High School War Zone

4. Kiss-And-Tell, Or A Kiss For Intel

Logan squeezed his tray onto the small table, pushing aside the unorganized labyrinth of belongings that were owned by Cyrus and Ben.

When Ben came back holding two desserts, Logan informed him that each member of the student body was only allowed one cake.

Ben set the cakes on his backpack and plopped down next to Cyrus, making his blond hair fly up. "One," he smiled insincerely, "is for you."

Logan knew that wasn't true, but reached out and plucked up a cake anyway. "How thoughtful of you."

Ben sat forward, "Hey, wait—"

Logan popped it into his mouth, "Thanks, bro."

His left eye twitched, "No...problem...bro."

Cyrus held his tray with one hand as he shoved his backpack to the ground with the other. "Hello friends."

"Hey," Logan said, while Ben just grunted as he peevishly chewed on his remaining cake.

Cyrus tried the chicken wing, "Hm." Then he turned to Logan, face serious, "Vincent Winston is still here."

The name alone sent a stab of uneasiness through the table's occupants.

Ben sat up, "Where?"

Cyrus indicated with a slight tip of the head. Indeed, the boy with curly black hair was standing near the sinks, talking to Katie Tsai.

Luckford High had never been a bad school. There were no tormentors, harrassments, fist fights, or crimes.

But that all changed when Vincent Winston enrolled in the school and did...something. It was an unspoken rule to never talk about it, for no one wanted Vincent to find out everyone knew what he'd accidentally done.

They all hoped, or wished, that it was just a rumor.

And now, to put it simply, everyone was scared of Vincent.

"So he really did fail twelfth grade," Logan murmured.

Cyrus shook his head, laughing, "C'mon guys, let's stop thinking about it. It's only a rumor."

"Right," Ben said disbelievingly.

At this point he realized there was a brown-haired boy awkwardly standing behind Cyrus.

Logan immediately gestured at an empty seat at their table, "Oh hey, wanna sit?"

"Oh thanks so much," the boy said gratefully, "but um..." He looked at Ben's backpack, which was in the way.

Logan put the bag on the floor, and the guy sat down, "Thanks again."

Cyrus smiled at him, "Are you David? I think you're in my Pre-Calc class."

He nodded.

"Your bag looks heavy," Ben commented.

"Oh," David looked embarassed, "just a few books I got from the library this morning."

Ben squinted at him, looking incredulous that book could be enjoyed by people, "You read?"

"Yes," he said simply, like he was bracing himself to get teased.

Logan gave Ben a scolding kick under the table, "I'm Logan. This is Benjamin, and that's Cyrus."

"Ben," Ben cut in. "Not Benjamin. Don't ever call me that."

David nodded. He looked relieved, like he couldn't believe he had actually made friends on the first day of school, "Nice to meet you guys." He put his backpack under his chair, "Hold on, I'm going to grab some water."