Cold and Charisma (BoyxBoy)

Chapter Six

"Oh man, nah, I totally agree," he said, tossing the football in the air as he ranted. "Holly's party was a complete mess. Someone called the cops, and it got completely fucked up. Then her dad came home and started going batshit crazy!" The others laughed in unison at Drew's words.

There had been a party the other night, I guess, with the jocks and some cheerleaders. Parties were never really my thing, or ever my thing, really. It's not because I was never invited; I just didn't want to go.

I've never really been into the whole party scene—I never drank, hooked up with girls, or even smoked, which were all things people did at parties, especially my friends. Sure, it was fun to hear about it, though.

"Going crazy?" Carter chuckled before continuing, "Isn't he the lawyer guy?" Drew nodded, before throwing the football toward Carter.

Carter quickly dropped his fork to catch it, still grinning. "That explains her house. Man, it was huge. Kinda like yours, Archer." They always talked about my house, but the truth was, it was just a regular two-story in a quiet suburb.

"Dude, we could throw mad parties there if you'd just let us–" I quickly interrupted him, shaking my head with a humble grin. "No way, Carter. You know I'm not into that stuff." I picked up my fork again and continued to dig into my food.

"So what? C'mon, don't be so selfish. You've got a big-ass house, and you won't even let us use it for parties?"

Once again, a chuckle escaped my lips. I could never take them seriously, and to be honest, I was much different from them when it came to these things. Sure, I looked like one of them—muscular, athletic, jock-like even—but besides that, we had nothing in common.

"My mom would throw a fit over that, so no," I said, still smiling at their immaturity. I laughed again when I heard them all groan.

"Such a goody-two-shoes," Drew chimed in, groaning as he dug into his salad. My smile remained, unaffected by his insult. They went back to talking about some girl's party.

Drew sat on the table, with the others sitting on the benches attached to it. He had his elbow on his knee, clutching the football in one hand, as he continued to ramble. I would occasionally leave a comment or two here and there, but for the most part, I just listened.

Would it be weird for me to say that it was because I was still stuck on what happened yesterday? Yeah, it would be weird. God, what is wrong with me today? "Yo, Archer, people always ask us where you are when we go to parties, you're popular as hell, so why not just go to one?"

My face morphed into a grin once again as I replied, "Just because I'm 'popular' doesn't mean I have to go to some dumb party." They all looked at me like I was crazy, especially Carter, who was the one who asked me the question in the first place.

"Dude? Are you out of your mind? Of course that means you have to go!" He moved closer to me, and put a hand on my back, before leaning in to say, "Look, I get it, you got this whole perfect student, valedictorian, good guy thing goin', but one party won't hurt." I just shook my head and chuckled, pushing him away and dismissing his coercing once again.

Drew patted Carter on the back, and shook his head, "It's wasted potential." The table all snickered, agreeing with Drew. Sure, I fit in with their crowd, and looked like I belonged in the football team right alongside them, but that doesn't mean I had to; it also didn't mean I had to attend some immature party full of drunks either.

As they continued to talk, slapping each others' backs, and chuckling, my eyes began to wander elsewhere. I scanned the cafeteria, bored out of my mind. Something was missing here, but I couldn't quite make out what it was.