Phoenix Drop High School

Chapter 24: Heartbreaker

Katelyn stood by her locker, scrolling through her phone. Travis was around the corner, working up the courage to talk to her.

"H-Hi, K-K-Katelyn," he stuttered.

"Hey, dork," she responded. She didn't realize it was Travis at first. "Huh? Oh, hey, it's you."

"Y-You know who I am?"

"Yeah! You're Aphmau's weird not alone friend thing. Uh... Trevor, right?"

Travis spoke softly. "It's actually not alone buddy and my name is Tra--" He stopped and coughed, remembering Dante's advice. "I mean, you can call me whatever you want, baby."

"Excuse me?"

"Are you an angel? Because girl that butt be looking--"

"Ah, Katelyn!" Jeffory had come over and interrupted their conversation, which seemed to be more one-sided than anything. "There you are!"

"Jeffory!" Katelyn exclaimed. Travis choked at the sight of the older boy.

"Are you ready for exams?" He turned and looked at Travis. "Oh, hey! It's nice to meet you. Are you a friend of Katelyn?"

"Hi!" Travis squeaked. Dante peeked around the corner and shook his head. "No, I'm just--"

"He's Aphmau's not a butt buddy," Katelyn told him.

"Uh... what's that?"

Travis' voice went soft again. "It's actually not alone buddy, but I mean Katelyn has a nice one." The last part was mumbled so Jeffory wouldn't hear it.

"Did you say something?" asked Jeffory.

"No, no, no! Nothing! Sorry!"

"Uh... Okay! In any case, want me to walk you to class, Katelyn?"

"I would love that, Jeffory." She giggled. "See you later, Trevor."

"Nice to meet you, Trevor. Good luck on exams." Jeffory gave him a sincere smile.

"It's actually Travis," he whispered after they left. "I should just give up. She's already got a boyfriend."

Dante finally decided to emerge from the shadows. "Man, Travis! You really need to work on your game."

Travis didn't know he was there, so he screamed when he spoke. "Dante! You were watching!?"

"Yeah, I was watching, and, man, you really got to step it up! Where's that confidence at?"

"Well, I had it, but then her boyfriend showed up. I'm thinking I should just move on."

"Nonsense! Look, all you gotta do is just project confidence. Look, watch this." Dante confidently strode over to an open locker. There was a girl bending down to the bottom of it. "Hey, baby. I wanted to let you know I'm trash, so I was wondering if you could take me out."

Travis knew who the girl was and tried to holler a warning to Dante. "Dante, no! That's--" But, he was too late. The only sound from their direction was her fist colliding with his face and him falling to the floor.

"Does knocking you out count!?" It was Aphmau. "Huh? D-Dante? Ew!"

"Ow!" Dante yelled. "Geez! You didn't have to hit me that hard!"

Travis walked over, ashamed for Dante. "Aphmau, I'm so, so, so, so, so, so sorry!"

"Uh... Travis? What the-- What are you guys doing?"

"I'm trying to show Travis here how to pick up the ladies."

"You're giving Travis horrible dating advice again!? You really need to sit back and stop!"