Miller Spencer knows that it's normal to love your best friend.
Ace has been his best friend since forever. So, of course, it's completely natural to want to kiss him. It is typical to get jealous when you see him with someone else. It is absolutel...
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The human mind is indeed complex. Or, perhaps it was my inherent pessimism. But anytime that anything remotely ambiguous happened, I would find myself assuming the worst. Which in this case was that Archer Wilde was dead.
I wouldn't have entertained such a morbid thought if not for the fact that just a few hours ago, my best friend had informed me that he would indeed be attending classes. However, it was almost break time and I had seen no sign of him in school. It was possible that he had taken to simply roaming around, but I had to prepare myself for the worst.
The signs of hope however came in the form of Marcus Byrne who strode into class just as the fourth period ended. He waved to a couple of girls on the last bench and started talking to them. I caught wisps of conversation and wouldn't usually have paid him any attention if not for the fact that he remained up to date with all the hottest news at Southern Shore High. And right now, what he was saying concerned Archer.
"-might have actually pushed too far this time. Bucket looked fucking mad."
My heart sunk to my stomach and I slowly pulled my backpack onto my shoulders. Our principal had gotten mad? There were only two instances that could make that possible. The first one was that the inflation was a little too bad and the second was that Archer had gone and finally stuck his head up his own ass.
I slowly sidled over to the small group as Byrne turned around to see me. He shook his head as he spoke, "Wilde's probably bitten off more than he can chew."
"What is new?" I asked, shrugging as my stomach knotted uncomfortably. I struggled to sound nonchalant although my voice was dangerously close to returning to its pre-puberty form. "What happened? I heard you say he ticked Bucket off?"
He nodded and patted his buzzcut hair, his pale blue eyes gazing steadily. "That might be an understatement."
I glanced at the two girls sitting behind him and felt my cheeks burning when I saw their eyes fixed on me. Perhaps gouging for a reaction. I set my jaw firmly and stared at Byrne instead.
"He keyed Burnwood's car," he said. My heart sunk as he continued, "And then picked a fight with him right in the middle of the parking lot. Like a full-blown fist fighting brawl. Both of them went to Bucket's office after that. But-" he shrugged, "-that's all I know."
I sighed and nodded. The image of Ace- tall and slender, fighting the even taller and bulky Burnwood, wasn't pretty.
"Thanks, Byrne," I nodded, my throat dry as sand paper.
He gave me a soft smile as I turned and left class, all thoughts of lunch leaving my mind as I quickened my pace and made my way to the principal's office on the ground floor.
Marcus Byrne was one of the rare decent people I had met at Southern. Although of course, his flaw remained that he gossiped a bit too much. Maybe, hopefully, he was wrong about the brawl. Perhaps it hadn't been that bad at all and Archer was simply seriously injured but still alive.
