(Chris's p.o.v)
When he had gotten a call from Felicia after school on Tuesday, he hadn't known what to think. She shouldn't have had any reason to call unless Dylan had done something stupid again, so he'd answered quickly.
"Felicia?" He had said, confused as ever.
"Hey, Chris," she'd greeted cheerily, "are you doing anything right now?"
"Um, no?" Chris had said, more like a question than an answer. Felicia had then asked if they could meet up somewhere and he'd been too taken aback to answer for a moment. After a moment of silence, he'd said that they could and she'd suggested a small café downtown.
"It's called Lava Java," she'd clarified, "I'll meet you there in half an hour?"
"Yeah, that's fine," he'd pulled out of the school parking lot and started the drive.
Now, he was sitting in an armchair in said small café, waiting for Felicia to arrive. She wasn't that late, only a few minutes, but Chris had never been known for having great patience. He took the time to take the room in; while he was sure that he must have walked by it at some point, he had never been inside or even noticed it.
He only wished that none of his former classmates were to walk by. They were sure to start rumors; they always did. And especially if Felicia were to sit with him.
Not a minute past before she rushed into the coffee shop.
"I am so sorry that I am late, the bus was in no hurry to get here," she apologized but Chris waved it off.
"It's alright," he smiled softly and gestured for her to take a seat. She did, letting her bookbag drop to the floor. None of them said anything for a while. The silence felt tense, but Felicia didn't seem to mind.
Finally, she put her hands together. "Okay, so let's cut to the chase."
"Let's," Chris agreed, not sure where the conversation was going.
"What are your intentions with my best friend?"
The question took Chris by surprise. Did she know? How could she know? He hadn't done anything too suspicious, he'd made sure of it. Still, she was sitting across from him and looked at him as if it was the clearest thing in the world.
"What- what do you mean?" He stuttered out. Damn, he thought and slapped himself in his head, that was so smooth. Felicia seemed to think the same thing as she was looking at him with a tired expression that screamed 'really, you're playing that card?'
"Look," she sighed, leaning forward a bit, looking like a true investigator, "you and I both know the way you look at him. He might not, but he is as oblivious as Harry Potter, so that doesn't surprise me. I just want to know that you mean well."
"I- of course, I mean well," Chris breathed, giving up his, apparently weak, facade. Yeah, he liked Dylan. He'd know that for a good while now and he didn't want anything bad to happen to him. The incident the previous Friday made him bubble with anger toward that douche Xander and had also made him feel a weird protectiveness over his current crush- Dylan.
God, he sounded pathetic. The new school had really changed him, it seemed.
"Good," Felicia smiled, leaning back in her armchair, "but I'm not just here to make sure of that. I am also here to assure you that I am watching you. We both know that you have a reputation, even though it only includes women."
Chris was almost about to intervene and explain that most of the rumors were untrue, but he stopped himself. It wouldn't matter anyway.
"I got it," he nodded, "I'll do my best."
"I know you will, I will make sure of it."
Chris watched as Felicia picked her bag from the floor and left the café. He stayed sitting there for a while, reflecting over the conversation. She'd known. How could she have, when he hadn't showed anything? Or maybe he had, he just hadn't noticed.
There was one thing he was sure of, however, and that was that he did not want to be on Felicia's bad side. That girl could be scary if the prior events were anything to go on.
He ended up ordering a coffee and stayed there for half an hour more. It was a cozy café.
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(Felicia's p.o.v)
She sighed and stepped onto the bus. Sure, she could call Dylan to pick her up. Or Blaire. Or even Maddie. But she didn't really feel like hanging out with anyone.
She smiled as she swung into an empty seat. Her gut had been right about Chris. Then again, every time he and Dylan were in the same room, the tension skyrocketed.
It wasn't like she was going to tell any of them, they'd have to figure out how to do that themselves, but she had a theory. That theory included her making them question how the other felt, and she was pretty sure she'd succeeded.
Soon enough, the bus came to her stop and she got off.
She'd made a promise to herself over the break to always turn her phone at school. As she walked, she turned it on. It pinged a few times before finally quieting down.
She had a missed call from her mother, probably to ask if she could buy milk or something at the store. Just as she had thought, when she pressed on her messages there was one from her mother that said 'Hey, darling, could you buy some milk after school?'
But that wasn't the thing that made her heart skip a beat. That was the message from Maddie which said: 'Hey, I had a good time on Saturday, though next time you could tell me that I was going to meet your friends. See you Friday xx.'
Felicia smiled at her phone. Who'd have thought that Maddie would come out of Xander having cheated? She almost found herself being glad that he did as she turned toward Walmart instead of home.
He was an ass anyway.
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(Dylan's p.o.v)
The more he thought about it, the more he realized how deep he really was. Everything boiled down to the fact that a certain raven-haired football player had way too much power over him.
Earlier, every time that Felicia had gotten a new boyfriend, he'd just thought that she was exaggerating when she said how it felt. Dylan had just never related. He'd thought he was completely asexual for a while in freshman year and had gotten more than a little anxiety over how he was going to tell his parents.
But then he just ignored it and moved on, buried himself in work and the relief of William having moved away.
"What the fuck!?" He yelled as he lay on his bed, his heart beating at double speed. Then, realizing his mistake, he placed a hand over his mouth. It was only a matter of time before-
"Dylan, are you alright?" William knocked on his door and peeked his head inside. Dylan sighed.
While he was happy that William had come to his senses and had realized that abuse was wrong, now he was worse than both his parents combined.
"I'm fine," he groaned, turning to lay on his stomach. He could feel William's eyes on him.
"How's your eye?"
Of course, he needed to know.
"I know that the Davis brothers are violent, trust me, and I get that it was his party but you can't let him-"
Dylan turned around, eyes wide. "No! No, he's not the one that hit me."
"What? It wasn't?"
"No. I got punched because my best friend's ex couldn't leave her alone and I stepped between them," Dylan sighed, bringing his hand up to his brow, "and he got it into his head that I slept with her."
William's only answer was: "Well, did you?"
"William, I know that the only thing you did in high school was sleep with girls and drink vodka, but I have done everything in my power to not be like you. No, I didn't sleep with her." Was it a bit harsh? Yes. But it was the truth, and William had to understand that what he'd done had shaped Dylan.
The older looked down. "I know. And I'm sorry. I get it. Thanks for telling me about the bruise, though." He said, a weak smile decorating his lips. "Alright, dinner's at six when dad gets home."
"Cool," Dylan watched as his brother left the room and closed the door behind him.
He went over to his desk and got his math book out. They'd gotten some homework which he had to get done before the next day.
He only got about halfway, though, because after a few minutes he heard Riley calling him. A few moments she came in through the door and threw herself on the bed.
"Hey," Dylan greeted with a smile.
"How are you?"
"I'm good, how are you?"
"Are you, really? I mean, William's home..." Riley squirmed a bit, clearly uncomfortable.
"I... I'm good. Honest," Dylan sighed, spinning his chair around.
His sister hesitated. "I don't like him."
"That's alright, you don't have to." Dylan closed his book. Riley sighed and turned on the bed.
"Anyway, I was planning to eat at Nelly's, will you drive me?"
Dylan smiled and got up from his chair. "Sure."
"Good. Cuz I was supposed to be there like ten minutes ago, so can we, like, go?"
"Alright, get your stuff and get going, then," Dylan laughed, grabbing his jacket and following Riley down the stairs.
"Where are you two going?" Their mom asked from the living room sofa.
"Riley is eating at Nelly's and I'm driving her there," Dylan explained. The only response he got was a huff. "I'll be right back."
He unlocked the car and the two siblings got into it.
"Seatbelt," Dylan raised an eyebrow when Riley made no move to put the belt on, "I'm not going before you do." Finally, she reluctantly put it on and Dylan smiled. He backed out from the house.
After a few minutes of silence, he pressed the radio on and lowered the volume. "You hang out with this Nelly quite a lot nowadays. I take it she's nice?"
He shot a short glance toward his sister and watched her redden a little. "Um, yeah she's- she's nice."
"What is it that you do when you hang out?" Dylan pushed further.
"We watch movies and, eh, talk and I don't know. The basics."
"Alrighty," Dylan smirked.
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