Bram's P.O.V.
I woke up and checked the time on my phone that read 7:40
My school starts at 8 o'clock and it takes 10 minutes to walk there, shit.
I took a quick shower and then changed into a collared shirt and a pair of jeans.
I grabbed my lunch and my backpack then ran out the door.
I ran to my school and got to my class right as the bell rang.
"Try to be on time, Mr. Califf." Mr. Masters said while frowning at me.
"Yes sir." I replied and sat down in my desk.
"Next week is the last week of school which means that summer is almost here. However, that doesn't mean we stop working. An idle mind is an empty one. Take out your textbook and turn to page 147." Mr. Masters told us.
We all groaned and took out our textbooks.
I graduate grade eight next week too which is exciting, but my school is from grade 7-12 so I will still be in the same school.
After a long math class and a gruelling social studies class, lunch finally came. I went outside to eat with my best friend, Wes, and we sat at one of the picnic tables.
I was eating my sandwich when I saw the doors to outside open. Shit, they're coming.
I quickly averted my attention back to my food in an attempt to not get killed today.
"S'up losers?" One of the guys said and slammed my face into my sandwich.
"I'll be taking this." He added taking my Dr. Pepper and walking away.
And that ladies and gentlemen is the one and only Axel Carson. Infamous at our school for being the best quarterback our school has ever seen and for being the biggest asshole to ever walk the earth. He's been terrorizing every single kid below his grade for as long as I can remember. I didn't go to the same elementary school as him, but I did hear about him.
I cleaned my face off and ate my sandwich.
"What a dick, man." Wes said.
"I know right?" I replied.
We finished eating lunch then went to health class.
After school...
I just got home from school and my mom called the house phone.
"Hey mom." I said.
"Hey honey. I need you to make dinner tonight. We're having people over." Mom replied.
"Oh, okay. How many?" I asked.
"Only two." She answered.
"Alright. Wait, it's not that guy you've been seeing is it?" I sighed.
"What if it is?" She said.
"Why mom?" I asked clearly annoyed.
"Please, Bram. Just give him a chance. He's a great guy. And he has a kid around your age." Mom answered.
"Fine. I'll give him one chance. What do you want me to make?" I asked.
"Spaghetti please, Bram." Mom answered.
"Okay." I replied.
I hung up and started making dinner.
Once I finished, mom came home and set the table.
"Mom I'm gonna go take a shower, okay?" I said.
"Okay, Brammy. Just be quick. They're gonna be here soon." Mom replied.
I nodded and went upstairs to the washroom that's connected to my room.
I took a shower and changed into a blue shirt. I fixed my hair and put on deodorant. I cleaned up my room even though it's already very clean, and I made sure my room smelled nice since I always want it to.
I heard talking and laughing coming from the kitchen as I walked downstairs, great, they're already here. As I walked into the kitchen, I saw the one person I never expected to ever step foot in my house, let alone know where I live. Axel Carson.
I stopped in my tracks and everybody looked at me.
Axel slightly smirked when he saw me, but then his smirk dropped.
He must have realized that if this thing works out, we might become stepbrothers.
"Come sit, honey. We were just gonna start eating." Mom said.
I walked in and sat down across the table from Axel.
We started eating and the man said "This is some good pasta, Mae."
"Thank you, Will. But I actually didn't make it. Bram did." Mom replied while slightly pointing to me.
"Oh, well good work." Will told me.
"Uh, th-thanks." I said.
"You're welcome." He replied.
I could tell that Will wasn't sure how to react to my name.
Bram is short for Abraham, but I don't use my full name. All my school documents say Bram on them, so nobody knows my full name is Abraham. It's not common where we live for somebody to be named Bram, so I can tell why he was taken back.
"So Bram, your mom tells me that you go to the same school as Axel. Do you guys ever see each other?" Will asked.
"No, not really. I just heard stuff about him and the football team." I answered.
"Well, that's what he does best. Football all the time." Will replied, sounding a bit angry about his son's obsession with football.
"Dad, stop." Axel said quietly.
Will didn't elaborate and Will asked me "Do you play sports, Bram?"
I heard Axel laugh really quiet and I said "No. They're not really my thing."
"That's okay. You just haven't found your sport yet." Will replied.
I didn't say anything because I didn't want to start a fight and we finished eating.
"Oh Bram, I have an idea. How about you show Axel your room?" Mom suggested.
Before either of us could object, Will stepped in.
"I think that sounds like a great idea, Mae." Will said.
I walked upstairs with Axel following behind me and we walked to my bedroom door.
I opened it and we walked in.
I have posters of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, video game posters, three bookshelves full of books, a desk with an awesome chair, a bookshelf that has action figures and movies, and a Star Wars themed bedspread.
"Wow, your room is even nerdier than you are." Axel scoffed.
"You don't even know me." I said quietly.
"What'd you say, geek?" Axel asked while grabbing the collar of my shirt.
"I don't get it. You just called me a nerd and now you're calling me a geek. So what am I? A geek or a nerd?" I answered.
"I never called you a nerd. I said that your room was nerdier than you are. Listen, dumbass. " Axel scoffed.
"You never answered the question. Am I a geek or a nerd?" I asked.
"You're both. They're interchangeable terms." Axel answered.
"Wow, 'Interchangeable'. A big word for a football-head with two brain cells." I replied.
"Hey, I have more than two brain cells thank you very much. I bet you don't even know how football works." Axel said while rolling his eyes.
"I do. Just because I don't like sports doesn't mean I don't know how they work." I replied.
"Oh, by the way geek and nerd have two separate meanings. A geek is someone who is socially inept whereas a nerd is someone who is boringly studious and lacks social skills." I said.
"You know, I can end you right now." Axel smirked.
"Then do it. Go Thanos on my ass." I replied, knowing that he wouldn't do it with our parents downstairs.
He easily threw me onto my bed and started punching me.
Oh, I guess I was wrong. He would do it.
I started coughing and Axel said "Shut up. Shut up."
My nose started bleeding and he stopped.
I went to my bathroom and tried to get my nose to stop bleeding.
I did after a few minutes and I walked out to see Axel sitting in my desk chair.
I sat in my bed and Axel said "Wifi password."
"Axel'sanasshole46." I replied.
He got up and punched me in the stomach.
"I'll put the password in, give me your phone." I said after I recovered.
"No way. You'll never touch my phone. Ever." He replied.
"Bramsdabest27." I said.
"Tell me the actual password." He replied.
"For real, that's the password. There's no spaces. B-R-A-M-S-D-A-B-E-" I told him, but he cut me off.
"I know how to spell Best." He said.
"Why do you have such a bulky computer? Why don't you just get a laptop?" He scoffed referring to my computer.
"It's a gaming PC." I replied.
"A what?" He asked.
"A gaming PC. I play games online with it." I answered.
"Damn, you just get more nerdier and geekier by the second." He smirked.
I ignored him and since he was occupied by his phone, we didn't have to talk.
"Ax, we're leaving!" Will said from downstairs.
"Oh thank God." Axel muttered.
He came over to me and punched me a couple times.
He pulled my shirt over my head like they do in hockey, and laughed as I tried to get my shirt back on as quick as possible.
I saw him walk out of my room once I fixed my shirt and mom came into my room after I heard the front door close.
"So what'd you think?" Mom asked.
"No." I answered.
She sighed and said "You didn't even get to talk to him that much, Brammers."
"I talked to him for two minutes and I don't want to talk to him again for the rest of my life." I replied.
"What about Axel?" She asked.
"What about him?" I answered.
"Did you like him? You guys seemed to be getting along pretty great while we were downstairs." Mom replied.
"He's just like Will, but ten times worse." I said.
"Oh." She replied.
"I'm going to my bed. Goodnight." I said.
"Okay, goodnight Bram." She replied.
I went up to my room and changed into pyjamas.
I got into bed and I looked at my shelf full of action figures and realized that Aquaman was missing.
That son of a bitch took my Aquaman! That's a collectible!
I sighed, knowing I couldn't do anything about it and I fell asleep.
