Quiet & Riot (Scomiche)

Chapter 23

I'm baaack Queens! Sorry it's been a long time, but it's my senior year and I have a lot of different projects that I'm working on that have been keeping me very busy. I'm currently feeling very motivated to write though, so here you go! :) Also, WTF?! So close to 1k reads!!! What?! That's INSANE! Literally can't even fathom. Thank you ❤️

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I ran into the nearest restroom as soon as I left the guidance counselor's office. I went into a stall and locked the door, sitting on the closed toilet seat before placing my head into my hands, trying to collect my thoughts. Everything was this huge jumbled up mess. Shelly and Michael were not going to be happy with me when I tell them about my ultimatum. I just couldn't believe what Stacy said... I can't fail my grade again. I have to graduate from high school, I have to move on with my life. I can't stand being in this hell hole for ANOTHER year. It was either get your grades up, or don't graduate until you're 20.

I sighed, taking my phone from my pocket to check the time.

Esth(sist)er: What did you do now? Please tell me this isn't about your grades

Esth(sist)er: Eating lunch with Kirstie and Mitch. He seems worried about you.

I couldn't reply after that last text. I felt bad for worrying him but there was no way he could find out what happened. This was the first person I actually liked to like me back, and I was not going to mess it up.

Get it together Scott.

I left the stall and washed my hands, splashing my face with water to rid it of any tear stains.

"Deep breaths." I whispered to myself not long before I left the stall and made my way into the cafeteria.

I immediately spotted Esther sitting with Kirstie. But where was Mitch?

"Hey Esth, Kirstie."

"Hey" they said in unison.

Kirstie gave me a sympathetic smile. "You just missed Mitch. He says bye."

I frown, setting my lunch down and taking a seat next to Esther, across from Kirstie. "Oh, thanks."

"He seems worried about you. You should call him later." Kirstie added, spilling out the last part rather quickly.

I just smiled.

"Are you okay?" She asked after a bit of silence.

I looked to Esther but she was just picking at her food and staring down, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"Sure. Why would I not be okay?" I questioned defensively, trying to keep my voice kind.

"Oh! I don't really know." Kirstie said quickly, eyes becoming wide "I saw what happened in 4th period so I was just making sure."

I again glanced at Esther. She had probably been blabbering everything to Kirstie.

"What did you see in 4th period?" I raised an almost non-existent blonde brow.

"Sorry, I'm being so nosy!" She frowned, smacking herself on the temple. "Just, we're both in the same class with Mr. Gallagher and I know how he can get sometimes, so when he pulled you out of choir I felt bad. You know, if you ever need help, I'm great at histor-"

"-Hey, Esth. Can I talk to you a minute?"

I barely gave her time to respond before I pulled her by the arm into an area where no one was sitting.

"Okay Scott, what the hell?!" She yelled, pulled her arm out of my grasp.

"Esther, what did you tell Kirstie?" I said calmly.

"What do you mean? Tell her wha-"

"-Esther! Did you tell her about my grades?!"

She gasped. "You're unbelievable sometimes! Of course not!"

She looked dumbfounded, so I believed her.

I let out a breath of relief. "Okay, its just that she was questioning me so much and I thought you might have told her."

I lowered my head in defeat.

She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry."

My head shot up. "What?"

"I didn't exactly tell her, but we were discussing what happened during choir when Kirstie brought up the idea that you might have been getting called into detention, so in defense I might have said something along the lines of, 'He isn't doing great in Gallagher's class with grades and all so he was probably just getting lectured'."

"What the f-"

"-Stop it, Scotty! It was an accident and I'm sorry!"

She looked like she wanted to cry and no matter how pissed I was, I couldn't bear to see my little sister cry.

"Was he there when you told?" I asked through gritted teeth. 

"Wha-?"

"Was Mitch there when you told?!" 

"Scott..."

"Whatever. I'm gonna go take a walk."

And with that, I exited the cafeteria and made my way to the front door of the school.

No one was outside so I made my way over to my motorcycle in the back parking lot before I started digging through my backpack, resting it on the seat of my bike. When I found what I had been looking for, I took a deep breath in before letting it out.

I had never tried doing this before, but some of my friends who are on the football team do it all of the time and they told me to try it for stress relief. Colby, the quarterback, even lent me his own pack. I sometimes did question if those guys were really my friends or if they only hang around me because I'm so popular at this school for being a "cute bad boy". Oh well, at least they were kind enough to offer me a solution to my problems.

I traced the cigarette packet with my thumb, trying to decide if now was a good time to try this. I thought about how Esther can't find out, or she would either 1. Kill me or 2. Get Shelly and Michael to kill me.

"Fuck it." I mumbled, taking out a cigar. I was really stressed and it was going to eat me alive if I didn't find a way to calm myself.

I lit the match, placed the cigarette above it, and right as I was about to place the lit cigarette in my mouth-

"Scotty?"

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