Start a Revolution

Drew never felt more awkward in her entire life.

Since her and John had been pulled from class when they were originally supposed to present, they had to do it again the following Monday. But last time they had to present, they'd been together and on beautifully perfect terms. Now, the tension between the two was clearly obvious.

Mr. Bobbet sat there, shifting in his chair like he had something wedged up his ass, while the entire class snickered and muttered under their breath as John and Drew tip-toed around each other like they both had bombs strapped to their chests. It was an uncomfortable ordeal for everybody in first hour Honors English and Drew couldn't help but feel her face keep a lovely shade of red throughout the entire process. When they were finally finished, what felt like three years later, Drew grabs her things and books it back to her seat.

John found his usual seat that diagonal to hers but kept his composure. He'd seemed calm and unaffected by the awkwardness of the presentation, which pissed Drew off even more.

Why is he not even a little affected by this? Does he not care?

Questions pertaining to these swirled around Drew's brain, practically choking her, as the rest of first hour continued. When the bell finally rang to signal the end of the period, John was out the door before Drew had even put her binder back in her bag. A lump gathered in her throat before she shoved it away and grabbed the rest of her stuff.

When lunch finally approached Drew hesitated on her way to her usual table. Since her and John started dating he had slipped easily into eating with her everyday, along with his group of misfit friends. But what would happen today? Would John dip? Would all of his friends dip as well? Lisa wouldn't be too happy of Kennedy stopped sitting with her just because of his best friend's girl issues.

Drew huffs out a breath.

Whatever. If John wants to sit with them, he can. It'll make him seem mature over this whole thing.

But when she arrived at the table, dropping her bag onto her chair, she saw his usual seat empty. And he was always at the table before she was. A weird pain runs through her heart like a sliver of ice before she shoves that away too, falling into her chair. Kennedy and Garrett were seated in their usual places, Lisa under Ken's arm. They were still here. So where was John?

Drew clears her throat. "Uhm...I don't want to make this even more—"

"He said he had to study," Garrett immediately answers, not even looking up from his Calculus text book. "He has a mid-term coming up soon." He bites into an apple, keeping his gaze trained before him. Drew felt another lump knot at the base of her esophagus.

"Oh..." she tries to swallow, but the lump wouldn't budge. "Is he going to...uh, eventually...rejoin us?"

Kennedy looks over at Drew and is about to answer when Joey falls into John's usual seat. Kennedy's usual friendly stare turns hot with annoyance.

"Hey kitten," Joey grins, lazily flopping his arm over the back of her chair.

She tries to smile, but both knew it was bland and unenthusiastic. Joey decides not to comment on it. "Hey, Joe," she returns, leaning forward with her elbows on the table to get out from under his touch. She pretends to yawn and look tired. "Just exhausted. You?"

Lisa clears her throat loudly before Joey can speak. "Roo? Can you help me with this Anatomy review? I can't quite remember..." The two girls lull into the familiar burden of education and Drew is almost thankful for the interference. As much as she loved seeing Joey, she wasn't in the mood for his usual prying. She honestly wanted him to leave but couldn't find the strength to kick him out of her life.

It wasn't until the end of lunch that Drew saw John.

He was walking out of the library, books in hand. He strolled slowly, like he didn't have anywhere to be and was just wandering around aimlessly, looking down at his phone. He didn't even look at her, let alone notice her, and she felt another cold slice go through her. She didn't know what to think about this new relationship with John.

Or, if better, lack of relationship with John.

John comes out of the library with books in hand, attempting to answer his mother without using the keyboard on his phone. He could feel a pull towards the lunch table he'd gotten so used to sitting at but knew it wasn't a good idea to wander over there.

He tried to ignore it for as long as possible, but by the time he'd rounded even closer, hovering near the lunch lines, he looked up to at least glance at her.

His mouth turned sour at the sight.

She was giving one of her small Drew-smiles—the smile she gave whenever she was thought-provoked—and looking up at Joey fucking Rhimes as he said something to her. It didn't make her laugh, even though he had a giant grin on his face hoping she would find it funny, but she nodded her head at him as he curled his arm tighter around her shoulders.

Did she move on that fast? After her and John broke up she just fell back into her repetitive routine with Joey mother-FUCKING Rhimes?

John felt his stomach coil in on itself.

Did she just never care?

No, no. She didn't play you, John. She may have broken your heart in the end because of her twisted family beliefs, but she didn't lie to you. She wouldn't have gone through all the trouble of sneaking around if she didn't love you in some sort of way. John closes his eyes, trying to grasp onto all the good memories he had stored in his head.

They were quickly falling away.

He whimpers, opening his eyes again and looking at Joey and Drew. She had her head on his shoulder. And he was stroking her hair. John grit his teeth, his blood boiling, as he sharply turns away and stomps out of the cafeteria area and into a hallway to cool down.

Drew pulls her head off of Joey the minute she felt a cool gaze on her. She sits up straight, Joey's arm falling away from her, as she frantically looks around, trying to find John in the crowd of people. But she had no such luck, only seeing unfamiliar faces or people she didn't care about. She slumps back upon realizing she must have just dreamt it all up.

"What's with that face, hun?" Lisa asks, looking up from the essay she was working on.

Drew eyes the comforting hand Kennedy used to caress Lisa's covered arm, her throat closing up. John. "Nothing," she smiles small. She turns to Joey. "Can you go get me a juice?"

Joey felt his heart beat at the prospect of her asking something of him. "Sure thing, kitten."

He sweeps a hand over her head before standing and walking over to the lunch lines. With him out of sight, Drew relaxes. He was gone. For now.

"What is your problem?"

Drew snaps her head over at the voice, Lisa looking at her wide-eyed, confused and a little pissed off. Drew scrunches her brows, indicating her own confusion.

"You find a guy you really care for, and who really cares for you, and you're just throwing it away?" Lisa growls out, the bite to her voice one that Drew had heard whenever Lisa was really passionate about something. "What the fuck, Roo?"

Her nickname that was once so affectionate was now laced with venom. Drew winces.

Kennedy rubs his girlfriend's shoulder. "Lisa..." he warns, eyes flicking to Drew.

Said girl shakes her head, throwing her pencil down. "No, I wanna hear this!" She lies her palms flat on the table, glaring at her best friend over the expanse of the table. Drew suddenly felt very, very small under her stare. "Give me one good reason as to why you broke up with him." Her stare was piercing and so green and Drew didn't know how to react.

"Uhm, I don't..." she stumbles over words.

"Come on! I wanna know!"

Drew bites at her bottom lip. "Lees, he thinks my sister killed someone. He said awful things about my family; my own flesh and blood. How would you feel if—"

"Bullshit."

Drew freezes. "Excuse me?"

"Bullshit," Lisa continues, her words hard and firm. "You didn't leave him because you guys got in that irrelevant fight. You used the fight as an excuse." Drew goes to protest but her best friend doesn't allow her to go forward. "You used the fight as an excuse, to cover up why you really let the relationship between you fail."

Drew hardens her own jaw. "And what was I trying to cover up?"

"That you were scared," Lisa says quietly, but the tone of her voice more deadly than anything else. Drew's eyes widen significantly. "You were scared to admit to yourself that you had real feelings for John. It scared you that you felt so strongly for him because of what your parents might think. Is that how the rest of your life is gonna go? Always abiding to what your parents say, or do, or think? Fuck, Drew, that's no way to fucking live!"

Drew didn't know what to say. Lisa stares at her for a moment before shoving her papers in her bag and slinging it over shoulder.

"I'm gonna go," Lisa practically hisses. "I'll be back when you get your shit together."

Then her best friend stomps off, leaving Drew speechless and a little inspired.