Secrets [Trans Jake AU, Juke Fanfic]

~ Chapter 8: Parker ~

Thursday

"Well, well, well. Lookie who it is? I barely recognized you. Say, when was the last time I saw you? Middle school?" The boy smirked. "Hey, Parker." Jake shuttered, locking eyes with the bleach-blonde boy. "Seems like you've grown. You cut your hair I see," Parker walked closer to Jake, circling him slowly as he looked him up and down. "Oh, but you kept your feminism with earrings and a necklace? I told you. No matter how hard you try, you'll always be a girl. You're not a transformer." Jake froze, doing his best not to let the older boy's words get to him. 

"So. What are you going by now? Jayden? Are you one of those 'non-binary' freaks now?"

"I'm still a boy." 

"Oh, so you haven't gone into any other phases in the past years? That's boring."

"It's not a phase. It's who I am!" 

"'Who you are'? Who you are is chosen by birth, dumbass. Not a weird trend you found off the internet."

"God, you sound like my dad."

"You mean the one that left?"

"How do you- Nevermind. Just, go away already, will you?" Jake turned around to walk away, trying to ignore the last comment Parker had said. The blue-eyed boy quickly ran in front of him, smiling. "Woah. You're actually defending yourself? Haha. That's rich," He laughed. "I said, back off!" Jake pushed Parker to the ground in defense. As the older boy wiped the new blood stain from underneath his nose, his eyes glared back up to the younger boy in front of him. "Now you've done it." He growled. 

Out of fear, Jake ran into the nearest washroom. He leaned on the sink and took a moment to replay everything that had just happened. It's not every day you see your childhood bully being a homophobic asshole to you once more. It's a lot to take in after going years without being picked on. 

"You thought you could hide? That's cute." A cold-hearted laugh ripped through Jake's ears as he turned to see Parker standing in the doorway of the washroom. "Now, where was I? Oh yeah. I was about to teach you a lesson on respecting your elders," Parker slammed his fist into his other hand like a baseball being thrown to a catcher's mitt. 

A chill ran down Jake's spine as the boy came closer and closer. 

--

A sigh escaped the teenager's lips as he carried on to class. The hallway was oddly quiet, and the silence didn't make him feel too happy. Not to mention the negative thought tornado swirling around in his head. "Hey, you okay Lu?" The boy heard. "Huh?!" Luke yelped, snapping out of his thoughts. 

The chestnut-haired boy turned on his heel to see a pair of lavender eyes smiling at him. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine Zander, hehe." 

"You sure? You look upset." 

"I'm fine, really." 

"If you say so.. Just know that.. I'm always here if you want to talk about anything.." Zander rubbed the back of his neck and blushed gently. "Oh yeah, Zander, I've just been spacing out because of the.. Competition! And school, and stuff like that," Luke lied. "It's nothing you need to worry about."

Zander wrapped his arms around Luke tightly. "Don't say that! I'll always worry for you, even if there's no reason to. You're my best friend after all." Luke gently pulled away with a smile. "If you say so." He giggled. 

"Zander!" The two boys heard. 

"Hailey?" Zander questioned. "What's wrong?" 

"It's Milly.. She's.. Fighting.." Hailey panted, clearly winded from running.