We Are an Example of Why Not to Fall in Love

Josh’s point of view:

I woke up and groaned, instantly knowing that I have to go to school. I’m so not in the mood to go there. I even whine a little when I get myself out of bed, getting ready zombie speed. Well, slow zombie speed. I played this zombie game once and some of those bitches were fast as fuck. Like, wow, that shit was scary.

When I’m ready, I step outside, noticing Elissa pinned to her car by a tall muscular guy, their tongues practically down each other’s throats.

Damn it, Elissa, you could do so much better.

I ignore the scene that’s probably gonna scar me for life as I start walking towards the school, but before I can get a yard away, Elissa calls me.

“Josh! Let us take you to school!” Elissa offers. I shrug and turn around, walking towards them, crawling into the back seat. I know that Elissa’s only taking me because she hopes she might get to see Oli for a bit, but hey, at least I don’t gotta walk today.

“Oh, and this is Bradley, my boyfriend,” Elissa introduces as she pulls out of the driveway. Bradley turns around and makes a fist.

Well, he’s way more attractive up close. You did well, Elissa.

“Bro,” Bradley says coolly as he waits for me to bump fists with him. I bump his fist with mine, and he smiles, turning back around.

“Bradley, that’s Josh, my little brother,” Elissa finally tells him. “So, Brad, where do you wanna go after we drop Josh off?”

I watch the two awkwardly as he shrugs.

“Whatever works for you, babe,” Bradley answers her as he turns the radio on, skipping until he gets to a certain song. I assume that he really likes it as he starts singing along loudly.

“THIS IS THE PART WHEN I SAY I DON’T WANT YA! I’M STRONGER THAN I’VE BEEN BEFORE! THIS IS THE PART WHEN I BREAK FREE! ‘CAUSE I CAN’T RESIST NO MORE!”

It goes on like this: listening to Bradley obnoxiously singing an obnoxious song, until we pull up at my school.

“Bye guys!” I say quickly, desperate to get out of the car as I hastily open the door and jump out. Elissa looks around for a bit, and I know what she’s looking for. Her eyes light up when she finds him.

“OLI! HEEEEY!” she screams, scaring the shit out of Bradley. I look in the direction she’s looking toward and see Oli, scared shitless, but he’s smiling and waving back slightly anyways.

“Babe, who’s that?” I hear Bradley say before they drive off. I walk up to Oli, his face brightening the closer I got.

“Hey, Josh,” Oli greets happily as he reaches out for my hand, intertwining our fingers.

“Hey, babe,” I reply to him with a smile. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Rachelle watching us from where she hangs with her bitches. I guess she’s gonna be watching me now, perfect. I kiss Oli’s cheek to make her jealous, and I know I succeed when she rolls her eyes and turns back toward her friend with a scowl. I look back to Oli, whose cheeks are now tinted pink.

“You’re so cute,” I chuckle, and he ducks his head.

“No,” he mutters sheepishly.

“But you are cute,” I tell him, and he shrugs.

“I’m gonna go to my locker and head to class now, okay?” Oli says before hugging me. He then walks into the building, just as someone taps my shoulder. I turn around and come face to face with a girl. I recognize her as one of Rachelle’s friends, but I don’t care to remember who she is.

“Yeah?” I ask her, wondering what the hell she wants.

“Why are you dating Oli?” she asks me, disgust towards Oli clear in her voice. I glare daggers at the bitch before turning away from her and walking towards the school.

“Hey! Answer my question!” she shrieks at me, typical attention-seeking bitch. I ignore her and keep walking forward.

<><><>

“So Josh,” Jack starts as he sits across from me at the lunch table. Alex and Oli aren’t here yet, so it’s just me and Jack right now. “I heard about you pissing off Celeste.”

I give him a questioning look. “Who’s Celeste?”

“That girl you talked to earlier. She told you something and you walked away from her and she screamed at you.”

Oh, well that rings a bell.

“So, what happened?” Jack asks as he tastes whatever he grabbed for lunch. He gags and slides it to the end of the table. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop at the edge and tips over the edge, splattering gook at Oli and Alex’s feet. It attracts attention, too, do Jack does the smart thing: get the fuck out of here before the janitor comes and makes us clean it up. Me, Oli and Alex follow after him as we make our way out of the cafeteria and outside.

“That was one fine hello, babe,” Alex says sarcastically as he lets himself get comfy on the grass.

“I know,” Jack plays along, plopping down next to him. Oli and I follow their lead and get comfy ourselves. “Anyways, Jack. What happened earlier?”

That catches Alex’s and Oli’s attention, and their focus is on me.

“Well, Celeste decided to come up to me earlier and ask me why I was dating Oli,” I start as I wrap an arm around him, pulling him closer. He rests his head in the crook of my neck, humming contently. “And her voice was laced with disgust, so I got pissed and walked away. That’s basically all that happened.”

Jack raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure? She was fuming.”

“Yeah, I don’t know why she was that pissed. I guess it’s because I walked away from her when she asked me a question. Why does it concern her, anyway?”

“Because Rachelle’s jealous, and Celeste likes to kiss her ass,” Alex says, knowing his friend.

“Who’s Celeste?” Oli asks, who’s been quiet this whole time. He must not have been paying attention until Alex spoke up.

“Rachelle’s friend,” Jack answers him before Alex or I could.

“Oh, Rachelle texted me yesterday,” Oli randomly adds, making Jack and Alex quite curious.

“Why does she have your number?” Alex asks.

“Tom gave it to her, apparently. He got a piece of my mind, though,” Oli answers.

“Uh… This is kinda where we hang, so… skedaddle, would you,” a voice says from above us, and the four of us look up to it. There stood a muscular jock looking guy, one of the populars, and I never cared enough to remember his name. He had two other guys behind him, less muscular than the leader, but equally unattractive.

Alex and Jack and Oli start to move, but I motion for them to stop and hold Oli to me.

“We would not. Should’ve came a little sooner,” I speak up instead of obeying them like a little pussy. They glare down at me as Alex whispers to me, asking if I was high on something. I ignore them and glare up at the three boys.

“Let’s try this again. Get the fuck up before we fuck you guys up like the fags you all are,” the leader spits. Literally, something wet just landed on my cheek. Fucking gross.

I wipe it away, my gaze not faltering. “We’re sitting here, whether you guys fucking like it or not.”

<><><>

The four of us left for class with bruised and bloodied faces after lunch ended.