BOND

55.

If I didn't have you, there would be nothing left

The shell of a man that could never be his best

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The first day back to school, able to walk by herself, was going pleasanter than Elena had hoped it would.

Senior year was already a couple of weeks underway and though she had missed them, no irreparable damage had been done.

The principal had made huge fanfare of her returning for classes, so had the media, and the high spirits had kept her occupied for the better part of the day. And homework. Mountain loads of it which she had had to spend her lunch hour catching up on and now, in the last period, was still swamped with.

The hectic day had kept her away from Joey, who Coach Harley had practicing relentlessly. Not that the absence was that big of a deal, she had had more than her fill of him the previous night and that morning at his house.

Subconsciously, she started tracing patterns on the corner of the open page and hissed in a pained gasp as something sharp poked her arm.

The teacher and some students turned around and she feigned innocence, looking around for the source of the interruption herself. They gave up soon after. She glared at Ben and his sheepish expression, poking right back at him the second the teacher turned back to the board.

"Ow," he let out a whispered scream, furiously rubbing at his chest.

She heard Mark lightly snickering on her other side and gave him a quick, pleased look. Alex, leaning back in the chair in front of her, was noiselessly shaking with laughter.

"You started it," she whispered at Ben and swatted his arm softly.

"Because you've been ghosting me for a week and a day now," he replied, an extra deep frown etched across his face.

"Why would I-"

Mark cut her off, "He is very upset about it."

His eyes betrayed the amusement coursing through him. She shot him a look before turning back to Ben.

"I am not ghosting you! I talked to you in homeroom."

Alex propped his chair on its back legs and tilting his head ever so slightly backwards, said, "Not answering your phone counts as ghosting."

"Okay you know that was Joey's idea," she lowered her head down almost level with the desk.

Ben completely tilted to his side to look at her comfortably, "What did you two even do together for a week without your phones?"

He knew it while he was saying it and by the time he finished the three boys had matching scowls on their faces.

Mark winced and said, "Don't answer that. We do not need to know a single detail about it."

Elena huffed in indignation and said, "Not that, you idiots. We just talked."

"And kissed," Alex looked at her for a quick second. "If the concealer on your neck is anything to go by."

She sharply kicked the leg of his precariously balanced chair, making him fluster for a second and then settling down with a loud thud.

The teacher looked up from his workbook, right at them.

Alex, still breathless and red in the face from the near fall, got the entirety of the teacher's glare because in the background the three of them had already busied themselves with energetically acting to copying down the notes.