The Less I Know The Better [complete]

16 ;; ditching

A long, droning groan of protest emitted from the school bathroom door as John slipped through the threshold into the hallway, kids flitting back and forth around him. He lifted a hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead, adjusting his pants to make sure they were fully done up before turning to the person next to him; he smiled at the girl - a doll-eyed brunette, gazing back at him with a shy grin of her own, eyelashes casting shadows across her freckled cheeks - and the pair shared a brief kiss, the auburn-haired boy resting a hand on the small of her back.

"Thanks, love. I'll see you again sometime, I hope?" He gazed down at her from half-lidded eyes and a suave smirk (well, as suave as he could when his mind was in a perpetual conflictive turmoil). This caused her - was Janet the name? He was pretty sure it was - to duck her head and train her eyes on the ground for a moment, hiding her grin behind her hand with cheeks dusted a healthy pink.

"I'd like that, John." She pressed her lips to his once last time, sending a parting glance his way as she pulled away and turned to walk off. He watched her go, the smile he had dissolving quickly; the thrilling high he'd usually get from a good shag faded faster than it usually did, leaving him to his thoughts once again as he spun around to make his way to the cafeteria to try and find his friends. She had been great, and seemed to enjoy it too - but he couldn't seem to get out of his own head. These were momentary distractions from a much larger issue that was beginning to make itself present.

He quickly shook his head; shut it. I'm not gonna think about it. I just had a good shag, nothing else.
With that, he pushed through the cafeteria doors, scanning across the room until eventually he spotted George, Ringo and Paul, sitting at a table in the far corner and gabbling amongst themselves. He chuckled fondly when he saw two sandwiches and a biscuit on George's tray, Ringo with nothing on his. He's gone soft, he has.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he began to make his way over there, dodging kids ambling about every which way around him. He pointedly ignored Pete, Kevin, and the rest of the group that he used to be friends with when they stared at him from across the room. He eventually reached the table; he saw Paul's gaze dart to him out of the corner of his eye, but he refused to look at him as he settled beside Ringo.

"Oi, John! Was wonderin' where you w-" His azure-eyed friend started before quickly cutting himself off, brows furrowing as his gaze trained on his neck. Oh, John thought, feeling his cheeks flush a little. He adjusted his collar to hide them.

A large grin grew on George's face. "Love bites, eh? Looks like John was havin' a grand ol' time!" He reached out to poke them, causing John to shove his hand away with a playful glare.

"Yeah, whatever. She was pretty good. Janet, or somethin', I think." His stomach rumbled slightly at the sight of George's food. His gaze flitted to Paul for a moment, and what he saw made his chest tighten a little in an odd way - his gaze was uncharacteristically dark and his movements were stiff as he fiddled with some pasta, though it seemed everything else about him was normal. His gaze was fixed on his food, not reacting or even seemingly noticing when John looked at him. I wonder what's wrong with him.

"Ugh, 'm bored! I don't wanna sit through an hour of history." Ringo groaned, bringing his attention away from the droopy-eyed boy and back to his other friends. John chuckled, stealing a sip from his juice - ignoring his feeble protests - before slamming it on the table and letting out a loud burp.

"Ew!" George dissolved into laughter, Ringo snatching back his juice with a challenging glare.

"Oh, yeah? Watch this." He downed half of it in one gulp and promptly let out an even louder belch right in John's ear, making him shrink away and burst into giggles, punching his arm lightly. Paul watched on, looking slightly disgusted but with a barely-hidden humorous glint in his eyes.