By the time I left Jude’s mansion for school, my arm had surprisingly healed itself completely.
However, that did not stop hundreds of eyes to bore into me, when I arrived to school later that morning. Several students looked aghast and others snickered amongst themselves, as I strolled past them.
It was impossible to blame them.
I probably would have reacted the same way if I encountered a person with huge, swollen lips, in the middle of a Thursday morning.
Tony was the first one to speak up when he caught up to me at my locker. “Damn, bro! What’s up with those lips?”
I grunted, annoyed. “They’re swollen. Can’t you tell?”
He shook his head, dumbfounded. “Man, you should’ve just told Nicolas and me you’d be meeting a girl yesterday. We wouldn’t have bothered you as much.”
“What? A girl?”
“Yeah. A couple of hours after you left, I called your grandmother to ask if you were home, and she said that you were sleeping over at a friend’s house. She gave me his number and I contacted your friend, just to make sure you were okay. He told me you’d left his house to go hang out with your girlfriend.”
I didn't know if I wanted to rage or laugh. Jude actually had the audacity to tell Tony I’d gone off with some imaginary chick? And he'd seriously managed to convince Grandma into letting me sleep over at his house?
I had to admit, along with being a manipulative, smooth talker, Jude had balls of steel.
Nicolas' head popped in front of my vision, nearly giving me a heart attack. “Ew, your lips!” He pointed at them, his nose scrunched up in disgust. “They’re so red and look super painful. Looks like you had a botched plastic surgery, dude.”
I slammed my locker door shut and headed towards class, carrying my books. “Thanks very much,” I replied dryly.
Nicolas and Tony followed me towards our first period English class. The whole way, they were arguing about what type of girl left me with such a visible souvenir.
“No, I’m telling you, dude,” Nicolas was saying, “That chick is a direct descendant of savage beasts.”
“No, she’s not! Who are you to judge so quickly?”
“Are you stupid, Tony?”
“Nicolas, you’re the graphic depiction of stupidity.”
“Ah, man, come on!” Nicolas protested, “There’s no way she could have made Damian’s lips swell up so much if she weren’t part beast.”
Tony scoffed. “You’re undeniably wrong. Damian would not let any random girl do him like that, without returning the favor. If he looks like that, imagine what the ‘savage chick’ looks like. I’m certain the real beast is actually Damian.”
Nicolas fell quiet for about two seconds, and then gave me a look of newfound respect. “Wow, I bet you had the time of your life,” he said loudly, patting my shoulder.
“Would you please keep it down?” I snapped, embarrassed that so many kids were not only staring at us because of my lips, but also because of Nicolas’ loud mouth.
Damn, that stupid, creep of a Jude! I couldn't believe he'd snogged me to the point where my lips resembled overcooked sausages. Naturally, he'd left unscathed.
Unsurprisingly, Nicolas only proceeded to pester me. “So, did you guys go all the way or what? Wow, fifteen years old and already a man? Who was your friend, by the way? I didn’t know you had other close friends besides Tony and me. How come the guy knew about your secret girlfriend?”
Tony nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’m also kind of hurt. That friend of yours knew about your girlfriend, but not us? Why didn’t you ever mention you had one?”
I sighed, my irritation from this morning expanding. “It’s kind of complicated,” I answered vaguely. Nicolas and Tony had definitely strayed away from the truth, though they had the “savage beast” part of the equation right.
Upon reaching the classroom door, a crowd of kids continued to swarm around me, having heard Nicolas’ loud voice. Older ones made kissing sounds, whereas others whistled.
“Way to go, dude!”
“That’s how you keep those girls in line!”
“Keep up the good work!”
“Could you give me your surgeon’s contact information? Because I’d like to sue them for damaging my eyesight.”
That last sentence was uttered by none other than Jake. The blonde imbecile laughed at his own joke, the baboons not too far behind. Great.
“Piss off, Jake,” I snarled, “I’m not in the mood.”
“You and your girlfriend were certainly in the mood last night.”
“Shut up!”
Jake hugged his chest, pretending to be scared. “Ohh, I’m trembling!”
“What I do with my life is none of your business. Get off my case already.”
“Yeah, leave him alone,” Tony said, “You’re just jealous.”
“Exactly,” Nicolas pipped up, “Jealous because he has a girlfriend and you don’t.”
Jake laughed so loud, tears started to run down his eyes. “Me? Jealous? Because he has a girlfriend, Nicky?”
“Don't call me that!” Nicolas yelled.
“Hahaha! Whatever. You're even stupider than your grades suggest! Why would I be jealous? If anything, I feel sorry for the girl that's wasting her existence with a loser like him.”
Howling, Jake and the baboons high-fived each other and walked into the classroom.
Nicolas muttered some profane curse words about Jake, and we followed after him, inside the classroom.
After we had taken our seats, Mr. Miller, who was also our English teacher, clapped his hands for attention.
“Students, quiet down!” he ordered, “Due to a minor inconvenience, a student from a different class will officially be transferring into our group.”
My day could not get any worse. My palms became all sweaty and my teeth started chattering. I instantly regretted coming to school, even if I had an important exam in the afternoon.
I should have called in sick or something because there was almost no way to avoid what was about to occur.
Please, don’t tell me he actually got himself transferred to my class. Please, don’t tell me he alternated everyone’s memories again, and made people believe he’d been enrolled in my school all along.
“Come in,” Mr. Miller said.
Seeing him dressed in clothes other than white was shocking by itself. The dark sweater over the gray pants made his white skin stand out even more. His impeccable mouth stretched into a small smile.
“Please introduce yourself, and take the free seat near the back,” Mr. Miller told him.
Jude did not show any indicator he was listening to the teacher. He was too busy staring at me. I could just about feel his eyes piercing through my soul.
“Excuse me?” Mr. Miller said. Poor guy. Always fed up with student’s behavior, I believe. “Mr. Malakai, right? Please introduce yourself and have a seat. We are about to begin class.”
Jude continued to stare at me. Some of my classmates followed his gaze. Whispers began to spread throughout the classroom.
I was mortified.
Finally, chatterbox Nicolas couldn’t take the awkward scene anymore.
“Bro!” he cried out to Jude, “What’s going on here? Why are you staring at Damian like that?”
Jude smirked, his eyes still lingering upon me.
Please don’t say it. Please don’t say it. Please don't say it.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Jude responded, “Damian’s my pet.”
Please don't say i-
Nicolas' eyes nearly popped out of his glasses. “Huh?”
Please d-
“Oh, sorry. Slip of the tongue. I meant to say boyfriend. Damian's my boyfriend.”
Gosh, mothereffin' damn it!
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