𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐌𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧 (𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏)

24

Song: Woman like me - Little Mix

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"Here, I'll help"

Immediately the owner of the voice took some of the weight from the table I was dragging and my task immediately felt much easier. I smiled warmly as we put it in its right place in the gym, where some volunteers were preparing everything for the Science Fair that would be happening here tomorrow. Since I was at the Student Council -and as Jess best friend- I got no choice but to help as well.

"Thanks." I huffed, tilting my head upwards and raised my eyes to meet some known light ones, shyly smiling back at me. "Henry! How are you? It's been a while since we talked."

His cheeks reddened like a traffic light. So adorable.

"Yeah... I'm f-fine. Thanks." and he managed to send me a quivering smile. We pulled the table down once we reached its spot and my muscles immediately felt the relief.

"So," I started as we both stretched our limbs to unstiffen them. "Did you sing up as a volunteer as well?"

"Kinda." was his response with a little shrug. "I... eh, participate in the fair. So that's why."

"Really? That's great. What'd you do?"

"This little project, from science... Really boring, actually."

"Oh, I doubt it." I encouraged him grinning wider and his blush deepened. "I'm sure it'll be impressive. Good luck."

"Thanks. But I'd been told It's lame." Henry sighed pouting, which made me frown.

"Who said that?"

"Uh? Oh, N-no one." he waved it off. "Just my brother."

His brother. What happened the night before washed over me like freezing water.

"Chase."

Now was Henry's turn to frowned. "You know him?" was that a hint of concern in his voice what I sensed? I thought of that night in the Bricks, and yesterday at the park and shook my head.

"No... not really. I just met him a couple times. Didn't actually seem nice." then something clicked in me. "Wait, he had this sort of tension going on with Walker..." Henry's eyes widened and diverted from me, clearly uncomfortable. Okay, so he knows something. "Is that the reason why he's always such a jerk to you? What's going on with them?"

"Chase..." he cleared his throat, readjusting his glasses as he struggled to focus on anything but me, a little pissed. "My dear brother got into his bad side. So I guess nothing good could come out of them having business together. That I can assure you."

"What do you mean on his bad side?" I carefully pressed and he gave me a weird, cautious look. Yeah, I know I was being a little too insistent about this, but it was kinda a big deal.

"Well, uh... I don't- I don't know the whole story, but it certainly had something to do with Chase bonding with that troubled guy."

"Carsen?"

"Carsonn." Henry corrected and gulped. "You know him too?"

"Not at all, but I heard about him."

He looked around, suddenly feeling more anxious and his fear confused me. Luckily, the gym was empty apart from the two of us.

"He's... Look, he's no good, Arielle. You don't want to get involved with him. Trust me."

What? My eyes widened in shock before letting out an awkward laugh.