Stuck in Yesterday

Chapter Thirteen

Hello y'all! Just wanted to quickly say that I hope you all have a happy holiday and happy new year! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

  Virgil's P.O.V

  The classes leading up to lunch went way faster than Virgil hoped they would. When that fateful bell rang, the situation he was in hit him like a bag of bricks. On one hand, he could not show up to sit with Patton and his friends. He wouldn't get hurt. But that could hurt Patton's feelings, resulting in attention and wrath from Roman and Logan, then followed by getting beat up by those other boys. On the other hand, he could go sit with Patton which would make the bubbly boy happy, but could possibly cause another conflict between himself and Roman, possibly Logan, which would not only result in Patton getting upset but also getting beat up by that group of boys. There is no winning scenario, Virgil thought, either way, I end up pummeled. And for a moment I thought this school would be different.

  At that thought, his heart sank. Subconsciously, Virgil had hoped that this place wouldn't be like his old school. That he could make some friends like his mother had asked him to and to give this place a chance. But now... he wasn't so sure about that. Virgil pushed the last thoughts back, attempting to swallow down the growing fear as he got closer to the cafeteria. Maybe, he pondered, I could just come up with some excuse. I did just have a concussion, so maybe he'll believe that I just forgot. Or that I couldn't find their table so I just went to sit somewhere else. Yeah, I'm sure that'll work! Hopefully...

  Now a bit less anxious about the situation, he entered the lunch room. Just as before, every empty table was taken and the room was bustling with activity. It's so loud and crazy in here, so surely Pat won't see me. Not that he'd be looking. He probably just asked out of sympathy or something, Virgil assured himself.

  But just as he thought that he heard an all too familiar voice shout from behind him, "oh! There you are kiddo!"

  He had been spotted. He couldn't think of anything else to do but become rooted to his spot. Virgil heard the fast approaching footsteps from behind him and felt the light tough on his shoulder which he knew must have been Patton, but for a brief moment he was completely frozen in fear. However, what the other said next broke him out of his trance. "Hey, Virge, you okay kiddo? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Patton worried, appearing by his side.

  "Oh! Y-yeah I'm okay. Nothing to worry about, Pat," Virgil tried to reassure him, though the other seemed less than convinced.

  "It's just that I was worried that I wouldn't find where you were sitting and that you'd be sad that I didn't show," The emo fibbed, hoping that he sounded genuine enough to fool the bubbly boy.

  And it seemed that he had, because Patton smiled and said, "oh okay! Sorry for worrying you like that! Now come on! Roman and Logan are waiting for us!"

  The other strained a smile, trying desperately to feign some kind of joy, and gritted through clenched teeth, "oh yeah. We shouldn't keep them waiting."

  So the two turned around and headed towards a round table that was surrounded by a crowd of students, boys and girls alike. when they approached the group, Patton asked them in a sweet voice that made Virgil's heart skip a beat, "hello kiddos! Can you please let me and my friend here by?"

  Immediately the crowd dispersed with choruses of "of course!" and "sorry!" Patton grabbed onto Virgil's arm and led him through the remaining students that stood around the table, all of them sparing a curious glance at the unexpected acquaintance at the popular boy's side. Within moments, they were at the table. The only two that sat there were the two boys Virgil really didn't want to interact with. "Hi Ro! Hi Logan! Guess who I brought with me today!" Patton greeted them cheerfully.

  Roman, who had just finished talking with one of the many male students in the crowd, turned to face them as he returned the blonde boy's greeting, "hello, padre, who did you-!"

  As soon as the dramatic teen spotted Virgil, his face fell. To his credit, his face did not appear to be disgusted or malicious in any way, though it was plain to see his obvious discomfort upon seeing the dark clad teen. Logan finally decided to look up from his book, and upon seeing them said in a monotone voice, "salutations Patton and Virgil," then directed his attention to be solely on Virgil and questioned, "how is your head? I trust that you have at least mostly recovered, seeing as you are at school today."

  Virgil nodded. "Uh, yeah it's feeling better."

  The two teens finally took a seat, Patton choosing the seat next to Roman and Virgil choosing to sit beside Patton. There was a heavy silence that fell over the table, the four teens mostly focused on their lunches. When Virgil had pulled out his lunch, the reactions from the other inhabitants of the table were mixed. "Kiddo, is that all you have for lunch?!" Patton gasped, staring wide eyed at the apple and snack baggie filled with cereal that the other had pulled out.

  This caught the attention of the other two, and they both looked over. Logan immediately commented, his tone serious, "Virgil, that is not a sufficient amount of food to be eating for lunch. For the sake of your health, I hope that you had a decently sized breakfast this morning."

  Virgil didn't respond, instead choosing to stare at the food in front of him, presumably deciding which one to eat first. Logan's gaze lingered on him for a while longer before he turned back to his book and commented out of the blue, "I didn't take you for the type to wear chokers, Virgil."
 
  For a brief moment, the emo didn't even register the words. But when he did, he felt the heat rise to his cheeks. The princely boy turned to get a look at him, and Virgil almost thought he saw a faint pink dust his cheeks. He didn't say anything. "Ohhh! I can't believe I didn't notice! You look so cute in that choker!" Patton exclaimed, his cheeks a more visible shade of pink.

  Virgil mumbled a small "thanks", sinking deeper into his hoodie in an attempt to hide his ever reddening face and from the sudden attention he was getting.

  The rest of the lunch period passed in mostly silence, with Patton trying to start a conversation with little success. Virgil silently finished off his apple and picked at the cereal, every so often taking a quick scope of the cafeteria for three familiar faces. He never saw them, but that only made him more anxious. When he heard the chime of the bell, he shot up like a rocket. He voiced a quick goodbye to the three boys in an attempt to not come across as too desperate to leave. As he moved through the hallways and weaved through the rush of students, he pulled out his schedule to find his next class. Let's see... Virgil thought, quickly scanned the page, ah, English. Room A312. Got it.

  Luckily for him, Virgil was quickly able to find the hallway and room he was supposed to be in for his next class before the bell signaled the beginning of class. When he entered, there wasn't anything that put him on edge. Fairy lights were hung in multiple places in the room, so much so that it wasn't necessary for the lights to be on. There were a few English related posters that hung on the cream colored walls. Those were the things he noticed first. Then he started to focus on the faces of the students he'd be sharing this classroom with for the period and he saw two faces that made him go somehow paler than he already was