We peeked around the corner of the wall—the only thing blocking our view.
"Huh…?" I muttered to myself.
"What are you doing?" I asked out loud.
It was them… Mike and James.
Mike, tears in his eyes, was pinned against the wall. James was right in front of him, pressing a hand tightly over his mouth.
"James?" Ryan forced his voice out. You could hear the shock in it, but to me it didn't feel real—more like it was forced.
James lowered the hand from Mike's mouth. Mike looked down at the ground. What was he about to do to him? James threw a glance in my direction.
"What?" he said aggressively. "He owes me money and the deadline's already passed, right?"
Mike ignored him.
"Right?" he repeated, his voice deadly serious. The tension drained from his face quickly.
"Yes… it's true," Mike admitted with a trembling voice. "I'll give it back tomorrow." I found it hard to believe.
Suddenly the bell rang, calling us back to class.
"Yeah, school…" Ryan muttered with a sad voice.
The subject of that conversation died out quickly, and I couldn't help but wonder why. Did they really believe that excuse? It felt like Ryan deliberately cut the conversation short so nothing else could slip out.
"Hey!"
We heard a shout. It was Mary.
Joshua instantly looked away from her and cursed under his breath. James immediately stepped back from Mike—he could've made it seem like Mike was on the other side of the school in the blink of an eye.
"Thanks for waiting for me!" Mary ran up to us, breathless. "God, I fucking hate running," she said. "So, what are you guys doing here?"
None of us answered. A heavy silence filled the air.
"We were just heading to class," James finally broke the strange atmosphere.
Mary glanced around at all of us. Even she noticed that something was off.
"Did I… miss something?" She looked at each of us.
"Nothing. Let's just go," James snapped firmly. He walked toward her. They kissed.
"Sorry I didn't text you back," he whispered.
Before we left, James smacked Mary on the ass, and she jumped in surprise.
That's when I glanced at Mike. His fists were clenched, and he bit his lip hard. Tears mixed with a wild, almost unhinged look in his eyes. A shiver of fear ran down my spine.
I didn't think twice. I averted my gaze and was the first one to head toward school.
***
In class, everything was as usual. Ryan, Joshua, James, and I sat at the back, while Mike sat at the front. Sometimes they'd shout lewd jokes at him, but… they were just jokes, right?
I couldn't focus on the lesson. The image of what happened behind the school kept replaying in my head. Could it be possible that Mike and James had some kind of romantic relationship? The more I thought about it, the more nervous I became. They couldn't be together. I just couldn't imagine them dating, going on dates, being in a relationship. James had a girlfriend—so he couldn't be gay. Unless… unless he just hadn't come out yet.
What if I told Mary? No—that wouldn't work. She loved to gossip, and she'd make sure everyone knew it came from me.
So that was out. But maybe I could do it anonymously.
Mike and James being together—that was impossible. The thought echoed in my head.
"Jeremy. Mr. Jeremy."
I lifted my head.
The biology teacher was standing over me. His glasses kept sliding down his nose, and he pushed them back up every few seconds. I looked around—no one else was in the room. How had class ended so quickly?
"You've got your head in the clouds," he said.
"Sorry, Mr. Thompson, I've just had some… family problems lately. But I promise I'll pay more attention in the next lesson."
"Alright," he replied, turning his back to me and walking away.
I grabbed my stuff from the desk and left the classroom.
At James's locker, they were all gathered. Even Mike was there, though he kept quiet while the others chatted among themselves.
Mike tried to hide the way his eyes kept drifting toward James.
I sighed deeply, swallowed hard, and walked toward them, already thinking of how to tear apart this twisted relationship.