CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: ATHENA

After I told the guys what happened during my stay in New York for Vera's birthday party, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders because I felt bad for keeping what happened from them.

I knew I didn't have to tell them, but some voice within me compelled me to because I thought they deserved to know since they had already appointed themselves my guardian knights even though I didn't want them too because they might get hurt while trying to protect me.

And they tell me things about their lives that I don't need to know about, both good and bad, so I knew I could trust them with my deepest darkest secrets as well; they are more than friends to me; they are family.

Even after everything had died down, uncle Jerry, Vera, and Jackson still kept asking if I was okay? And I kept telling them the same answer; that I was fine and they didn't need to worry about me.

What I went through with Adam was nothing compared to what Dylan and his friends have put me through, so perhaps that's why I wasn't making a big deal about it, or maybe my brain has found a way to shove that pain deep inside the void of my mind, somewhere it can't find its way out and hurt me.

Even though it had only been a week, it felt like months, since our small victory with Shane happened and it was still fresh in my mind because I couldn't stop replaying that moment in my life, I'd always tried to get justice for myself and it never worked out in my favor, so the fact that we were able to get justice for Shane made me extremely happy.

I'm not sure what was different this time, but Shane's victory gave me hope that one day I'll get the justice I deserve, and Dylan and everyone else who has ever treated me like shit will pay for everything they've done to me, but for now, I needed to get to school.

It took me a while to get out of bed, but I eventually did and went into the bathroom to take a shower, and when I was done, I went to my room to get dressed before going to make breakfast for now and lunch for myself to take to school.

When I done cooking, Sophia wasn't awake yet, so I ate my breakfast as quickly as I could because I was already late, packed my lunch, and put her breakfast in the microwave with a little note on the door of the microwave, and when I was sure everything was where it was supposed to be, I picked up my bag and left the apartment quietly so I didn't wake her up.

When I walked out of the apartment, I saw Leo's truck waiting for me and a smile spread across my face, because I didn't have a ride to school and they wanted to make sure I was safe, Austin and Leo made me promise to always wait for them on the sidewalk of my building so they could take me to school everyday,I told them they didn't have to pick me up every day, but they wouldn't stop asking until I said yes, so I accepted their deal to get them off my back, they acted like overbearing brothers sometimes.

"Hello little Red," Austin yelled from the back seat, waving at me like a madman as I approached the car.

I couldn't help but laugh as I watched him wave with a huge smile on his face, wondering what goes through his crazy mind because he doesn't think or act like a normal human being; Austin Kendall is a world enigma that no one can even attempt to comprehend; you simply have to accept his craziness for your own peace of mind.

"Hey, Weirdo, how are your ribs doing?" I asked

"I'm all healed, thanks for asking," he said, still waving his hands in the air with a big grin until I got into the truck.

Then I turned to Leo, who was already looking at me with a smile on his face, and asked, "Hey Leo, how is Shane doing?" He looked really good when he smiled, not that he doesn't look good all the time, he just looks better when he smiles.

"He is better than I expected, even though I know he is just trying to be strong for me, so I won't worry, and also he made me promise to say hi to you," Leo said with a small grin, "so when he asks, tell him I delivered his message because he is probably going to text you and ask."

"OK, then," I said softly, giggling, "but why isn't he going to school?"

"I thought about it, and maybe it would be better if he didn't go today; he can start going tomorrow," Leo explained. "I called his teacher, and she said it was fine."

"Does he really have to start this week? I believe he needs more time before going to that shitty place "Austin added

"I'll have to ask him, but it seems like he is already tired of staying at home all day, even if he gets to play video games and eat junk food every day."

"I'd be bored too," I said, then remembered what Sophia had asked me to tell them, "before I forget, Sophia wants you guys to come for dinner on Saturday, if that's okay with you guys," they didn't have to say yes, but I didn't see any harm in asking.

"We don't mind; it's not like we have anything better to do; after all, we're outcasts, and no one likes us enough to invite us to a Saturday night party." Austin said.

"OK then, even if that's a weird way to say yes,"

"I'm always weird, Athena, get used to it," Austin said, making Leo and I laugh.

"See you guys on Saturday, Sophia is going to be so excited, she has been dying to meet Shane, she really loves kids," I rambled on, while Leo and Austin looked at me with small smiles on their faces.

"What?" I asked, confused, as to why they were staring at me.

"Nothing, you just look really cute when you're excited," Leo explained as Austin took my phone from my grasp while I was distracted so he could play Candy Crush.

"You could simply ask for my phone? Rather than acting like a caveman and stealing my phone, "I said, and he stuck his tongue out at me before returning to his game, so I stole his bag, which he didn't mind, and rummaged through it looking for his phone, and when I found it, I took it out to read the latest update of a manhwa I was reading on his phone.

When I finished reading and gushing about how attractive my fictional crush was, I turned to face Leo, my real-life crush. His hair was neatly pulled into a bun, as usual, and he reminded me of my fictional crush Kayden. Isn't it ironic?

He was also biting his lower lip while driving. I've noticed that he does this whenever he's trying to focus on something. My gaze then shifted to his lips. Then I imagined what it would be like to kiss him. Will he be gentle? Or take command, like all the morally gray characters I've read about.

When I was about to look away and stop staring at him like a weirdo, he turned to face me with a confused expression on his face.

"What's up? Is there something on my face?" He asked, and I felt my cheeks heat up; he caught me staring; how I wish the ground would just open up and swallow me.

"Oh no, I thought I saw something but it was just lint anyways, it's gone now," I said, hoping he'd believe my ridiculous lie before turning away and covering my red cheeks with my hands.

I heard him chuckling beside me and he whispered "cute," but I didn't think he wanted me to hear that because his attention was drawn back to the road.

When we arrived at school, I took advantage of the opportunity while Austin was getting out of the car to take back my phone, causing him to chase me as I ran towards the school's main entrance.

He was able to catch up to me because I couldn't run for shit. Then I heard a loud smack from behind as he tried to take the phone from me. When I turned around, I saw that Leo had smacked him on the back of the head.

"Leave her alone and stop acting like a five-year-old, Austin, it's embarrassing," Leo said, which made Austin stick his tongue out at him and punch him in the arm.

"Shut up and say you're jealous that little Red likes me better than you," Austin said in a high pitched voice similar to Diana's but less annoying while prancing around him in circles.

"In your dreams, man," Leo said with a smile as the three of us walked into the school building five minutes late for homeroom.

Mr. Hunter came in a few minutes after we arrived at class and took our seats, which meant we were going to get detention.

He left the classroom after a few announcements, leaving us alone to do whatever we wanted. I didn't like him, but the fact that he was a lazy son of a bitch had its advantages.

I noticed the class was quieter than usual after Mr. Hunter left, so I turned around. Dylan and his friends were not in their usual position, making noise and hurling insults at each other, which made me wonder where they were. It wasn't that I cared; I was just curious.

I was trying to get something from my bag close to the end of homeroom when I heard someone from the football team say that some of the basketball team members went for some sort of training for a week for their upcoming game, which meant I had a week without having to look at their stupid faces, but why didn't Leo go and did he know they were going to be absent?

"Hey, Leo, I heard the basketball team left for somewhere; why didn't you go with them?" I asked.

"Oh, the training camp shi, after I told him what happened to Shane, the coach said I didn't need to go because taking care of Shane was more important and that I was already better than the majority of the guys on the team."

"Don't let your head get too big, Michael Jordan," Austin joked as he rummaged through my bag and stole one of my chocolate bars, which I had planned to eat for lunch.

"Stop talking, Austin, or I'll punch you in the face."

"Violence is never an answer, Leo; always use your words," Austin said, causing Leo to punch him in the arm, which made me laugh because the expression he made afterwards was hilarious.

"Athena, he hit me," Austin groaned as he grabbed my hand.

"That's what you get for stealing my chocolate bar," I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

"If you two don't love me, I'm going to run away and join the hippies on the road."

"Good luck, let's see how long they last with you crazy ass," I said, which made Austin laugh, and then Leo stole my other chocolate bar from my bag before I could finish scolding Austin.

"I hate you two"

"You can never hate us, we mean too much to you," Austin said as he took the last bite of my chocolate and kissed my cheek.

"You owe four chocolate bars," I mumbled as I stood to my feet, with Austin and Leo laughing beside me as the three of us left home room and went to our next class, English, where we took our seats in the middle, talking about what we were going to eat for lunch before Mr Olsen walked in and waited for everyone to settle down before he began teaching.

Mr Olsen's gaze fell on Austin a few minutes into class, gesturing for him to stand up, and he said, "Mr Kendall, since this is your first time attending my class, I would like you to read page 11 of the reading material,"

"I think I'll pass; someone else can do it." Austin responded, his uninterested expression turning grim as he glared at Mr Olsen.

"Mr Kendall, either read page 11 or leave my class." Mr Olsen warned, his annoyance visible on his face,

"I said I didn't want to read it; can't someone else do it?" Austin said angrily.

Mr Olsen should just let it go; why was he so fixated on Austin reading the damn page? Like Austin said, someone else can do it, and before I could say anything, Leo spoke up from beside me, clearly irritated by Mr Olsen's behavior based on the tone of his voice.

"I can read it Mr Olsen since he said no, so we can get back to class," Leo offered, looking at Mr Olsen with the same irritated expression Austin had.

"I didn't ask you, Mr Smith, I asked Mr Kendall, now keep quiet." Mr. Olsen insisted.

"Don't you understand what I just said? I don't want to read it,"vAustin said, his voice slightly raised," Or do I need to spell it out for you?"

"Watch your tone, Mr Kendall, another outburst from you and you're leaving my class, now read the page," Mr Olsen yelled as he picked up the book and threw it on Austin's table.

"Fuck this, I don't have to be here," Austin said as he picked up his bag and walked out of class, turning a deaf ear to Mr Olsen yelling his name. I turned to face Leo, who was staring at the door Austin had just exited.

At the same time, Leo and I picked up our bags and were about to follow Austin when Mr Olsen called us back.

"Where are you guys going? If you don't take your seats, you'll be detained after school like Mr Kendall." Mr. Olsen expressed anger in his tone, but I couldn't care less; my friend's well-being was more important than getting detention from this jerk.

"You can give us our slips now, Mr Olsen, because we're going after our friend with or without your permission," Leo said.

"Mrs Marcos, this is something I would expect from Mr Smith, but not from you; you are a model student" Mr. Olsen stated, which irritated me. If this manipulative son of a bitch thinks he can use emotional blackmail on me, he's in for a surprise.

"People just disappoint you sometimes, don't they Mr Olsen?" I said coldly, and everyone looked at me in disbelief; did he really think he could manipulate me into submission? I've taken a lot of shit in my life, but I won't take any more from him, even if he was a teacher.

"We love to stay and chat, but we have to go after our friend, so if you give us detention, that's fine," Leo said, and when Mr Olsen didn't respond, he pulled me out of class to go look for Austin. We looked all over the school for Austin before finding him under the bleachers in the gym.

"Hey Austin," I said, waving at him and smiling.

"I didn't expect you guys to come after me, you shouldn't have, I was just being crazy like always," Austin said, a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Stop with the bullshit, we know you weren't acting crazy, so tell us what happened back there, Austin, we're here for you." Leo said with annoyance in his tone because I knew he didn't like Austin referring to himself as crazy in this situation because what happened now was nothing like him, which meant something was wrong.

"It was nothing, let it go," Austin said as he crossed his hands in frustration.

"It wasn't nothing, Austin, tell us what happened back there," I asked softly.

After a few minutes, Austin let out a defeated sigh. His gaze was focused on us before he spoke, and I thought I saw embarrassment in his eyes.

"I have dyslexia, I was diagnosed when I was three, I hide it really well, but when Olsen told me to read, I just acted out, it was better than embarrassing myself in front of everyone," Austin explained, and my heart ached for my best friend; did he really believe we would treat him any differently because he was dyslexic? And he calls me the dumb one.