Secrets [Trans Jake AU, Juke Fanfic]

~ Chapter 12: Misunderstanding. ~

Monday

Step after step, a young teen boy was being drawn out of reality by the overwhelming voices surrounding him. He stared down at the ground, looking like a wilted flower, feeling as though he was walking through hell itself. He never knew what it was like to be looked down on, and although his name isn't the one bouncing around in all these conversations, he feels as though that was exactly what was happening. This young boy felt guilty for the small-talk being formed about his friend. 

The boy's icy chocolate eyes were glued to his white-pink-and-blue shoes as he continued down the even icier hallway. As the cold hands of guilt crawled further and further up his spine he heard two familiar voices coming from a far away corridor. Out of confusion, the magenta-haired teen let his head finally shoot up from it's dangling position as he sped up his pace. 

He hurried down the hallway, following the muffled voices until he could hear them clearly. As he turned a final corner he overheard the conversation of his friend, Jake, and one of the music club members, Luke. He seem to have just caught on to the ending of the one-sided argument. 

"Just like you swore that you wouldn't tell?!" Drew heard his blonde friend roar. The anger and pain mixed together in his rough voice echoed off the walls and rang in Drew's ears. He never recalled hearing Jake this mad and hurt in the whole time he had known the hazel-eyed boy. 

"Jake, you have to listen to me-" The brunette continued the conversation timidly. "No! I'm done listening to you, Luke. I... I trusted you. With the biggest thing in my life. Something more important to me than anything. And you took it and shattered it." Jake responded harshly. His voice was shaking and broke as the words rolled off his tongue. Although Drew was only listening, he could clearly tell that his friend was crying. That knowledge wrapped around his heart and tugged on it until it cracked. 

The rest of the conversation was a ball rolling down a steep hill into every worse scenario imaginable. The small boy shut his eyes tightly, trying to think of a scene where this conversation will climb uphill. However, his mind couldn't find a single thread of actions that could lead to any positivity. 

Finally, the battle came to a close. Neither side won, thought. Could it even be called a battle? Either way, it was over, and Drew could hear footsteps coming his way. Out of fear of the confrontation of spying on his friend, he quickly dove into the library that was luckily only a few feet away from where he stood. Once inside, he pressed himself against the large wooden doors, listening for the footsteps to cease. After a moment of waiting, silence finally engulfed the room.

Drew pushed an extinguishing sigh out of his lungs. He tried to unpack the situation at hand. How was he going to tell Jake that it wasn't the drummer that spread the rumor? And better yet, why was Jake mad at Luke about the rumor anyway? What about the rumor lead Jake to believe it was the kindred heart of Luke to do such a nasty and discreet thing? As much as Drew wanted to look further into it, he took note of how hurt Jake was by the idea of other people knowing of the sensitive topic he thought Luke let loose, so he kept his questions locked in the back of his mind.

Instead, he thought about Jake. It wasn't right for him to ignore what the boy must be feeling. He decided to try to "accidentally" run into him, so the boy trotted to the second exit of the library on the other side of the large room. He ended up in the same area of the music room. He recalled that Jake's locker was near this area, so he decided to walk in the direction of said locker and hopefully run into his friend. Drew did so, and eventually made it to the metal door. It appeared as though he reached it before the blonde did, so he leant against it and waited. He let his chocolate eyes slide closed as he put his tired mind to a quick rest.