. And it hurt. The pain was great. Worse at knowing that there was no escape. He couldn't escape. He couldn't do anything other than do his best not to break until the school was finished.

He wasn't so sure that he'd make it.

They came to a halt at Shelby's locker. He faced the rest of the lockers, eyes shut, head low as she twisted the dial to put in her combination. Inhaled. Exhaled. Inhaled. Exhaled. He went through that several times, trying to calm himself, trying to clear his head.

It didn't work.

No matter how hard, no matter how repeatedly, he tried.

"Aw, nuts." He heard Shelby say and snap her fingers. He glanced at her.

"I forgot my algebra book," she said to him. "I think I left it on the kitchen table. Oh, yeah I did! I got distracted. Elliot doesn't have school today, I think because dad said the elementary building has some leak in the ceiling so they get to stay home today and he stayed up most of the night with dad to put legos together since they didn't have to get up. You shoulda seen it! Their tower was huge. It was on the table so I had to move it to eat and I forgot to move my book afterwards so it's still there. That sucks. The quiz is open book and open notes. Maybe I'll pass. My notes are good, I think. Oh, well. We'll see."

She smiled brightly at Ravi.

"Right," he muttered. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

He choked when she threw her arm suddenly around his neck, pulling him closer in a one sided hug. "Aww! You're so nice! You're the best, best friend ever!"

He managed to untangle himself out of her embrace. "Yes, well," he stammered, not having a good response to that. It was no use to insist that they weren't friends, nor that he was the best as she thought. Still, nothing came to mind as to what he could say. Just as he opened his mouth, he was grabbed from behind. The person had strong arms, easily yanking backwards.

"Yeah, you're the best friend ever!" Someone was imitating Shelby's voice. It was a high pitched tone, no doubt by another guy. His vision caught sight of a red letterman's jacket, immediately coming to the conclusion that whoever was holding him was one of the jocks. He didn't like them and he knew the feeling was mutual; they were ultra popular, especially with the cheerleaders, Ravi's mortal enemy, solely because they found him to be an easy target...which he probably was.

There were more people with the guy who was holding onto him; they were laughing hysterically at what their friend said, like it was actually clever. He was given a noogie, of which he couldn't wiggle out of-the grip was far too strong. Shelby noticed he wasn't beside her anymore and spoke up about it.

"Hey! Leave him alone," she called.

One of the jocks who wasn't holding onto Ravi, sneered at her. "Stay out of it, honey or we'll bust you up, too."

If he was going for intimidation, it didn't work. She stared right up at him with determination. She's more brave than you are. You wouldn't do that. You're a coward. Why can't you be like her? "I said leave him alone."

The jock who was holding onto Ravi, suddenly pushed him forward, causing him to slam into the set of lockers. "Oops," the guy said, flatly. "So sorry."

Ravi's hands immediately went up to his nose, where blood was seeping out. The pain was radiating and he groaned, momentarily dizzy by the collision.

Shelby disregarded the group of the guys for now, digging in her backpack, pulling out a tissue to hand to him. "Your nose is bleeding," she stated the obvious.

Yes, I can see that

"You missed a spot. Oh, here let me help you-"

"Yeah, little Robby," the jock taunted as the three of them began to walk away, "let your little girlfriend help you."

We're not-

Why must everyone think that!

Ravi shoved her hands away when his temper flared. "I don't need help!"

"Okay," Shelby's smile was serene. Her arms fell at her sides for a moment until she began to swing them back and forth.

Ugh

Go away

Please!

Just go away

"You didn't brush your hair," she noted and he felt a twinge of annoyance creep up. "It's all over the place." She reached up to pet it of all things. He glared at her. He hadn't the energy nor had he really cared to comb it. He'd been consumed with anxiety over how people were going to react.

"What's it to you?"

She paid no mind to that comment. "I've got a comb with me if you wanna use it?"

Well she's just got everything with her, doesn't she?

"No," he ground out.

"Okay!" She'd been in the midst of opening up her backpack-should he have said yes-and let go of it. "What do you wanna do now? We still have some time before class. We could go to the cafeteria or the gym or the library or that one hallway no one goes down or we could sit outside-"

Oh for the love of everything just shut up!

"Daddy!" Shelby beamed and Ravi's brain short circuited.

What?

She rushed forward, enveloping her dad in a hug. Ravi didn't expect to see him there. Mr. England used one to return the hug, the other was holding on to Shelby's thick algebra textbook that she'd forgotten. He was wearing clothes that were casual in comparison to what Ravi had seen him wearing previously.

"Pumpkin," he ruffled her hair. "Just came to give you your book. You might need that."

"Oh, I do! We have that math quiz today and it's open book and open note. I hope I pass. I think I will but I dunno. We're doing more graphing. Did I tell you that? I can't remember if I did or not."

"Hello, Ravi," Mr. England said kindly to him.

"Hello," Ravi muttered.

Mr. England tilted his head. "Seems you've got a bit of blood on your face, son. Everything alright?"

He wasn't about to tell him the truth. That would be ludicrous. "I..." His brain was quickly trying to think up something. A reasonable answer. An answer that didn't wasn't evident that it wasn't true. "I...tripped," he said lamely.

You're a horrible liar

He knows

He knows the truth

And now he's going to tell you to stay away from his daughter because you're a bad influence.

Shelby, to his astonishment, was nodding in confirmation. "Right on the front stairs! You should've seen him. It was awful. I thought his nose was broken but he says it's not. Does it look broken? I thought it was kinda crooked."

He wasn't sure if he was grateful for that or not.

Mr. England frowned. I do believe he's buying it. "You think you need to go to the nurse to get checked out? Wouldn't want you to have a concussion or anything."

"Oh, no," Ravi hoped his voice wasn't conveying how nervous he felt. "No. I'm fine. It just hurts a little."

"Alright, if you're sure," Mr. England said. The way he was looking at Ravi didn't settle right. Had she told her dad everything that happened? The incident and everything else? He was afraid to ask, wanting nothing more for her dad to finally leave.

You're rude

I'm not

You are

He's been nothing but nice to you and this is how you treat him

"What are you and Elliot gonna do today?" Shelby asked as she put away her textbook. "Are you gonna get more pizza? Or go to the library? Oooh! Or the zoo? I think there's a zoo here. That would be so fun! Maybe we can go this weekend when mom's off! That'd be awesome! Can we go? Please!"

Mr. England laughed. "Well, I was planning on doing a few things around the house. I dropped your brother at Aiden's house for the day."

"That's his best friend," Shelby told Ravi like it was imperative for him to know.

"But," Mr. England said in a cryptic voice, "I think I can put off those to-do's until later." He lowered his voice. "How's about I take you both out for today?"

"Oooh, goodie!" Shelby cheered quietly.

Ravi was stunned. "What?"

"We're playing hooky," she said excitedly, but mindful as to not let others hear her.

"Wha...what?" Ravi didn't know how to respond. "You can't."

Shelby stopped celebrating. 'Why not?"

"Jessie will find out. She'll know!" He rambled. "I do not want to be in trouble."

Mr. England put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry," he reassured. "Leave it to me."

It didn't make him feel better in the slightest.

Minutes later, he and Shelby were sitting on the benches that were just outside the doors that led to the main office. They held onto their stomachs to emphasize the supposed stomach ache that Mr. England was taking them out for. Ravi didn't have much hope that this plan would work out; for one, he was nearly entirely sure that only a parent or guardian on file could excuse a student. Otherwise they would all get in huge trouble for this misdeed.

He couldn't believe his eyes when Mr. England came out of the office looking upbeat. "Come on, kids," he said and adding for their charade, "Let's get you home. I'll put on some soup for you guys. Do you like chicken noodle, Ravi?"

"Er, yes."

"Great!" Mr. England offered to take their backpacks to make their lethargicness seem more real. "I'll start up a nice big pot for you kids."

When they exited the building, Ravi couldn't contain his curiosity any longer. "How...how did you do that?"

He took them both to his car-now, Ravi wasn't like Luke, who could name off dozens of brands in an instant, but he recognized it to be an older kind, recalling from memory when his history class had a small unit on vehicles from the 1960s. It was a bit beat up on the outside. A few scratch marks here and there. Nothing that his family would ride in without making snide remarks about.

They got inside; Ravi was in the back seat and Shelby was upfront with her dad. "Oh, I must admit it didn't take much," Mr. England said as he started it up. "My wife knows the lady in the attendance office. She treated her son in the emergency room."

"Oh," Ravi said. He didn't know what to expect now. Truancy was new for him. "Err...what are we doing now?"

"Whatever you guys want," Mr. England said. "The sky's the limit! I know you've both been working hard with school so I figured you guys needed a day off."

He clearly doesn't know you well

Not with the way you're going

You're going to flunk this year

"Oh..."

"Oooh, yay!" Shelby was bouncing in her seat. "This is gonna be so fun!"

"What would you like to do, Ravi?" Mr. England asked, looking at him through the mirror. "You can choose if you'd like."

"Oh, erm," Ravi stumbled over his words. "I...I don't know. Anything you guys want is fine by me."

Mr. England was silent. Then he said, "Have you had breakfast yet? I know Shelby has but why don't I treat you guys? Hmm? How's that sound?"

"Okay!"

"Err, that's fine."


He couldn't believe his luck.

Or, lack thereof, technically.

Mr. England pulled up to the same diner that he and Shelby had gone to on Friday night. Ravi slowly trudged out of the car, pleading with the universe that the same woman who waited on them that night wasn't going to be there this morning. "I've been meaning to try this place," he said. "Shelby tells me you guys were here last week."

"Yes," Ravi said.

"What'd you think of the food? Is it good?"

Ravi shrunk under the attention he was receiving. "I don't know...I didn't eat anything."

Shelby piped up, "It was great! I really like their cake."

"Why am I not surprised?" Mr. England snickered.

They went inside, the familiar sound of the bell emitting its soft ding rang through the air. "Be with you in just a jiffy!" Someone hollered and to Ravi's dismay, it was her.

Shelby shook her dad's arm. "Oh, we had her too! She's so nice!"

Maybelle appeared, giving him and Shelby a toothy grin. "Well if it ain't you two! Didn't expect you to see you back here so soon. Just couldn't stay away, huh?"

Yes...that's it..

"This Must be your daddy, huh?" Maybelle was noisily chewing gum. "You three just go on and find a seat. I'll be with y'all in a minute." She turned back around, yelling at Ernie the cook again to wake up.

Instead of like last time where he and Shelby had taken to a booth, they were at a table. "So," Mr. England said, "where do kids want to go? I really don't mind."

Ravi shrugged.

Then Shelby spoke up on behalf of him. "Ravi might wanna go to the new museum! It just opened. We could go there."

"Is that alright with you, bud?" Mr. England asked him.

I am not your 'bud'

Do not refer to me as such

Yet again, he shrugged.

Mr. England chuckled. "You're not giving me much to go off of."

Maybelle came to their table, chattering away. She wrote down their orders for their beverages; a coffee with creamer for Mr. England and two cokes for Shelby and Ravi. While she was there, she also wrote down their breakfast orders, saying that she might as well since there was no one else around. Shelby ordered a stack of waffles, for Ravi he chose French toast and Mr. England ordered a platter of eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and a biscuit.

"Hmmm, we could go to the museum or how's about I take you guys to the zoo like Shelby was talking about? Have you been to the zoo before, Ravi? You have, haven't you?"

No...he hadn't come to think of it.

His parents, with their multitude of wealth, had rented some animals once for one of their birthday parties. It might have been for Zuri's; her and her friends had wow'd repeatedly in amazement. Beyond that, he couldn't recall ever setting foot in an actual zoo.

"No, I haven't."

Shelby gasped. "Oh, Daddy, we gotta take him! Can we? Can we? Please! He's just got to go!"

"If he's okay with it," Mr. England said to her. "Then I don't see why not."

Ravi leaned back, startled when Shelby beamed and leaned forward to ask him-most obnoxiously, he might add-if he was okay with that.

"Down girl," Mr. England said lightly with a hand pressed on her back. Then, he asked Ravi, "So, what do you say? Are you interested? If not, I'm sure we can find something else to do."

Shelby's hopeful face was in his peripheral vision.

"Err," he mumbled. "Sure, that's fine."

She cheered.