Hailsmith Academy

Chapter 5: Down that rabbit hole

It had been nearly a week since I'd started training with Jeremiah Evans. I had about nine days left until I had to perform at tryouts in front of my brother and all his friends. So far, it wasn't going too great. Thankfully, it was the weekend. 

My friends and I had decided to go into the town for the day, maybe get some lunch and then go to the arcade or something. Either ways, I was excited to finally get away from this crazy school.

The five of us left together in Spencer's car. Students were allowed to keep cars on campus from the third year, and Spencer had this super expensive Audi his dad has given to him for his last birthday. Yep, I know.

It was a fifteen minute drive into the town, and my friends were blasting crazy Kendrick and Drake songs. Listening to the lyrics was insane. Those two had some serious beef, sheesh.

While everyone argued over the feud, I couldn't help but think about my lacrosse practice with Evans a few days ago. I'd managed to get through almost the entire practice without speaking, just listening to his instructions and trying my best not to look at him. However, the stupid shithead just had to be nice.

"Look, I'm really sorry about the other day."

I simply stared at him.

He continued. "I guess... I didn't really know that your brother was kind of a sensitive topic for you. Obviously, I should have had enough brains to figure it out, since you two never talk."

I looked at the ground and fiddled with my stick, trying to act like I didn't hear him. No way this guy was for real.

"Luke."

I looked up.

"I'm sorry."

Jesus why did the guy have to be so nice about it? How is that even fucking possible? Every single person that even breathed around my brother was a narcissistic asshole.

I took in a deep breath, trying to collect my thoughts. Why does this guy have such a weird effect on me?

"Fine." I told him.

"Hello? Luke?"

I blinked as I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts, my eyes meeting Jackie's. She was holding my hand in hers, looking at me with concern. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Just school stuff."

We reached the town, so the conversation got cut short. Spencer found a parking spot and we all got out, everyone talking animatedly.

First, we simply walked down the street, when Allison spotted something she liked in a store and immediately ran in. We spent the next  hour there, while she tried on a million different clothes. I groaned as she selected the exact same thing she wanted in the first place, after wasting time for ages. Then we all walked out.

I was starting to feel a little hungry though, and luckily enough, Christian suggested we eat lunch. We made our way to the same pizzeria we've been going to for the last three years, greeting Larry as we walked in.

"Larry! How you doing man?"

Spencer high fived him and gave him a bro hug. The guy was around forty years old, with a big pot belly and a head full of dark thick hair. He was always super friendly, and took an instant liking to our gang in the first year.

"Hey you guys! So nice to see you all again after the break. Oh hello, your new. Who are you?"

He looked at Jackie, waiting for her to introduce herself. "I'm Jackie, sir."

He stared down at our intertwined hands, and his face lit up in a huge grin. "Eh Luke, you finally got the girl huh? Nice to meet you Jackie."

I blushed as we all sat down, Larry serving us all with free lemonade two minutes later. Christian tried to pay for them, but Larry insisted.

"Hush, I haven't seen y'all in months. Anything for my favourite customers, right?"

We ordered a bunch of pizzas and dug in, finishing our entire meal in under an hour. Even when we go out, we still eat pretty fast for our group. After that we went to the arcade, and it was really fun. After getting crushed at basketball by Allison, Jackie dragged me off to the old photo booth in the back.

"Hey, let's take cute pictures here!"

I grinned at her as we went in, pulling the curtain shut. Jackie inserted the coin, and we started to take the photos.

The first one came out really cute since she was kissing me. The second one was her ruffling up my hair, and the third was of me trying to get her back. The last one was of me giving up and pulling her into a kiss again, the two of us with messed up hair.

We both laughed as we looked at the pictures. "I love these. I like the last one the best."

"Definitely."

We played with the rest of the group for another hour, before we figured it was time to head home. We all still had a lot of weekend homework to complete.

I sat down at my desk the moment we reached our dorm. It was around seven in the evening now. I sighed as I pulled out my very long and boring chemistry homework. It's so annoying when teachers say its only a few questions and then goes on to give a hundred sub questions under it. Ugh, why did I even take that subject? I must have been deluded. 

I gave up after solving about seven questions, and moved on to my English homework. The best kind of homework to do. The only subject that I could honestly relax and work on. 

The assignment was pretty simple; just a bunch of question and answers about the poem we studied. I finished it in about an hour and then collapsed on my bed. I started as I heard a thud, looking up to see Spencer banging his head on his desk. I laughed.

"What are you doing?"

"I can't with this chemistry homework man. You got to help me."

"Trust me, I am the last person you should ask for help. Try Allison maybe."

He groaned and continued to bang his head on his desk. I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone. I replied to the messages from my parents, and saw all the memes that Allison and Christian had sent me. I grinned when I saw a text from Oliver.

Oliver had been my best friend growing up back home. We'd been best friends all through out elementary and middle school, up until my parents put me in Hailsmith and I had to leave. Now, we aren't as close as we used to be, but we'd still managed to keep in touch every now and then. I really miss the guy.

Dude no way. Did she rlly say that?

Yep. Right to his face. She even kicked him in the nuts and yelled curses at him for cheating. She got suspended for three days for physical violence. It was almost funny 2 watch.

Holy crap that's nuts.

Spencer was telling me about random gossip at the high school back home. He'd always keep me updated about the weirdest and funniest things that happened there. I cannot believe I went to middle school with these people. So much has changed. It was strange to think about.

Still, I enjoyed our stupid conversations. He's definitely one of the funniest guys I've ever met. Spencer was my best friend now, but Oliver would always be the original.

I had just finished talking to Oliver, when my phone buzzed with a notification from a random Instagram account. I frowned. Who would even text me?

I clicked on it and saw that it was from someone I didn't follow, since it had that message request thing. The account name was Jerevans_53.

You've got to be kidding me.

The text said nothing but 'hey'. I stared at it, wondering if I should reply. Just before I could, Spencer suggested we go down for dinner since it was going to close in half an hour. Sighing in relief, I closed Evans' text message and went downstairs. I didn't need to go down that rabbit hole today.