The Loner's Journey

Chapter 18

Grayson's POV
After inviting Archer and Danny to lunch, I decide to head to my locker to switch my books. On my way there I see some of the cheerleaders surrounding my locker again.  I groan and slow my approach to it. Once I get there, they begin grabbing at me again. "What do you ladies need?" I ask, slightly irritated. "We want you to hang out with us." One whines. I sigh. "I already told you guys that I'm too busy." I say. One of them scoffs. "You never have time for us." The same one whines again. I feel myself getting more and more irritated. But I can't let that show, even if snapping at them would get them to leave me alone. Eventually, I get my books switched and head to my next class. As I walk in I notice that neither Archer or Danny are here. Once the teacher comes in, I raise my hand to ask where they are. "Yes, Grayson?" The teacher asks tiredly. "Do you know where Archer and Danny are?" I say. "Daniel took Archer to the infirmary about half an hour ago. They probably won't be in class today." The teacher says calmly. I put my hand down but continued to worry about Archer and Daniel. After the bell rang for lunch I decide to look for them. I was about to go look in the infirmary, when I spotted them walking towards the cafeteria. I jogged to catch up to them. "Hey, guys!" I say to get there attention. I seemed to have startled Archer though because he jumped slightly. They turn to me and both tried to give me a smile but they looked more like grimaces. "Hey Grayson. What did you need?" Danny asks. I also notice him move Archer behind him a little, but he's not looking at me when he does so. I turn to see what he's looking at and notice Trent, Vince, and Blake walking in, smirking. I turn back around and just barely catch the look of fear on Archer and the anger on Danny. Once Danny looks back at me I continue with the conversation. "Well I did invite you guys to lunch, didn't I?" I say with a small smile. They look confused for a second before I see a look of understanding cross Archer's face and he reaches up to whisper to Danny. Danny nods and we fall into the lunch line. As we go along I notice that Danny seems tense, but also that he's picking Archer's food for him. I shrug it off and get my own food before leading them to an open table. We all sit down and start to eat. "So why'd you invite us to lunch?" Danny asks, and then winces. I laugh as I realize that Archer must of done something to him. "I invited you because I can and I wanted to get to know you guys better." I say. I see archer blush and Danny smirks at him. I laugh quietly. "Well you probably won't get much out of archer but I can probably answer any questions." Danny says. I smile and nod before taking another bite of food. "So how long have you two known each other?" I ask as a starter. "I don't know for sure. But I think it's been like ten years?" He says as more like a question. I see archer nod slightly. "Ok, cool. How did y'all meet?" I say. Danny smiles, and I assume he's thinking about it. "If I remember correctly, it was when Ace had been locked out of his house by accident and decided to sleep on a bench in the park nearby." He says. I think about that for a second. "How did he get locked out?" I ask. I see both of them tense slightly. "Um... I don't think Ace ever really told me what happened." He says. I nod, not wanting to press too much and scare them off. I see them relax a little. "The other day you told me that Archer can be really shy, so how did you get him to talk?" I ask. He laughs. "I kept poking him until he got pissed off and yelled at me to stop." He says. I see Archer roll his eyes. I was about to ask something else when the bell rings again and everyone starts leaving. I turn to look at Archer, but he's already up and moving. I hurry to throw away my stuff and catch up, Danny on my heels. We get to the door and I don't see Archer anywhere. I was about to say this to Danny but I notice him walking the opposite way I was looking and follow. He had apparently seen Archer and was trying to get to him. A few minutes later we catch up with Archer. He looks at us like it's the funniest thing in the world to see us huffing and puffing to catch our breath. Although, I guess I understand since were both on school teams and he isn't. Once I catch my breath, I just smile at him and we wait for Danny to catch his breath before going anywhere.