𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚗'𝚝 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍.

Chapter II

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐈

Periods Three and Four
——————

For the lunch period all James had to do was look in the cafeteria before opting for a different path, so, he did what any sensible antisocial would and went to the nearest, and only, gender neutral bathroom in the whole school which was located in what the students called "the dungeon".

It wasn't scary, dark or dreary in any dungeon sort of way; and there definitely weren't any jail cells or cages hanging off the ceiling, it was just located down an extra flight of stairs which lead down a hall where the art rooms, drama, sculpting, paints, wood work, etc. we're held.

In fact the scariest thing down there probably would have been the drama teacher, let's just say that whenever he acts out a gruesome scene from a play he really likes using the volume his vocal chords give him.

Anyway, James went into the last stall of the bathroom, locked the door behind him and sat on the floor to eat his packed lunch; he knew it wasn't the most sanitary but he was not looking for a panic attack today—and that cafeteria just screamed uncomfortable for introverted folk.

Eating in a bathroom stall alone really wasn't as bad as you'd think, in fact it was kind of nice; the only real downside being the couple that came in after him, obviously they just had to take advantage of the all gendered bathroom in the stall right next door to his.

It was an easy fix though, all James had to do is turn up the volume on his music till they finished banging against the walls and "seductively" whining to each other—when really they sounded like newly hatched birds begging their mother for food.

The baby carrots with ranch dip he had packed now seemed less appetizing then when he first got here.

—

Meanwhile, April and Casey sat in the cafeteria at their own table, April on her phone and Casey talking to her about anything that could possibly pop up in his mind.

"Hey, you aren't actually dating Donnie now—are you, Red?" He asked nonchalantly as he played with his food.

April took a moment to think about it, Donnie did ask her if she'd be his girlfriend just before school started and she technically did agree.

In truth she didn't really like him as more then a really good friend who sometimes helped with her homework or studying for major tests, and although she felt this way towards the turtle, she didn't want to hurt his feelings and potentially his self confidence just because one girl rejected him in his lifetime.

"I suppose, but I don't know if I should be dating him." She explained which got a look from her friend across from her. "I just can't see him as more then a friend, that's all." She shrugged and took a bite of her food.

Casey looked at her in contemplation for a second before gaining a smirk and hooded eyes. "Does this mean you have eyes for someone else, maybe yours truly?" While asking that he leaned over the table a little to get into Aprils face.

A face in which was highly unamused by her friends antics, she didn't hesitate to push him away from her which earned a laugh from the boy.

He had actually confessed his feelings for the girl after the second week of summer and was promptly rejected on the spot, he got over it rather quickly and it's now just an inside joke to the both of them.

The two talked till the bell rang and when it did they were surprised, yet relieved, to find that James wasn't already by the lockers and instead just coming up the stairs next to them.

His face was still as serious as ever; even with the kids lunchbox in his left hand he still looked both professional and scary.

When he made it to his locker he unlocked it in fluid motions and left his lunchbox, picking up his backpack before leaving down the same hall he had just came from.

All of this had happened so fast that both teens figured it may have just been their imaginations; however, giving one look to the other confirmed that it was real.

"What's your next class, Red?" Casey asked as if they saw nothing.

"Science, I think." She stated opening her locker. "What about you?"

"Ceramics." He replied with distain. "I have English after that and then I'm going to the skating rink, wanna tag along?" He asked leaning on James' locker.

"Sure."

And with that one word said they parted ways to their separate classes, Casey going to the dungeon, where James went off to, and April going up the stairs.

The rest of the day went by in a flash with the two comrade's meeting by Aprils locker; each one having a silent agreement that it was the most convenient place to meet up compared to Caseys locker which was on the second floor.

-

"How were your classes?" Casey asked leaning on James' locker once again; not  deliberately trying to be rude, but figured he had already left and didn't need in his locker anymore.

"Not great, I already got homework for science." She stated holding up a few papers stapled together.

"Sheesh, and I thought my English class was bad." He muttered.

This got April a little curious "What happened in English?"

"Nothin' compared to you, but that James kid will be sitting at the desk in front of mine for at least two weeks—till we get a seating change." He explained with a shrug.

April looked at him even more confused then when they started the conversation "What's so bad about that?"

"I can see everything he does on his laptop is what." He whispered. "He's even weirder then I could ever imagine."

"What did you find?" She whispered back; to anyone else it would have been a little childish but to them it was like they were on a stealth mission.

"Threw out the whole class he was on this website with lots of pictures and he kept looking at ones with knitted clothes and weird art stuff." He explained. "But that's not the weird part, sometimes he would just stop at a picture before writing something in a little book."

April was not impressed by that new information one bit, so he was looking at girls in the middle of class, he could be doing worse things during that time.

"What's weird about that?" She asked now not even bothering to be quiet anymore.

"It's weird 'cause it was in the middle of class." He stated in a hushed tone.

April rolled her eyes and slammed her locker shut previous to walk away with Casey hot on her heels trying to explain his thoughts.

"Listen, I gotta go see if Donnie can help with my homework. Have fun at the rink." She said as she started to leave Casey.

He had other plains however and put a hand on her shoulder to turn her around with an annoying "hey".

"I thought you were gonna come with me, your work can wait till tomorrow; can't it?"