The Undercover Bad Boy

Chapter Twenty Seven - Addiction

Chapter Twenty Seven - Addiction

p.s: I like comments if, you know, have time c:

p.p.s: everyone's forgotten who Jimmy is. oops. He is the football captain who got into a fight with Zach and then got put into counselling with Alex

The day went much faster than I expected considering that Zach and Tara hadn't come in to school. At lunch, Parker and I were sitting in the library with Luke and Jett. This was where they disappeared to during lunchtime.

The library felt like a whole different world. Different people. Different atmosphere. Different ambience. Just different. Rather than the bright glare from the industrial lighting in the rest of the building, the lights in here were dim and warm; they had a much more calming effect.

The rows of shelves provided a feeling of security and the smell of books was addictive - like a drug.

I understood why Luke and Jett spent most of their time in here. They didn't do much reading, however. They just sat on some bean bags in the corner and had a nice conversation in hushed whispers for the hour period whereas I found myself absorbed in the world of a book. The words and emotions written by the author seemed to have the ability to create four walls around me. They offered protection and stability. For a moment, I was able to forget everything. I felt entirely blocked off from the entire human population.

Jett had pulled me away from the guys to talk to me privately.

"You probably don't like me," she said. Her body seemed to radiate confidence and mischief that had the power to make me feel tiny in comparison. I just let her continue speaking. "I mean - I stole your best friend right? You should hate me."

I could have agreed with her but all I said was, "Nah, don't worry about it."

I had only just found out that she was part Latina - I probably should have noticed by the insanely tanned skin in the middle of winter. And she had lived in America while she was a toddler hence her American accent.

I watched her tuck a lock of turquoise hair behind her ear. "That's good to hear," she had said almost too enthusiastically.

When the bell rang to signify the end of the day, I gathered my textbooks and homework before shoving them into my bag. To avoid the rush of other people, I departed out of the back exit and walked round to the front of the school building.

"Can you not," someone snapped. I looked around in a paranoid manner, trying to locate the source of the voice.

"Carl," I breathed a sigh of relief. He was sitting on the school steps right at my feet with a comic book clutched tightly in his hands - I didn't know if this was ironic or not but it was a Spiderman edition.

He cleared his throat. "Can you not," he repeated, his eye twitching slightly. His hair reached his chin in a choppy style and it was parted down the centre of his head.

I readjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder and then frowned. "Can I not what?"

"You just stepped on an ant."

"Oh."

"You killed a bug," he continued. "I haven't killed a bug in almost five days. You don't understand the temptation."

I held both my hands up. "Won't happen again."

"Better not."

"You got it."

In the corner of my eye, I spotted Luke's car reverse out of the parking lot, leaving me stranded at school with no way of getting home. I pulled out my phone and began to type his number and demand that he return. In the middle of dialling, Carl cleared his through whilst pulling on my jacket to get my attention.