Why Do I Love You? - Drew x Zander Fanfic REWRITE

- Chapter 1: What happened to me? -

Quick note: This chapter takes place in early January, 3-4 months after the competition.

(Drew's POV)

I still remember when he pulled the rug right out from under my feet. When he defended that girl in front of everyone. When he told me the truth. When he became a freak. It's been several months since then, yet it feels like it happened just yesterday. Ever since that traitor turned his back on me–on us, it was never the same.

During our first few lunches without Jake, both Liam and Henry tried to lighten the mood with jokes. Once it became clear that things would be completely different without him around, they shut up. And that was 5 agonizing months of long, awkward silence where one of us would try to come up with something to talk about, realize it reminded another one of us of Jake, and end up not saying anything at all. Even so, we didn't need to remind each other of Jake's betrayal. The rest of the school did that no problem.

Last semester, there was a huge band competition, and those freaks really wanted to compete in it. I guess they thought they actually stood a chance in that thing. Knowing Hailey and the whole thing where she froze up on stage in middle school, I genuinely thought she'd fail. I personally wished she did. But I was wrong. Not only did everyone give a standing ovation to that freak circus, but they won 1st place.

I only knew after the fact, because there was no way I was going to fork over 15 bucks to see some music nerds. But either way, I didn't care. Or at least, I tried not to care. I guess a part of me still wanted Jake around, but I tried to drown it out with my video games. Whatever. I don't really have time to keep brooding about my life. I have more important things to worry about.

- at school -

When I got to school today, I finally realized just how much has changed since last semester. Daisy stopped being student council president, and now Zoey's her replacement. How anyone thought she was even on par with Daisy's leadership, I will never understand. I thought she would be a tyrant as president, but once again, I was wrong. Turns out she's completely turned around and she's actually a decent person now.

Those freaks are pretty popular now, too. I keep reminding myself they're only popular because of Jake. At this point, however, I'm not so sure that's true anymore. Especially since I saw some guy flirting with that freak Hailey, and it certainly wasn't Jake. Lia's vice president now, so there's that. I actually have no idea what the hell Maria's doing, and Liam, Henry, and I have been the same as always.

I'm just about to head inside when I hear footsteps behind me. "Hey, Drew!" someone shouts from behind. I spin around and sure enough, it's Liam and Henry. I notice they're holding snowballs in their gloves, probably about to throw them at someone. "Think fast!" Henry throws a pretty small snowball and just barely misses me. Seriously? We're in high school now, and they still want to do snowball fights? I haven't participated in a snowball fight since middle school. I swear, these guys are never gonna grow up. I don't even have time to give them a piece of my mind when Liam hits me with a bigger snowball right in the arm. And then I completely lose my patience.

"WHY YOU LITTLE–" I snarl, picking up several snowballs and charging at him. I hit Liam once in the back, twice in the arm, and twice again in the legs. "You'll pay for that!" he retorts, throwing several snowballs at my arms. I retaliate by throwing another handful of snowballs right back at him.

Liam and I exchange a few snowball throws before Henry steps in between the two of us. "Guys calm down!" I look over at Liam. He looks over at me. Then we both look at Henry. "Guys...?" I smirk, and start throwing snowballs at Henry. Liam joins in on the fun too, hitting him from behind. The look on Henry's face as he's being pummeled by snowballs is PRICELESS! After a few seconds of tossing snowballs at him, he decides it would be a good idea to return the favor by throwing a massive snowball at me. "Catch me if you can!" Henry teases, running away from me, enraged, whose arms are already full of snowballs. Liam watches us throw some more snowballs at each other, cheering Henry on every step of the way. "Hey guys!" he yells at us, "Wait for me!" Henry waves his arms in the air so Liam knows where he and I are, then he gets whacked in the side by one of my snowballs.

"FREE FOR ALL!" Liam shouts as he's running down the hill. After we hear those words, it's total pandemonium. We absolutely PUMMEL each other with snowballs, some bigger and more effective than others. Liam and Henry turn on each other and start hurling two snowballs at a time, then three, then four. I look away for a second to admire the snow, and then I see him. The traitor.

- -

(Switch to Henry's POV)

I think Drew's really upset about Jake. I know he keeps saying he doesn't care, but I'm not buying that shit for a second. And I have my reasons not to.

Last October, we spent almost the whole month planning our costumes. We finally decided to be Alvin and the Chipmunks–Drew would be Alvin, Liam would be Simon, and I would be Theodore. Halloween rolled around, and Liam and I were all dressed up as Simon and Theodore, but Drew didn't turn up.

After going trick-or-treating, we asked Drew why he ditched last minute. "Dressing up in stupid outfits is for freaks," he seethed, but I knew the real reason why.

Cut to now. Liam and I are throwing snowballs at each other, and I've almost got him down. I'm about to really let him have it when out of the corner of my eye, I notice Drew's not even facing us anymore. In fact, he's even heading inside. "Hey Liam," I ask, "can you follow me?" Liam nods, drops the snowballs, and runs after me.

After a bit, we finally catch up to Drew. "What's up, man?" Liam inquires, placing a hand on Drew's shoulder. He flinches, then turns around. He's gone back to his 'death stare' face. "You were having so much fun earlier," I add, "what happened?" I know the real answer, but I just want to see whether or not Drew will admit it. He scoffs, then turns back around and continues walking.

I'm fed up with him at this point. I grab Drew by the shoulders and turn him to face the two of us. "What's your problem, dude?" I fume. "Every time we're having fun, out of nowhere, you bail out!"

Drew, absolutely livid, lashes out at both of us. "Can't you see?" he snaps. "You guys just can't grow up! We're in high school for Pete's sake! We're too old for this kind of crap!"

I glare at him. He's a terrible liar when it comes to Jake. What's even worse is that it's obvious. Both Liam and I can read him like a book. "Well, you didn't seem to have that problem a few minutes ago," I counter. "Just admit it, Drew. You're only upset because of Jake."

Well, if Drew wasn't furious before, he sure is now. "I've told you over and over that I don't care about that freak!" he shouts. This is making me even more upset. Why won't he admit it? It's so obvious he's upset about Jake ditching us! Why won't he just say it? What's stopping him!?

I want to snap at him, but Liam's one step ahead of me. "You sure seem to care, since every time he's around, you're suddenly embarrassed to be around us," Liam accuses.

"Yeah," I add, "Why can't you tell us the truth? We're your friends, right?"

Drew stops, and everything falls silent. I'm no stranger to silence. I had to deal with 5 months of being quiet. Come to think of it, I've never really talked that much without somebody else either talking over me or shutting me down.

. "It's not you guys, okay?" he notes. Liam stares at Drew in confusion. "It's not?" he inquires.

Drew doesn't answer. He shoots a quick "Are you dumb" look at Liam, starts making his way back to school, pauses, then turns back around to face us. "I'll talk more about it during lunch," he adds. "See you."

So much for a fun day at school, I guess.