Wandering Fireflies

Chapter 4: Old Feelings

Song: Sick Boy by The Chainsmokers

At 6:00 am, my alarm went off. Sighing, I looked down and turned it off, laying back in bed. I was already dressed and ready for school, and still had time before I left to go meet up with Katja and Dashiell.

"I'll knock you down so hard you'll run screaming like the little girl you are."

Those were the words that continued to run through my head all night. What did he mean by that? Why would he say something like that? What does he know? Who has he been talking to? Was he going to strike tomorrow? Was the whole school going to find out? Would I have to move towns again? Those were the questions that haunted me all night.

I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep. My mind was racing at the speed of light with millions of thoughts running through it. My stomach was in knots so I ended up skipping breakfast and hopped onto my bicycle, making my way over to school. Katja would be mad, but right now it didn't matter. None of it would matter once he told her. If he told the whole school.

Vance.

I hated that hockey playing jerk so much I couldn't even manage to spit out his name. Vance. The latest person to completely screw up my life.

***

"Where were you this morning? The least you could've done was text us if you were planning on ditching us! We were nearly late for class! You know how long it takes to bicycle to school!" I just shrugged. Why couldn't she just leave me alone? Well, she would in a minute once Vance gets here and tells everyone what he knows. Speaking of Vance, where was he? His annoying girlfriend was here, for once not tagging by his side like a puppy. Just as I started to think that maybe he wasn't here today, I saw a familiar dark-haired boy making his way over.

My heat constricted in my chest and the air around me suddenly got ten times thicker. Why didn't I just make a deal with him last night? Maybe I had something he wanted. Anything but this. I couldn't deal with everyone treating me like a loser. Not again. Even though I deserved it more than Dashiell did.

"Yo dudes. What's up?" I felt all the colour draining from my face. What was he waiting for? Was this his way of torturing me?

"Dude-why are you looking at me like that?" I snapped back into reality. Wait what? He simply shook his head and focused his attention back towards Kennedy.

"Why don't you just do it already?" I said, exasperated. This was too much for me to deal with right now.

"Do what?"

"You seriously don't know?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he said looking genuinely confused and slightly irritated. I couldn't believe it. He actually had no clue what I was talking about! He actually didn't know! Relieved, I let out a huge breath that didn't know I was even holding in the first place. That was when I finally crashed. All the stress and adrenaline left my body, leaving me exhausted. I was on the verge of collapsing. Like hell I would show it though.

So I just shrugged and said: "Whatever." Lunch went pretty great after that. I was starving from not having eaten since lunch yesterday that I finished my lunch and half of Katja's. Things were looking great until Katja jumped up once again, waving her arms frantically. Rolling my eyes, I looked over to see who was trying to make their way over to our table. My jaw fell open. No way. No way!

A very familiar boy started to make his way over towards our table.

"Hey guys! So you guys - this is Ariadne Levy, Benji and-"

Kolton Brazier. One of the many people who completely screwed me over.

"Zaavan? Dude - you were here the whole time? I can't believe it! How have you been man - I haven't seen you since the seventh grade! Wow!"