Society | A Evan Lennon Story

7 - Ben

I walk into school and in the corridor, I see the others. I walk over and smile. "Hey, guys." I say.

"Hi, Evan." Zamora says.

"Hi." Barrett says as he smiles at me.

I smile back. "Hi."

"Hey, Eve." Celeste says, saying the name in a sort of mockery way.

I furrow my eyebrows as look over at her but I grin. "You did not just call me Eve." I say, saying it the same way she did. Barrett and Zamora laughs.

Celeste grins. "What if I did?"

"Then I might just have to kill you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then do it."

I grin and step forward, but stop when I notice Barrett stumble forward. I look over and see Ben grinning menacingly at me. I go to walk over to him in a moment of anger, but Barrett grabs my shoulder and says, "Don't. Just leave it." I look over at him. "Don't give him the attention he clearly lacks."

I huff and glance at Ben, but I turn away and return my attention back to the others and I pat Barrett on the back and nod in reassurance. I look at the girls, they have looks that would suggest they're worried or confused, I can't tell. "What?" I say.

"Nothing, I just.. I don't know, it just seems like recently you've gotten more protective of Barrett." Celeste says.

"And obedient." Zamora adds. Celeste snorts out a laugh.

I chuckle lightly and roll my eyes. "Piss off." I let my smile fade and I look at Barrett, who's already looking at me. "I just really care about him." I say. He smiles softly and I catch myself staring at him too long and I look at the girls. "I care about all of you. I'd do anything for you guys." I say, ignoring the sidelong look I was getting from Celeste.

"Uh huh.." She returns to her normal self and looks at me from giving the same look to Barrett that she gave to me. "Well, we're gonna be late to form, so let's go." She says and walks past us. I follow Barrett, who turned to follow Celeste. Zamora walks beside me. I look down. Why did I feel so weird after I said that about Barrett?

"So!" I snap out of my trance and look over at Zamora. "I was thinking about what you said about wanting to get to know me better and if you wanted to, you could or we could go to the park and y'know, talk. Maybe, take a visit to the shops?"

I nod. "Sure." I say. "Sounds fun."

"Definitely. Let's say 5?"

"Okay."

"Okay. Great. See you at lunch!" She says before walking into her form.

I look in front of me to Celeste and Barrett. I try to forget about what's bothering me and I catch up to them and throw my arms around their shoulders as I peer my head between them. "What ya talking about?" I ask, looking at each of them.

"Nothing that concerns you." Celeste says.

"Oh yeah?"

"She was trying to get me to tell her about last night, what we did."

I look at Celeste from Barrett and I grin. "Is that so?" I ask.

"Maybe."

I step back and lean forward as I wrap my arm around Celeste's legs and I lift her over my shoulder. "Aren't you just especially nosey today." I say as she laughs and clutches onto my shirt. Barrett grins widely as he watches.

"Don't drop me!"

"I'm not going to drop you." I then quickly bend my knees as if I was going to drop her and she laughs and squeals.

"Evan!"

I laugh and readjust and she does the same, so I'm now giving her a piggyback ride. "Better?"

"Yes!" I chuckle and smile over at Barrett. He smiles at me from Celeste. I take a hand from Celeste and ruffle his hair then hold onto Celeste again.

"Rude!" He yells and I laugh.

At lunch, we're sitting at our usual spot outside, we're laughing and talking when we're approached by Kate. I look up at her as she asks, "Can I talk to you?" I nod and stand when I notice how urgent she was to talk to me. She grabs my arm as soon as I stand and tugs me aside. I look down at her, but she doesn't say anything or even look at me, but I notice just how on edge she is, so I look past her and watch as Ben walks through the school gate, watching us. "Is he gone?" She asks.

I look down at her. "Yeah." She sighs in relief and lets go of my arm and looks back to make sure he was actually gone. I don't look away from her. "What's going on? Did he hurt you?" I ask.

She looks at me. "Don't be an idiot, Evan." She says.

"I'm not an idiot to ask if you're running to me for help, Kate." She huffs and looks past me. "Now, tell me what's going on." I say.

"I can't."

"Kate."

"I can't, okay?!" She snaps and looks at me. "You'll just freak out." She says this more calmly but her eyes go unfocused, obviously nervous.

I stare at her for a moment longer before I huff and say, "Fine, just tell me, did he hurt you?"

She hesitates but against her better judgment, says, "Yes." I inhale deeply as my jaw clenches and my heart aches. "But not in the way you think." She says urgently, in an attempt to calm me down.

I look over at the others, who are watching us in wonder. I look at Kate. "In what way then?" I ask, sounding more stern than I would like.

"He just- We were talking and things escalated because I saw that your bitch of an ex was texting him and he grabbed me then I ran out here."

I huff. "I thought you said you were going to stop talking to him because of what I told you."

"I was but then he wouldn't leave me alone after I've been ignoring him, so I decided to give it a chance."

"Kate, you need to stop seeing him before something serious happens." I say. "I'll kick his ass if he touches you again."

She smiles and punches my arm. "Thanks. I will." She says.

"Promise?" She nods. I sigh. "Come here." I pull her into a hug. "You're okay though?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"Okay." I pull back and shove her lightly. "Now, get out of my face before I take your keys and go on a joyride with my friends."

She laughs. "Uh huh." She turns and walks away. I sit with the others again.

"What was that about?" Celeste asks.

"Nothing, just wanted me to tell our parents she won't be home for dinner."

"Okay."