Chapter 34
Kylan returned to school. Not because he wanted to, mostly because his father punched him whenever he crossed him at home ever since Jonah pounded on the door. He wanted to avoid having bruises, along with the ones he already had on the side of his cheek from his father, hence why he returned to school. Ella had been extremely excited when he told her that he needed a ride in the morning. She picked him up bright and early, and in the car, she played music that he could not help but nod his head to the tune.
However, there was something odd. He did not seem gloomy, rather simply bored and did not care about anything. He appeared dry. Even the manner he would speak to her seemed as if he had no concern over what she said, which she hated but did not say anything about it yet since she understood he was going through a heartbreak. She had heard all the things Jonah had said to him, and it took her a few days to get over that, since every time she thought about it, she could feel her veins burst with a rage that she never felt before. However, she was quite happy that he was slowly moving on, dragging his feet back to school.
However, as they entered the building, Ella was the one that became stressed, as she said, "Jonah is in your first period class."
He frowned, confused, "So?"
"Isn't that a bit much for you-"
"Don't worry about me," he dismissed, waving his hand and entering his classroom, ignoring Ella's protest as she stood at the doorway. When the professor gave her an odd look, she clenched her teeth and continued her way to her own classroom.
Jonah was already seated, chatting with his friends when he glanced upwards once and then another time, holding contact on Kylan, who marched lethargically, barely able to hold his backpack up his shoulder. He reached his seat without saying anything, and Jonah continued to stare at him, confused but shocked as well.
Until Kylan hissed, "Can you stop staring? I can feel your eyes burning my skin."
Jonah was flustered and turned away immediately, gulping, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
Kylan rolled his eyes, "Whatever."
Their professor stood from his seat and said, "Since everyone is in class today, why don't we use this period to work on your partner assignments?"
Kylan's eyes widened, and so did Jonah's. They were partners; they had chosen one another when they were on good terms, never having thought that it would lead to this. Kylan cursed under his breath, but when the professor announced that they could begin, he turned his desk and faced Jonah. He grabbed a lined piece of paper from within his backpack, "The assignment is to find a topic and write a rhetorical analysis about it. The topic has to be something obviously wrong, and we need to make it persuasive as if it is good. For example, Texting and Driving is better than Driving Safely."
Jonah frowned, "That's obviously wrong."
"I know," Kylan scowled, narrowing his eyes, "that was an example of what kind of topic we need to choose." "Sounds great," Jonah smiled, "since I can't speak to you, how about you do all the work?"
Kylan raised an eyebrow, "What? No."
"What d'you mean no? I told you I'm never annoying or speaking to you again if you said you didn't love me anymore."
"But this isn't-"
"This isn't what?" When Kylan glanced upwards and noticed the smug smirk playing on Jonah's lips, as if he had the entire control over him, he immediately sprung to his feet, grabbed his bag, and slammed his pen onto the desk. Everybody turned, even the professor raising his head, and when Kylan realized all the eyes were on his raging face, he scoffed and stomped his feet towards the exit.
The professor frowned, "Kylan, where are you-"
"I'm going home."
Jonah immediately stood to his feet and raced after him, cursing under his breath. He did not think Kylan would still have this attitude and had not assumed it to annoy him this bad. As he saw Kylan head towards the double doors at the end of the hall, Jonah sprinted behind him, calling his name to which Kylan ignored.
Jonah made his way around him and placed himself in front of him, stopping Kylan from heading towards the exit. It was evident Kylan was furious, and Jonah was not aiding his situation. He sighed, "I was being a dick, I'm sorry. Don't go home, I know it was a lot for you to come today, and I'd feel awful if you went home because of me. That was a joke, so don't go home." When Kylan's face softened, Jonah nodded his head, "I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone."
"That loser," Ella grumbled as she bit into her sandwich, growling as Kylan finished explaining what had occurred; it was lunchtime.
During P.E, Kylan was dismissed from the activities. He sat on the side and was allowed to watch the entire gym class play dodgeball. Hence why, when Jonah saw the guy named Charles St-Duram sit next to Kylan as he was out, he clenched his teeth and threw a ball at his head, causing Charles to turn around with widened eyes. Jonah raised his palm with a glare, "Sorry, accident." Charles had seen the tweet from Ashley and had also seen them around the school, hence why he knew it had not been an accident.
Ella continued to destroy her sandwich as she hissed, "He's been awful to you."
"Who has been awful to him?" Bradley questioned, sitting across from them and opening his bag of chips.
Kylan frowned, unsure why Bradley still sat with them, even if Jonah was not, but was too exhausted to even put up a fight against him. Ella glanced in Kylan's direction before returning her attention to Bradley, "Jonah." "What'd he do now-"
"Did you know?" Kylan asked quietly.
Bradley raised an eyebrow, "Know about?"
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"His girlfriend, Leah."
"You mean his ex-girlfriend?" Bradley laughed, "Yes, I knew."
Ella gasped, "You knew he had a kid and didn't say anything?"
Bradley narrowed his gaze at her, "Do not turn this on me. No, I didn't. It's not my relationship to interfere in; if Jonah wanted you to know, you would know."
"Still," she leaned over and ripped the bag of chips from his palm, "you could have prevented this."
"I don't care enough to do so-"
"Hey."
They glanced upwards and were surprised when they saw the student man named Charles St-Duran stand there, with a grinning face. All three kept a bored stare, Ella even narrowing her eyes in his direction, which made him nervous. They had heard of Charles before. He was quite under the radar, not hanging around the jocks but also having his own group of friends. His curly blond hair and gray eyes, added with his sharp jaw, were enough to make a few girls goggle, and he even had freckles that made him appear much more handsome, which he had in common with Kylan.
He turned to Kylan, smiling as he asked, "Mind if I sit here? Sorry, my friends left."
Bradley frowned, seemingly odd that a random student would ask to sit with them immediately after Kylan and Jonah's breakup. Even more so, that he kept glancing towards Kylan repeatedly, who did not seem to notice. It was no coincidence that he spoke to him during P.E class as well. Hence why Bradley pushed himself to his feet, "El, let's go—"
"It's Ella," she hissed, not wanting Kylan to catch up on the nickname, and she glared at him, "and why are we going..."
Bradley did not say anything, and Kylan stared at them confusingly until a mental exchange occurred with their eyeballs. Ella stormed to her feet, saying goodbye to Kylan and fleeing the table before he could protest.
Charles smiled shyly, scratching the side of his head as he said, "They ditched us, huh?"
Kylan nodded, "It seems so."
"How is everything going?" Charles asked friendly, opening his bowl of salad and stuffing his face.
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"I'm doing well. What about you, Charles?"
He tilted his head, "Alright, I have a piano recital tonight, and I'm somewhat nervous about it. You should come watch it."
Kylan sighed, declining his offer politely, "No, it's okay."
"I'm not saying that just to be nice," Charles became serious, holding his gaze with Kylan's, "I promise it'll take your mind off of things. You can come and leave without saying hi to me. That's fine as well." Kylan bit his bottom lip reluctantly, and Charles smiled, "Trust me, it will give you some peace."
When Kylan shrugged and said, "I'll think about it," Charles was satisfied with that answer, continuing to munch in on the salad he had. They had been having a light conversation until Kylan saw Jonah's eyes in their direction, and the navy ones burned with flames that seemed equal to fury.
Kylan fell quiet when he saw Jonah stand to his feet, and stomp his feet towards them and slam his palm on the table, causing Charles to jump in shock. He slowly turned his head to Jonah, who sent a horrifying smirk, grabbing a seat beside Charles, across from Kylan.
He raised an eyebrow, "This is the second time I catch you talking to my boy."
"Your...boy?"
Kylan rolled his eyes, "Jonah, please leave."
"Not until you tell me nothing is going on between the both of you," he snarled, gritting his teeth.
Charles frowned, "I heard you two broke up."
"So you're trying to swoop him," Jonah hissed, "You think just because of that you can try to—"
"Woah," Charles interrupted him with an incredulous chuckle, widening his eyes, "I understand what you're suggesting, but I am not gay. I don't like men."
Jonah felt stupid at that point and turned to Kylan, who sighed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. He bit his bottom lip and stood to his feet, and without saying anything else, marched elsewhere.