Mr. Brightside | Munchingbrotato/ Tyler Christie

Chapter Eighteen

|Hope's POV|

"Jason, I'm scared." I whisper while the other guys are caught up in their own conversation. "I'm the only girl here now."

"It doesn't matter. Stick with one of us. You'll be fine and I'm sure the teachers will adore you." he smiles at me. "And I know we don't have many classes together," he swallows hard. "So you can always stat by Tyler's side." I nod at him thankfully.

We walk down a hallway filled with boys, and I get weird stares. I immediately grab hold of Jason's hand. He squeezes mine in return to tell me he's there.

"Homeroom is starting. I have to go. Adam, Ty and I have a different homeroom than you guys. I'll see you soon. Okay?"

"Kay."

They separated off and Mitch, Jerome, Tyler and I went to our homeroom with... What was him name? Mr. Sterling, I believe. "You ready?" Jerome asks me, noticing how I'm picking at my skin. I slowly nod, and he smiles at me. I like Jerome, I decided. He makes me feel comfortable and he's a really nice friend.

"Ladies first." Mitch grins, opening the
door for me.

I walk through the door, and the room is filled with boys. At least 15 or 20 of them, sitting in desks, at tables, in groups.

I slowly walk into the class, and it becomes absolutely silent. All heads turn and all eyes are on me. "Tyler." I say, even though everyone can hear me.

He says nothing, but joins his hand with me in return. I close my eyes and sigh in relief. I turn my head and shove my face into Tyler's chest. We walk past the groups of guys staring at us.

I walk by one group of boys with unusually hungry eyes. "What brings you here?" one says. I roll my eyes. Another guy's eyes grope over my body. I continue walking and I feel someone's hand touch my ass. I turn around and slap him in the face. I was lucky the teacher wasn't in the room, because it was pretty hard.

He held his red face, smirking at me. That's when Mitch bends down to meet the guys at eye level and says, "Don't fucking touch our girl like that, or else." Mitch turns around and puts an arm around me while Tyler still hold my hand. Jerome protectively follows behind us.

We pass another group of guys who's eyes are cold and dark. "Why the hell is there still a girl here?" one whispers.

"Wow, look at her. What a slut." Another says.

Jerome takes a hesitant step forward, and I put a hand on his chest. He looks me in the eyes. "Hope, move." he says harshly. I've only known him for a couple days, he didn't need to do this.

I was too late.

Jerome grabbed the hem of the guy who called me a slut's shirt. "Do you know this girl right here?" No response. "Exactly. So don't act like you do. She's the sweetest, funniest, most honest-" I don't know about that. "-person you will ever meet. So back the fuck off."

Jerome lets go of his shirt and we hear some loud coughing behind us. We all turn around, and I find myself clutching Tyler's hand tighter, causing both of our knuckles to turn white.

"Hi M- Mr. Sterling. "Jerome chokes out.

"Jerome, tell me why you were threatening this poor student?" Mr. Sterling crosses his arms.

"Um, h-he called her a slur, sir." Jerome stutters.

"Her?"

"Hi." I say quietly. "Hope."

"Oh, Hope." he says more like a question. "You must be the girl that stayed behind." I nod. "Well in that case. Damien, if this happens again, you will get detention.

The boy, who name is Damian apparently, sighs and rests his head in his hand.

Is this how school's going to be everyday?

***

The day goes by pretty quick,leaving me with two periods left. Lunch, my personal favorite, and astronomy. I was really happy because it was a class with just Jason and I so we could spend together.

In the lunchroom, we all meet up with each other again and find a table to sit at. I end up sitting at the end of the table next to Tyler, with Jason across from me, and the ret of the guys surrounding us.

"So how was your day so far?" Ty suddenly ask, breaking the silence.

I fill the silence again and cross my arms. "Uh, the teacher's are great." Jerome speaks up.

"Hope." says Jason seriously.

"She was harassed." Tyler finally spoke up, seeming as he hadn't said much all day except for hold my hand.

"What do you mean?" Adam asks.

I couldn't stop my eyes from filling with water. "They called me a slut." I whispered so only I could hear it. Or so I though.

"Slut?!" Jason almost yelled.

"And I did nothing about it." Tyler whispered to himself, staring off into a distance:

"No, Tyler. Stop. You were there with me and that's the least I could ask for." I smile, resting my head on his shoulder. Tyler rested his hand on my leg in a protective way.

"I could've said something to them. Or at least smashed one of their skulls in."

"Tyler." Mitch says while Ty and Adam give him a stern look? Do they know something I don't know?

I know something they don't know.

***

The rest of lunch is spent with small conversations and just stuffing ourselves with disgusting food.

Throughout our lunch period, Jason and I tool several glances at each other from across the table. When the other guys were caught up in a conversation about their channels or what ever, Jason and I would just stare at each other and smile. That was until the guys would turn back to us, forcing us to engage in their talk.

The bell rang and it was time to head to our last class. In my case, Astronomy.

"Can't wait for next class!" Mitch said ever so excited.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well duh. We all have computer science next. Remember? The elective we all took together?"

"Hope. I forgot to tell you something." Jason whispered to me. I ignored.

"But Jason and I have Astronomy mext." I state, oblivious to whatever was going on.

"No, Jason!" Jerome said. "You ended up taking that class amyway?" Jason nods slowly.

"Was this planned?" Tyler asked.

"Uh, no." Jason says while rubbing his neck. "I actually didn't know that Hope was taking Astronomy as well."

"Huh." Tyler shrugs.

"Well we should get going. Bye. And I'll see you soon Tyler." I smiled.

Jason and I made our way to our class silently, and sat down next to each other at joining desks.

"I'm anxious." Jason leaned over an said to me.

"I know, me too." I sigh and lean back in my chair. Jason leaned back on his chair as well so out shoulders were touching. He put his arm around me and we waited for class to begin.