Opposites (boyxboy)

Wake Up

The next day I moved slowly, dragging my feet to class. First up was English. Oh the joy. Thank god the assignment wasn't due yet.

My body was tired from lack of sleep, and my brain was scrambled with too many thoughts.

Once we'd stepped off the bus to school, Dask left my side to speak with Clara.

I'd wandered over to my locker, kind of in a sleep like daze, and didn't pay attention to anyone.

I chose a window seat in class, cause I was able to look at the green fields and imagine I was out there.

Dask walked into class with Clara and there were some wolf whistles. I frowned wondering what that was for, Clara looked at Dask, who's face had turned red in embarrassment. Not keen on being the centre of attention, his panicked eyes sought out mine.

He was breathtaking.

I grinned at him and our eyes held for a moment, only broken by Clara taking hold of his arm and leading him to the seat next to me.

"Hi Jo," she greeted me, then sat at the desk on the far side of Dask.

"Hey Clara," I replied. I looked to Dask. "Hey." My voice was quiet.

"Hey," came his faint reply. His eyes avoided mine as he rummaged through his bag and fished out various pens and things.

I began to get annoyed when it felt like he was ignoring me. "You're not usually late," I said.

"I had some things to do," he said.

I admit, I was a little curious. By the way he and Clara both avoided my eyes, I gathered they didnt want me to know what they'd been doing. I shrugged it off. It was their business.

It was weird. Since I found out Dask had zero interest in Clara as anything other than a friend, I didn't feel so annoyed with her. I wasn't overly interested in their little secrets either. I was just glad he had another good friend. He deserved more. He was the nicest guy I knew.

I tried to listen to Ms Littlemore carry on about Shakespeare. Her voice irked me. It was too high pitched for so early in the morning. It sliced through the air, hurting my eardrums. I wanted to be anywhere else but stuck in this class. I took to looking out the window again, and got lost in nothingness.

"Joseph, what do you think the three witches in Macbeth symbolize?" Ms Littlemore's voice snapped in my direction.

I turned to face her and saw her eyes glaring at me, her mouth was in a thin, angry line.

I had no idea what she meant or wanted me to answer, so I said the first thing that entered my head. "Huh?"

There was laughter in the classroom.

Mike threw an eraser at the back of my head. "Wake up, loser!" He guffawed like an idiot.

"Fuck you!" I replied, and threw the eraser back at him. It met him square, between his eyes. The red mark bridged the gap between his eyebrows, making it look like he had a monobrow. Now I was the one laughing like an idiot.

Dask chuckled quietly next to me. Everybody else only laughed more, enjoying the morning's entertainment.

"Michael and Joseph!" Ms Littlemore wasn't impressed. "Detention, after school today, in the library with Mr Hackett."

I sighed. Today just wasn't my day.

Ms Littlemore talked more about Shakespeare and I pretended to watch her as my eyes glazed over.

"You okay?" Dask asked from beside me.

"Sure why wouldn't I be?" I grumbled.

"I don't know. Because of..."

"Can we just not talk?" I cut him off abruptly. I immediately felt terrible and turned to face him.

A flash of hurt crossed his eyes before he quickly looked away, and paid attention to the teacher.

I tried to think about how I could make it up to him. I scribbled on my book and pushed it over so he could read what I wrote it. He smiled when he saw it: I'm sorry.

The day passed.

That afternoon, the school office rang my parents to let them know I had detention. As if I wasn't already under enough surveillance at home with my studies.

Mr Hackett wasn't impressed with me in detention. He gave me stern looks throughout the afternoon, while I worked on my English homework.

At least my assignment was coming along okay. I guess it helped I was in the library and couldn't get distracted. Mr Hackett came over and asked if he could help with anything, which was actually really nice of him. After discussing the essay with him, I felt a lot clearer about what I was doing and actually managed to get a fair amount done within the next forty minutes.

After detention, I waited by the bus stop for my mom to pick me up. I had to wait until she finished work at about 4pm. She was going to pick me up on her way home. I was relieved when she finally arrived. I climbed onto the front passenger seat, buckled up the seat belt and moved about, trying to make myself comfortable for the drive home.

"Joseph, what's going on?" My mom was brisk and straight to the point.

I sighed. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Nothing ma. I was having trouble with my assignment. But Mr Hackett helped me with it this afternoon."

"In detention," she said.

"Yeah, in detention," I said.

Mom shook her head. "You make things difficult for yourself sometimes, Jo."

"I know," I said glumly, and turned on the radio, hoping she wouldn't press the issue. Luckily, she didn't.

I looked out the car window, contemplating my life. I felt like I had to rethink a few things about myself and what I was doing. I needed to pass Ms Littlemore's class or risk being held back a grade. Somehow, I had to pass her latest assignment. Also, I was irritated about not getting to hang out with Dask this afternoon. Maybe he could come over, help me with the assignment and we could hang out afterwards.

Just then, I felt my phone vibrate and I pulled it out of my pocket.

Dask: r u home yet?

I texted him back: nearly

Dask texted: can I come over?

I wanted him to come over, but my mom would probably say no.

I texted him back: I'll ask mom

Dask replied: Ok

"Mom?"

She sighed. "You want to go to Dask's?"

"Uh, I was gonna ask if he could come over and help me with my assignment."

Mom smiled. "He's a good friend."

"Yeah, he is," I agreed.

"Fine," she said. "No gamebox."

I laughed. "It's xbox, mom."

She smiled. "Whatever." Then she quickly flicked over the the radio station to something 'poppy' and turned it up.

"Hey!" I said in protest.

"My car. I'm driving. My rules." She grinned and began singing along loudly to the song that was playing.

I laughed, and it was nice when she laughed too. I didn't like to worry her.
I think she was relieved her moody son was feeling better. I was glad my mom was happy and that I still had a best friend, despite being completely unworthy of the title.

I texted Dask back telling him we'd pick him up on the way.

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Thank you for reading!

Another chapter will be added on Friday night (PDT).

Lots of ♡

- dreamydaze