Remember Me

Chapter 30: Fear the Reaper

My whole body ached. I didn't think I'd feel like this till I was older like twenty-five or something. Why am I even here? I'm supposed to only be here for moral support. Why do I always get roped into these things?

"Good! Now the other side," Mrs. Parrish instructed.

Tryouts haven't even started. We're still in gym class but Coach is sick so we have a free period. Usually that means the class just dicks around until the end of the period but we have Mrs. Parrish, the girls gym teacher supervising both classes today. She split the class between the ones who wanted to play indoor basketball and the other to practice yoga, which is basically just stretching. Obviously the guys picked basketball over yoga except for me and Carver. So while our class and a few of the girls went off to play basketball on the other side of the gym, we were over here stretching on these semi-soft half inch foam mats.

So let me reiterate, instead of playing some sport that I definitely have no eye coordination for, so thank the universe I'm not in that hell hole, but we're instead stretching because Carver said he needs to stretch before running. I don't know which one's worse but I sure as hell know that I don't like this. Carver always talks about how he usually stretches before he goes out for runs and then he brought up that I should start stretching too so I don't get hurt while we do sexy things together. I don't know why I need to start now. I sure as hell didn't do them before and I'd like to think I'm doing pretty well for someone with little to no experience. Sure maybe I injured myself maybe once out of all the other times we've done it but I'll take my chances. Besides if it's anything like what we're doing now, I'd much rather chance a sex injury. At least I'll get pity service from the hottest guy in school, well the whole universe.

"Isn't this great?" Carver asked with his hands and feet pressed flat against his mat, his perky butt pointing straight in the air, and his head dangling as he focused on his pose. Mrs. Parrish calls it the downward dog but I don't think it looks anything like a dog. Maybe a triangle, the most uncomfortable triangle.

"Yup, so glad," I said sarcastically panting just trying to stay in the same position as him and the rest of the class, only to falter a couple seconds into the pose. "Am I the only one in pain? Is this supposed to hurt?"

Exhaling out my frustration, I could hear the guys snickering on the other side of the court. When I looked up, I saw a cluster of them pointing and laughing at us, maybe it was just me honestly. I seem to always be the butt of a joke. Even with Brock transferring out, the majority of the guys in class still have a similar mindset.

"Ignore them, they don't deserve your attention," Carver said.

"Kinda hard when they're all pointing and laughing at me."

"Just focus on me, focus on my voice. Let my voice cleanse your mind of any negativity. You can do this."

"Okay, if you say so," I sighed. First I got on all fours and then slowly slid my feet forward until they were pressed flat against the mat. Then I pushed my hip up, straightening my legs and letting my head hang low. I exhaled slowly and shaky as I tried to keep the pose, but I can already feel my body buckling after a few seconds. "I-I don't think I can hold it. It hurts. Why does everything allegedly good for you have to hurt?"

"Try bending your knees slightly and lift your heels off of the mat, shift your weight to the balls of your feet. That might be easier if this is your first time," he suggested.

"You talk like you've done this before," I said as I did as he instructed. Well what do you know? It worked. "Wait have you done this before? You're not like some secret yoga master, are you?"

"I think the word you're looking for is yogi but uh yeah, I used to do this all the time with my mom. She would do a couple of poses right before work and I would often times watch her and then one day she asked me out of the blue if I would like to join. It was a lot of fun. I kind of forgot just how much I missed doing this," he said smiling as he reminisced on a past memory.

"If you like it so much, why'd you stop?"

"I-I wasn't allowed to do a lot of girly things growing up with my dad. When he was around, I had to be a man. That meant doing things with my hands and a lot of time that meant fixing the things that he broke in his fits of rage. Standing around doing yoga, not the manliest thing out there according to him."

"Yoga isn't girly. A lot of guys do yoga," I said. Even with Carver's suggestion earlier, I was still struggling to stay in this ridiculous position. "And by a lot of guys, I mean not me. Clearly not me."

"It's your first time. You'll get it. I'll make sure of it."

"Wait, you don't mean to tell me that you want us to do this more often do you?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. What, did you think I'd let you out this easy? Have we met?"

"But Carver," I whined.

"No buts, I need you for moral support."

"Yeah moral support meaning I stay on the sidelines while you do all the work and show off your talents."

"Not to me. Look we always do stuff you like. Maybe instead of immediately passing this off, why don't you just try to enjoy it? I don't mean to come off like a jerk and putting you on the spot like this but I would love it if you would just try to do stuff I like too. I always do stuff you like without complaining. Why can't you do the same for me?"

He's got a point. Hell he even got himself into gaming and that's something I never thought he'd be up for.

"Fine, I'll do yoga and maybe even start going on runs with you, if that'll make you happy, but that's it. Be warned though, I'm gonna complain the whole time."

"That's okay. Even when you complain, I'm happy. Th-That came out wrong. What I meant is that no matter what's going on, I'm happiest when I'm with you. So even if you're miserable and hate me for pushing you to exercise with me, I'm happy cause it's you. You make me happy."

"Well I can't hate you now after you said that. I'll just call this yoga running thing a free trial period. Even though I'm pretty sure I'm subscribed for life now."

"Don't act like you don't love it. If you keep doing stuff like this with me, you can learn how to do the splits eventually."

"The splits?! Are you crazy? I'm just trying to stay alive."

"And you will. The splits are like an added bonus."

"To whom?"

"To me," he winked flashing that infectious smile of his.

"Perv."

For the rest of class, Mrs. Parrish switched up the positions every couple of minutes or so, each one with a new set of challenges for my weak body. I have a feeling I'm going to be a lot more sore by the time track tryouts happen. Thankfully he's the only one trying out because I'm pretty sure I will not be able to run after this. It wasn't too bad, I had Carver and his motivational chatter throughout this hellish limbo. Made the whole thing less miserable and all together kinda enjoyable...to an extent. I don't think I'll ever enjoy exercise no matter what benefits my body and mind will reap.

"Alright ladies, that's it for today! Carver, Fang, it was nice of you to join us today. If you boys are up for it, we'd love for you two to join us again. I think you made the girls feel a lot better about themselves Fang, isn't that right ladies?" Mrs. Parrish clamored the girl's class. They all giggled in unison much to my displeasure. "I'm kidding Fang. You were great too!"

"Oh ha ha, I'm sure I'll be back to torture myself while giving you guys a motivational demonstration of what not to do," I said sarcastically.

"We'll be waiting," she answered back as the class walked back to the girls' locker room.

"Always the butt of a joke," I sighed, my head hung low.

"Hey come on now, don't say that about my boyfriend. You're much more than just a butt. You're the butt to my heart," he joked.

"I don't even know what that means but sure I'm the butt to your heart. Weirdo," I said grabbing our bags off of the bleachers.

"Hey can I have drink of water?"

"Yeah sure," I said pulling our giant sixty-four ounce water jug out of my bag. "Here you go. I made sure to fill it up at the good fountain by our lockers."

"Aw babe, you didn't have to go that far. It's just water," he said flipping the plastic straw lid up, sipping on the straw.

"Just water? You do know the other fountains are disgusting right? The one in the art hall is always muddied up with the colors of the rainbow, the one here in the gym is always clogged with paper towels, and you don't want to know what they do to the one in the science hall," I said shuddering.

"Well thanks, I appreciate it. Thanks for looking out for me," he said then went back to slurping down more water.

"Easy there camel. How much water do you need?"

"I have to stay hydrated!"

"Yeah I get that but I've refilled this monster like three times now. I think you're good. You've had to pee like twenty times too."

His face scrunched up as he stared at me while still continuing to drink water. I think he was trying to spite me. After a few more sips, he pulled the jug away and handed it to me. It was so light.

"Okay so refill number four, coming up!"

His only response was to glare and stick his tongue out.

"Well we have some time before tryouts. What do you want to do in the meantime?" he asked slinging his bag against his back.

"Maybe you should pee? Ya know, before I have to refill this beast again."

"Ha ha ha, I'm being serious."

"Uh I don't know. How much time do we have exactly?" I asked grunting as laid my bag strap against my shoulder. God this is heavy. It was fine with just my textbooks but now with both of our school clothes in here and that incredibly large jug, it's ridiculously heavy.

"You okay? Want me to hold that for you?" he offered.

"No, no, I got it. Just need to...readjust," I huffed adjusting the strap till it was sorta bearable. "See! All good. Now what were you saying?"

"An hour."

"Huh?"

"An hour. We have an hour till tryouts," he answered. "You sure you don't want me to carry that?"

"An hour?! What the hell? What are we gonna do for an hour?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe we could revisit rainbow road," he suggested fishing his Switch out of his bag. "So how about it? You ready to get your butt whooped again?"

"I can't believe I'm turning my boyfriend into a gamer," I said deadpan. "Not that I'm complaining though. And I seem to remember that I was the one who could stay on the road while someone else kept flying off the edges of the road."

"Only because you wouldn't tell me how to drift! But I've practice and I think I got it now."

"I did too tell you how to drift. You just didn't listen."

Carver and I raced back to the bleachers just so we could start round three of our little gaming competition. Since school was out already, it's not like us getting caught with such a thing would get us into trouble. Besides the basketball team already had started hitting the court, dribbling around the court, their shoes skidding across the glossy wooden slats. No one's even gonna notice us gaming on the sidelines. As soon as Carver switched the console on, we heard a loud familiar voice from across the gym.

"Fang! Carv!" she yelled.

Without having to look up, we knew exactly who it was. Our other mouse to our three blind mice or our amigo to our three amigos, as Carver likes to say. I don't know, I thought three blind mice fit better with our dynamic.

"I should have known I'd find you two here. I went all the way to your mom's office thinking you guys were hanging out with her after class," she said out of breath. She was dressed in a pretty conservative school uniform. A plain white blouse paired with a navy blue blazer cinched at the waist and a baby blue plaid, knee-length skirt with opaque black knee-high stockings paired with those light brown sheepskin fur boots. Her hair was braided tightly in neat, even rows and tied in a pastel blue bow in a high pony tail with the ends that just barely laid against her lower backside.

"Someone's dressed fancy today," Carver commented.

"We all literally have first period together Carv and lunch! How did you not notice this earlier?" she asked. "We literally talked about it in first period!"

"Yeah, don't you remember? I brought up how she must be in trouble cause she only ever wears this when she's in trouble."

"Uh," he paused looking up to think about the past six or so hours.

"Babe, you know you don't have to actually think about it. I think we all know the answer, right Lulu?"

"Obvi, the only person he has room up there is you."

"Hehe, sorry, the only person I'm focused on now. Only one who keeps me going and sane," he said leaning up against me. "How are you and Kiko? Still ignoring her or as I like to call it, leave her yearning for more than just breadcrumbs?"

"Excuse me? Carv, I am not ignoring my girlfri—I mean Kiko."

"Could have fooled me. You can't even call her your girlfriend. And it's not like we ever see her."

"I'm just really busy with the science fair and work. She understands."

"Does she though?" I asked. "We all go to the same school. You two can make time to see each other here if you guys can't outside of class."

"Okay, I really don't appreciate this interrogation guys. If you have to know, she's busy too cramming for entrance exams, but since you guys suddenly care so much about my love life all of a sudden, I'll text her right now," she caved irritated. She whipped out her phone and her eyes widened. "Whoa! When did I miss all these texts?"

She looked up and caught us looking down at her. My brows were raised in a suggestive manner, Carver just stared her down.

"You know what, I'll text her later," she said placing her phone face down next to the console. "Now for the matter at hand. I brought the drone today. I thought we could run a field test today."

"Field test what? You guys haven't even started tinkering with it. Carver's grandparents just bought it a few days ago. Do you even know how to use that thing?"

"No, but it shouldn't be too hard, right?" she said confidently. "And if it's not, I'm sure Carv here can modify it or whatever, right?"

"I'll do my best!" he grinned.

"Now that's what I like to hear!" she yelled happily patting him on the back.

"Oh jeez. You two are rather confident. I'll do what I do best, watch from the sidelines. Ya know, safe and sound from any and all incoming danger that comes with science."

"Uh uh, you're a part of this team too Fang. If all else fails, I need you to run up and retrieve the drone just in case we crash it into the ground."

"Ugh, I have to run too? I might as well tryout for Track too while I'm at it."

"I wouldn't mind," he said giving me a look. "We could race."

"Ugh!" I sighed loudly. "I hate it here."

"You love us. Quit lying," Lulu said pulling me in for a hug. "You too Carv! Come here, big guy!"

"Let...me...go," I whispered only because the life was being squeezed out of me. I forgot just how strong Lulu is. Why does everyone I know hug so tightly?

"One more squeeze," Lulu squealed squeezing even tighter.

"I...can't...breathe," I admitted. Our faces were pressed up against each other. I swear our faces were about to merge together if we stayed like this any longer. With one restricted inhale I slithered out of her death grip. "Jeez, this is why we don't hug all the time."

"You act like you were going to die, Fang. You were fine."

"I was this close to passing out," I said showing her the milometer gap between my thumb and pointer finger.

"Drama queen," she joked sticking her tongue out.

"My drama queen," Carver sweetly added wrapping his arms around me, our cheeks pressed firmly against each other.

"Okay, this I don't mind."

"Ugh, you two are grossly cute," Lulu said side eyeing us.

"You know, you could be grossly cute with you know who too," Carver added all smiles.

"Mm I'll think about it," she shrugged. She dropped her book bag onto the bleachers and pulled out the drone, still in its box. "So are we going to take this baby out for a test drive?"

"You had that in your bag this whole time?" I asked.

"No, it was in my locker. I got it after class...when no one was looking. Don't want any prying eyes, if you know what I mean."

"Won't Principal Weathers' have a problem with us flying a drone on school property?" I asked even though we were just moments away from gaming on school property. No one cares about double standards between friends right?

"Not if we do it in a secluded spot out back. And if for whatever reason he tries to say anything about it, I'll just say it's for Robotics club."

"But we don't have a Robotics club."

"He doesn't know that. I doubt he keeps track on what clubs his school offers. Only cares about sports and the money trail from the PTA and bleeding the cash cows dry. No one's going to care about our little project."

"If you say so," I said.

I believe her, trust me I do, but the angel on my shoulder is telling me otherwise. If we get caught, I don't know how we're gonna get out of it. But Lulu's the expert of getting out of trouble, for the most part. She hasn't exactly mastered the art of eluding her grandmother. Probably because Grams is actually privy to Lulu's mischievousness. She's had a lot of practice too with Dante. That woman's got a lot of patience, at least with me she does. It wears pretty thin with Lulu and even thinner with Dante. I don't know how she does it. I usually cave with either of them.

The three of us walked out back towards and on our way there, literally just opened the back door leading out and we ran into my mom who was a little worse for wear. She was beyond frazzled. Apparently she was on her way to come find us. Lulu may have instilled a small ball of fear into her when she was looking for us.

"Oh my God! There you guys are! Lulu, thank God you found them!" My mom said exasperated, hugging me tightly.

"Sorry Miss Winters," Lulu grimaced. "I made you worry for no reason. They were in the gym the whole time."

"You did what?" I asked shocked as I could feel the air being squeezed out of me again.

"Yeah, sorry. I'll text next time."

"Did you hear that? You can let go of me now, Mom."

"Hold on, one more minute."

"Any longer and I'll pass out," I yelped.

"I think I have a solution," Carver cut in, tapping my mom on the shoulder.

"Save...me."

"Carver, honey, I like you but I'm sorry, you're not taking me away from my—."

"I was actually wondering if I could join in?"

"What?!" I yelped glaring right at his cute yet smug face.

"Bring it in!" my mom encouraged motioning with her left arm.

I took that as my only chance to dip as her guard was down and there was now an opening for me to slip out. However, I wasn't fast enough because Carver quickly sealed off the gap.

"And where do you think you're going?" he chuckled as he pushed me back. "Lu, get in here!"

"Yes!" she shrieked excitedly.

"Okay, I think I've reached my hugging quota! Let me go now!"

"Ah ah ah, not yet," Carver sweetly cooed.

"You're all so embarrassing! I hate...you all," I whispered as the triad hugging deathtrap smothered me.

Not long after this hug-fest, I retold her that I was staying after for Track tryouts. She freaked out, not in the way that she was against me trying out, but more surprised that I was trying out. She calmed down after I told her that I wasn't and I was only going to support Carver. That made much more sense to her. She even laughed at herself over her overreaction. She then offered to come with us in garnering extra support but by the look on our faces she knew instantly that this was more our thing. There wasn't any bad blood or anything. Since we were staying longer, she told us that she was going to hang out with Mr. Lane for the time being. His classroom window directly faces out towards the track field so I think that was her way of letting us know that she'd be watching even if it was from the sidelines inside instead. Before letting us go on our way, she wished Carver the best of luck. He was appreciative of her support and they shared a couple silent nods. I don't know what that was all about but it really lit a fire under his ass, like he was really pumped up now.

The three of us found a secluded spot not too far away from the track field. While the two of them were unboxing the drone, I sat underneath a giant Elm tree with my back against the base of the trunk with my right leg stretched long and my left leg bent underneath resembling the number four. If there's anything I'm going to avoid it's stretching for any more than I already have today. I made sure to stay relatively close by to the two of them. I was far enough where I wasn't in the way but close enough to just barely hear what they were saying. It wasn't really all that crystal clear but I could make out most of the words leaving the rest to be filled in by me. I know them pretty well so it wouldn't be hard to figure out what they're talking about even with missing context.

I could make out most of their conversation. Carver continued to tease Lulu about her relationship status and was trying to get Lulu to text her to hang out with us while Lulu was deflecting the whole time and trying to keep the focus on the drone. It seemed like she was trying to ignore him by reading the instruction manual for the drone. Even though he was engaged in their little conversation, he managed to keep his attention on me throughout. For the most part, he would stay focused on their conversation but then ever so slightly he'd quickly look up and watch me for a few seconds. In my head, I played it cool. I didn't look back but let me promise you, I was blushing the whole time. I don't even know why either. We're pretty well established as a couple so for me to be easily flustered like this with him just looking at me is pretty...embarrassing.

"Thank god I'm not part of that messy situation," I said to myself.

"What did you say baby? I can't hear you from here!" Carver yelled.

"N-Nothing! Just talking to myself!" I yelled back sitting up straight, tensed up. Man, the ears on that guy. How the hell did he hear me from all the way back here? Sharply exhaling, I leaned back against the trunk of the tree only to now realize that there were splashes of white with black ashes. That's right folks, I was leaning against bird poop! "Oh my god!"

"Babe! What's wrong?" Carver yelled again.

"Oh nothing, just sat up against bird poop! I give nature one chance and they do this to me!" I complained standing up brushing off the back of my shirt, grossed out the whole time. I'm not sure if I actually got any residue on me but it can't hurt. Still gross though. Once I was satisfied after twisting and turning trying to see if I could see any speckles of white smeared along the back of my "My Chemical Romance" t-shirt, and not being able to see anything, I sighed giving up and walked back to them. "So how does it—Oh my god!"

Just as I reintroduced myself into our inner circle, I was knocked back down to the ground hard as the drone zipped past me. It was mere inches away from my face and I'm pretty sure the propeller on that thing clipped a bit of my hair.

"Warn a guy before you blind someone with that, will ya?!" I yelped from the ground.

"I got you," Carver said helping me back up. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I scoffed. "Butt hurts though."

"I can help you with that," he winked.

"Oh no you will not!" I said raising my voice and playfully pushing him away. "Get your mind out of the gutter and try to stay focused for a second."

"I am focused. I can multitask," he winked again.

"Ugh, what am I gonna do with you?" I sighed.

"I can think of a few things."

"If you two don't quit it with the lovey dovey gay bi boy stuff I will bring the drone back there and cause a scene," Lulu said as she continued to play with it.

"Please don't," I whined revisiting the trauma that just occurred. "Pretty sure my butt is bruised so I'd rather not fall on it again thank you very much."

"I'll catch you this time. So don't worry about next time," Carver said rubbing my shoulder.

"Promise?"

"Promise," he said confidently, planting a kiss on my forehead and holding me close.

"You two done yet?" Lulu asked with her back facing us, still piloting the drone as it zoomed about around the three of us.

I looked up at Carver and he in turn looked down, winking at me. I smiled and blushed.

"Never," we both answered defiantly.

"Ugh," she growled. "I love you guys, but you're too cute for comfort."

"Well we could ask Kiko to join us. She's probably still painting in the art room," Carver mentioned. "What do you think babe? Should we call her?"

"I've got a better idea," I said stepping away from him for a second. With one deep breath, I screamed at the top of my lungs, "KIKO!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Lulu screeched, twisting her body around to face us.

"Um...I thought I was helping?" I grinned mischievously.

"Yeah were absolutely just helping," Carver laughed.

Lulu glared at us both with her arms crossed. Her soured expression was pretty scary I must admit but it only last a second because the drone she was controlling earlier had zipped around then inevitably crashed through Principal Weathers' office window.

"Oh no," Lulu gasped. "You guys don't think he's still here, do you?"

"Well he could—."

I froze as I saw a shadowy figure standing right by the very same window. Shit.

"Maybe we should run," I suggested staring down at the shadowy figure. "Yeah, we should definitely run."

"If we run, we'll look guilty," Carver added.

"If we stay here, we are guilty. We're literally within the trajectory of the drone's path!" Lulu panicked.

As we started to argue, I noticed in the corner of my eye that the figure still hadn't moved. I don't know about anyone else but there's absolutely no way someone wouldn't have moved after an occurrence like that. I myself would have jumped stricken with shock or something. But nope, this figure stood as still as possible. It was a little eerie.

"Hey guys?" I said, my eyes still locked on the shadowy figure.

"Hmm? What's up babe?"

"So Weathers hasn't moved since the crash. Anyone else think that's weird?" I asked pointing at the figure in the window.

"Huh, that's odd. Weathers' isn't exactly the type who doesn't scare easy," Lulu said. "Carv, why don't you take a closer look?"

"Him?! Why not you? It's your fault!"

"Me?! If we're going to be pointing the blame at anyone, it's Fang! He's the one who started it by yelling her name! I wouldn't have gotten distracted had you not done that!"

"Okay but shouldn't you have landed that thing before taking your eyes off of it?"

"Excuse me?"

As the two of started bickering back and forth continuously placing the blame on each other, I walked towards the window only to stop when I realized what we were dealing with.

"I don't think we have anything to worry about," I said softly.

"What are you on about?" Lulu asked.

"It's a cardboard cutout of Chloe's dad," I said pointing up towards the cutout.

The two of them looked up at where I was pointing and nodded.

"I know Weathers is a simp for the mayor but this is a little much, don't you think?" Lulu cringed. "He's acting like a teenage girl."

"No, you're right. This is borderline crazy," I agreed.

"So what are we going to do now?" Carver asked.

"Obviously we're going to have to get our stuff back," she said nonchalantly.

"Wait what?! But it's in Weathers' office. How in the hell are we going to get in there?" I panicked.

"I don't know but I'm not about to let my sentencing get any worse than it is now. If Grams finds out about this, I'm going to be buried six feet under by tomorrow morning."

"Carver, can you talk her out of this?" I whined.

"Usually I would but if my grandparents find out about this, I think I'll be dead in the ground too," he gulped.

"No way! Your grandparents are actually cool. I bet you can get away with literally anything."

"I don't think they'll appreciate us using our science fair project to crash into our principal's window though. They're not big fans of recklessness."

"Okay but what about tryouts?" I asked trying to steer his attention back to the main point of why we stayed after school ended.

Carver looked at his phone and then said, "We have twenty minutes. And by the looks of it, nothing's even set up yet so I think we're in the clear. So don't you worry your pretty little head. If things go sour, I'll make sure you don't get any of the blame."

"As much as I appreciate it, you've had enough trouble for one year already. So I'd rather you not take the hit for me if we get caught. I'd rather stand with you than behind you, if that makes sense."

"I appreciate you so much," he smiled then kissed the top of my head.

"You can take the blame for me Carver" Lulu cooed while batting her eyelashes.

"Hah! Good one. I'm only responsible for this cutie," he said ruffling my hair. "Sorry, but you're on your own."

"Ugh great," she said dryly. "Well should we get going? The longer we stay here, the shorter our window of opportunity gets."

I don't even know why we did this but as we were heading back inside our school, we sneakily crept alongside the back of the building like in one of those retro detective cartoons. It didn't really make much sense since we were out in broad daylight and I'm pretty sure if there was anyone around they could see us without much trouble. We went up the back steps and through the back door and up even more steps. His office was located right around the right corner of the stairs. When we turned the corner, Lulu immediately ducked and yanked us down with her.

"Whoa, what's up?" Carver whispered.

"Did you guys not see that? There's someone in there!" she whispered, pointing up at the single square window nestled within the door leading into his office.

The three of us slowly crept up peering through the nearby office window. There was definitely someone in there. It was too dark in his office to tell who it was but I don't think it was him. The shadowy figure was way too petite with long, flowing hair that blew in the breeze.

"Who is that?" Carver asked.

"I don't know but I don't recognize them, whoever they are," Lulu said.

"You can't even see their face though. It could be Mrs. Parrish," Carver said.

"Why would Coach Parrish be in his office though? That doesn't make any sense!"

"What if it's a ghost?" I gasped.

"Oh crap! It totally could be a ghost! What if our school was built on top of an ancient burial ground?" Lulu hypothesized.

"Okay now you two are being ridiculous. Even if our school was built on top of some burial ground, which it isn't because that doesn't make any logical sense, ghosts aren't real," Carver argued.

"Yes they are! Fang's seen multiple ghosts! Are you saying he's crazy?" Lulu argued back.

"To clarify I've only seen one ghost," I chimed in. Then I thought about that time, I saw my dad on Halloween last year. I still don't know if I actually saw him though or it was a figment of my imagination. "Actually make that two. Maybe? I'm not sure."

"See!"

"It's okay if you don't believe me. I don't think I'd believe me to be honest."

"Look, I believe you saw something. I don't know if it's a ghost or maybe your mind playing tricks on you, I can't say for sure. I don't believe in ghosts and I don't think we're dealing with a ghost now. But at the end of the day, if you tell me you saw something reminiscent of a ghost, I'll believe you even if I don't believe in it myself. I hope that makes sense," he answered. "I never want you to feel like I don't believe you. I know all too well how it feels to be believed."

"No, I understand," I nodded.

"Ugh, somehow, somewhere, I've fallen into the lovey dovey trap all over again," Lulu rolled her eyes annoyed.

"As long as you're with us, you'll forever be trapped. Might as well embrace it," Carver teased.

"I guess this is what I get for third wheeling all the time," she groaned.

"So if it's not a ghost and it's not Mrs. Parrish, who do you guys think it could be?" I asked.

The three of us went back to watching the figure shuffle around the room. I caught a couple split second glances and I could tell it was a woman. I just couldn't tell who it was but for some reason, she reminded me of someone I know. I just can't place my finger on it. We watched as the figure picked up the drone and shake her head. Peering closer in, we saw another shadowy figure but more than twice her size, built like a tree. Had to be a man or a very, very large and bulky woman like a hardcore body builder.

"So what now?" Lulu asked. "I'm not leaving without the drone but I don't know about that big guy in there. I was going to suggest we rush in and just grab it out of their hands but now with that thing in there? There's no way. I guess I'll be buried alive tonight."

"Not so fast. I think I know who they are," Carver said squinting at the shadows.

"You do? Who? And why don't we know who they are?" I asked confused.

"You do know them. You see them literally everyday and you live with one of them."

"Now that you mention it, they do kinda look familiar...just basing it on their outlines."

Carver stood up and knocked on the window.

"What are you doing?!" Lulu panicked.

"Relax," he said calmly. "Hi Miss Winters, Mister Lane."

"Mom?!" I yelled jumping up.

The two figures turned to look at us and noticed us immediately. They then walked towards us and sure enough, it was my mom and our English teacher Mr. Lane. I should have known honestly. Stupid of me to think that they were ghosts. I've never seen an apparition here, only really at the Haven House and well Carver's house, if that one even counts. Mr. Lane came forward, opened the door, and then stepped back standing by my mom's side.

"Anyone want to explain what this is doing here?" My mom asked dangling the drone by one of its propellers between her fingers.

"Careful! That's expensive tech," Lulu warned with her palms facing outward.

"Don't worry, I've got it. Funny you kids think it's so fragile when someone flew it through Principal's Weathers' window moments ago."

"I-I can explain," I stuttered. "We, um, we were testing out the drone and then we started messing around and one thing lead to the other and we, um, may have taken our eyes off of it for a split second," I explained nervously while twiddling my fingers. "Are you mad right now? You are, aren't you? This is the calm before the storm, isn't it?"

"I'm not mad. Well maybe a little. And I may have been watching you three for maybe a minute from Paul's window," my mom admitted.

Suddenly Mr. Lane cleared his throat in a few short bursts rather loudly, he even loosened the navy blue tie around his neck in a rather obnoxious way.

"Okay, maybe I was watching the whole time," my mom said throwing her hands in the air. "But to be fair, I was only doing it because I love you guys and I don't want any bad to happen to any of you. When I saw that the drone had crashed into the window, Paul and I came right over and jimmied the lock just so you kids wouldn't get into any trouble."

"You picked the lock?" I asked surprised. "How come I'm just learning about this now?"

"It wasn't a big deal. Lucky for you, Mr. Weathers' has been dragging his feet about converting all the locks here to digital. He says its a money issue but I know for a fact that this school is swimming in ample funding," she explained. She then handed the drone back to Lulu looking straight into her eyes. "I want you to be more careful with this thing alright? I'm going to trust you with this but I don't want this to happen again. Do we have an understanding?"

"I got it, Miss Winters. I'll keep my eyes on it and I'll make sure nothing like this happens again," Lulu agreed as she stuffed it back into her backpack.

"So what are we going to do about the broken window?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it. We'll take care of it," Mr. Lane assured us.

"But how? What about the cameras?" I asked pointing at all the dome-like camera placements planted in different spots in plain sight.

"Don't ask too many questions. It ruins the mysterious allure of it all," my mom said. "Also those cameras are fake. Just another thing Weathers' is dragging his feet on."

"They're fake?" I said squinting at her.

"Oh yeah, they're dummies until he decides to get real ones. Anyway, Paul will escort you three back to the field and you three can help us set up for tryouts," my mom said rounding us up and pushing us out the door.

"Wait, why do we need an escort? And why are we setting up? Isn't the teacher who's in charge of that supposed to set up?"

"He is. Paul's in charge of Track and Field," my mom said nonchalantly.

"Wait, you?"

"Yeah, is there something wrong with that?" he asked.

"No, it's just that you don't look like the type of person who'd coach Track is all."

"Let me guess, you thought I'd coach basketball?"

"Well...yeah."

"I didn't always look like this. I'm flattered though. I'd probably like high school more if I did," he chuckled. "I did tryout for basketball when I was your age but I was so uncoordinated back then. Most of the time I looked like a turtle that was flipped upside down on its shell unable to get up, but I found out that I was really good at running. Meaning I was pretty good at Cross Country and Track and Field. I even made varsity my first year. So trust me, I'm more than qualified to coach Track and Field."

"Okay, okay, I didn't mean anything by it. Jeez," I said with my hands up in the air. "Lighten up a little."

"Hmph, pretty good? Weren't you the star of those teams back then?" my mom asked. "I seem to remember all the varsity jackets, and letters, and awards stashed deep in the back of your closet"

"I'm trying to motivate them. Wait did you say you went into my closet?" he questioned, his brows arched. "Which closet?"

"Don't worry about it," she deflected. "Now who's ready to set some stuff up?"

"I actually have to go. My shift starts in twenty minutes," Lulu said slowly backing away.

"Ah ah ah, not so fast there Lulu. I called ahead. You have time to set up, I'll drop you off after," she winked.

"Okay, I officially hate it here," Lulu moped.

"I'm there with you," I agreed.

"Come on guys! It'll fun!" Carver rallied.

"We clearly have different meanings for the word fun," Lulu said dryly. "How do you stay chipper all the damn time?"

"Language Miss Landon," Mr. Lane said.

"Ugh, language police!" she whined.

While the Lulu and I moped behind my mom and Mr. Lane, Carver cheerfully walked next to us trying his best to get our morale up. I could tell he was throwing out his best work like making funny faces and cracking jokes and to be honest it worked for me. He always knows what to do to lower my guard and make me smile. I can't say the same about Lulu but she's a whole different breed. I could tell she was cracking under her steely guise though as I could see a small glimpse of a smile forming around the corners of her lips. Even though she was trying her very best to deflect and roll her eyes at us.

Instead of walking directly back in the direction of the field, we had to make a quick pit stop at the gymnasium's storage closet, although it felt more like a small classroom than your typical closet. It was jam packed with miscellaneous sports gear ranging from different types of sport balls to dumbbells to javelins, although not the same type of weapon that I'd find in my medieval style video games, way too colorful. A lot of the stuff looked brand spanking new yet covered in dust whereas the older equipment used for your typical sports like all the balls, while a little worse for wear, was sparkling clean. Luckily everything we needed for tryouts were already rounded up close to the entryway. While most of the gear was carried out by the two adults, mainly the heavier or expensive items like the those weirdly unnecessary heavy metal balls that people throw and the long stick that people hold onto when they vault over things, stuff like that. The three of us still managed to help by carrying the rest of what was leftover; Carver with the oddly bent posts, I think he called them hurdles, Lulu with the stopwatch and megaphone, and me with the colorful batons. I'm not sure if all of this stuff is going to be used at tryouts but who am I to argue with the star player, or how I like to think of it as, a runner of a bygone era. He's cool though. He makes my mom happy and he's one of the few cool teachers around here.

It took us what felt like forever to set everything up and just like I thought, we didn't need all of the Track and Field equipment. Turns out the majority of what tryouts consists of is just straight up running, difference there being short burst or sprinting, mid distance, whatever that means, and long distance running. That, and a whole other bunch of running tests. Who knew running could get so intensive and extensive. I thought people just run. I know that doesn't make much sense, possibly a little too simplistic, but hey that's what I thought. I didn't know there were different categories. All the other equipment like the poles and the throwing weights were for another day. Today's tryouts only consists of running and if you make the team they, meaning Coach Lane, will move everyone into different divisions to see if they're better or worse at that. He said something along the lines that everyone will have a combination of running and some other specialty. I don't know Carver feels about that though. I know he just wanted an outlet for running. Not too sure if he's down to make an effort doing anything other than that.

Turnout turned out pretty well. It mainly consisted of everyone from last year's team, minus the seniors from last year, and this year's Cross Country team. I don't know most of them, they're a grade or two ahead of me. I mean I know them but only by reputation, when I would pass by them in the halls, or if any of them are friends with Dante. However, I don't see anyone who looks like any of his friends. Our grade's turnout wasn't bad, not as big as the group that consisted of our upperclassmen though. There were a few people from our grade that I knew first hand. The few people I knew were Silent Sue and Ashley and regrettably, Brock.

"Hmph didn't know fairies could run," he laughed.

"Quit it Brock!" Ashley hissed jabbing him with her elbow.

"Watch it Ash. You're my girlfriend, remember?."

"Barely," she said rolling her eyes. "They didn't do anything. Why can't you just be nice for once?"

"Sorry to break it to you, but I don't think Brock has a nice bone in his body," Lulu jumped in.

"Heh, jealous?" Brock winked.

"I think I just threw up in my mouth," Lulu gagged. "Yeah, I definitely did. And yet, I'll take vomit any day over you."

"Yeah you keep telling yourself that," Brock rolled his eyes. "Hey Fang, haven't seen you around lately. How ya been?"

"No," Carver said pushing me behind him. "If you so much as look at him, I'll break you."

"Whoa man. So touchy. I was just saying hello."

"And I'm telling you no. Back off before you regret it."

"Man whatever," Brock rolled his eyes again. He then snatched Ashley's hand and yanked her towards him. "And you think I'm the one with the attitude? Stay by my side, I'll protect you."

"Ugh, go away Brock. I don't want to talk to you right now. You're so embarrassing!" Ashley yelled pushing him off of her.

"Fine! We're done then! You can walk your bony ass home!" he barked and stomped off.

"I'm sorry about that guys," Ashley apologized.

"It's not your fault. He's an asshole," Lulu said. "I'm getting a ride home soon with Fang's mom, Ms. Winters. You can get a ride with us, I don't think she'd mind."

"Thank you so much, that's really nice of you, but I'm actually trying out for the team. It's okay, I can walk. I don't live that far and besides I could use the fresh air."

"You sure? You can ride with us," I suggested. "Would that be okay Carver? You don't think your grandparents would mind, would they?"

"Of course not! I mean you're the one driving but I'm actually surprised you volunteered. I wasn't going to say anything, no offense Ashley."

"Don't worry about it. I don't want to be a third wheel."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lulu asked offended.

"I-I mean, er, y-you uh, what do I mean?" she stammered.

"I'm just messing with you!" Lulu laughed.

"Lu!" Carver yelled.

"I said I was just messing with her! Jeez Carv, relax," Lulu yelled back. "You know I was just kidding right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm friends with Chloe after all. I'm used to overreactions," she teased. "Don't tell her I said that."

"Okay, I see you boo," Lulu smiled.

"So about that ride, it's still available if you're down," I mentioned. "You in?"

Ashley's eyes darted between the three of us then traced the tips of her fingers against the tops of her ears. She squinted and stared at us until she eventually smiled and shrugged.

"Sure, I'll take the ride," she agreed smiling.

"Maybe you should check in with your girl Chloe. Something tells me she wouldn't approve of you hanging out with her old crowd," Lulu teased.

"I mean it's just a ride. Where's the harm in that?" she asked shrugging then dropped down into a lunge. "I hope you guys don't mind. I need to stretch before I totally destroy everyone."

"You hear that Carver? You've got competition," I smirked.

"Oh yeah?" Carver questioned with a grin. "Hate to break it to you, but you're gonna eat my dust!"

"Bet?" she asked as she pulled one of her legs up behind her like some fancy ballerina.

"Whoa," Lulu said as her jaw dropped.

"How can you do that?" I asked shocked by how flexible she is.

"Oh this? I was in gymnastics when I was younger but I hated the leotards. They're so uncomfortable. I've picked enough wedgies to last me a lifetime, trust me. But hey at least I can do this," she said as she dropped right into a split without much effort.

"Doesn't that...," I paused gulping. "Hurt?"

"This? Not at all. I used to drop into splits all the time back home. You three are the first people I've told about my hidden talent," she admitted.

"Not even Brock? Your boyfriend?" I asked.

"Ex-boyfriend and no. His loss," she shrugged.

"Don't take this the wrong way but what did you see in that guy?" Carver asked.

"Nothing. He's not my type. Too brutish for me. I only went out with him because Chloe said we'd look cute together and when I didn't give her an answer she basically hooked us up."

"Makes sense. Sounds like a Chloe thing," Lulu said.

"How does that sound like a Chloe thing? I don't get it," Carver questioned.

"Carv, why are coming for me today?"

"I'm not. Just wanted a little clarity. I mean I know she's not the nicest person to you two and I don't really trust her either but I don't know, it just didn't make sense to me."

"Guys, don't fight please! I get what Lulu's saying. Chloe's the type to insert herself in someone's life whether you want her to or not. Besides the Brock thing, she has good intentions though."

"You lost me at good intentions," I said.

"Yeah, sorry Ashley I'm going to have to side with my boyfriend on that one. I don't think she has good intentions. She's selfish and acts like she's the main character in everyone's lives."

"That's what I'm talking about Carv! Absolutely, one hundred percent agree," Lulu said enthusiastically.

"I mean it. She's a good person. You guys just don't know her like I do."

"Did you forget that we were childhood friends with her?" Lulu asked.

"Yeah, she was a good person before her family leveled up in life," I added.

"Look I don't want to argue with you guys but she is a good person, I swear."

"Why are you so adamant on defending her when she probably wouldn't do the same for you?" Lulu asked. "She'd more than likely throw you under the bus before sticking up for you."

"Maybe so but would a bad person give up their weekends to volunteer at the animal shelter? She helps take care of the sick and injured animals there. I remember one weekend there was a stray cat that walked towards her mom and right as she was going to kick him, Chloe scooped the little guy away and hid him away from her evil mother. She wound up keeping the little guy until her parents found out. She brought him to the shelter and now she volunteers there."

"You're joking right? You must think I'm stupid to believe a story like that," Lulu scoffed.

"I don't think she's lying Lu. I mean who would come up with some elaborate story just to lie?" Carver asked.

"Um Chloe could have put her under her spell."

"I don't think so. Chloe really did have a big heart for animals. Remember? She had that big Saint Bernard that slobbered all over us, all day everyday when we were little?"

"Oh yeah! I loved that dog," she said, her eyes glowing as she fondly remembered Chloe's dog. "What happened to old Bernie anyway? He was the best damn dog. Always put a smile on my face."

"He died."

"You're lying. I think I would remember Bernie dying."

"Maybe you suppressed it because I clearly remember us finding him sleeping, as her parents called it, on their driveway one day after school," I explained.

"Oh right," Lulu said in a somber tone. "That was a sad, sad day for all of us...especially her."

"Yeah, she didn't speak to anyone for weeks. And the only person who could get her to even eat again was my mom, not my other mother, but my mom now," I said trying to clarify to Ashley. "It's confusing. I have two moms. My mom, the school counselor and my other mother, the absent one."

"Like the spider monster from Coraline?" Ashley asked.

"I mean she doesn't have buttons for eyes but I've never seen my other mother and the spider monster in the same room so I guess it's possible," I said.

"Okay so maybe you're not lying about that then," Lulu admitted. "But she's still not a good person. Sure she treats animals better than us humans. Should we give her an award for that? To Chloe, savior to all animals."

"What exactly happened between you guys?" Ashley asked.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Lulu said bitterly.

"Funny, that's what she said too. I tried asking her last time she saw me with you guys and refused to say anything. She eventually bit my head off because I wouldn't stop bugging her about it."

"Maybe we should change topics?" I suggested.

"Probably for the best," Carver agreed.

"Sorry for bringing down the mood," Ashley apologized. "Um I'm going to go stretch closer to the field. I've got to get my head in the right state of mind."

"I feel you. I'll see you on the track," he said as he bent over touching his toes.

"Cool!" she said then moved down the field closer to where everyone else was.

"I'm going to go check if your mom is ready to go," Lulu said following Ashley.

"Is she...going to be okay?" Carver asked concerned.

"Yeah, I think our past memories are just resurfacing after being suppressed for so long. She's tough but she's still human."

"You guys were really close huh?"

"Yeah, we were. We, well at least I did, considered the three of us siblings from other mothers until one day we weren't. It's a weird feeling severing all ties with someone you care deeply about out of nowhere. But people change all the time and we have to move on. At least that's what my mom says. Something about not everyone who enters your life is supposed stay in your life. Whatever that means."

"I get what your mom is saying. Maybe later on, you guys can rekindle that friendship? You know, when we all grow up."

"That's a little too idealistic don't you think? I mean it sounds nice because she was such a big part of our lives when we were little but as much as I think I can get over my grudge, I don't think Lulu will ever get over hers, and if she can't get over hers, I doubt I can get over mine."

"But you are two completely different people. Why does your ability to let go have to be linked to hers?"

"Well if I let go, I'll get backlash for even giving Chloe another chance. Then I have to choose between Lulu and Chloe and then—ugh, I just don't want to deal with the backlash and the drama. I'd rather leave things the way they are than to have to deal with that sorta thing."

"I think you can find a way to be friends with both of them without hurting anyone in the process. I mean look at Ash, she's found a way to befriend Chloe while us be friends with us. But suit yourself, whatever you decide, I'll stick with you," he sighed. "Anyway, want to help me stretch? I could really use the help."

"Um, sure why not," I said.

The two of us sat down on the cold grass with our legs spread apart connected at our shoes forming a diamond shape between the two of us. At first it was just me pulling him closer to me, but then he somehow convinced me that it'd work better if we took turns. I agreed not thinking about it but now, pretty sure I got tricked. I did not sign up for round two of pain by stretching. Everything hurts, again.

"Why do I feel like you're purposely trying to get to stretch? You're not planning on actually having me tryout too, are you?" I asked as I pulled him towards me.

"Caught on did you?" he chuckled.

"Carver!" I yelled letting go of his arms. "I can't believe you! Why would you do this to me?"

"Relax. You act like it's the end of the world."

"It is!" I barked crossing my arms.

"Come here!" he leaning forward and then cupping my face. "I'm sorry. I just wanted a workout partner. I knew you wouldn't have agreed if I told you my true intentions. I'm sorry I tricked you. Forgive me?"

"You had to say this while holding my face?" I asked thinking of this awkward position we were caught up in.

"Now that you point it out, it is a little weird, the way that we're sitting," he admitted.

Suddenly the sound of a screeching loud whistle wailed across the field. We turned towards the sound and there was Mr. Lane standing on the track field with a clipboard and that damn whistle.

"Everyone, line up!" he yelled.

"It's game time," Carver said releasing my face.

"Wait!" I said grabbing his shoulder. "Kiss me first. For um, good luck."

"Good luck? Is that what we're calling it now?" he asked smiling. He proceeded to cup my face again, planting another one of his unbelievably, tantalizing kisses sending chills up my spine and warming my heart.

"Mhm, good luck babe," I whispered licking my lips.

"Thank you," he said smiling at me again. "But I don't need luck. All I need is you."

"And talent and skill and—."

"Way to kill the moment, baby. I was trying to be sweet," he laughed to himself tousling my hair.

"I know just wanted to point it out. And there's no need to try, you already are, sweet that is. The sweetest guy I've ever met."

He gave me one quick peck on the cheek again and then perked right back up. He leaned back into one last huge stretch then leaned over to pull me back up. We walked back towards the track hand in hand to join the rest of the potential teammates. Lulu, Ashley, and my Mom were standing around nearby to Mr. Lane and for whatever reason the big group was split into two groups, the upperclassmen and the underclassmen, but I don't think it was intentional. I think everyone just wanted to stay with the people they knew.

Before he joined the rest of the group, he escorted me up to the cold, metal bleachers surrounding me with our bags and his water bottle that still needs to be refilled for the thousandth time today. From here I had a clear view of everything without being in the way of everyone else. The moment I sat down though, I instantly got goosebumps all over my body. Which was weird since I love the cold but the feeling of the icy metal against my bare thighs caused me to shiver. Carver instantly noticed like a good boyfriend would. He dug around in my bag and grabbed his jacket that I got him for Christmas, draping it around me quickly warming me back up.

"Th-Thanks," I stuttered, shivering due to the out of nowhere breeze against my skin.

"Why don't you change back into your regular clothes? I don't want you to freeze to death while already dying of boredom," he suggested as he rubbed my arms trying to quicken the warming process.

"I'm fine. Your jacket is pretty big on me so it's like a blanket...if blankets had arms."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure. Now you go out there and let everyone know you're top dog. That's the right term right? Or is it alpha male? The alpha?"

"Yeah, either one of those works," he laughed into a smile. "Anyone tell you just how cute you are?"

"Just my boyfriend," I winked.

"Smart guy."

"Eh, he's okay."

"Jerk," he teased pinching my cheek.

Carver skipped off the bleacher steps and joined the rest of the group while I curled up with his jacket inhaling the strong scent of the lavender and vanilla detergent. Mr. Lane made the whole group run a couple laps around the track. There had to be at least thirty teenagers jogging on that track. As I watched everyone run around that oval shaped field, my mom and Lulu walked over to me.

"We're going to head out now. I'm going to tinker around with the drone whenever I get the chance on my break tonight," Lulu said. "I'll text you guys later if I make any progress."

"See you later tonight, Honey," my mom said kissing me on the forehead. Thank god everyone else was focused on tryouts or else that would have been so embarrassing. "By the way, Lulu says you're going to take home one of your classmates after practice. The one with the pastel pink hair, right?"

"Yup, I hope that's okay."

"Oh that's fine. She's a sweet girl. I'll give Aggie and George a call to let them know that you two will be a little late. Wouldn't want them to worry themselves."

"But you're watching us tonight," I said.

"Oh that's right, I am," she laughed at herself.

"Oh my god. Well I'll see you later then," I said waving goodbye.

My mom and Lulu walked off towards the faculty parking lot. Turning back I noticed they were still running laps so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to refill our jug. I grabbed the bottle and ran back inside. Thankfully our lockers were situated pretty close to the back entrance and the good fountain was quite literally right next to our lockers. It was a little weird to be in school at this time like it's eerily silent. I know we were just here like a second ago but a lot of things can change in a second's time. The hallways were lit and most but not all of the classrooms were dark. I walked up the stairs towards Principal Weathers' office and I saw the custodian sweeping up the broken glass. He already managed to patch the hole with a sheet of plastic and masking tape too. I didn't stay too long. I didn't want to raise any suspicion. Taking the same stairs down that wrapped around down to our basement level. Down here to the left you can find a few classes, mainly history and social studies, and to the right down a ridiculously long hallway you can find the ROTC class. In the center you can find the good fountains and an elevator that people say leads to the pits of hell but I know better. It's a handicap elevator but it's open to everyone, well except for that one time when last year's senior class pranked the freshman, my class, into thinking that we had to pay to use the elevator. That was fun. It lasted a few months too until one of the parents of the PTA complained to Principal Weathers about it. He was not happy about that.

As I began to refill our water jug, I had this weird feeling start to take over me. The kind of feeling where you can tell that someone is watching you. I turned my head to the right and noticed that the fluorescent lighting in the ROTC hallway all kept flickering almost as someone was playing cruel joke on an easily spooked person. I quietly crept over staring into the hallway to see if I could see if someone was possibly flipping the lights at the end for fun.

"H-Hello? I-Is anyone there?" I asked looking into the hallway from my end. Of course no response whatsoever. I looked up and the lights were still a flickering mess. "I should go."

I turned back around walking towards the exit when I heard a loud bang behind me. I jumped and screamed and maybe I dropped my water bottle too. At least my water didn't break, not even a dent on it. This thing is pretty indestructible. I gulped and turned back around. I stared down the hall again. Someone has to be here. Suddenly the light all the way at the end of the hallway went dark and someone stepped forward. I couldn't tell who it was but they were tall, taller than me.

"H-Hey, that was pretty mean just now!" I yelled. The guy didn't say a word, just stood there. "Y-Y-You're lucky I don't scare easy!"

Whoever it was kept their mouth shut and just stared. We had a stare off for a few more seconds and then the lights one by one went dark as he briskly walked towards me still not saying a word. Okay now's a good time to get out of here. As I turned around to leave, I could hear his footsteps getting louder, squeaking with every step. Maybe it was all in my head but I swear I could feel his breath on the back of my neck so I put myself into overdrive and sprinted out the door. I immediately shut the door behind me and when I turned around, nothing. Maybe ghosts do exist here. I'm not going here all by myself ever again. Carver's just gonna have to fill it up himself. Pretty spooked, I walked back up the bleachers taking care to be aware of my surroundings.

"Good, no one followed me," I mumbled to myself sighing in relief. What the hell was that back there? I looked forward at the aspirants and everyone was standing around waiting for what's next. Cool, looks like I didn't miss anything worthwhile. I noticed a handful of them walking off the field. I think the laps weren't just laps. Maybe a means to trim the fat? I know I would be walking away just after a couple laps. The other thing I noticed was Carver and Ashley were talking to each other. They seem to be bonding. It's a good thing if she's going to become a new member of our group. I'm not jealous or anything. I must have been staring for longer than I thought because I was easily caught by surprise by someone I hate.

"Hey Fang," Brock said standing by the bleachers nearby. "You look lonely all by yourself."

"Oh god, not you," I said annoyed. Could the person running after me have been Brock? He does fit the bill as a crazed maniac and the last time I was alone with him he did try to take advantage of me. But he was running with everyone else, wasn't he? "Brock, you weren't just inside by the handicap elevator, were you?"

"What are you talking about? You know I was running with the rest of those freaks. Anyway, I just wanted to say hey. I can't even do that?" he asked. Well that rules him out. "I miss you. You wanna get out of here? I know a place."

"Miss me?" I scoffed. I know exactly what he's trying to do and it's not working. His place that he's talking about is just below the bleachers. That's where he takes all of his victims. It's not a well known secret if I'm being honest. Locker room gossip and whatnot. "Just leave me alone before I scream. And if I scream, he'll come."

I kept my eyes on Carver hoping that he'd look my way. But it never happened. His eyes were only on her, on Ashley.

"Bet? Look at him, he's with Ash now," he said pointing at them as if I wasn't already paying close attention to them.

"They're just friends. You wouldn't know what that is. You'd need a heart to have one."

"Friends? You're as dumb as you are cute," he chuckled. "Ash used to talk about you guys all the time. Man was it annoying. But the person she would always talk and fawn over was Carver. Even though she was with me, I knew she had a cloyingly sweet crush on him. It's disgusting. I mean just look at her. The way she's practically falling at his feet with every fucking thing he says."

I didn't say anything this time. I don't know why but the things he said was seeping through the cracks of my guard that was already down because of that freakish encounter inside. Was what he was saying actually true? Is Ashley trying to steal Carver away from me? No, it can't be. I know I barely know her, but we're friends now. Friends don't do that to each other. She would never do that to me, would she?

"Leave me alone Brock," I said partly defeated succumbing to his blatant lies.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," he said walking back to the group of runners.

Even though Brock was no longer feeding me lies, I couldn't help but to think what if, what if Ashley was just trying to steal Carver away from me in some off-colored form of trickery. I didn't want to believe it but the gears were already turning and my heart aching because of it. I continued to watch them from where I sat oblivious to the outside world. Maybe if it weren't for me, they'd be together. They do look cute together. Ugh! Fucking Brock! He did this to me on purpose! The longer I looked at them chatting and smiling at each other, the more self-conscious and riddled with doubt I became until I was practically burying myself within Carver's coat. Closing my eyes, I tried to rid myself of these toxic thoughts but they kept branching off into their own separate but equally heartbreaking scenarios. I couldn't help but continue falling deeper into the void of my own mind with no light in sight. Is this what jealousy feels like? I hate it. I hate it! I could barely hear any outside noise, just my own inner voice getting louder and louder. It was unbearable. I couldn't tell if I was still shivering due to the cold or it was just my own body trembling in fear of losing the one person who makes me happy.

Suddenly, I felt short bursts of vibrations close to my feet. I reluctantly poked my head out of his jacket and looked down at my feet. My bag beside my feet was buzzing about. I reached in and grabbed my phone. It was a text from my mom.

"You two better drive safe. Don't be reckless on your way home!" read the text.

"I won't. Don't you remember what kind of kid I am?" I texted back. "Here's a heads up. I'm not one of the cool kids."

"I'm just saying. I love you. I'll see you in a couple of hours."

I smiled and was about to put my phone back in my bag but then had a last minute thought. I raised my phone to my mouth and said, "Call Mom."

"Hey, what's up? Didn't I just text you?" my mom giggled from the other end.

"Yeah, it's just—can I ask you a question?" I asked. "Just between us, don't say anything to anyone, please?"

"Honey what's wrong? You don't sound like yourself. Is everything okay? Do I need to come back?"

"No! No, it's just—ugh," I sighed. "What do you think of Ashley Ambers? The girl with the pink hair."

"Well I haven't really spent much time with her but she seems like a sweet girl. Why? Did something happen?"

"No, not exactly. You don't get a bad vibe from her or anything backstabber-y?"

"No not at all. Should I? What's wrong? I thought you liked her. That's why you're giving her a ride home or is that not happening anymore?"

"It is. It's just that Brock came up and spoke to me and—."

"Brock? The same Brock who's been bullying you for as long as I can remember? What did he say to you?"

I opened my mouth to say exactly what happened but when I did, none of my words made it out, just more sighing.

"Honey, what did he say? You know nothing he says ever means anything. There's no truth to anything he says. He's just one of the antagonists life's thrown at you. A pretty minor one if you ask me."

"I-I know," I sighed again. "He said that Ashley is going to take Carver away from me. And I've honestly been stewing here thinking of that possibly happening and, and it's making me question the dynamic of our relationship."

"Oh Honey," my mom pouted over the phone. "It's all in your head. You can't let that neanderthal poison your mind like that. It won't do you any good. And that boy, Carver, loves you with all his heart. I honestly can't see him leaving you for anyone. I know you know that to be true, deep down."

"I know it's just—I'm scared. What if he's right? What if for once in his pathetic life he's actually right and I'm just a stepping stone for Carver to get with someone better? He can fit in better if had a girlfriend instead of a boyfriend. He can be in a normal relationship."

"You know what? That's stupid and irrational. You know there's nothing abnormal about who you fall in love with. Two boys together is as normal as a boy and a girl or two girls or hell a poly relationship. There's nothing wrong with any of that. Bundle up all of that negativity and throw it straight into the dumpster fire that stupid troll started. You are such an amazing young man, one of the best. Don't let the darkness of others squelch the light within you. Shine bright and blind that asshole."

"Mom I don't think you're supposed to say that kind of stuff, as cool and reassuring as it is though. Is that how you talk to all of your patients, er, I mean students? Also aren't you supposed to say I'm the best, not one of the best?" I questioned her. "I am your kid by the way or did you forget that all of sudden?"

"Yes, yes, I know but I don't want to inflate your ego," she joked.

"What ego?"

"Exactly. And only to the ones who I know won't narc on me, so I would say maybe only one or two kids out of the bunch who I counsel."

"Mom! You could get in trouble for saying stuff like that. What if Weathers heard you say stuff like that? You could lose your job!"

"Eh, all that's going to result in is extra paperwork. He knows not to mess with me. Don't worry about it. Anyway, what was I saying?" she asked pausing for a split second. "Oh right, right, blind that motherfucker."

"Okay Mom, I will," I laughed to myself.

"So how are tryouts going?"

"Um, let me check."

I looked up and everyone was lined up in a straight line. It looks like Mr. Lane was gauging everyone's running ability or something. One by one they would run as fast as they could making a single loop around the track at the sound of a whistle. I scanned the line for ones I knew. Brock was up in front looking as cocky as he always does, flexing and kissing his biceps. Farther down the line towards the middle was Ashley and Silent Sue. They weren't socializing even though they were right next to each other. I could tell Ashley was trying to initiate a conversation with her though. She was talking but as the name suggests, Sue wasn't talking back. It was all very awkward and uncomfortable. She was getting frustrated and then she turned around and stared at someone in the back rather longingly and when I followed her gaze, there was Carver all the way back, last in line, frantically waving his hands at me. I think he's been trying to get my attention. I don't know for how long though but he looks pretty winded.

"Finally!" he belted from his spot.

Everyone in line, and I mean everyone, turned and looked over at Carver and then at me. I haven't felt this uncomfortable in a while. Have I mentioned that I don't like being the center of attention?

"Was that Carver? Why is he yelling?" my mom asked.

"He may or may not have been trying to get my attention and I just now noticed," I said uncomfortably waving back at him.

"See! That boy is absolutely crazy about you."

"You're right. I was stupid earlier. Thanks for setting me straight. Anyway I should go. He looks pretty thirsty."

"Oh I'm sure he is," she teased giggling again.

"Mom! Ew!"

"Oh hush, that was too good to pass up."

"Okay, bye I'll see you later. Don't burn the house down though okay?"

"Hey who's the parent here?" my mom questioned defensively. "And I'll have you know that you're not the only one in this house who can cook."

"Um you are, obviously. I'm just saying. Baking and cooking are two separate things. You can bake, but I've seen your cooking and it's hit or miss. Like that one time when you made that casserole that was oddly crunchy and gummy at the same time. What did we call it? Boneless casserole?"

"Excuse me!"

"Bye Mom!" I said ending the call. I reached over grabbed our hefty water jug.

God this thing is massive and heavy to boot. Hopping off the bleachers with my phone and jug in each hand, I skipped over to him.

"Here. You look like you need this," I said flipping up the plastic straw lid.

"Aw thanks Baby. I really need that. Thank you.," he said leaning over and sucking the straw. "I see you refilled it. That's where you were going earlier."

"Oh you noticed?"

"Well yeah, of course I noticed stupid," he said playfully pushing me.

"So how're tryouts going? Having fun?"

"It's a lot of fun! I'm really happy that you're here to support me though. I don't think I would have done this if it weren't for you being here."

"I-I-I don't know about that."

"Honest. You being here is a total morale booster."

"What are you talking about? This is in your wheelhouse. What does me being here have to do with your morale?"

"Well for one, everyone on the varsity team are so intimidating. They're scary good. I'm second guessing myself for even being here but then I look up at you and all my worries and doubts just wash away. There's just something about you, your smile, your light, i-it just makes everything bad go away."

"I-I do?"

"Yeah," he answered smiling. "You mean the world to me and you being here means the world to me."

"I-I didn't know that I did all that. Now there's a lot of pressure just for me to sit there. Any specific way that you want me to sit? I can cross my legs and man spread them or something. Whatever you want. I-I don't know how to process this."

He busted out into a short chuckle and caressed my cheek then said, "Just be you and keep your eyes on me. That's all I need. Just look at me with those perfectly brown eyes. Maybe bust a move or two."

"I am not dancing in front of the entire school," I said snapping out of his hypnotizing ways.

"But it's not."

"It will be when everyone takes out of their phone and records me acting like a fool."

"Fine, don't dance. Just go where I can see you."

"That I can do."

"Carver, you're up!" Mr. Lane yelled.

"I'm just gonna go sit," I said pointing back to the bleachers with my thumb. I quickly ran back up the bleachers sitting in the exact same spot I was in earlier. "You got this Babe!"

He looked back at me and smiled while also giving me two thumbs up. Then he instantly switched into a more serious expression. He has his game face on. Looking over at Mr. Lane, he had that damn metallic whistle held between this thumb and the side of his forefinger, his lips pursed snug around it. His massive chest rose and as soon as his gaze connected with Carver's the whistle screeched. Carver pushed himself forward and zipped through the track like a bolt of lightning. He was making his way around the track going as fast as he could without looking like he was tiring himself out. Maybe it's all in my head but I could have sworn that when he reached the midpoint he winked at me. He could have easily just been blinking at that moment too, I don't know but it made me shoot up and do a little cheer.

"Rah rah, he's my man. If he can't do it, no one can!" I cheered in my best cheerleader chant shaking my clench fists like pom poms, shaking my little booty, and even jumping, uppercutting like some two dimensional video game character. "Gooooooo Carver, go Carver!"

It was such an involuntary response that it wasn't until after I finished my chant did I realize what I had just done. I stood there extremely uncomfortable, wide eyed and face burning red. Luckily for me, no one was paying attention to me...except for Ashley. She had the exact same expression as I did, but in her case, I'm pretty sure it was second embarrassment. She had placed her hand over her face like a tilted salute.

"I'm just gonna sit down now and pretend that didn't happen," I said to myself throwing Carver's jacket back around me, shrouding me away from my own embarrassing actions. I kept a small slit open just enough to let me see him.

"Impressive," Mr. Lane said as Carver hit the starting line again.

Carver smiled and looked back at me waving. He jogged back up to me and patted me on the back.

"Rah rah, he's my man?" he said giggling.

"Oh god, I don't even know why I did it!" I moaned.

"It was cute."

"I'm not doing it ever again," I mumbled to myself.

"Don't say that. I loved it. Although it did surprise me. You didn't do it because I winked at you, did you?"

"...maybe," I groaned. "This is why I'm not spontaneous."

"Baby I didn't even think you'd notice, let alone actually see me doing it. I'm sorry if it made you feel like you actually had to dance for me, I-I was kidding earlier, but I thought it was really sweet."

"You think so?" I asked in a baby voice poking my head out.

"Yeah! If you think I was pumped up before, I'm even more pumped up now. Coach Lane even said that my time was really good too. I couldn't have done it without you and your cute, little dance."

"Well you better remember it because I'm not doing it again."

"That's fine. I already have it saved and set to play on a loop for the rest of the day. Maybe even the rest of the week if my boyfriend is going to continue to act grumpy," he said smiling. "I'm going to head back. Can you pass me the water? I'm going to keep it with me so it's nearby."

I handed him the jug and then watched him hop down the steps and jog back to the group. They continued to run more drills of varying intensities. Coach Lane even started setting up the hurdles along the track field. I didn't think that they were going to use those today especially since more than half of the aspirants looked pretty winded already and drenched in blood, sweat, and tears...maybe not so much blood but you get the gist.

Ashley, Brock, and Carver looked fine though albeit a little competitive between the three of them. Even though they were sweating a ton and breathing heavy, they all had their serious game faces on. Even though Brock just broke up with Ashley maybe twenty minutes ago, she didn't seem phased at all by his mad dogging. And trust me, he was trying his best to psyche her out but she was holding her own, maybe even better than him. She was serving him her own version of psyche outs and I could tell, even from back here, that it was working. He couldn't even keep eye contact with her. She's a little scary on the field. It didn't help that Carver was glaring him down too. They looked like a pack of wolves snarling at a frightened moose. Yes I said moose, have we all forgotten Brock's a hairy behemoth of a man? I no longer had the jealous feeling that was given to me by Brock. I can see now that Ashley is just a friend who will probably be Carver's good friend on the team. I approve. Plus she dyes her hair. Maybe I could ask her to dye my hair some funky, cool color down the line? Not pink though, not that there's anything wrong with it. It's just not for me.

Thirty minutes has passed and tryouts is still going on. I don't know why but I thought tryouts was only going to take at most half an hour out of my life instead of it so far being almost an hour long endeavor. Carver looks like he's having loads of fun though so I'm not going to be that person and ruin it for him. I really want him to be on the team. It'll be really good for him. I don't have doubts on him not making it on the team though. I know he'll be on it based on how well things have been going. Every now and then he would look over at me, wave, and blow me a kiss. A part of me says he did that to continue on his sweetness arc but another part of me thinks he only did that to make sure I was still here, still present. He knows this sorta thing, anything sports related, bores the hell out of me. If it weren't him, I'd probably find a little hide-y hole to crash. But since it is him, I'm actually really invested in all of it. I have a whole new appreciation for people who do this voluntarily, the people who don't find this a punishment like me.

The whole team clumped up together one last time to do one last hurrah and as I watched them run around the track, the hairs on the nape of my neck stood at attention and I got goosebumps all along my arms. I wasn't cold but I had this odd feeling that I was being watched...again. Standing up I turned around squinting at a far away shadow in the parking lot behind the bleachers. I couldn't tell who it was at first but they were smiling and waving at me. It had to be me. There was no one else nearby. I stepped up closer to the very top seats of the bleachers and once I did, I noticed immediately who it was. It was Carver's dad, Declan. I couldn't believe it. We haven't seen him ever since that day and I can't forget it. My entire body started shaking, my breath shaky. He was staring straight at me in a devious way while putting his forefinger up to his lips. I couldn't move. My hands were trembling as I tried to reach for my phone in my back pocket.

"What are you looking at?"

I screamed at the top of my lungs clutching the upper railing.

"Whoa, hey, hey, relax it's me," Carver said holding on to my side. "I didn't mean to scare you. What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I-I-I saw, I-I-I saw," I stuttered. Should I tell him? That first encounter with his dad plunged Carver in a pretty dark abyss that I don't want him to ever go into again. But I have to tell him, I can't just keep this from him.

"Hey, are you guys ready to go?" Ashley asked at the bottom of the bleachers, wiping the sweat off her brow.

"Baby? What happened?" Carver asked sternly.

I turned back to look at the lot and he was gone. Was he actually there? He had to be. I would never imagine him. Ever.

"Fang?"

"I saw him."

"Who?" he asked concerned.

"Him. Y-Y-Your dad."

He gulped as his concern for me intensified. Even though he didn't say anything I could tell he was freaking out internally, his body started to shake and his gaze shifty. He reluctantly looked over my shoulder and when he didn't see him, asked me in a rather serious tone, "Are you sure you saw him?" I nodded. His brows furrowed as he bit into his lower lip. The reality of his dad still being present and possibly stalking him, me, or maybe both of us was scaring us to the bone.

"Guys?" I heard Ashley ask again. "Is everything okay?"

"We have to go," Carver said stepping back and quickly stepping off the bleachers. I followed behind him, but not before rushing to grab our bags and slinging them across my back.

"Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. I just told him that my mom is making tacos tonight. He just really wants a taco," I lied terribly.

"A-Are you sure this is about tacos? He seems really mad. I-I can just walk."

"No!" Carver barked. Ashley jumped back scared by Carver's intensity. Carver immediately regretted it, looking away after seeing her reaction. "I'm sorry. It's just not safe. We have to go. Now."

"Tacos?" she asked me again. I don't think she believes me.

"Yup he just really loves those tacos. No one's safe when there's tacos around. Anyway, we really should get going though," I said, worried for Carver.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked me as we all walked towards the parking lot. "I know this isn't about tacos."

I looked over at Carver who was only arm distance apart from me. I don't think he was paying attention to us. He was just in his head the whole walk back. I really wish I hadn't looked behind me.

"No, there isn't. It's our problem. Don't worry about it," I told her.

"My problem," Carver said emphasizing the ownership.

"I-If I did anything—."

"You didn't."

You'd think with what they had done this whole hour they would have been worn out but with the urgency of the matter, we practically ran back to the car. The whole ride back was uncomfortable and I could tell it was eating him up inside. He was still shaking even though his eyes were fixed out the window. Not a word was spoken the ride back, well except for me asking Ashley directions for her house. But other than that, dead silence. The only thing I could think of that could relieve some pressure was to hold his hand as I drove. That seemed to rid him of the shakes. Thankfully we were able to drop her off quickly and safely without issue.

"Thanks guys. I'll see you tomorrow I guess," she said as she got out of the car. "I hope you feel better Carver."

He sat there stone faced to her and the world. He didn't answer back or do anything to indicate that he was okay. She waved us goodbye as she walked into her house and we drove off. As soon as we got back to my place, he immediately rushed the door open and had one foot out the door when I grabbed his arm.

"I'm fine. Let's just go in already," he begged. He still couldn't look at me but I hear the fear in his voice.

"Carver look at me," I said tugging at his arm.

"No, I'm fine."

"Please, just for a second."

He still didn't move instead I heard the softest sniffle. I gently turned his face to me and there he was puffy eyes stained red with tears falling down his cheeks.

"Everything's gonna be okay," I whispered. "We'll figure this out, together."

"No it's not. I'm scared Fang. I'm scared for you. He was supposed to be locked up for ten years for what he did to me and he got out in less than one!" he yelled angrily, slamming his fists onto the dashboard. Instinctively, I jumped back and again he noticed just like when Ashley jumped back. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. I shakily reached out to hold his hand. "You don't know him like I do. To other people, he's a totally nice guy and he could charm his way out of anything and everything. And honestly everyone back home loves him. Most of the people I knew couldn't fathom that my bruises, my cuts, my broken bones were from him. They all believed his lies. Even with all the evidence, the conviction, everyone was still on his side. I guess it was more convenient to believe he was such a good guy instead of a wolf in sheep's clothing, a predator."

"Carver, I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't know," I said rubbing his shoulder.

"Of course you didn't know, because I didn't want you to know!" he barked almost biting my head off.

"I-I—," I stuttered. I couldn't think of anything to say. Nothing I could say could make this any better. I knew he was bad. But I never knew that things got that bad.

"I'm sorry for bringing him up. Maybe I imagined it all in my head. Maybe I didn't actually see him. That's a possibility right?"

"No, I don't believe you'd ever imagine him. He's back. I don't think my grandparents will be able to scare him off again. I'm going to have to tell them too and they're going to go ballistic. I-I don't want them to lose their minds over this. They're good people. I don't know what to do."

"Whatever you decide, I'll be right by your side. You're not alone in this."

"Thanks but I don't want you there."

"Wh-What?"

"I don't mean it like that. I just don't want you to get anymore involved than you already are."

"But I love you and I don't want you to have to face this alone. I'm not going to let him scare me away. He'll win and I don't want him to keep winning. You need someone by your side. I won't leave you Carver. Please don't shut me out."

"I'll think about it, but the second anything bad happens to you again, I—."

"Nothing is gonna happen to me or you. I'll make sure of it."

"You can't promise that."

"Watch me. I'm not gonna let him come between us."

"You don't know what you're saying."

"Carver."

"Just leave it alone. Let's go inside," he said stepping out.

The two of us walked up the stone steps and walked into my house where we were immediately ambushed by my mom who was fanning something in the kitchen.

"Hey how was tryouts?" she asked excitedly.

"Fine," Carver said.

"Just fine? I was expecting for a little more excitement since Paul did tell me that you and your friend Ashley made the team. What's wrong?"

"Sorry, I have a lot going on right now," Carver said not even looking at her and instead headed straight for my room.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked worried.

"N-Nothing, it's nothing," I lied.

"Fang?" she asked again.

"I swear, it's nothing. He's just exhausted. Can you just drop it please?"

"Fang, I'm just worried. With everything that's been going on, I just want to make sure there aren't anymore surprises."

"And there isn't. I promise," I gulped down my biggest lie ever. I just can't let this drag out any more than it already has.

"Okay," she said backing down. "But if I find out later that you're lying to me—."

"You won't."

"Fine. Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours. Maybe then you'll tell me the truth," she said walking back into the kitchen.

Great. She didn't believe me.