I Know it Sounds Cliche [kam high school au] [kotlc]

Chapter 5

Tam POV:

Tam stirred his cereal sleepily. He yet again, woke up late and was now paying for it. Not to mention how long it took him to fall asleep. His mind just couldn't tear itself from the worst possible thoughts, inevitably making them even more excruciating in the process.

Hearing Linh's footsteps get closer to the kitchen as she made her way from her room to grab whatever item she had went back to get, Tam quickly stood up and rushed to put his bowl in the sink, restraining a yawn.

"Ready?" She asked, creating a small jolt of unnecessary panic in his stomach.

"Uh... Need to brush my teeth." He responded, the previous urge to yawn gone.

"Okay, can you try to hurry?" Linh asked clearly trying to hide her impatience.

"Yeah." Tam mumbled, briskly walking towards the bathroom. He grabbed his toothbrush and sloppily applied toothpaste, partially screwing on the cap before he tossed it back onto the counter. He spent about 15 seconds with the brush in his mouth before he spit, rinsed the brush, and half-jogged over to grab his backpack and shoes.

Linh was already out the door, so Tam decided simply having the shoes on his feet was a luxury and tied shoelaces were out of the question. He quickly shuffled towards the door, careful not to trip over the laces, before hopping out and closing the door with a much louder bang than intended.

*

Tam closed his locker carefully, not too intent on banging it. Unlike some people, he thought, side eyeing Fitz as he slammed his closed with a loud clang and jogged over to what Tam assumed to be some of his friends.

He diverted his attention to his sister, who was a few dozen lockers down from him, facing a petite blonde girl. Having no better idea, Tam walked over to the two. He brushed his shoulder against Linh's, attempting to get her attention.

The movement made his sister to inhale sharply in surprise. "Tam!" Linh exclaimed. "God, you scared me. Hi," she added, glancing over at him and smiling.

He returned her smile. "Oops."

Tam glanced over to the blonde girl, who he now realized was Marella. Her eyebrow was raised as she looked him up and down.

"He's my brother," Linh assured, most likely for context.

Marella nodded. "Makes sense." She then, put her hand up to her face and angled it toward Linh, shamelessly stage whispering, "He's kinda hot."

Linh's eyebrows shot up at the remark and she choked on a laugh.

"Too bad I don't date guys," she added, straightening herself and fake pouting.

Tam's whole body felt hot. Too hot.

"Yes, too bad," He responded passively, desperately trying hide his embarrassment.

Marella smirked and linked arms with Linh, who unhesitatingly followed her as she pulled her away. Not knowing what else to do, he paused, but in the end did the same. Tam scrunched his eyebrows together as he hurried to catch up.

"Where're we going-?" he asked, confused.

"Class." Linh and Marella replied at the same time.

"Oh-" Tam said, feeling a whole new level of dumb. No duh, he thought, and continued trailing behind them, barely dodging a girl with straight light brown hair and freckles.

They passed a few classrooms and turned left at a corner, before walking through the second door down. The classroom was larger than most, and very well lit. It had large windows on the upper half of the spotless white walls and was littered with shelves and tables, most covered in various supplies and tools.