Chapter 4

The terrible but familiar sound of the school bell echoed in James's ears as he stepped out of the car and in front of the tall, monolithic monster called Eastview High. Since he was "injured" and all, his mom offered to drop him at school instead of him grabbing a ride with Kendall or Logan like he usually did. And since his mom had been so worried, fussing over him and taking care of him over the weekend (she even took off work), James let her, just this once.

And anyways, he couldn't deny it was nice having his mom's attention fully on him for once.

James had been 17 for months now, but still only had his learner's permit. He could test for his license any day, but he had never felt the need for it. He only ever hung out with his friends, and Kendall and Logan had their licenses and their own cars, and James could always tag along with them. Carlos was old enough but was forbidden (due to his exceptional clumsiness and lack of grace) to get his license until he was 18 and out of high school.

"Thanks, mom." James mumbled. He grunted as he lifted his too-heavy backpack from the floor and slung it over one shoulder. "I'll ride home with Kendall after practice." He reminded her, closing the door shut. Even though he couldn't play for a couple of weeks, he was still going to support his team. It sucked he couldn't play at the beginning of the season, but Dr. Yu said if he healed up nicely he would make it in time for regionals if (when) they made it there.

Monday. Monday was the bane of all the days of the week. Even though James had mostly been sitting around resting all weekend (his friends had come by and brought him ice packs, chicken noodle soup, and ice cream), it still beat going to school.

But this Monday was the bane of all Mondays even, because this was the first time people would see him with stitches and, and that thing in his teeth ("it's called a metal stent, James," James could hear Logan telling him). He shut his mouth and kept his head down.

In terms of the school social ladder, James was at the top. Not the tip top, but he was up there on the first couple of rungs. He was on the hockey team (the pride and joy of all Minnesota high schools), was best friends with the captain, and was good-looking. Some people even said he was a shoo-in for prom king next year.

James had a bunch of people surrounding him, wanting to be seen with him and be friends with him. And though he enjoyed the attention, he had his three best friends and he didn't need anyone else. He was casual friends with a lot of the other "cool" basketball, lacrosse, water polo, and other sports kids, but he rarely spent time with them outside of school.

He'd been friends with Kendall and Carlos since kindergarten (kind of- it was a long story), and Logan since the third grade when he moved from Texas. If James hadn't grown up with them by his side, he didn't think they would have become friends later on in life. The four of them were so different, but yet that's what made them work so well together.

James was the oldest (they were all within a year or so of each other, though). He was known as the pretty boy. That was his main "title", so he made a huge effort to keep up appearances. He spent an hour on his hair every morning, and never wore the same shirt two days in a row.

He lacked Kendall's charm, Logan's intelligence, and Carlos's kindness- sometimes he felt the only way to make up for it was to be pretty. His friends all had their things; his thing was to be "The Face".

And so he was. Girls swooned over him, and like someone who knew they were attractive (and James definitely knew), James winked and flirted with every one of them. But as for a long-term relationship, he wasn't too sure how he would feel about that. He knew only too well how quickly relationships could turn into shouting wars.

Kendall was unofficially their group leader. Kendall was perfect- almost. He was charming, understanding, caring, nice, brave, a good leader, family-oriented, a straight-B student, the school's star hockey captain… the list went on. He was the type of guy who asked to sit with the kids who sat alone at lunch, who would win as class president if he ran for it, who people would turn to first for help and companionship.

Of course, Kendall wasn't perfect. One of his big weaknesses was his stubbornness (or righteousness, however you wanted to see it). When he thought something was right, he was not going to back down. If a group of guys were ganging up on someone, Kendall would step in and fight them if need be, even though it was 1 vs 5. He wouldn't back down (and anyways, nobody messed with Kendall Knight). If a teacher was being unfair, Kendall would argue with them until they sent him to the principal's office (they said Kendall had problems with authority, but James thought it was really only unfair and oppressive authority Kendall had problems with). Overall, James admired Kendall. And sometimes he wanted to punch him for being so down-right amazing.

Logan was the smart one. He wanted to go to medical school in the future and become a surgeon like his father. He was really good with his hands, always there to cast or put a bandage on his friends when they needed it. He was, as a pre-doctor should be, very bright.

Logan knew more words than anyone James knew. He was in AP Everything and managed to be at the top of his class even with hockey practice and the other clubs he was in. He was probably going to go to Harvard or something.

Logan was their group mom. He was responsible and cautious, always warning them when they were about to do something dangerous or stupid (or both), stating the risks and benefits of different options they could take. He was often hesitant to join in, but when they pressured him (not too much, of course) he would fold pretty easily. He was quiet, but he wasn't afraid to speak up if he knew the answer or if he needed to step in.

He hesitant and quiet nature made it seem as though he was scared of everything (well, he was scared of doing many things), but Logan was one of the bravest people James knew (he once popped someone's shoulder back into place freshman year during gym class). Of course, there were always the jerks who made nerd jokes, but Logan always had a snappy comeback (oh yeah- Logan could also be so sarcastic and passive-aggressive, and James loved it) and stuck his ground. And he was Kendall's friend, so people rarely messed with him.

And then there was Carlos. Carlos was the most lively, energetic, bubbly guy James knew. He almost always had a smile on his face and was almost always in a good mood. He had full-blown ADHD that required him to take medicine every day (James didn't know if the medicine was really working though, seeing that Carlos still had 3 times more energy than him on any given day and time). Due to his inattention and impulsivity, he could rarely pay attention during class and struggled with schoolwork, and somehow always managed to annoy somebody during the course of the day.

But however crazy Carlos could be, he truly had the sweetest soul. Carlos loved everybody, no matter who they were or how they treated him. He always wanted to help people and was so sensitive he cried for an hour straight after they watched Bambi when they were 8 and 9 years old (and probably would again if they watched Bambi now). He was, of course, a bit quirky, but he always brought a smile to James's face. And who of them wasn't quirky?

The bright florescent lights shined in his face as he pushed open the door. The bell had signaled he had 10 minutes to get to his locker, unpack what he didn't need and grab what he did need, go to the bathroom to check how he looked, and then get to class. His steps quickened as he was swallowed up by the crowd of kids walking and talking through the halls.

Everything felt normal; he forgot about his face until he got to his locker and the kid next to him, JT, looked at him funny.

"What happened to your face, man?" He asked, his eyebrows scrunched up. James self-consciously reached up to touch the stitches on his cheek. He felt his heart beating faster, hoping beyond hope nobody else had heard JT.

"Hockey accident. Guy checked me from behind, but we still won the game." James answered, mentioning their win so the attention would be taken off from his face.

"Jeez, tough guy." JT grinned at him. James felt his shoulders relax a bit. JT hadn't said anything negative about his stitches; maybe people would think they were cool.

"I'll see you in class." JT said, patting him on the shoulder before walking away. James quickly swapped out his stuff, did a mirror check in the bathroom (this check was more important than usual, so he didn't use the smaller mirror he kept in his bag but instead opted for the wider mirror in the boy's bathroom).

He made it a minute before the bell rang, signaling the beginning of a Monday school day. He blew out a breath and readied himself for the coming week ahead.

His first class was US History. When he walked through the door, he could feel people's stares on him. On his face. Usually it was a good thing for people to stare at him, but this time, James wished they would just look away for once. He wanted to sink into the floor and disappear.

He kept his eyes on the ground and sat down in his seat. He felt his face heating up and was glad when the teacher cleared her throat and started her lecture on the American Revolution. James didn't want to look up to see if their stares were still on him.

"Psst." Out of instinct, James looked up. Kendall, the only one of his friends in his history class, nudged him on his shoulder. His olive-green eyes stared at him, but it wasn't out of curiosity like the stares of his classmates; it was out of concern.

"You good?" He asked, his eyes not leaving James's face. James gave him a small smile and nodded. Kendall's stare lingered on him for another second, then turned back to his desk. James blew out a breath and took out his notes.

By lunchtime, James felt a little less self-aware of everyone's stares. It was normal for them to stare, he told himself. He would stare if someone came into school with stitches. Some people asked what had happened, but most of them just looked. James hated that.

Thankfully, all four of them had the same lunch period, so they always sat together. James's mom packed him some mashed potatoes, soft veggies, and applesauce (he wouldn't be able to eat a lot of normal solid foods for a couple of days). He was the first to get there, so he sat down by himself and opened his bag. He was just about to open his mouth to take a bite of his sandwich when he heard his name.

He didn't turn his head, but he could still hear the conversation clearly. "He's all… weird-looking and stuff. Like, his face." James felt his face heating up again. He wanted nothing more than to duck out of there, but that would only draw more attention to himself.

"He's not so pretty anymore, huh?" A girl's voice said, followed by a couple of chuckles. James felt his heart beating faster.

He's not so pretty anymore, huh?

James shook his head at himself. No. He was still pretty. He was just recovering, and soon he would be back to normal-

"Hey." Logan greeted with a smile, sitting down across James. James looked up at him. "How's your first day back?" He asked.

James shrugged, his eyes on his food. The kids who were talking about him had moved on to another subject. Even James's un-prettiness wasn't worth more than a minute of conversation. "It was okay. The usual, you know."

Logan nodded in agreement. "How's your jaw? Does it hurt a lot still?" He asked, switching topics to something he knew well- health.

James shrugged again. His jaw did hurt, but the painkillers Dr. Yu prescribed was doing its job. He only needed one a day to take care of the pain. "It hurts, but the painkillers are helping." He explained. Logan nodded in understanding. "And you were right- they did make me constipated. I haven't pooped all weekend." He added jokingly.

Logan rolled his eyes in disgust. "Too much information, dude." James laughed, feeling the embarrassment lifting off his chest a bit. Lunch was definitely the best part of the school day, aside from all the gossip. James had done his fair share of gossip too, but he didn't really realize until now how much it sucked.

Soon, Kendall and Carlos joined them, and they were talking like they usually did. James felt happy, perhaps the first time that day. He hadn't even realized how down he was feeling until now. Everyone's lingering stares and whispers had really gotten to him more than he'd let on. And those kids…

James shook his head again. He didn't want to think about them.

James Diamond was not someone people whispered about, except when it was out of awe. But it seemed he wasn't the same person he was before, even though all that had changed was that he'd gotten a surgery. James could hear it in their eyes, in their too-long stares directed at him, in the gossip-ful conversation. Why does he look like that? Are those braces on his teeth? Is that James Diamond?

"James?" James blinked, startled out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, sorry." He shook his head, turning to look at Kendall, who he assumed had been the one calling him. Kendall gave him a weird stare, which made James feel even worse, because the last thing he needed was for his friends to look at him strangely.

"Are you sure you're okay, James?" Kendall asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. James straightened up and nodded. He pushed down the hurt from the words, the unease from the stares. He forced himself to smile.

"Yep, I'm good."

Because James Diamond was always good.

A/N- So not a great first day for James :( Hope everyone is doing substantially better than he is... I live in a cold place and it is so nice to just write by the warm heater in the dark lol. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you think!

- AS