Chapter 15 - "Succeed"

Daryl blinked as he stood in the hallway before first period, bending down at the water fountain that was way too close to the ground, drinking water that was too warm. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before he stood up straight, making eye contact with his way too involved school principal. Her hair was pulled out of her face, her clear face paired with a smile.

"Oh hey." Daryl said unsatisfied. "You need something?" He held onto his torn up backpack strap with one hand, the only pushed into his jean pocket. He frowned, because it was early in the morning, he didn't have any breakfast, and he didn't really feel like seeing the teacher that was trying to make a move on his girl the other morning. Most the snow had melted since Saturday morning, but it still lingered on the dry grass and in the trees and Daryl had treaded water inside school with him.

"You turned almost all your late work in," She said, a subtle smile on her pale face. "Keep up the good work. I knew you could do it."

Daryl nodded, avoiding eye contact as she walked past him, her nude heels clacking against the stained white ceiling tile, louder than anyone else walking down the hallway to get to their classes on time. The conversation was short and to the point, and Daryl tried to act like he didn't give a fuck, But he cared that she noticed. For the first time in his life he had people that wanted to see him succeed.

Merle would push the kids that made good grades down after school, calling them mean names and using this hyena laugh of his to satisfy himself because he was never going to make the grades to have a diploma. Sure he wasn't naturally gifted, and he couldn't sit through one class and make an A on the test like some other kids, but he never even tried. He was jealous of the people who were just smart, and he was also jealous of the people who were smart enough to try. Sure, the Dixon brothers were dealt one shitty hand, and their dad never made sure they finished their homework, or went to open house. But finally, Daryl wanted to try. Not just because people wanted to see him succeed, but because he wanted to succeed.

Biology was boring as usual. But Daryl tried to sit straight up, paying attention to the white board as Mr. Peletier explained dominant and recessive genes, drawing diagrams and Daryl tried to take notes, but he could feel his mind wander. The other day outside the gas station when they saw Mr. Peletier, Daryl had never really paid any attention to his teacher before, fairly young with a little bit of a gut and way too much grease in his hair. He seemed to do the least amount of work as possible and then sit at his desk and fall asleep for the rest of class. But the other day he saw something different. He had interest in his eyes, a smile on his face and he was too focused on Carol. He glanced to the desk in front of him, where Carol sat, her hair pulled tightly into a pony tail, little crystals dangling from her ears. She was focused, writing notes with three different kinds of highlighters and two colors of pens. She looked pleasant, not to tried and not too sad. He almost smiled as he looked at her, the way she cocked her head to the side as she wrote, the seamless line of her neck melting into her soft shoulders and Daryl's mouth almost dropped open before he blinked himself back to reality.

When the bell rang their biology teacher's eyes fell right on Carol, and Daryl noticed. He quickly stood up as she did, and Carol looked right at him as he placed his hand on the small of her back, standing close to her as he said, "Let's walk together."

"Okay." Carol smiled, liking the way she felt when Daryl touched her and he followed her as she made her way to the door that students were flooding out of.

"Carol," The pair both turned to see him sitting in a rolling chair, his elbow propped up on his desk and he didn't even look at Daryl. "Can I speak with you for a minute?"

"Sure." Carol blinked, line faced as she took a small step away from Daryl and he didn't move. She turned to him, trying to read his face as he looked almost angrily at their biology teacher. "It's okay, go on without me." She touched her hand slightly on Daryl's chest, forcing him to blink toward her and he subtly nodded before leaving the class room with a grunt.

"What do you need, Mr. Peletier?" Carol folded her arms across her chest, swallowing as she took a few steps closer to her teacher.

"I told you, call me Ed."

"I prefer not to."

Mr. Peletier blinked at Carol then, a slight smile on his face as he stood to meet face to face with her. "A little defiance." He started, looking her up and down. His hair was greased back, his facial hair ungroomed. He wore a white button down that let his chest hair peek through. "That's sexy."

"I'm sorry?" Carol's eyes widened and she took a small step back, and her teacher tried to place with large hand on her shoulder, but she quickly shoved it away. She wasn't sure how to fathom her words. "I'm not-"

"I only said a little." Ed frowned, his hand quickly clasping onto Carol's wrist and she tried to shake him off. "Look Carol, you're a smart girl, I wouldn't want you to fail this class."

"What? Why?" She blinked, her hand balled into a fist as Ed kept his grip on her.

"All I'm saying is," He smiled again, pulling Carol closer to him and she could smell the aftershave. "You help me out and I could help you out." Carol wasn't sure what to say, she stood there for a moment, wide eyed until let go of her arm and she backed away quickly.

"Carol,"

"I have to go." She turned away then, scurrying out of the classroom.

As soon as Carol shut the door behind her she saw Daryl, leaning against the wall next to the bathrooms. Students stood in clusters in the hallways, surrounded by the blue painted lockers, but no one seemed to stand around Daryl. She walked up to him and took a look up at a much taller Daryl.

"Are you okay?" He asked, blinking at her with worried eyes and she nodded slightly. He could see the fear in her eyes, the way she keep her arms wrapped over her chest, the unsteady breaths she took.

"I'm fine." She pursed her lips, avoiding eye contact with Daryl as he looked down at her unconvincingly.

"Don't lie to me." He said, as she opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but only let out a breath. The only thing Daryl felt like doing was punching his biology teacher in the face, but that didn't seem like a great idea. So instead he just nodded and Carol and Daryl walked down the hallway together.

"What the fuck, you prick?"

Daryl let out a breath as he shut his front door behind him. His Father, wearing a white tank top and a saggy jeans sat on the couch that Carol had slept on just a few nights before. Where they talked and laughed and Daryl did his school work. He was ruining it. He held a beer bottle loosely in his hand and he practically jumped off the couch when he saw his son.

"huh?" Daryl dropped his backpack on the stained carpet, avoiding his father as she walked into the kitchen, already messy again.

"Don't act like you fucking don't know." He followed him into the kitchen, slipping around on the smooth surface in his ripped socks, looking Daryl right in the face, very serious. "You took my money."

"I don't know what you going on about."

"Seriously?" His dad questioned, partnered with an unforgiving shove. Daryl took a few steps back, but his father took another step toward him placing both his hands on his chest as he pushed him against. "Seriously?"

Daryl blinked at his father, his face cold as stone. "Seriously."

Daryl was met with a punch in the face thanks to the scarred knuckles of his father. It was a hard, unexpected punch and Daryl felt like his entire face had been smashed to bits. He took a few uneasy steps, and found himself falling onto the kitchen floor. His dad blabbered on about the usual shit, being ungrateful and selfish. Being a pussy, a tried to force his eyes to stay open as he laid flat on his back on the kitchen floor, fresh blood rolling from his nose into a puddle around him and his dad yelled, but he could feel himself losing his consciences.

"You will never amount to anything."

a/n: Thanks for reading guys! Just let me know what you think I really love feedback!