ELEVEN

-"Seriously? You mean like…"- I also recognized that voice. My girlfriend's best friend, Jenny.

-"Totally, girl,"- That was Trisha. She sounded pissed off, -"You wouldn't believe what he did yesterday,"- When Jenny asked her what, she continued, her voice on the edge of cries, -"He humiliated me on the soccer practice! He failed at everything and all he says is 'I had a bad day'!"

-"What? He said that?"- Jenny sounded shocked and also pissed, -"Oh, for the love of God, we all have bad days! He was just being a drama queen."

-"I know, right?"- Trisha didn't sound like crying anymore, -"I don't know what to do. He's like a wannabe of us, of twelve one, y'know like, trying to be cool like Frank."

-"And it's not working,"- Jenny laughed, -"It's obvious. I always told you guys and specially you. Remember when I said that it wasn't a good idea to say 'yes' to him?"

Trisha growled, -"Yeah, yeah, I know! But he's just so good looking, specially his abs..."

-"And that's it, right?"

-"Yeah,"- Trisha admitted, -"Ugh, he's a horrible kisser too. I think he kissed before. Frank was way better."

It didn't surprise me; Frank hooked up with every girl here.

-"Heck yeah,"- Jenny giggled, -"Hey, I know someone to hook you up with."

That was it. I couldn't hear anymore, so I stood up and left. She was definitely talking about me. I was fooled this whole time by the girl I loved. It was hard to believe, but since I accidentally heard, I had no other choice but to believe it.

She thought I was a failure as a boyfriend; the only thing she loved about me was my abs. The sentiment was mutual actually, because I also liked her looks more. Deep within me though, I wanted to know her, know her like spiritually: what she liked, what she hated, her personality, all that stuff, because I was like a little kid with his first girlfriend ever, but she never let me. I figured why. She wasn't the type to get things serious. She was all game.

As I stomped, my mind raced. I was kind of… sad, let down, but not on the edge of depression. My rage and furiousness shadowed that. Why did she have to act like she loved me? If she didn't like my kisses, why did she respond to them? Why does she have to be such a slut? Oh, I wanted to know her, right? I knew now, reluctantly. She wanted to talk now, oh, we'll talk.

I reached the McDonald's and sat. I angrily tapped my foot with the floor. Suddenly, the rage I had faded and the little boy's dream crashed down. Shit, being betrayed like that hurt. I was brought down; she talked to me behind my back and since when? Then again, I was mad because I was drowning on something stupid, something that I was supposed to see coming.

I always had the problem of not being able to control or even organize my feelings.

-"Oh, look who's here,"- I heard someone above me. I looked up and met Frank sharp angry look, -"The soon to be called traitor."

I sighed, -"Call me whatever you want."- I said and looked away from him.

Frank scoffed and sat in front of me, -"Let's talk,"- He rested his elbows on the table, -"What did you do back there and why?"- I had a feeling that wasn't the only thing he'll question me about.

I really, really wasn't in the mood to explain that. I wasn't in the mood for anything. I just shrugged and gave him the shortest and simplest explanation, -"It's getting old, man. You could do better than that."- It wasn't a complete lie. But yeah, it was a lie in some part. I just wanted to get the hell out of there.

He didn't fell for that and gave me a skeptical look, -"Aw really? That didn't seem like it. Oh,"- He looked at someone behind me, -"Here comes you GF. We're gonna straighten you up."

I looked back and saw her walking sensually towards our table. She sat beside me, her leg over mines, -"What's up, hun?"- She asked me, pursing her lips together.

I looked away from her and said nothing.

Frank spoke next, -"I was just talking to him about this morning at Spanish."

-"Oh yeah,"- She nodded and then wrapped her arm around my neck, -"What's the matter, hun?"- She asked. I wondered if she referred to me or what happened in Spanish, -"Why did you stopped us?"

I sighed, -"I already told Frank."- I answered her, pushing her leg away… not gently.

She gasped at my harshness, but before she could ask me about it, Frank spoke again, -"He says it's getting old. That we should use another way to mock those losers. What do you think, hot blonde?"- He asked her. I didn't even bother pissing off at his remark of her. At this point, I didn't care.

She nodded approvingly, -"Yeah, definitely,"- She giggled and again lifted both her leg and rested them on my lap, -"As long as we drag that kid along with it. Especially him."

Frank laughed as he rested his legs on the table and leaned his body on the wall close to it, -"Obviously. We can't forget him."

I knew who they were talking about.

-"Well, it's settled then,"- Franks shoved me away with his hand, -"Now you can go make out with Trisha."

-"Uh, Frank,"- I said as I stood up, -"About yesterday at practice…, I'm sorry. I was thoughtful. I wasn't myself. It won't happen again."

He arched an eyebrow, -"Yeah, like hell you weren't,"- Some students from twelve one sat on the table with him, -"And it better not happen again or else."

I nodded to him and walked away with my girlfriend. It was almost time for class again and I wanted to talk with Trisha about a lot of stuff, but as we walked, I realized something: she cared shit about whatever I say. She wanted to make out and she thought I was a horrible kisser, what the hell? Guess what, I wasn't going to show her that. I'm going to improve myself because I still wanted her. I'll show her I'm not who she thinks I am. If we broke, it'll ruin my profile.

By the time we reached the love nest, we quickly went for it. I was doing well, or so I hoped and immediately, I forgot everything. I was trapped in her kisses. She had me on the palm of her hands and I wondered if every girl could do that. While making out, she slid up my shirt. I realized why she liked my shirt tugged in my pants.

We paused for a break and surprisingly, she was out of breath. She leaned her head closer to me, -"That was… good."- She whispered and kissed my neck.

I think now was the time when joy fills me, but it wasn't coming. Maybe she was lying… for the hundredth time.

-"Hey, isn't that the guy who put Frank on detention?"- A girl beside us said as she pointed somewhere.

I quickly perked my head. Yep. It was Marco. He was walking to Art classroom, I figured.

-"Yeah, the freckled kid,"- Another said and giggled, -"He's adorable."

God, how I hated that.

-"Sure, but because of him, we don't get to hang with Frank now,"- Another girl said angrily. I figured these girls are Frank's fans, -"Can you believe that? He was put on detention for nothin'! That guy must pay! He took him away from us!"

Put on detention for nothing… yeah, sure. OnlyI knew the opposite.

I didn't say anything and that's when the bell rang. My girlfriend and I stood and went to Art. Before we entered, she tugged my shirt back in my pants and whispered, -"Keep it fancy."- Her touch sends chills up all over my body. I didn't felt comfortable…

Inside Art, like always, cold fresh air greeted us. Dot Pixis introduced his class normally once we sat down; then, he gave instruction for today's work, -"Those who have not finish the origami must continue. The rest may start with the new project,"- He searched for some papers on his desk, -"I will be giving you the instructions. Please read carefully."- With a stack of papers on his hands, he gave one to everyone as he passed by.

I didn't bother to read the paper, I was staring intently at Marco's draw, trying to figure what the hell he was doing. He was beside me like yesterday, covering the draw. Was he hiding it from me? Aside from that, my girlfriend was doing awful comments referring to him. Since Frank wasn't here, she was taking his place. Great. I ignored her, honestly.

Though, I couldn't take it anymore, -"Trisha, leave him alone."- I whispered to her.

She shocked her head, -"What? Why? Sweet bun, he's the reason why Frank isn't with us now. He has to pay,"- I was going to answer her, but she continued, -"Frank didn't do anything and this guy was all drama queen on the principal, telling him that Frank wanted to kill him and other bullshit. Then, he told his mother too. What a coward."- That last part, she raised her voice so that Marco could hear.

I bet Frank told that huge lie. Who was the real drama queen? -"Don't you think Frank exaggerated a little?"- And it was a bit childish too, if you ask me. Aren't real men like he claim himself to be supposed to speak the truth?

She looked at me, shocked, -"What? Are you saying he lied?"

-"Oh, forget it."- I said, annoyingly. It wasn't worth wasting my saliva.

Then suddenly, everyone started forming in groups of three. I looked around, confused and lost as always. Then I noticed a paper in front of me. Great, I didn't even see Pixis giving it to me. I read it: it was a special project. We had to form a group of three students and chose a leader. Then, we had to make plans to prepare a model of our own imaginary world along with an oral presentation essay explaining why we chose to do it and why is it special. The paper explains with more details and it specifically requires imagination. It's for next month, September 25. It's written in red no model will be accepted after.

It was one hell of a project since Pixis reminded us strictly that he didn't want a crappy work and that that's why he gave us a month. It was one of those work that requires planning, time and… going to someone's house.

I haven't had a project like this in… a while, well, since last year. I had one, but I didn't do it and honestly, there's no difference with this one. I already had my arms crossed. I didn't like this stuff, too many bad experiences. Still, I had to make the group and it was already beside me.

Trisha had her arm around mines, -"You and me, hun."- She quickly said.

Pixis kept repeating that it was a group of three, but I didn't look anywhere else, until someone poked my shoulder, -"Uh, Jean, can I join you?"- Marco asked me.

I sighed, but before I could answer him, my girlfriend pulled me close to her, -"What? Him? No way. Tell him to find someone else."

I looked around, everyone was with groups already, -"There's no one else, Trish."- I whispered to her and looked back at Marco. Trisha kept whispering not to, but I didn't know anymore.

I didn't have to choose anyway, because Pixis noticed Marco was alone and he put him with us. This was going to be the worst class these weeks, until my girlfriend made it even worse, -"Hey, mister, what about Frank?"

Pixis rubbed his chin, thinking, -"Hm, he is in detention, right?"- He wasn't surprised. When he came with the answer, he pointed at us, -"Well, now that you volunteer, once he is out, he will join you."

Trisha grinned evilly. Of course, that's what she wanted. Marco's face went pale, but he still had his duty expression somewhere. These weeks to come aren't going to be the worst just for me. Frank would probably be out next week or so. Marco still had time to fix things.

During rest of the class, no one did anything on the project. They mostly finished the origami and I did nothing at all, just talk with Trisha, but she kept throwing hard insults to Marco, who probably didn't listened since he was still drawing.

I was getting annoyed at Trisha. I kept telling her to leave him be, but she wouldn't listen. If it was Frank doing it, it would've taken a different roll; with a punch or a kick maybe? -"What now? Are you defending him? Have you taken their side now?"- She began to go all crazy and surprised when I told her to shut up. I was getting really pissed off and naturally, out of control so I snapped at her and she didn't like it… at all. She thinks I should be mocking Marco too and really, I should, but I wasn't in the mood.

-"No, Trisha, I haven't,"- I sighed annoyingly, -"Just…stop it."

She gasped, -"You have taken their side, huh? I can't believe it… Jenny was right. You're one of them, a ne-"

-"Remember to choose a leader,"- Pixis said out loud, reminding us, -"I'd start now if I were you."

I quickly changed the subject and silently thanked Pixis, -"So, who's gonna be the leader?"

Trisha scoffed, crossed her arms and looked away from me, clearly bothered, -"Nerds are always the ones who gets projects done."- She glared at Marco.

On the other hand, Marco looked at me and stopped drawing, -"I think Jean should be the leader."

I gave him a skeptical look, -"What? Oh, that again,"- I remember when he mentioned that I had leadership, -"Really, I don't think I should be. Why not you? I bet you have more responsibility."

He shrugged, -"I don't kn-"

Trisha scoffed again, -"Just because one person's responsible doesn't mean he's leader. True leaders aren't cowards, they confront the enemy face to face."- Boom. Why couldn't she simply say 'you ain't a leader, you're a nerd and a loser'.Huge question: what the hell does she know about leadership and responsibility?

Marco was actually doing a good job ignoring her, but I wondered how long he could keep it up. Besides, he didn't ignore her completely and that's goes for every insult she threw at him. He looked at her, processed what she said and understood it. He swallowed it, but didn't shit it like I'd do.

Says the guy who couldn't even swallow and confront Trisha's true feeling towards him,I reminded myself and damn… it hurt.

After that, Marco lowered his head and started drawing, clearly leaving the leader choosing part to me and Trisha and neither of us did anything afterwards.

Next class was chemistry with Grisha Yaeger, Eren's dad. This class was Math's father, so you can probably guess how I can give a shit about this one too. Surprisingly, Grisha wasn't as annoying as Eren. I could stand him, but the problem was that he spoke too much and was very much like Pixis in that fancy way. Aside from that, Grisha was smart, probably the most intelligent teacher here and the… let's say, um, most stable one. The rest were all lunatics. He could also make good business with students regarding grades, class homework and other stuff. He was the kind of guy you could deal nicely with without having to scream your skin off.

-"I apologize for being absent yesterday. I had personal troubles, but what matters is that I'm here now,"- He said fancily, hands on his back. He didn't have to apologize about that. I might have told him: it's cool,-"And I have work for you."

Everyone booed, even Eren.

This hour took forever and when it was over, I flew out to court.

I couldn't believe this; Marco finished today's exercises a bit faster than me. What was he? What was he hiding?

I obviously got pissed off again. I felt like I was being challenged and because of my pride, I accepted it and naturally ended up competing with him, even though he didn't notice. At some point, he did, because sometimes he'd glance at me confused. Well, I also had a very weird face with a grin. My adrenaline was running fast. I liked competition. Liked it very much, but this guy… he makes me like it even more.

We were running and in my mind I was counting his laps and mines. I was on the lead, but he was right behind me, stepping on my foot. I couldn't let that happen, so I accelerated which didn't end well. At the end, I was soaked with sweat and out of breath. I even lost count of the laps, but I was sure I won. Speaking of the devil…, -"Jean, are you okay? You went all need-for-speed there."- He laughed.

I had my hands on my knees, letting the sweat drops fall. I cracked a small laugh, but quickly hid it. Need For Speed was a car game I used to play… a looong time ago, -"Yeah, I'm fine."- I wanted to tell him that I was better than fine, I was super fine because I won our secret match, but I didn't and kept it to myself. He probably wouldn't understand anyways.

He rested his hand on my shoulder, -"That was super cool. You ran like for ten minutes straight!"- He said cheerily.

I shrugged smugly, -"Well, reason why I'm at the soccer team."

Before he could say anything, Shadis shouted us to keep with the exercises, but Marco's face lit up, remembering something, -"Oh, that's reminds me!"- We still had five more minutes trotting, so we went for it. We were side by side trotting. I wanted to dash into a run again, into the competition, but Marco spoke to me, -"You mentioned yesterday that you took drawing classes with Marianne, right?"- I had my eyes locked on the road ahead, but in the corner of them, I saw him smile, -"Well, I'm currently taking classes with her. I mean, I've always been."

I made a harsh halt and almost fell until Marco took grasp of my arm and pulled me up, -"You do? Since when?"- I asked him. Could this be that I've met him before? Impossible. I don't remember him.

-"Since I was seven,"- His smile never left his face. He was excited about this, -"And up until today."

I scratched the back of my head, -"Well, I used to take classes with her, but that was long ago and hell, I don't remember well, maybe it isn't really her."- I shrugged and started trotting again. He was being a limpet again.

He trotted beside me once again, -"Hm, maybe it's because you took the class at a different hour?"

I shrugged again, -"Maybe."- Talking made my breathing harder and my concentration falter. I ignored him, but thankfully, he shut up. He was still excited though, that I probably took classes with him with the same teacher when we were pups. I didn't even bother try to crack my brain to see if I could remember him, but hell, I couldn't even remember the teacher fully yet. The past is in the past.

But if we somehow met in the past, then that just made our still newborn friendship even more... important? Special? I dunno. To be honest, I felt something, like a friendship or that other shit, born between us. Maybe it was because I was accomplice of his misery and saw him bullied, but shit, I see bullied kids every day. The answer came flying: Marco reminded me a lot of myself. Seeing him bullied or mocked was like seeing myself. I look at him and I literally see myself, my old self. And yeah, I used to be a nerd, a geek and a gamer.

In the end, could I really be friends with him? I'm not supposed to, I'm supposed to stay away from guys like him, but I've begun to realize things, things that surprise me and that I've should've realized earlier –no- last year…

I was absentminded and thoughtful that I stopped watching where I was going, until I hit something hard with my head. I couldn't figure what it was, but it was solid. It didn't become visible, since my vision got blurry in a rush. I could still hear well though, -"Jean! Are you alright?"- It was Marco. His voice became oh so familiar.

Suddenly, I heard more voices until I blacked out.