Only Ones Who Know - Derp Crew High School AU

Chapter 14: The First Punch

(A/N: My birthday happens to fall on Canada Day... so I got a little creative with the cake this year. And for some reason Wattpad doesn't want to save the picture in the side bar so I'll leave a link in the comment section if you want to see it.)

Christmas break was amazing, especially after Steven and I came out to our friends on Christmas. I spent most of it in my pajamas or with my friends and it was great. But now that the New Year's passed and school's back we have a new problem to worry about: finals week.

I sat at my usual window seat in second period Art about a week after returning to school, waiting for Smarty to come in. The bell was a few minutes from ringing and he was running late today. With our final project due in less than a week, I was beginning to wonder if he was going to ditch. I saw Marissa come in and moved over beside her.

"Hey, Mar. Do you know if Smarty's coming in?"

"Johnnie? Yeah, I saw him at the restroom, he's on his way." Why was I so worried about Smarty? Maybe because he's my project partner and I'd really like to not finish this alone. When Mr. Cropper came in I went back to my seat to wait there.

A minute before the bell rang, Smarty came in and gave Marissa a quick kiss before coming to his seat. He had a concerned look on his face when he saw me.

"Hey, Smarty. Everything okay, bud?"

He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Anthony, I don't know if I should tell you this." I waited for him to decide if he was going to say something. "I think Ryan just broke up with Cielo."

I leaned back in my seat and took in what I just heard. "Really? How'd you find out?"

"I saw them sitting together in physical science and they were fine until he told her something that upset her. When I asked her if she was okay she just ran away." I sat silently as Mr. Cropper pulled out our projects from the cabinet and Smarty went to grab ours. "I'm sorry I told you that. It's not my business to snoop around in."

I shook my head. "It's okay, Smarty. When I see her today I'll just pretend you didn't tell me anything." Now I was in a dilemma. I'm so glad that Cielo's not with that loser anymore because I didn't like him from the start, but she was the one who had to get heartbroken in order for it to happen. I couldn't imagine what she was feeling, and quite frankly I was afraid to know.

I pushed the thought away and focused on the project with John. After class I continued my regular schedule, carrying on as if nothing was wrong, but by the end of the day I knew I was going to see my heartbroken sister, and I wasn't ready for that.

The final bell rang for the day and I made my way to the front of school to wait for Dad with Cielo. She was sitting on the brick bench where we usually hang out with her knees pulled up and her face buried in them. She had her headphones in and I knew what she was listening to, and it was definitely something sad. I slowly moved beside her and put my hand on her shoulder to not scare her.

"Cielo?" I asked, pretending that I didn't know why she was upset. "Are you okay? Do you need to talk about anything?"

"Anthony," she started, her voice cracking. "Ryan broke up with me today." She cried again and I pulled her close, running my hand up and down her back to calm her.

"I - I'm so sorry, Ci-Ci," I cooed. "Did he say why?"

I felt her shake her head on my shoulder. "No," she sniffed. "He just told me he didn't want to be with me anymore. No explanation, no second glance, nothing. He just... walked away." I held her tighter as she continued to cry. I knew she would upset, because first break-ups are always the worse, but I wasn't prepared for all of this. I could practically feel her break under my touch. "What did I do wrong, Anthony?"