Please don't be a game

First talk

He was leaning against the wall, silently watching everyone interact, dull grey eyes scanning almost defensively, like always but today there was some drama outside.
A year seven boy, a friend of Rachel and Baily, had snuck onto the high school side with the girls.
He chose the wrong day to do this however, his snarky comments and cocky behaviour had half the friend group bullying him relentlessly.

At first, it was small, little jabs back at his comments, then it escalated and Clara found herself ready to storm over there to tell the blokes to cut it out.

" Some people need to learn the hard way."

Her head snapped back to the voice that spoke, Shane, he was looking at her with a tilted head.
" What? They're taking it too far. He's on the verge of crying."

A slight shrug was his only response and she looked back at the group and sighed, they didn't listen to her when they were this rowdy in any case.
She took a step back and leaned agaisnt the wall next to him.
" That's rather cruel don't you think?"
" Not really. Sometimes we need our peers to check us or we'll end up stupid shits that think everything we do is fine."

He was nothing like his sister.
He seemed so reserved, uninterested in everything around him, only here for the lessons.
She wondered why, why come at all if only for classes he could do at home?
" Your reasoning is flawed, we should be able to be ourselves around real friends." Clara stated before walking off to smack Terrence and a year twelve, Oliver, who never seemed to understand his presence was far from wanted.

Everyone involved ended in a load of shit, just as she'd predicted and she told her mother the whole day's drama on the way home.

Clara's phone buzzed as she tapped her pen on her half-filled page absent-mindedly. "(@Shane_Dallas) sent a post"
Pen pushed between lips as she picked her phone up and checked it. A stupid post about being high in public.

C: ' Oh my God, no. I almost cried because of how paranoid I was my first time in public'
S: ' Really? I thought you were too goody goody to do that stuff where people can see..'
C: ' I wouldn't agree entirely...I'm not a little angel you know'
S: ' Not from what I've seen'
C: ' You're watching me?'
S: ' Not particularly, I just notice you a little more'
C: ' Well I hope you noticed you're a real joy to be around.'
S: ' That's a statement based on your observations, not mine'
C: ' Know it all much?'
S: (Seen)

Her brows raised but she shrugged it off and set her phone down before getting back to work staring at letters until they looked like a spiralling mess in her brain.