Franklin D. Roosevelt High School
That was the high school I went to. God knows how many times I thought about dropping out.
Not because I hated school exactly—I mean, I definitely didn't love it, like any ordinary high school student—but it wasn't that hateful. At least, it hadn't been... until a few months ago.
Just thinking about it made my stomach clench into a knot.
Maybe I should have skipped today as well. I mean, between attending high school and getting bullied by that scumbag versus spending the day with two Targaryen beauties? The choice was obvious. Not complicated at all.
It hadn't always been like this, obviously. A few months back, I hadn't had any friends—I was just left alone like any normal guy without friends, doing his life in his corner. But things took a wrong turn fast when I made one huge mistake.
I entered the school and walked silently toward my classroom. I usually tried to get there early, slip in before everyone else was already inside. Less chance of interaction that way.
I got near the room and tried to listen for the right moment to enter.
"Fuck!" I groaned, slapping my hands over my ears.
What the hell? It felt like something had cranked the volume of my hearing up to maximum. Pain lanced through my head.
Then, sudden silence. I lowered my hands and raised my gaze.
Everyone was looking at me.
Oh fuck.
Everyone was there. Even that bastard Dereck Collins—the main reason I didn't want to come to school in the first place.
I ignored them and walked quickly toward my usual seat alone near the window.
"You okay?"
I turned. Asking about my welfare was the crush of my life: Amaya Reyes.
A beautiful half-Spanish beauty. She had light tan skin, long curly brown hair that usually flowed down but was currently pulled into a ponytail that showed off her elegant neck, and green eyes that could probably start wars. She was definitely the most beautiful girl in that school, inside and out.
Unfortunately, indirectly, she was also the reason my high school life had turned so bad.
She hadn't done anything wrong, obviously. It all came from me finding a sudden surge of courage and confessing to her at the beginning of the year. She'd been in my class last year, and I'd held back for so long. I thought it would be the perfect start to our final year if she could be my girlfriend.
BIG mistake.
She rejected me. Pretty quickly, too, giving me an apologetic look that somehow made it worse. But the real problem? Dereck and his gang saw the whole confession. And since then, they'd been making my life hell.
Because that jerk Dereck clearly liked Amaya, and I was pretty sure she was interested in him too. I mean, they could already be a couple for all I knew—they talked and hung out a lot, and I never saw her smile more brightly at anyone than she did at him.
You'd think Dereck would stop bullying me, thinking he'd already won. But nope. He decided I made a good punching bag anyway.
Obviously I felt rage. I had my own pride. But he was taller and stronger than me, and the few times I tried to fight back, he and his companions beat my ass, leaving me with injuries I couldn't explain. And I couldn't do anything about it because his father was pretty rich and a sponsor of this damned school.
So I just took it. Every day. Kept my head down and survived.
And now here I was, sitting two rows ahead of Amaya, feeling her eyes on the back of my head while Dereck shot daggers at me from across the room.
Great start to the day.
"I... I'm fine," I forced a smile.
Even though Amaya had rejected me, she still talked to me like nothing happened. Like my confession meant nothing, changed nothing between us.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry about it.
Was that how little she felt about my feelings? I was the one sitting here feeling awkward, and she acted like we were just normal classmates having a normal conversation.
Well. That probably meant she didn't care about me at all. Not even enough to feel awkward about it.
"Can you stop talking? I can smell your stinky breath."
That scornful comment came from the girl sitting right in front of me. Rebecca Phillips. She was honestly equally beautiful as Amaya in our class, and just as popular, but I didn't take her into consideration because she was rotten on the inside.
Long blond hair, blue eyes, perfect aristocratic beauty. Her father was a senator—Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, no less—so nobody could touch her or speak against her too much.
Beauty, wealth, status. She had it all.
Life was truly unfair.
And by the way, what did she mean I had stinky breath? I'd chewed a mint gum on the way here! Obviously I knew why she said it. For some reason, or maybe just following some trend I wasn't aware of, she also showed disdain toward me. Though it never felt personal coming from her, because I knew she didn't care about me enough to actually think about me that way.
If I had to guess, she just didn't want to see Amaya's face in front of her. She clearly despised Amaya. I think it was because Rebecca crushed on Dereck—the handsome, tall, blond captain of the soccer club. But he didn't reciprocate.
It was hard to tell, actually. I think he would have already slept with her if he could have, but since she was the senator's daughter, he was probably scared of getting into a real relationship with her. Too much risk. Too much attention.
Very pathetic, indeed.
Anyway.
"Good morning."
Mr. Harrison, the chemistry teacher, arrived with a smile. Some girls immediately whispered and giggled when they saw him.
Life was truly unfair.
Yes.
Let's get this day over and spent some much more good time with Visenya and Rhaenys.