Stuck Here (Ziall)

Chapter 7

(Niall’s POV)

-Two Years Prior-

“Hey Niall! Catch!” I looked up from the homework that I was working on and was smacked in the face by a wad of paper. I jerked back and the wad fell to my desk. A round of laughs went around the room.

“Settle down class.” I took the paper and flattened it out on my desk. It was blank, which was unusual since most things thrown in my face had some sort of slander on it. I guess it was my lucky day. I crumpled the paper again and got up from my seat to thrown it in the bin. “Mr. Horan. Please take your seat.”

“I’m just.” I pointed at the wad of paper.

 “Sit.” The substitute teacher ordered me to my seat again. I sighed and the class laughed again. Why it was so funny to get a classmate yelled at was beyond me. I took my seat and realized that a large mark was made across my homework. I groaned and just put it away. It was staring off to be a great day. “Hello class, Mr. Cardon is out today. I will be subbing in for him. Most of you already know who I am, but to those who don’t my name is Mr. Tanner.” He turned and wrote his name across the board.

I took my seat like he said to and huffed. I turned to my side and saw Chad across the room. He gave me a sad look. We were really the only guys who got picked on in school. I wasn’t sure why. I felt bad for Chad because he got the front of it. I was only picked on sometimes. He was picked on all the time.

Class went by without any more incidents. When the bell rang I stood up to leave. George shoved me back down in my seat. He was a bigger guy. I just let it happen and so did the others around me. No big deal if it happens everyday, right?

“Niall, may I have a word with you?” Once everyone was out of the room, including Chad who was waiting by the door for me, Mr. Tanner called me over the front desk.

“Yes?” I said, standing there and placing my hands in my pocket. I saw his eyes wander over me and it made me uncomfortable. I stood back and raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to be late for my next class, sir.” I said softly.

“Oh, yes. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciated you answering a majority of the questions in class today.” His hand found it’s way to my shoulder. He gave me a light squeeze and then returned to his desk to write papers.

“Okay?” I shook my head confused. “Am I free to go now, Mr. Tanner?” I asked, stepping back and adjusting my bag on my shoulder.

“Go on.” He motioned me away with his hand and I turned on my feet quickly to make it out of the room. I looked back for a second and saw his eyes on me again. The guy creeped me out. He wasn’t like the other substitutes would basically hated the students. Mr. Tanner was interested in the students, and more specifically me.

I met up with Chad in the hallway, minutes away from the next bell. “What was that all about?” He asked me.

“Not sure. He was just being weird.” I shrugged it off, ignoring the crawling feeling in my spine.

“Okay…” Chad said softly.

Chad and I were freshman at our school. We actually became friends in the beginning of the year when Chad showed up after transferring schools when his father changed jobs. I actually stopped one of the upperclassmen from pounding on him. I got a punch in the jaw for it, but I gained a great friend in return.

“Did you do the homework for English?” Chad asked. I groaned since I had completely forgotten about it. I smacked my palm to my forehead and pulled my bag off my shoulder, carrying it down the hall as we walked to the next class. I rummaged through my papers and couldn’t find the homework.