1:Juice, Coffee, And Luck

Zane

I never saw Pup again since that day.

I didn't think about him all the time, but he surely had a time space in my mind, even after all the years that had passed. Sometimes in the form of memories, sometimes as a dream. I really didn't think that having a friend for a such a short amount of time would make me feel this sad for losing him. Yet, he was a childhood friend, and those are exceptionally hard to forget.

You might lose contact, or they might no longer have any sentimental value, however, the memory remains unscathed.

My mum didn't tell me that they had to move out of town until the next few days. I didn't even think she wanted to tell me at all. They went all the way from Rivertown to Ripplemills which was all across the state.

But sooner or later I was going to find out. He didn't show up at the park, nor they visited us anymore, nor we did for that matter.

There were a few times that I forgot about him. Forgot that he even existed at all, like it was some sort of an illusion. But a few days later it would hit me.

Either ways, worrying about the past was the least of my concerns. I was worried more about the fact that my shirt was wet and sticking to my body. It was not water-wet. Juice wet. Orange, to be specific.

I was wondering if that day could get any worse than it already was, so the biggest jerk in school decided that he wanted to bump into me in the cafeteria right as I grabbed my juice.

I really hated Gavin Ross.

I spent the rest of my lunch time in the bathroom trying to wash my shirt while still wearing it. Stupid idea because it got wetter. I dried it off with paper towels as much as I could, but alas, I became very uncomfortable.

"Stupid fucking Gavin Ross and his football posse thinking they own the fucking school" I muttered as I scrubbed at my shirt. Good thing it was black. "This is just great-" I got interrupted by the bathroom door slamming open. It made me jump.

"Are you talking to yourself again, Zane?" Herrera asked. He was the hungriest kid at school and won multiple food contests, yet he weighed less than a table. He had a jacket with him and he handed me it quickly, saving some of my dignity.

"I owe you, Herrera" I said with a sigh of relief.

"Nahh, what are friends for?" He patted me on the shoulder twice. "Now let's go, class is almost starting and I'm famished."

"But you were just in lunch-"

He laughed like a maniac as we walked  out of the bathroom. We had English next, one of my favorite subjects. The downside of it? I had to take the class with HIM. And not just that, but also Maths, History, and Arts too. Isn't school awesome?

As much as I liked to not think of Rivertown High as stereotypical, I couldn't deny the fact that it somehow was.

It had jocks; Some I found attractive, some I found not. Some I liked, some I didn't. Some were nice, some I despised. Gavin Ross was the latter.

We had artists, musicians, but the same thing applied to them too. Then there were André and I. Not that smart, not athletic, barely managing with art, and miraculously passing classes.

The one thing that was not like typical high school clichés was that one of the most popular athletes at school, also known as Gavin, did not date the most popular cheerleader. In fact, he didn't have a girlfriend at all. And for the couple years that he had been in this school, his personal life was one of the most debated things around.

A lot of rumors circulated. Some said that he was gay, some said that he dated a girl in secret and her dad beat him up and since then he was too scared to have a girlfriend.

Heck they even started one that he was castrated. They were all proved wrong at one point.

I didn't wanna know how they figured the last rumor out.

He didn't bug me for the rest of the classes we had together. He tended to get distraught a lot.

He was jerked back to reality by Mr. Whitman a couple of times. If it were someone else, everyone in class would've laughed, but no one dared to laugh at him.

The last class of the day was always Art class. I liked that class a lot, and not even Gavin's presence annoyed me enough to hate it. It was also the one class where I was way better than him at.

He was really smart from what I knew, his grades were really close to mine, except for Arts. I was superior.

School wasn't always juice-soaked shirts. Sometimes it was a shove against the lockers. Other times a tackle in the halls. Oh, sometimes it was a "move this is my seat."

Piece of advice, if they were much bigger than you and outnumber you by at least four, it was better if you just moved instead of getting the floor mopped with your shirt (while wearing it).

I wondered where the teachers disappeared to when such stuff happened.

I was glad to be home at last. I went for a quick shower because I couldn't stand one more minute of stickiness on my torso.

I had a quick bite and walked to the Mug Drug, where I worked after school. It was a nice coffee shop with a cozy atmosphere. I needed some day activity to pass the time, and the money wouldn't hurt. Life got boring when you only had one friend. Plus, he worked there too.

Not that André Herrera wasn't fun, I mean, I've known him since we were kids. He was awesome. He was already there when I arrived.

XxXxX

Halfway through our shift and they came in. They were like wolves. They moved in obnoxious packs. Gavin and two of his friends.

They were both in the football team but these two were the only ones who hung out with him outside of school. André was taking care of a few customers so I had the utmost pleasure of serving them.

I went to take their orders. They were talking about something but they all stopped when I got there. Gavin gave me a not-you-again look, which I answered with a similar one. Apart from that, they were no trouble.

While making their coffees I glanced around. I was pretty sure that I felt Gavin looking at me but when I looked at him he was chatting animatedly with his friends.

It was probably my mind playing games with me. I believed that until I looked again and he was indeed looking at me with a weird look.

What was his deal, I wondered.

I shrugged it off and brought their drinks without saying one word. I didn't even have the fake smile we were supposed to give customers no matter how much we wished they could go to hell and burn for all eternity.

After about 2 hours, and serving about 30 more customers,  Gavin's friends left, but he didn't.

He was sitting on a table right next to the shop's window. He kept gazing outside like he was drawing scenarios of passers-by's lives. I found myself wondering about what was going inside his empty head.

I mostly felt sorry for him, even though he bullied me for more than a year.

He shoved my books from my arms in the hallway more times that I could count. Laughed at me when I couldn't do P.E. activities as well as the others. And not to mention the juice incident, which wasn't a first, by the way. Yet I still felt sorry for him.

Even when he had a whole pack of the most popular guys at school, and the ability to get the hottest girl just by pointing at her, and apart from the high grades he achieves, he always had a lonely look in his eyes.

It was unmissable.

I didn't know if his friends knew about it or not, but I could see it clearly. He never laughed genuinely like others did. He never looked content for what he had. It felt like he was always looking for something he wasn't ever gonna find. He had the same look I had every time I looked in the mirror.

I hate you, Gavin Ross, but I feel your pain.

I was wiping off the table next to his when I noticed he was fumbling with something. I didn't see what it was, and he put it away quickly.

In many ways I disliked Gavin. In some ways I wanted him out of my life. But, in a lot of ways, I just wanted to know what went through the mind of his. I wanted to know how close it was to the mind of mine, despite us being totally different beings.

I hated to admit to myself, but I really hoped that I'd get that four-leafed clover level of luck and find out.

A/N: I hope you liked the chapter and if you did please vote and comment. I love to hear your opinions and I always reply when I can.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate too.

Happy nothing for the rest. Only misery.

(I'm just kidding. Kinda.)

@ girlfriend I love you even though you slept.

More soon x.