The rain wasn't softly cascading down the windshield of Carters car, it was pelting the poor glass with the force of a tornado. The sky outside was dim and gloomy, darkening the entire parking lot into what looked like a scene from a bad horror flick. Carter could almost imagine someone dressed in black, holding a shiny knife, chasing some teenaged girl through the darkness of what should have just been an ordinary school parking lot. For a few seconds here and there, the surrounding cars would be illuminated by lightning, only to go back to darkness in the next second.
Carter was in his car, throwing glances at his watch every few minutes as he decided whether to face the wrath of the storm outside in order to get to his first class, or whether he would rather drive home right then and there and hopefully survive the wrath of his mother. Taking a surveying glance of the sky through the window, Carter decided that facing the storm was preferable to another lecture from his mother on the importance of school.
It wasn't that Carter didn't like school, his classes were alright and the teachers were adequate. The only reason why he had been skipping school periodically in these last few months was out of his intense desire to pretend that he wasn't completely heartbroken after his last break-up.
Sitting at home, knee deep in ice-cream and HBO, Carter could almost pretend that sleeping alone, waking up alone and spending his days void of a boyfriend, while being forced to see his ex almost every day was completely fine and didn't faze him in the slightest. Of course, this was a complete lie, but while drunk on sugar and sexually explicit drama, Carter could forget that.
The hand on the clock ticked again, signalling that Carter only had three minutes until his first class started. He sighed, opening the car door. He was instantly hit with freezing cold water which promptly turned his once dry and styled, deep brown hair into a wet mess. The water seeped down his body as he closed the car door behind him and ran the short distance towards the main school building.
He pulled his hoodie over his head as he ran, cursing himself for not doing it before he left the car. He sighed as he finally reached the side of the building where the roof extended, allowing him to take a few breaths before he had to make his way to the entrance which was inconveniently placed on the other side of the building.
He was completely unaware of the person standing behind him until he heard the person clear their throat. Carter turned quickly and had to suppress an eye roll as he realised who it was. The boy was leaning against the light brick wall, an indifferent expression on his face. The boy was dressed all in black, a similar colour to his messy hair, which somehow wasn't even damp in the dreadful weather. There was no spec of actual colour on him, even his eyes were a shade of grey not unlike the clouds above them. The boy was well built, and Carter could almost see the outline of hard muscle underneath the dark clothing.
This wasn't some stranger standing against the wall, that would have been one thousand times more preferable, it was someone that Carter had once knew well.
Alex.
Carter's ex-boyfriend.
A physical pain manifested itself in Carters chest as he looked at the boy he had once loved. There was nothing of that boy left, no remnants of the person who had once held Carter close in the night or held his hand as they walked each other to class every day.
In the boys hand was a cigarette, and he brought it to his lips and away before raising his eyebrows at Carter as if to threaten him for staring at him so long. The twinge of red which surrounded Alex's eyes made Carter think that maybe it wasn't tobacco he was lighting up.
Carter cast his eyes down, shaking his head slightly as he walked off towards the entrance, willing the hole in his heart to stop aching throughout his body.
He almost ran to his classroom once he made it inside the building, stopping at his locker for only a few seconds to get what he needed before continuing to the class room. He stopped just outside the door to wipe the excess water from his face and attempt to make himself look somewhat presentable. He opened the door, revealing a classroom which was half full, each of the students staring at him as if he just butchered a couple of kids for fun, instead of just being a few minutes late to class.
The teacher was sitting at the front of the room, writing something down into a note book, so Carter took the opportunity to quickly make his way to a desk before she started the lesson.
There was a few free seats in the room, most were at the front, and there was no way that Carter was going to sit in the front row. He wasn't that keen to learn. Other seats were at the back in the left hand corner, but just taking a glance at the others sitting there made Carter want to sit as far away from them as possible. They were Alex's friends, and they weren't people Alex would ever associate with. Their bad boy attitudes were nauseating to even look at.
Thankfully there was one spare seat in the middle, right next to Carter's best friend.
"Hey Roxy," Carter greeted the brunette with a smile.
"Oh, hi Carter," she smiled back, turning her body in the desk to face him more. "I figured you weren't coming today, I'm glad you're here."
Carter knew that Roxy worried about him and it was easy to guess why. Sometimes it seemed like he was a shell of his former self, ever since what happened with Alex. He felt himself withdrawing him from the people around him, but he couldn't seem to stop it from happening. He was glad that Roxy was still willing to be so kind to him, in spite of the ignored texts and last minute excuses. Some days, Roxy was the only person who he thought actually cared about him.
"Yeah, couldn't keep missing school," he replied softly.
She nodded, her bright green eyes softening. "It will get easier, I know that Alex and his friends are jerks sometimes, but you are doing great."
Her words sparked a tinge of confidence he didn't know he had. He shared a small smile with her. "Thanks, Roxy."
He turned to face the board as the teacher started the lesson.
It was twenty minutes into the lesson when the door suddenly opened, drawing everyone's attention. In the doorway stood Alex, who barely acknowledged the teacher or the class before sauntering to the back of the room and throwing himself into one of the seats. He looked as high as a kite. Carter tried to avert his eyes as Alex walked past his row, but he failed miserably.
"Alex," the teacher drew out his name as if it was a warning, "see me after class."
"Sure miss," Alex mumbled in reply.
Carter didn't listen to the rest of the lesson, instead he contemplated how they had gotten to this point, coming up with nothing. Only a few months ago he and Alex were the schools golden couple, the two of them were inseparable.
Carter never thought that he was one to fall in love, but when he fell for Alex, he fell hard. When Alex broke up with him it was completely unexpected and broke him completely. Now he was left to pick up the pieces of himself after Alex left. As his thoughts surrounded Alex, he couldn't help but turn his attention to the back of the room a few times. Alex didn't seem to notice, his attention fixed on the phone he undoubtedly had hidden under the desk. Some small part of Carter had hoped that Alex had been thinking of him too and when he turned to look, Alex's gaze would be searching for him. It never happened like that, though. Alex never glanced up.
Carter wished that he could stop pinning over Alex's attention. He vaguely remembered a time when he thought he would have Alex's attention forever. How naive he had been.
"Carter?" Roxy's voice brought Carter out of his head, and he looked around to see that the other people in the room were all packing up. He must have been so deep in his mind that he didn't even hear the bell ring.
Roxy and Carter packed up their books. Carter tried not to watch as Alex walked out the door, slowly trailed by his entourage of friends. He took a few extra minutes to pack up, giving Alex a head start in the hope that it put some much needed distance between them. He didn't have class with him the rest of the day.
They had only made it to the hallway when someone grabbed Carter's arm. He pulled it out of the persons grasp, the two of them turning around to face a few of the guys from Alex's group. He scanned their faces, but none of them were Alex. He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.
"Why don't you keep your eyes to yourself next lesson?' one of the guys said. The words came from Jake, the ringleader in this little circus of obnoxious idiots. Carter felt his cheeks go warm. He didn't realise the other guys had seen him looking at Alex. "Why do you even care what Alex is doing?" Jake continued.
Carter was stunned into silence. He hated that Alex's friends knew how heartbroken he was.
Roxy was fortunately not lost for words. "Shut up, Jake." She spat the words at him.
Jake ignored Roxy, and kept his eyes on Carter. "Are you just going to stand there and let a girl fight your battles?" Jake laughed, the sound almost sadistic.
"You are going to get your ass beat up by this girl if you don't shut up," Roxy narrowed her eyes at Jake. A laugh sounded from around them and it was then that Carter realised that they had drawn a small crowd of people who were watching the confrontation with curious yet somewhat worried eyes.
"Alex is better off now. He has real friends. He doesn't need you keeping tabs on him."
Roxy stepped closer to Jake. "If Alex is really in such a good place, then why does he need you to pick fights for him? If he has something to say, then he can say it himself."
Jake shrugged. "He's too nice. He won't say what needs to be said."
"But you will?" Roxy challenged him. "Are you Alex's little mind reader? How about you tell Alex that if he has a problem, he knows where to find us."
"I don't need to be a mind reader to know that Carter is pissing him off," he told her, "He's too nice to tell him that Carter obviously thought more of their relationship than he did."
"I don't think that's any of your business Jake," Roxy responded.
Jake caught Carter's eyes as he said his next words. "He never loved you, Carter. Move on."
The words sliced straight to Carter's heart and his breath caught in his throat. Roxy wasted no time, lunging towards Jake and pushing him. He stumbled back, and in that time one of the other guys standing behind them pushed Roxy back. She fell, pulling Carter down with him. He reached to grab her as they fell, putting himself between her and the floor, but as he did, her elbow collided with his eye. The force whipped his head to the side and they landed on the ground, a tangle of limbs. Pain radiated through the left side of his face. He looked up to see that Jake was standing over them, anger pulsing through his body language. Carter shared a worried look with Roxy, unsure what Jake was about to do.
"STOP!"
The words were strong and powerful and Carter knew exactly who they had come from without looking up. Carter suddenly felt hands on him, helping him to stand up. He realised that Roxy was the one who was helping him, but when he brought his gaze up he didn't look at her, instead he was looking at Alex.
Alex's face was filled with anger as he looked Carter up and down before turning to Jake and the other guys.
"Get out of here," he told Jake in a gruff voice, who only rolled his eyes.
"We were just talking. She was the one who pushed me." Jake gestured towards Roxy.
"Jake." He said his name like a warning.
Jake huffed for a second before nodding, the entire group following him. The group of people around them dispersed, continuing each of their own ways.
Roxy was in Carter's face, her hands feeling around his eye. He flinched as her fingers touched a particularly tender spot.
"I'm so sorry, Carter." Roxy shook her head as her worry filled eyes searched his entire body for further injuries. "I shouldn't have stooped to their level."
"It's okay. You were trying to protect me."
"Well, you ended up becoming my crash mat," she joked. "Let's get you some ice for that eye." She stated, leading him in the direction of the school nurse.
Carter followed silently pondering, one thought swirling around his head. He stopped suddenly, causing Roxy to stop as well.
She turned to face him, "What's wrong?"
"What Jake said, that Alex never loved me, was that true?" he tried to keep his voice steady, but it wavered on its own accord.
"I think that Jake doesn't know what he's talking about." Roxy stated strongly, her hatred for Jake dripping from her tone.
"It doesn't matter anyway, he doesn't love me now so why does it matter if he loved me before?" Carter asked in a quiet voice, his eyes filling with tears he refused to shed. He bit his bottom lip as he willed the pain in his heart to stop.
Roxy seemed to not know how to respond to that, linking her hand with Carters before continuing down the hallway. They walked and kept walking even when they passed Jake, Alex and their friends, the group of them were skipping class, their backs up against the lockers as they watched the pair walk past.
Carter felt their eyes on him, but one set of eyes seemed to not just stare, but to bore deep into his soul. He lifted his eyes to meet Alex's only for a second, but what he saw in that second shocked him.
He saw worry. He saw guilt.
It only lasted a second, Alex tore his gaze from him preferring to look down at the ground, but Carter saw it. Carter saw a tiny flicker of the old Alex behind the mask of drugs and indifference.
Alex cared. Alex was protecting him.
What did that mean?
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