Tutoring the Bad Boy [REWRITTEN]

21. ian and claire

"OH," WAS THE only word that came out of my mouth when Ayana mentioned it was Friday today. I was a little disappointed to not see Archer anywhere, and I was scared that my fear of him disappearing was coming to life.

"You seem down," Ayana frowned as she took a bite out of her apple. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing, don't worry. I just didn't get enough sleep last night is all," I lied whilst putting on a smile for her. I didn't want her to know that I was sad because Archer hadn't shown up to school, especially on the day that he told me to wait for. She gave me a knowing look but didn't press on.

The school day dragged on just the same: slow and sad. I sent Archer a text earlier in the day that he hadn't replied to. I sighed, looking at my phone for what seemed like the hundredth time today to see no notification from the boy. I put all of my books in my bag and slugged out of the building, not bothering to wait for Ayana or Tobias. The air was chilly, but I was used to walking home in any weather at this point— though part of me missed riding in Archer's car.

I still wasn't willing to go home, so I stopped by the diner I was going to work at soon. When I sat down at one the empty tables, I shook my head when one of the waitresses asked me if I wanted a drink. The day seemed gloomy; it was cold and the clouds covered the sky. There wasn't any sign of the sun peeking out anywhere, and I checked to see if anyone had messaged me.

No one.

I sighed, closing my eyes and resting my head on the table. There was a pit of emptiness that filled my stomach, and I silently thanked the heavens because none of the waitresses tried to bother me again. I rested my eyes, trying to come up with some plausible reason to why he wouldn't show up to school or answer any of my texts.

     The first thought that instantly came to mind was that he simply got bored of me. I thought of anything that I did that might've driven him away from me but frowned when I couldn't come up with anything. Was he always this erratic? I sighed, putting in my earbuds and playing music.

     You leapt from crumbling bridges
     Watching cityscapes turn to dust
     Filming helicopters crashing in the ocean
     From way above

     Just as I was about to fall asleep, my phone started to buzz from the table. I almost ignored it, thinking it was my mom but decided to look anyways. I think that a part of me was happy that I saw Archer's name plastered on the phone screen and yet another part of me still felt empty.

     "Archer?" I called into the phone, hearing his staggered breathing and sniffles.

     "I want to hurt some people very badly right now," I heard him murmur from the other side. Wait, what the fuck?

     "What happened?" I asked, getting up from the seat and waving goodbye to one of the waitresses who told me to have a nice rest of the day. The cold air hit me as soon as I walked out, but I was too focused on his words that it barely bothered me.

     "Some fucking kids at school kept threatening Ian and Claire. The two have bruises all over, and Ian's got a black eye from trying to stand up to them," the longer he continued, the more furious he sounded. "They got suspended for three days. Can you believe it? Three days for hurting my siblings. I'm so close to fucking killing them."

     "I'm on my way to your house right now. Give me fifteen minutes," I told him, heading to his neighborhood in a jog. "Try to calm down. You don't want to go to jail for killing someone, let alone some little kids."

     "I wouldn't care," he snorted. "They deserve it. Matter of fact, I should go back there and go through with it."

     "Ian and Claire would care," I retorted, "I would care. Don't do anything stupid, alright? Just calm down, I'll be there soon."