Repressed

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I held on to Lewis's hand tightly. He grinned and looked at me with his blue eyes. He pulled his hand out of my grasp and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I felt my face go red. We'd been dating for nearly six months, but I still wasn't used to just touching someone like this in public. No one at our school cared, but it still felt like everyone's eyes were on us.

"Hurry up, Oliver," Nicholas called. "You too, Lewis." He and Jamie were walking in front of us, while Lewis and I ambled along a few feet back.

The family resemblance between Nicholas and Lewis was barely there. Where Lewis was lanky and pale, Nicholas was tanned and muscular. Even their blue eyes were different. Nicholas's were vibrant and almost teal, while Lewis's were pale and grayish. Most people thought that Jamie was Nicholas's older brother. They looked nearly identical from the back, with their matching builds and hair color.

Jamie had only moved to our town last year, but he'd already become Nicholas's best friend. By extension, that meant he was Lewis's and my best friend too. At the sleepovers Lewis, Nicholas, and I used to have in grade school, we had promised we'd always be each other's best friends. We'd only introduced Jamie to our friend group once Lewis and I started dating, mostly since I'd felt bad for ditching Nicholas. Now it was unlikely to see any of the four of us without the other three. We weren't cliquey, but none of us were very outgoing, so we never really talked to anyone else. Our parents always called the four of us a cult, saying that one day we'd all just go run off and live in a forest together.

Jamie and Nicholas pushed through the front doors of the school. Nicholas let one door slam, but Jamie held one for Lewis and me.

"Thank you, good sir," Lewis said, wiggling his eyebrows at Jamie. Jamie bent low in a mock bow. We all continued into school, heading towards the cafeteria. Tuesdays and Thursdays were when my mom dropped us off early so she could get to work. We'd begun the habit of sitting in the cafeteria before school started, because it was loud enough to prevent any conversations we might have from being overheard by eavesdroppers. We didn't have any nefarious plans that we didn't want other people to hear, but the privacy loud rooms provided was nice anyway.

I slid into our usual table first, scooting to the end of the lunch table bench. Lewis sat next to me, interlacing our fingers. Jamie and Nicholas sat across from us, fake fighting over some girl they both found attractive. I sighed contentedly. Most sophomores weren't able to find someone to date at all, let alone a senior. I chalked Lewis's and my relationship up to the fact we'd known each other for years, ever since I was in fourth grade. I leaned into Lewis, but the second my head touched his shoulder, a loud noise sounded. We all jumped, looking around for the source of the noise. It came again. Everyone in the cafeteria was muttering to each other, looking anxious. A third time the noise came. We all suddenly knew what it was. Someone was shooting.