Ordinarily UnOrdinary

Best friends don't shoot each other

Should I make a one-shot book?

*

"John! Bottom Gear is playing on TV, come and watch it with me!" Shouted an enthusiastic voice from the living room.

"I can't, i'm doing my homework!", John yelled back, mildly annoyed.

That was more or less a half truth. Yes his homework was laid out across his desk, but John found himself in trying to rationalize his thoughts. His weird meeting with Arlo had been jarring enough by itself, but the fact that Arlo memorized Johns name was a tiny bit disturbing.

John made a point to lay low and inconspicuous. Always sitting in the back of the class, and blending in with crowds. Like his name suggested, he was practically unknown. Even his teachers had the occasional struggle with remembering his presence. For the average Joe, this would've been beyond frustrating, but for John it was the optimal situation.

With a snap, his pencil lead chipped off and broke. Throwing the writing utensil against the blank sheet of paper, John abruptly stood up and stalked out of the room to watch TV with his dad.

*

At school he was more alert than ever, all thanks to the two shots of straight caffeine he cooked up that morning. So far there had been no sign of the blond haired, fashion model like student.

Just as John visibly relaxed his posture, an arm snaked its way across his shoulders. He was pulled against a tight, broad chest. John tried to jerk away, but a strong arm kept him close.

Arlo fell into step beside him as they both walked. Students blantantly stared at the duo, both in envy and confusion.

The highschool king and loner nobody walking side by side was a sight to behold. The attention made John stiffen further in increased discomfort.

Arlo tilted his head and leaned in close enough for John to feel Arlos hot breath brush against his face. "Sit with me at lunch, the table is in the far left corner."

John opened his mouth to shout 'hell no', but Arlo, the jackass, predicted that and cut in. "Not a choice."

Arlo retrcted his arm, leaving as quickly as he came. Briefly, he turned, throwing a smug smirk towards John. "See you then, John"

John clenched and unclenched his fists. Arlo, that sly bastard, knew exactly how to play this game. He purposely confused John, and knew that John would want answers. Now John had to play by his rules or else he'd be left in the dark with possible enemies. Lunch was three periods away, and people were still staring.

*

During study hall, Adrion promptly sat himself next to John. The platinum blonde teen looked tiny next to John's larger stature, yet he showed no fear of the stronger teen. "Dude, everyone's talking about how Arlo was all buddy buddy with you this morning. Do you know how many people asked me about you? Too many man, too many!" Adrion groaned loudly, which drew the attention of a few studying students.

"Sorry!" He whispered shouted, redirecting himself back to John. "So..."

John dropped his pencil, and raised a brow, wanting nothing more than to avoid the topic. "So, what? I thought the local gossip paper was directed by what'shisface... Issac? You finally suck up and started working for them?"

Adrion rolled his eyes, exasperated with John's usual antics and saracastic remarks. This was nothing new, as every conversation with John was taken with a grain of salt by Adrion. "Okay, first of all, his name is Isen. Second of all, it's led by Cecile, third of all it's not a gossip paper, and fourth of all Im too busy to work for them", scolded Adrion.

John waved him off. "Right, I forgot what a hard on of respect you have for them, and yeah, It is a gossip paper."
Adrion opened his mouth. "Nope, shut up, don't even try to deny it. They've covered relationship statuses in the past, I know this, I've seen it. They're no better than the cheap magazines sold at the grocery store checkout."

Adrion snapped his jaw shut with an audible clank, which was most definitely not good for his teeth. He frowned and angrily snatched his English journal out from his bag. "Fine, so maybe they've make a few uninspired articles, but they've had plenty of good ones. Our newspaper has personality." Adrion lowered his voice. "Something you lack"

John playfully smacked the back of Adrion's head. "Shuddup you twat. You're not really helping your case to get answers outta me."

The blond teen pouted eliciting an eye roll from John. "Fine, fine. You're so needy, jeez." He lifted up his finger, "but you can't tell anyone about this"

Adrion silently nodded, mimicking zipping his mouth shut and throwing the key away.

"Alright, so long story short-- Yesterday I literally bumped into him in a local coffee shop, spilt coffee all over him, bought him a cup, and then we briefly talked. Nothing much happened, but..."
John glanced around, and leaned in, "He knew my name somehow."

Adrion took moment to process the information, answering slowly. "Well, that kinda sounds like an awkward date, but... You bump into people all the time, right? He could've just heard your name from someone complaining about it."

Adrion was talking sense, but John didn't want to listen to sense. Why take the time out of your day to remember the name of some nobody teenager? Unless Arlo was the type of person to remember the name of anyone he met, which would be weirdly impressive. "Whatever dude, it's strange, I'm creeped out, and he practically manhandled me in front of everyone. You know how I hate attention."

Adrion started to aggressively erase at a mistake on paper, ultimately creating a large tear. He sighed in defeat and turned to John. "A little attention wouldn't hurt you John."

Turning away, opting to stare at the wall, John silently disagreed with his friend. Attention could very well get him hurt.