"So... what were you doing yesterday?"

"Oh... I just visited my old friend's family and then came back home to study. What about you?"

"Nothing special to be honest. I was mostly working out and then I played video games..."

I was walking towards the school when Andrew called. He actually told me that he tried to contact me yesterday too but I couldn't buy a new phone till the evening so he couldn't reach me.

It was not easy getting used to my new phone because it was quite larger than the previous one. My hands aren't very huge so I was constantly worried that I was going to drop it at some point. I actually didn't want to buy this phone. My first choice was a smaller one with much lower price but my grandma forced me to choose this one. Of course I couldn't afford that with my own money and I tried to resist her but she said that her grandson deserved everything best or something.

I still felt a little bad because of that. I didn't want to make her feel like she had to buy stuff for me. That's why I decided to ask her if she knew someplace where I could get a job so she wouldn't have to be the only one providing for us.

My grandma actually owned a bookshop which she opened after my grandpa passed away. She used the insurance money and invested it into that place. It was a pretty smart move if you ask me and she not only owned a bookshop but also a cafe near it.

So once I finally asked her about me getting a part-time job she categorically denied it at first but I was pretty persistent and she finally gave up and told me that I could help her with the bookshop during weekends. I was very excited about my new job if you can even call it that because I knew my grandma wouldn't overwork me or anything. She'd just give me the easiest job she could find but as long as I could at least be a tiny bit helpful I didn't mind.

"It's freezing in here..." I complained. "I'm afraid my nose is going to fall off."

"Why didn't you wear something warm?" Andrew replied with a soothing tone.

"I thought it wouldn't be cold anymore because the snow already melted but now it feels like it's even colder." I explained.

"Maybe you should go back and wear something warmer? I don't want you to get sick..." He added with a concerned voice.

"No, it's fine..." I stated but before I was able to finish what I was saying a car pulled over near me and the driver lowered the window so I could see who it was.

"Get in!" I heard Tiffany's sweet tone.

"Oh, Andrew, I gotta go, Tiffany's giving me a ride. Talk to you later!"

"Uh... okay, bye!" He sounded a little disappointed but he was still mostly cheerful.

Once I hung up the phone and put it in my pocket I opened the door of Tiffany's car to sit beside her. It was so warm inside that I immediately felt much better.

"Was that your 'not boyfriend' on the phone?" She asked once I closed the door.

"It was Andrew!" I neither agreed nor denied her statement.

"I knew it!" Tiffany started while wiggling her eyebrows which surprisingly didn't look very weird. "So everything's going alight, I'm guessing."

"Ugh... shut up!" I immediately felt very uncomfortable after seeing her strangely teasing facial expression so tried to change the subject. "Wait, what are you doing here? I didn't know you lived in this area."

Tiffany turned her eyes towards the road once the traffic light turned green. "I don't." She then finally answered. "They just opened a new coffee shop here so I decided to check it out."

Only then I noticed that there was a cup of coffee in her cup holder. "Well, did you like it?" I asked even though I had absolutely no interest about her drink.

"It was amazing!" Tiffany quickly responded with excitement. "You should try some. Here take it" She then grabbed the cup and gave it to me.

I instinctively took it because I was scared she was going to spill it on my clothes.

"What are you waiting for, try it!" She sounded super energetic. That was probably because of the caffeine.

"Um... okay!" I rose the cup hesitantly and once I finally took a sip my mood changed entirely. It was so... I don't know how to describe it. I guess the best word for it would be – EW!

I barely managed to not spit it out. I was in someone else's car so I definitely didn't want to make a mess.

"You paid money for this?" I started slightly coughing once I finally swallowed the liquid. "Is this one of those overpriced coffees all the cool girls buy for absolutely no reason?"

"What? You didn't like it?" She sounded genuinely heartbroken.

"It tastes like dirt." I answered honestly. "It doesn't even have sugar in it."

"That's because I'm on a diet!" Tiffany said while she was slowing down the car because we were already pretty close to the school's parking lot.

"You are literally the skinniest person I know. Why the hell would you be on a diet?" I replied awkwardly because I still had that horrible aftertaste the coffee left in my mouth.

"I know! I'm a skinny legend, aren't I?" She flipped her hair on the side. "But there's this dress I just love and I have to fit in it no matter what so I can buy it!"

"Can't you just change the size of the dress instead of your weight?"

"Ew, what?" Tiffany responded but I wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not. "I can't believe you just said that. I mean, are you sure you're gay? You are completely clueless when it comes to fashion."

"Ugh... whatever." I rolled my eyes. "I don't have time for that kind of stuff."

"You can always find time for fashion!" She finally parked her car and looked me in the eyes. "There's nothing wrong if you spend a little extra hours so you can look stylish while you're doing your thing!"

"Hours? Are you kidding me? I don't even need 10 minutes to get ready!"

"Yeah, I can tell." Tiffany eyed my outfit up and down and that made me even more self-conscious.

I couldn't listen to her lectures anymore so I quickly opened the door to leave the car. She also did the same.

"There's nothing wrong with my style!" I turned to her after a brief moment of silence but I didn't sound as confident as I would have liked.

"Oh, honey, sorry to break it to you but you don't have a style." She bit her lower lip slightly while we were walking towards the entrance. "You're just wearing whatever's in your closet."

"Well thank you for literally destroying a little confidence I still had left!" I looked away from her angrily.

"No, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings!" Tiffany tried to comfort me with her hand gestures but she had already crossed the line. "Don't worry. I'll fix everything. We'll go for shopping after school and I'll make you look like the most handsome man in the world. I promise!"

I gave her a suspicious look at first but once I saw her sweet smile I finally gave up. "Okay fine. But only for a few minutes. I have to go back home early because I have quite a lot of homework to do."

"Yay!" She squealed with delight and wrapped her right arm onto my left one. "C'mon let's hurry!"

"Why? We still have 15 minutes till first class." I mentioned.

"Yeah, I know but I have to fix my makeup. I can't go there looking like the bride of Frankenstein." Tiffany joked and once we finally got near my locker she added. "You wait for me here. I'll go to the bathroom and come back soon."

"Ugh..." I complained. "Make sure to return today!"

"Ha-ha you're hilarious!" She then came closer to me and pinched me on the cheek but before I was able to react she managed to disappear from my sight.

I sighed and tried not to get annoyed. After a few minutes I got really bored and started looking through my phone to entertain myself but for some reason that didn't help at all.

I didn't want to draw any attention towards me so I tried to stay as calm as I could but the level of my frustration was reaching its peak. After I finally decided that I've waited enough I tried to call Tiffany thinking that maybe at least this way she would return on time.

I was about to press on her number when I heard a familiar voice around the corner. I didn't mean to intrude or anything but my curiosity got the best of me and I slowly started walking towards the direction the voice was coming from.

"...I just wanted to say that I really like you. Actually I've liked you for quite some time already but I could never bring myself to admit that to you. Now I finally decided to confess my feelings and I just hope we can build a relationship. I think that would be really great for both of us. I mean you're not dating anyone now, right?" I heard Tiffany's ex friend Connor saying. I could just hear how nervous he was during that entire conversation.

Once I managed to lay my eyes on the person who he was talking to I wasn't surprised at all. He was speaking to Jay. Well that wasn't shocking at all considering the fact that he tried to threaten me to stay away from Jay.

"No, I'm not seeing anyone right now..." Jay responded and Connor's eyes lit up from anticipation. I couldn't quite tell how Jay was feeling though because he had his back turned against me and I couldn't really speculate anything just based on his voice. "But I don't want to be in a relationship with you either. I appreciate your feelings but unfortunately I don't feel the same way."

"Please, Jay, just give me a chance. I truly believe that we're meant for each other." Connor sounded a little unsteady. Even though I could tell Jay was trying to be very polite he still couldn't handle the brutal honesty.

"I'm sorry, but no matter how many times you ask my answer will still remain the same." Jay put his hand on Connor's shoulder for a brief moment sympathetically but he quickly removed it and added. "I just don't think it'll work between us. Don't get me wrong there's absolutely nothing wrong with you. I know you're a great guy but I'm just not interested."

"Why?" Connor started staring down on his shoes anxiously. "Why can't you date me?"

"Because I think you only like the idea of dating me but in reality we really wouldn't be a good match." Jay tried to explain as clearly and calmly as he possibly could. "I don't mean to sound rude but this is getting really uncomfortable for me so I don't want to talk about it anymore... From now on let's just try to avoid each other. It'll be easier for you to move on that way."

Jay walked away from poor Connor who looked really dumbfounded. He couldn't even comprehend what was going on around him at first but once he regained his consciousness he breathed in heavily and tried not to burst out cry.

He seemed really hurt and I wanted to do something to ease the pain he was feeling but I feared my presence would upset him even more. So I tried to back away before he would notice me but I wasn't quick enough to get out of his sight before he looked up and our eyes met for a brief moment.

His sad facial expression changed into something darker and he started walking towards me. He didn't seem very stable but I figured that was normal after what he just experienced.

I realized that there was practically no way I'd be able to avoid him so I figured I might as well talked to him.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked nicely while he was walking. I didn't want to provoke him so I tried to stay as conventional as I could.

He didn't respond. Actually I'm not even sure if he heard anything I said because he didn't even blink once during that entire process.

Connor's eyes seemed freakishly red. It looked like he was about to explode and all the veins on his face were too visible for my liking.

"It's your fault... Everything is your fault!" He practically screamed. His voice pierced through my ears which wasn't exactly a very pleasant experience.

I didn't want to sound insensitive or anything but what he was saying made absolutely no sense and I tried to reason with him so I could finally open up his eyes but now I realize that was probably not the best idea. "It's not my fault that Jay doesn't like you..."

"UGH... SHUT UP!" He cried out like an animal which was feeling an agonizing amount of pain. "Just fucking die!"

My brain wasn't fast enough to comprehend what just happened. I blinked for a second and once I opened my eyes back on I saw Connor closing the distance between us. He was marching towards me with his fist and for a brief moment I even thought that I saw something in his hand.

Even though I was a bit startled I still managed to take a step back but that still didn't turn out to be enough.

Soon I felt pain in my arm and I looked down. I saw that it was covered with blood and my eyes widened with shock.

Once I looked back up I managed to get a glimpse of what Connor was holding with his hand and I saw a small pocket knife which was also covered in red liquid.

My entire body started shaking. I was barely able to walk backwards slowly. Connor on the other hand was just standing there with a cold and emotionless look in his eyes.

Suddenly the school bell rang and that made him snap out of his condition. He looked down on his hand and when he saw the blood his eyes started twitching. Unlike before he seemed terrified and he tried to take a step closer to me but I gasped and walked even further away from him and he froze on the spot.

Before anything else would happen I saw a tall figure standing between us. He tried to hide me with his own body and reached his hand towards Connor.

"Mr. Connor, calm down and put down the weapon, now." Only then I recognized our principal's voice.

Mr. Cooper was trying to be very calm. His tone didn't even change one bit as if he was in control of the whole situation.

Connor's eyes were filled up with tears and he dropped the knife on the floor shortly afterwards.

"Mr. Connor follow me into my office immediately!" Mr. Cooper demanded but his voice was still not upsetting or triggering for Connor.

"Oh my god, what happened?" I heard Tiffany's worried tone from behind me. She was practically running towards me.

I was pressing my right hand on my left arm to stop the bleeding but a few droplets of red liquid were still dripping down on my hand.

"Everyone, get back to your classes! There's nothing to see here!" Mr. Cooper announced and only then I realized that there were dozens of students staring at us.

The kids obeyed to Mr. Cooper's orders and they all went back to their classrooms.

"Are you feeling alright, Jesse?" The principal asked but I was so shocked I couldn't even open my mouth to make a sound. Then he turned to Tiffany and said. "Take him to the nurse's office to treat his wound." After that he turned back to me and added. "I'll contact your parent right away. Do not panic and try to remain calm."

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Just a little warning for you guys, if you have a boyfriend I suggest you hide him or Jesse's going to steal him away from you. At least that's what everyone thinks, lol.

But seriously, this chapter may feel a little weird and that's probably because I was really hungry while writing it. Actually there's going to be way more drama coming up in the next chapters and I don't want to spoil anything but a few of the characters from previous chapters will make a return.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one and thank you for reading!