33 Days To Live (Under Revision)

7

I know storming out of the house is never the answer to anything, unless you're running away from a serial killer. So, as much as I'd like to believe it, storming out was unjustified. I was happy for my sister; don't get me wrong but my selfish desire to keep her around for my benefit made it hard to feel anything but miserable.

I hadn't been planning on going to school today; in fact I had been planning on binge watching Bobs Burgers on Netflix, so I had surprised myself when I walked through the school doors. Fortunately dreaded homeroom was over and first period had just begun.

Quietly I moved down the halls and when I got to the classroom, I tried to enter my English class as quietly as possible. I wasn't quite enough though because nearly everyone looked at me and almost immediately the room burst to life with whispers and surprise stares as my teacher look up at me.

"Ben? I wasn't aware you were coming back to school today," She said softly and I nodded, avoiding eye contact.

"It was a last minute decision." I mumbled before walking over to the nearest seat and sitting down.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to join us. We've missed you," She said sweetly and with that the class continued. I could hear everyone around me whispering and I knew they were staring at me but I decided to ignore them.

And I think I was doing quite well with that until the end of English class.

As I walking out, ready to make a run for second period, I felt someone grab my arm and I glanced behind me to see a very familiar face I had only seen in the halls.

And when he helped me pushed the car away from the pole.

He was the first boy who ran up to the car with me and the one who urged everyone to call nine-one-one and the one who helped me motivate the kids to push the car away from the pole.

"Hey," was all he said though and I just stared at him. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to act around him. I didn't even know this kid, or that he was in this class.

"Hi." I finally managed to choke out and he smiled a little as he let go of my arm. "I've been meaning to drop by your house and see how you were holding up. I didn't know where you lived though and you barely know me so I was worried it was going to be weird." He explained, giving me a lot more information then I needed.

"Oh. Um. I'm okay I guess." I shrugged, not really sure to put how I felt into words. Nodding he then stuck out his hand.

"I'm Andrew but my friends call me Drew."

Deciding to be polite since this kid did help me save my friends life, I shook his hand.

"Ben. My name is actually longer but I prefer Ben." I shrugged and he laughed.

"Nice to see your sense of humor is still in tack," He said and I felt myself relax a little.

"It comes and goes. Sometimes it'll pop up when I don't need it and other times it'll be gone when I need it." I chuckled and Drew smiled. He seemed like a cool guy.

"It's always cool when it is around because you're funny. My friends and I listen to your radio show all the time. It's the only thing we use the radio for besides music." He grinned and I felt myself relaxing as we began moving down the hall. I got compliments about my show all the time but mainly from girls, very rarely boys, so the ego boost was appreciated.

"Thank you. I'm sorry if it hasn't been very interesting lately," I said softly and he shook his head.

"It's understandable. You're going through a tough time. It happens." He reassured and I stopped walking as I bit my lip hard.

"Thank you," I said sincerely.

"Thank you so much for helping me save Luke. You helped me rescue my best friend and even though I barely know you that makes me feel indebted to you. I don't think I can repay you for being the one person to run out there with me."

It was true.

This kid was one of the biggest reasons for Luke surviving. It had been his idea to push it away from the pole, it had been him who stayed calm and urged everyone to call the police and it had been him who stayed when the cops showed up even though he could've gotten in trouble.

"It was no big deal. I was just doing what anyone else would've done," He said quietly as he looked down.

"That's the point though, no one else did it," I said, starting to feel way too emotional for my sanity but I rolled with it.

"I don't know why. It was selfish of them to tense up when a life was at risk. I rather go to jail for a night and know I did everything I could to save someone, then walk away home free and suffer the rest of my life knowing I could've save them." He shrugged and before I could catch myself I hugged the guy.

Here's the thing about teenage guys. We don't really hug each other. Instead we show affection by punching each other, shoving each other around, or insulting each other. The only people we really hugged were family members, and our girls.

So I wasn't sure if it was because I was emotionally distraught from everything happening, or if my Italian side was accidentally activated but I was hugging this guy like it was the end of the world. I could tell Drew was surprised by my outburst off affection but he was nice enough to hug me back.

"I always had you pinned as more of a high five kind of guy but hugs work to." He smiled and I hugged him for a moment longer.

"Thank you." I whispered again and he sighed softly.

"Your welcome and hey-" He pulled away to look at me as he rest a hand on my shoulder.

"If you need someone to talk to about this I'm all ears. I was there to, so I do somewhat understand how you feel," He said and I smiled.

"Thanks Drew, you're a nice guy. I'm surprised we haven't met before." I admitted, beginning to feel just a little better when it was ruined.

"Well Alderman, looks like it didn't take you long to replace Luke, I'm guessing you aren't the semimetal type." A cruel voice sneered and suddenly my smile faded into a nasty sneer as I turned around.

Jamie.

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Hey guys! Sorry this is a little short, I'm a bit of a rush because we're going to see the Jungle Book in like ten minutes lol. I'm pretty excited because I was obsessed with the cartoon as a kid!

Thanks for being awesome,

Mari.

[ Chapter was taken down and reposted because of technical issues ]