A/N: I hope you like this. I know still no duncney but be patient it will happen I promiseeeee. Just warming them up. Please comment on the story and sorry for any errors in the story. Enjoy ~

The next couple of days Courtney continued to avoid Duncan. he didn't know when he'd go to talk to her but he was hoping that when he did speak with her, it would be a good time instead of a bad one.

He was in the teacher's lounge waiting for his worksheets to print out when Gwen walked in. She smiled and tilted her coffee towards him as a hello.

"Hello pasty. Let me guess black coffee?" Duncan teased. He knew that thanks to the coffee run they had yesterday morning.

Unknown to Duncan Gwen could feel her heart skip a beat. She and Duncan have been hanging out with each other and he seems to be remembering things about her little by little.

"The best coffee. You wouldn't get it." Gwen smirked before walking over to the teacher's mailbox and grabbing some papers.

Duncan made a face. "If you like drinking dirt and ass juice." Making an inside joke they created yesterday.

Gwen laughed along with Duncan.

"So what are you doing with your class today?" Duncan asked as he grabbed his papers from the printer.

Gwen started talking and Duncan was listening. He heard the door behind him open but he didn't pay attention to it much since Gwen was talking.

However, in the corner of his eye, he saw mocha brown hair.

"How about you?" Gwen asked breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Uh, I'm thinking about a video with a worksheet maybe?" He said scratching the back of his neck. Trying not to stare at Courtney in front of Gwen.

Courtney was at her Mailbox grabbing something before she turned around and promptly left. She didn't even look in his direction. He desperately wanted her attention.

"Sounds boring maybe you should put a movie on-" Gwen started.

The bell rang interrupting her.

"I'll keep that in mind. See ya later doll face." Duncan said before walking out of the teacher's lounge. It was very blunt which he didn't mean for it to be but he felt like he was suffocating in there. his social battery was dying from him forcing himself to hang out with Gwen to distract himself for the last few days. It getting a bit overwhelming to see her at work and after school.

When Duncan got to his class he saw the woman that made him start hanging out with Gwen in the first place. Courtney was talking to the principal and he couldn't hear what they were talking about but it seemed serious. But as usual, the former fling was dressed professionally and yet looked stunning.

He sighed and went into his empty classroom. Duncan wasn't going to lie to himself, the only reason he was hanging out with Gwen a lot lately was because he was using her as a distraction. He just figured she wanted friends or something. They clicked really well surprisingly.

Duncan could actually see them as being good friends. He just hoped that them fucking wouldn't ruin that possibility.

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Dylan was talking with his friends about some upcoming party going around the student body as they walked the school hallway to class.

"Yeah everyone is invited, bro. I know a lot of people that are going too." One of his friends James said.

"Like who?" Dylan asked. He wasn't hyped up for the party like his friends were. He wasn't a big-event type of guy.

" well, there's Jacob, Candace, serenity, Luke, Jerry, Jason, Ari-" his other friend droned on. One of his friends noticed he still wasn't interested in this party at all.

"Selena is also going to right?" His close friend Penelope says casually but knows that would get Dylan's attention. And it did, Dylan's ears perked up, and seemed suddenly interested in the party.

"I didn't know she was going," Dylan said casually. Dylan looked very excited about the party now. He took out his phone and texted Duncan asking if he could go.

" yeah. But she's going with a guy named Brock or something." Another one of their other friends, Kingston piped up.

Dylan didn't mind that. He just needed to make another good impression, he thought putting his phone in his pocket after sending the text.

"When is the-"

"Aye Dylan!" A boy called out.

Dylan looked over questioningly to see Scott and his friends approaching Dylan and his friends. "Ugh, I swear they won't leave me alone."

"What happened?" Penelope asked confused and slightly worried. She knew that these boys gave off the vibes that she could only describe as unhinged.

"You'll see," Dylan muttered before facing the boys who walked up to them.

"We need to talk now. Let's go." Scott demanded sounding aggravated and frustrated at Dylan. He didn't like that his classmate was scamming him or avoiding him.

"I don't feel like going or talking to you." Dylan shrugged not caring about what he wanted to speak about. If none of them got the hint yet, that was a problem.

Scott stepped up to Duncan but one of Dylan's friends James stepped up by Dylan.

"Watch who the fuck you're walking up on," James said roughly not having one of his close friends be outnumbered and intimidated by Scott.

Dylan smirked and the ginger-haired boy saw and got pissed off.

"Look you need to get that phone. Or we're going to have a problem." Scott stepped up to Dylan and James with his boys behind them. The rest of Dylan's friends stepped up to support their friend. Dylan frowned getting pissed off.

"I already went to her classroom and I'm not doing that again. I don't give a fuck how you feel about it." Dylan said with irritation but confidently stood his ground.

"We didn't pay 150 for you to not do shit. We want that phone one way or another or you're going to regret it!" Scott fumed.

A crowd was forming around them as the tension got heated between the two teenage Boys.

"That's too fucking bad. What are you going to do put porn on your phone again? Eat dirt from the field again?" Dylan scoffed not being scared of his classmate. He's seen and dealt with worse.

Suddenly an adult stepped into the circle in between the raging students. He looked up and saw it was Courtney and another adult, a teacher's aide he didn't know.

He immediately saw Scott and his friends being yelled at by Courtney and being told to go to the office. While the male teacher's aide told him to go to the office as well.

He heard the teacher's aide tell his friends that were with him to go too since they witnessed the whole thing.

He hated Scott and his friends but he was scared Courtney would find out and it would further ruin things for Courtney and his brother

Courtney walked away to her class, while the teacher's aide Mr. Olsen escorted all of them to the office.

The principal pulled Dylan into his office to talk first since he was the most calm. Dylan held back trying to not get in trouble when he explained his side of the story. He just hoped Scott was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. After a bit Scott and his friends one by one were interviewed before the principal left the office on to campus. He hoped he wasn't telling Duncan in person. That would've made things worse.

The secretary called Dylan over to her desk and gave him a sticky note with a room number on it. It was the detention class. Dylan huffed but walked over to the room leaving Scott and his friends glaring at him.

Soon the bell rang and Dylan just sighed feeling hopeless.

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Duncan was told about Dylan being in the office for a verbal altercation in the quad during class. He couldn't go down unless someone came to break him from the class so he unfortunately had to wait.

He had a brief call with the principal however and the principal said due to the nature of why they were fighting he might be suspended or expelled.

Duncan didn't know what the fuck was going on and didn't know why Dylan was ignoring his texts but he was going to lose his shit if it didn't get solved. He checked his phone again and just saw the last text was him asking to go to an upcoming party later this week and that was over an hour ago.

Finally, lunch came around and Duncan immediately started going to the door to see his brother and the principal. When he opened the door he saw Courtney. She had been reaching to knock on the door.

"C-Courtney?" He asked shocked. The timing she had was horrible.

"Yes. I need to talk to you about something important." Courtney said to him with a serious demeanor.

Duncan needed to see his brother and figure out what happened. As much as he desperately wanted to make things right with Courtney, he had to take care of his brother.

"Can we do this after I'm done with something? It's something with Dylan-"

"It's about Dylan. Nothing else." Courtney says to him catching Duncan's attention. Duncan stops but lets Courtney in and closes the door.

"What's going on then?" The older brother asked concerned about his brother. But also he was worried. It must've been bad if out of all the people on campus Courtney was talking to him.

Courtney sat at a desk and sighed. Duncan briefly thought how funny it was seeing her at a desk but quickly dismissed that thought, there were more important matters.

"So apparently Scott, Clay, Cletus, Jeremy, and Fernando got angry because I confiscated their phones for playing pornography in the class...they told Dylan they'd pay him 150 to steal my phone to give to them. Apparently, they were planning to steal my phone and see if I had any nudes or anything incriminating about me and post it online. Dylan agreed to do it." Courtney explained with a blank expression.

Duncan's blood ran cold. His brother?

"But Dylan says that when he saw it was me he backed out of it and was just trying to get out of there which I don't know if that's true or not. But I did catch him in my class. I thought he snuck in but I was wrong clearly..." Courtney said and Duncan could feel how practically violated she felt.

And Duncan felt disappointed and rage at his brother. He didn't raise him to act that way. He didn't raise him to steal from people or to ruin his future over something like 150

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know what got into him-"

Duncan realized that when Dylan came to him about Courtney having a kid and being engaged he had to of heard Courtney's conversation from that. He violated her privacy.

"I just wanted to explain. Before I explain the principle is giving me the power to decide their punishments." Courtney said slowly.

Duncan's heart stopped for a second. He didn't know if that was bad. A thing or a good thing. He wouldn't lie to himself though. He was very fearful of Dylan's future at this school.

"I just came here 'cause I want you to know that Whatever we had going on in the past and things that happened other than that won't affect my decision of consequence," Courtney informed him.

Duncan's mouth went dry for a second and he nodded. He didn't know what to say to her. Agreeing to a plan like that even if he backed out of it was uncalled for and disgusting. He was going to have a serious talk with his brother.

"Thanks for letting me know..." Duncan says.

Courtney didn't say anything. She just turned around and walked out the door leaving Duncan alone. Duncan went to the principal's office to see Scott and his friends angrily sitting at the waiting chairs.

"Duncan!" The secretary called. Duncan looked over to see the principal and the secretary. She was at her desk while he stood by her looking into the computer at something before he stood up and focused on the teacher.

"You can go in my office I'll go get Dylan." The principal said before he walked down the hallway.

Duncan went into his boss's office and sat in a black leather seat. There was another one right next to him and he knew Dylan was going to be sitting there. The principal had a big red chair with a mahogany desk. He wasn't sure what Dylan's excuse or reasons were but he hoped they could explain his actions.

Soon Duncan heard the door open. Duncan turned to see Dylan and the principal walking in. The principal closed the door and gestured for his brother to sit next to him. Duncan noticed Dylan shift awkwardly in his seat.

Once the principal sat down Duncan immediately started.

"What did he do."

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Dylan sat in the detention room feeling extreme dread. There were about 4 other people in here with him. He saw all of them and knew enough why they were in here.

Kyrie miller. He was a sophomore and he was known for being the class clown. He always gets kicked out of class for being disruptive and disrespectful. Some kids laugh some kids don't. It's a never-ending cycle.

Then it was Sandra Willis. She was caught smoking in the bathroom with her friend Sarah. They were known for being potheads and vapers.

The last one was Kevin. They were nonbinary. They'd always be in their world which often left Kevin to be kicked out of class and straight to the detention room.

As the classes went on he felt like more kids were going to come in. Dylan has been in here a handful of times. Nothing too severe, however. The worst he's been in here for was changing the announcements at the beginning of the school year. Which was like a month ago now.

"Dylan. Come with me." A voice broke through Dylan's thoughts. He jolted and looked behind him to see the principal.

Dylan got up feeling nervous but followed him. Soon they walked towards the principal's office and saw Duncan wasn't standing by the office. Dylan knew he was going to see Duncan eventually but he was hoping he could get more time.

However, when he walked into the office he saw his brother sitting there already waiting.

Dylan saw Duncan turn to face them and Dylan nearly thought about vomiting or shitting his pants. Duncan looked so pissed, he might've just done both if that's what it would take to leave the room.

Dylan sat down as the principal closed the door and he shifted in his seat and began twiddling his thumbs.

Once the principal sat down Duncan immediately started.

"What did he do," Duncan said firmly.

The principal sighed. "Your brother is facing a harsh suspension and there is a possibility of expulsion. From what I've gathered miss. mallory confiscated a group of boys' phones, the same ones that Dylan was verbally arguing with outside in the quad. For watching inappropriate videos in class. The boys wanted to get revenge by stealing the teacher's phone and exploiting all of her personal information, mainly inappropriate photos or whatever incriminating material they could find. They went to your brother to do it and he agreed-"

"Wait! I didn't know they were going to do that with it and I didn't even know it was miss. Mallory-" Dylan interjected trying to defend himself.

"Be quiet." Duncan snapped and Dylan immediately stopped talking not wanting to put gasoline in the fire.

The principal looked slightly taken aback by Duncan's response to his brother. And the way he listened to him. However, he continued. "He agreed to do it for 150. He snuck into a classroom but didn't steal it. However from what Dylan has told me the boys have been harassing him about it for weeks. Miss Mallory felt very violated by what the boys did especially since she said she was having a personal conversation while Dylan was in the classroom unknown to her."

Dylan could feel hours older brother giving him looks and he just wanted to disappear.

"Please forgive me, I will have a serious conversation with him about his behavior and who he associates with," Duncan says in a firm tone towards his brother.

"I appreciate it. But as far as today we are undecided about what we're going to do with everyone involved."

"Whatever consequences he gets he will have to understand them and learn from his actions," Duncan says.

"Thanks for understanding. However, we're going to send him home and we'll let you know by the end of the day. If you need I'll get a sub for your class." The principal says to Duncan.

Duncan nods and starts talking to the principal however Dylan zoned out thinking about how screwed he was. He got Duncan sent home.

"Let's go, Dylan." His older brother said before leading the younger brother out to the car.

The car ride was silent and Dylan knew what that meant. It was gonna be hell when he got home.

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"I just don't get it Lashawna. It's like he's starting to be into me one second the next he's cold you know?" Gwen said into the phone.

Gwen was at home and she sent a text to him during school hours but never got a text back. When she got home she called and he sent her to voicemail before texting her that he won't be able to hang out the next couple of days.

"Maybe he's busy?" Lashawna tried to be optimistic about Gwen's feelings.

"We've been hanging out for the last few days. Hell, we even have an inside joke. This is annoying I feel like I'm in high school again and it's ridiculous. We're adults." Gwen said frustratedly. She just didn't understand how someone could switch so fast.

"Maybe something happened today? Have you spoken to him?"

"Yeah in the teacher's lounge. It was the normal jokes teasing whatever but then he suddenly just like snapped I guess? I don't know Courtney walked in and suddenly he was there but he wasn't. Even when she left she didn't even acknowledge us. And then when I was gonna continue talking to him and ask him to hang out he just said bye got to go. I mean the bell rang but it was so different."

"You should think about it less. You said they don't speak so I think you're overlooking trying to find a connection when there isn't." Lashawna says.

"You think so... I don't know," Gwen says.

"Okay stop by his house. Bring him food or something and make an excuse to talk to him. Maybe you'll get an answer from there?" Her friend suggests. Soon the phone call ended and she knew what she wanted to do. But she wasn't sure if she was going to go through with it.

She picked up her phone and texted Duncan

Gwen: R you ok?

After twenty minutes she didn't get an answer.

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Courtney pinched the bridge of her nose in her class after school. She was at her desk grading papers. She looked at the clock and seen that the principal would be here soon.

Dylan as far as she seems was a bright kid with alot going for him. She didn't know if she was being a sucker cause she still cared for him thanks to Duncan. She pulled up his file and seen that both his parents are dead, and there's no other people on his file besides Duncan.

She didn't know she was taking care of him all on his own, she kind of thought he was exaggerating. They never really talked about their living situation in detail. However Cortney didn't want to make things harder for Duncan by expelling him from school nor did she want something so harsh on his permanent record.

Courtney thought on the other hand what if he was in on it and was lying. What if he was trying to get revenge on her for the way she had treated Duncan ?

There was too many options to think of in such little time. Should she expel Scott and his friends?

Courtney was cut out of her spiraling thoughts when it was a few light knocks on the door. Before she could catch up with reality the door opened revealing the principal.

"Hey I'm here to discuss the disciplinary action against the boys. Do you have your answer yet?"

"Y-yes." Courtney said not feeling confident in her decision she was thinking of.

"Okay what is it?" He said before out before pulling out his phone.

Courtney took a deep breath and looked the principal in the eye.

"I think Dylan should be-"

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A/N: Tell me what you think and how you feel. I'm excited to see how you'll react and I'm writing the next chapter to the affair. I'm close to being done so enjoy!!!