Here is the next chapter! I've found that I love to write by hand and then edit as I type it up on my laptop. I'm already on chapter 3 in my notebook, but I wanted to get this one up for you guys. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
20 year-old James Diamond sits in his paid for 2-bedroom lush high-rise apartment in downtown Minneapolis. He doesn't have a care in the world thanks to his super successful and super rich mother, Brooke Diamond. Thank God for cosmetics. His only care in the world right now is figuring out when he's going on his next date. He has an amazing social life.
He's watching some stupid show in a fluffy white robe and scarfing down a yogurt when his cell suddenly sounds through his apartment. He sets down the yogurt and runs to his room. He grabs the phone off the charger, "Hello?" He asks, really it's the call he's been waiting for.
"Hi, is this James Diamond?" Says the voice of what he hopes is a cute blonde.
James is elated, "Yes!" He says, a large smile on his face.
"Well, hello Mr. Diamond. My name is Ally from Paks Modeling Agency. I regret to tell you this, but we are not interested in your type of look at this time. Have a nice day, Mr. Diamond."
She hangs up, but at this point James doesn't even know what's going on. How could they NOT want him? He's gorgeous.
All he wanted to do was separate himself from the other "trust fund babies" of the world and be able to make a career for himself, and apparently he can't even do that.
He throws his iPhone on the bed and hops in the shower. In an hour he is clean, his hair is in sexy form, his stylish clothes are fitting just right, and he's off to the mall to shop his pain away.
The feeling of sadness is rare for James. He's usually really happy. He has two awesome friends in Kendall and Carlos, Jett's okay.
He's also super rich and has no real responsibilities at the moment. But now he's been rejected because of his looks, his beautiful God-given looks. So here he is walking down the long strip of the second floor of the mall to get to one of his favorite clothing stores.
As he's walking, he spots Kendall and Carlos on the ground floor, coming out of a Game Stop. Do I want to talk them right now…? He shakes his head and keeps walking.
In 20 minutes, he has 6 bags in his hands from Abercrombie & Fitch, like a true douche. As he's heading to Hollister, he walks past a group of pretty girls who are giggling and making flirty eyes at him. He nods with a tight-lipped smile and keeps walking, not bothering to look back.
He passes a bookstore and hears a familiar laugh. He can't help but veer back and look through the window to see a 20 year-old Logan and his mother, Joanna. The pair is picking out a book to go along with Dr. Presley Mitchell's, Logan's dad, birthday gift according to the conversation James is barely hearing.
James watches Logan with a smile. And then he remembers he's in public and quickly moves on. As he's walking away, he remembers Dr. Mitchell's literature class back in his senior year of high school. He was one of the only teachers James liked. It was gunny to see how much of Dr. Mitchell is Logan; they look just alike with the pale skin, short brown hair, and boyishly handsome looks. The only difference is that Logan gets his dark brown eyes from his mom as opposed to his dad's hazel eyes.
And suddenly James can't get rid of the smile on his face. It's nice to see a close happy family. He might only have his mom in his life, but he loves to see other people happy, especially someone he cares about.
James looks at the bags in his hands, "Maybe I don't need to go Hollister after all." He says.
That night James is eating pizza and flipping through channels. It's surprising how much he likes to eat and vegetate on the couch. It's raining outside so he feels justified.
As he's flipping through the channels he sees "Beloved Dr. Mitchell" on the screen, unfortunately he already past the channel, usually skipping the news channels. He quickly flips back and hates what he hears.
"About 4 hours ago, around 3 pm, Dr. Presley Mitchell was gun downed in his classroom by an outraged student…."
James can't hear the rest of what the reporter is saying, his sadness taking over with only one thought. Logan. "Oh my god." Was all he could say. He tosses his slice of pizza and throws on a hoodie. He makes sure to grab his wallet and house keys and he's out the door, barely finding time to lock it. He decides to sprint to Carlos' house which is right next door to Logan's. He doesn't want to be even more of a creep by sitting in his car outside of his house. He takes every shortcut he knows to get to the boy's neighborhood.
He arrives in 15 minutes; track and field was good for something. He shoots into Carlos' backyard and climbs up into the pretty big tree house that is actually quite dry for sitting in a rain-drenched tree. The tree house has a direct view of Logan's room, and the site broke James' heart.
Logan is curled up on his bed, holding the stuffed teddy bear his dad bought for him when he was five. James can't see his face, but the constant shaking is too strong to miss. He can't help the tears that start roll down his face. "I'm so sorry, Logie." He whispers as if the boy can hear him.
A cold breeze blows through the tree house, making the very wet James shiver. He moves expertly to the corner of the space and opens a wooden cupboard. He grabs one of the three blankets.
Despite the only light being the moon, James knows where everything is. It might as well have been his tree house. He's just glad that Carlos doesn't mind that he uses it. Granted, Carlos doesn't know that he's been using it to spy on Logan for the past 10 years.
He wraps the blanket around himself and positions himself near the opening to see Logan, but still enough in the shadows so no one would see him unless they were really looking.
Logan isn't doing so great. All he wanted to do was have a great birthday with his dad and some stupid kid had to throw a tantrum and shoot him the chest 4 times.
He buries his head into the neck of his teddy bear, Jeffery. He named it Jeffery because it was his middle name and coincidentally (or not) it was also his father's middle name. He can't believe his dad is gone. Just like that.
As Logan squeezes his Jeffery, he realizes that all he wants to do now is make his father proud. And his dream to become a doctor has grown that much more.
Present Day
Logan is lying on his bed, Jeffery sitting on the bedside table next to him. He's never been more confused and scared in his life. Why would one of his bullies want to help him? And why now? It has to be a set up of some kind.
Logan thinks back to elementary school before James showed up. He was a great friend with Kendall, the much shorter, bushy eyebrowed little blonde boy who was sweet and brave. Logan and Kendall talked all the time, sat next to each other during lunch, and played together during recess. It was a fun time for them. Much simpler.
And then a chubby little boy named James Diamond shows up and starts to pull Kendall in another direction.
Logan and James never really hung out with each other. There would be times he would catch the boy staring at him, but never thought about it.
For about 3 years, Kendall would spend time with either Logan or James, but rarely both. Carlos showed up in the 5th grade, when the boys were 10, and hit it off great with Kendall and James, not really caring much for Logan despite the fact that they were neighbors.
And then one day, in the 6th grade, Kendall decided that he didn't want to be a loser anymore. So he got into hockey, and James and Carlos followed him. Logan didn't and he regretted it.
Before they knew it, high school came and the three boys left Logan behind to become apart of the popular crowd.
By his sophomore year, Logan is being bullied by the three boys he once knew and it hurt that Kendall, his longest friend, was orchestrating it without even blinking. He endured their mean and hateful comments for a while. Things didn't get physical until Jett moved to town and joined the group. He would always find Logan walking home and beat him up in an isolated area. Jett may have been dumb, but he was smart enough not to leave an visible bruises on Logan. Every injury could be hidden under his clothes.
Despite the torture he received from Jett, the worst one was James. He never said anything mean, but James would come over and rub his hair, as if he were so beneath them.
Logan suddenly jolts up in his bed, "He didn't rub my hair this time…" He feels stupid now that he's said it out loud. Though it is weird. Like really weird. He shrugs it off and falls back onto his bed. "I'm not looking forward to this." He says, closing his eyes to go to sleep.
His phone buzzes on the bedside table.
Who could possibly be texting me? He groans and rolls over. He takes his phone off the charger and hits the wake button.
It's from James.
"How did his number get into my phone? …Right, before he gave me my phone back." He says, answering his own question. "But how did he unlock it?" Logan's pin number is the day he finally smiled at the thought of his father – 08/15. How would James know that? It's not like it's a special day, it's one of the most isolated days in Logan's life. No birthdays, no holidays, nothing. How would he know that?
He finds himself shrugging it off and opening the message.
From James:
Good night bro - 10:35pm
"Good night, bro?" What the hell? He thinks as he puts his phone back on the charger. He lies back on his bed and gets lost in his thoughts.
When he comes back to himself, he realizes how rude it is for him not to respond. He grabs his phone and sends a text. Feeling better, Logan finally allows himself to go to sleep.
James finishes up brushing his teeth and is off to bed, still living in his high-rise. He sees the LED on his phone blinking; he picks it up and smiles when he sees he has a message from his new protégé.
He opens the message.
From Logan:
Good night. Sent 10:55pm
Glad he chose to ignore how I knew how to get into his phone. James feels like he's reached a small peak of success and with that he goes to sleep with a smile on his face, looking forward to tomorrow.
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