𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐏 | 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐲

1. Never again

Jack

"Jack, move over" Corbyn whined. I shot him a glare, not moving an inch. He rolled his eyes and walked his way over to the other side of the lunch table to sit next to Jonah. "Is he really still being a little bitch about the whole Addison thing?" Corbyn asked Jonah, disregarding that I was sitting right in front of him.

"Uhh, hello" I sarcastically remarked. Corbyn ignored my presence. "I don't talk to people who ignore me" he sulkily mumbled.

"Oh, I see, so now YOU'RE the one being a little bitch, all because I didn't answer your texts?" I groaned, throwing one of my chips at Corbyn. He opened his mouth in suprise as he failed at dodging it. "Bitch..." he muttered under his breath, stabbing at his salad. I rolled my eyes, choosing to pretend I didn't hear him.

"I don't know why you try anymore Corbyn. Everyone knows Jack never answers his phone - it's what he's known for. Well, that and playing people" Jonah remarked. I cocked my eyebrows. "Uhm ok, I'll pause you right there" I began.

"So what I like to have fun? Everyone knows I don't like committing to people. But with Addison - for the first time in my life - I actually tried to make it last longer than a night. I dated that annoying bitch for almost three months; I even began to tell her stuff and then she goes and dumps my ass?! If that doesn't show you that relationships suck then I don't even know what you want to hear" I complained, folding my arms over.

"Well maybe it would've helped if you didn't cheat on her" Jonah replied with a high pitch as if he was pointing out the obvious. "Well I didn't know she was gonna catch me, did I?" I retorted, squinting my eyes at Jonah and making a "duh" expression.

"Besides," I continued. "Just look at her all over Jake. Doesn't she just look sooooo happy. I bet she tells him all my secrets and stuff." I mumbled, glaring at the two. She was wearing his football jacket and twirling her curled blond hair around her fingers.

I groaned out of annoyance. "You know what? Fuck love. If it's gonna get in the way of my reputation then I don't need to be anywhere near it. I didn't even like that hoe, she was annoying as fuck" I grumbled.

"We know" Jonah interrupted. "Every day you used to come to us and complain about how annoying she was and how much you hated the whole relationship thing. Well what do you expect Jack? You've never been in love before. You fuck girls and barely stick around long enough to learn their names let alone anything about them as if it's some sort of chore. Is that the kind of reputation you want? Asshole fuck boy?"

Corbyn let out a small snort at jonah's words. He looked up at me. "Jonah's kind of right" he admitted, shrugging. Jonah suddenly turned to me with wide eyes as if a thought had suddenly sparked in his mind. "Hey, what if you're just looking for love in the wrong places?" Jonah pushed. "What do you mean?"

"What if you've never fallen in love with a girl because girls aren't the ones you're supposed to be falling for..?" Jonah suggested. I defensively looked away. "Don't say things like that. I don't want people thinking I'm gay or some shit" I argued. Corbyn cleared his throat. "Well you know I'm fine with you being bi or whatever Corbs, but I don't want people to think I am. It will drag down my reputation and you know I can't deal with that."

"Whatever, I'm done talking about you and your stupid need for people's validation and acceptance" Jonah sighed, standing up from the table. Corbyn followed him, picking up his tray. "See you at practise" Corbyn mumbled before following the brunette out of the cafeteria.

I took a deep breath in, trying to calm the anger that was rising within me. I took my tray of untouched food and walked over to the bin, my mind too clouded to pay attention to my surroundings. As I passed the table Addison and Jake were at, I couldn't help but let my focus wander over to them. What if they were talking about me? I kept my eyes fixed on the tray in my hands but tried my hardest to hear what they were saying as I passed by.

"He's just an asshole" I heard Jake mumble. Was he saying that shit about me? I quickly turned on my heel to confront him but as I did I bumped in to someone. I tripped, falling over on to the ground. Surprisingly, I wasn't met with the hard ground - because I had fallen on top of the person I'd bumped into.

I looked down to meet a pair of frightened soft brown eyes, and warm rosey cheeks. Frustration began to take over me, and I was about to lash out at the boy until Addison's voice froze me. "Look at him - I bet he's gonna beat that kid up or something. He'll never learn to be nice..."

Her words ran through my mind. He'll never learn to be nice...

Well ok then bitch. You want nice? I'll give you nice. I reluctantly relaxed my tensed body, trying to gain composure. I wasn't about to let her be right and allow her words to define me. I stood up and extended out my arm to help the boy up. He looked at me with a dumbfounded look, as if unable to believe the infamously evil Jack Avery could ever possibly be even remotely nice.

I shot him a warning look, as if threatening him to take me up on the offer of my extended hand. "Come on bro, I've got shit to prove" I mumbled to him, quiet enough to ensure no one else heard.

He cautiously took my hand and I pulled him up, not letting go of his hand when he was standing. I mean, I didn't want him to run away or anything. All the dweebs at this school find me intimidating or whatever. "Are you ok" I said in an unintentionally robotic voice. I made sure that Addison's whole group was looking at the show I'd put on for them.

"Oh no!" I exclaimed with false concern. "It appears I have dropped some lettuce on your jacket. Here - allow me to very kindly get that for you" I stated in an almost factual tone. The boy shot me a weird look as I awkwardly brushed the food I dropped on him off of his jacket.

"C-can you let go of my hand now..." he quietly whispered to me. I promptly let go of my grip as soon as I realised our hands were still joined. Although I would never admit it, my cold hand missed the warmth that his provided. In a way, it almost felt natural to hold.

I looked back up to meet his eyes, taking myself out of my thoughts. He gave me a small smile. "You're weird, Avery..." he said, before he walked off and left me standing in the middle of the cafeteria with crowds of eyes on me.

I can't believe I just let some rando call me weird in front of all these people and I didn't even retaliate. It's a sad world we live in if we can't have any good old fashioned basic high school hierarchy. It's the one thing people on top should be able to control.

I grunted, pushing past people to leave the cafeteria. I hated having so many people watching me like that - it felt humiliating. Normally I like attention, but only when I was prepared with the fake facade I present to people. I couldn't risk anyone seeing a truthful version of me... that'd leave me all vulnerable. It could damage my reputation. Ok Jack, enough of that soft shit... besides, I have to get to basketball practise anyways.