Lucas couldn't imagine it. His parents judging and determine him by his grades? No, they would never do that. It was unthinkable, they'd want and highly encouraged him to do well in school. And if he suddenly started failing, yeah, they'd probably ground him until they went back up. But to his parents, education was not everything.
"I don't know, Claudia." Lucas began. He felt uncomfortable with the idea of anyone's guardians cheating on one another, yet alone hate. "I don't know everything that goes on in your house, but I don't think a couple who had four kids together hate each other...Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't like thinking bad things about a person unless I'm sure."
"That's a good mindset to have. If only everyone applied it to you."
Claudia sat up and removed the ice pack from her arm. "I think I'm alright now," she said, poking the bruise that was developing there. "Ow. That was stupid. Maybe I have a concussion," she joked.
The nurse returned to the room. "Are you feeling better now, dearie?"
"Yes, ma'am." Claudia handed the ice pack back to the nurse. "It's lunch now, isn't it?"
"Yes, dear. Take it easy for the rest of the day, okay? Don't go walking into any more poles."
Once they were outside the nurse's office, Claudia turned to Lucas. "I'd like to go out to the woods again for lunch, but I have to do something in the cafeteria first."
Once they were inside the spacious room, Claudia gestured for Lucas to stay beside the door while she approached Tate's table, which was filled with football players, including the one who had pushed her. She pointedly ignored that particular guy as she walked up behind her brother.
"I think you should know that your dear friend Number 11 pushed me into the wall just after second period," she whispered to Tate. "Do whatever you want with this information. I'd greatly appreciate it if you stopped being a cunt for a moment and did something brotherly, but if you want to be a little bitch I understand."
Claudia showed Tate her bruises and he froze. She walked away, and could hear Tate yelling at the player who had hurt her as she joined Lucas. "Let's go. I don't want to see this."
"Alright." Lucas simply agreed and led them away and out into the forest. He led them back to the spot hey had sat at yesterday.
He smiled at the sight and sucked in a deep breath of fresh air. "As usual, totally not suffocating out here." He moved and sat down on the log.
Being outside had clearly made him feel better, it always did. He was glad Claudia wanted to eat outside today. That way he could get out without having to break any rules. He couldn't ditch too often, otherwise, he would be caught.
Claudia had leftover homemade spicy fried chicken for lunch, her favourite. "What kind of food does your mother cook?" she asked conversationally. "Not that it matters. I'll eat anything, but I was just wondering. Tate cooks all the time and he essentially just makes variants of fried chicken."
Claudia passed him a drumstick. "It's really good," she promised. "A bit spicy, but good spicy. I promise it doesn't have any rat poison in it."
Claudia bit her lip, unsure if she should say what was on her mind. "Does ... does your mother know about how you're treated at school?" she asked softly.
"She cooks all sorts of things. Cooking is hobby and talent of her's." Lucas said. His mom only ever got to cook breakfast for him, lunch only on no work days, and as for dinner, it was occasional. She was always so busy with work, not as busy as Claudia's parents, though. For the most part, he cooked for himself.
He pulled out his own lunch from his bag and unwrapped and opened a container holding his sandwich and chopped vegetables and fruits at the side."She loves seafood the most, so she often cooks that. I don't know what she's making tonight."
He had his sandwich to his lips when Claudia asked. He made a slightly soured face as he lost his appetite in that moment."Um no." He said and set down his meal."Can you keep that under wraps? I don't want her to know." His eyes were pleading.
Lucas really didn't want her to know. She'd be worried sick, and he did not want her to be that way again. He hated to see her hurt. And she would probably do something over the top, what he would consider over the top.
Claudia frowned. Lucas's mother had a right to know what her son was going through. Maybe she could even help. But Claudia wasn't going to tell her and betray Lucas's confidence. That would be wrong of her, and she didn't want to upset her friend.
"I won't tell her," Claudia promised him. "But don't you think you should? She could probably help."
Lucas sighed at Claudia's agreeance, he could still see that she didn't think it was a good idea. But he had his reasons. She'd probably trudge up the past and blame herself all over again. And then she would ask questions, a bunch of questions. He didn't feel like going through all of that.
"I don't know." He unconsciously tugged at his shirts sleeve collar laying in his wrist."She's kind of impulsive when it comes to my well-being. She could just make things worst. And anyway, it's just high school, right? It doesn't last forever." He tried reasoning.
He nibbled on a carrot stick and stretched out."I don't want to talk about that right now. So.." He didn't want to talk about it at all. Now or anytime. His family life was full of complications.
Such as his two cousins attending the very same school as him, but never made any contact with him. No one even knew they were cousins, you'd think people would put it together with the whole 'Remington' last name, or at least raise some question. But they never had a reason to.
He wondered if Claudia knew. No, she couldn't have. He pondered on if he should tell her, he didn't want to ruin their social lives, then again Claudia wouldn't blabber it around. And he'd love to get off the topic of his mother.
"Do you know Jakob and Rowan?" He asked and didn't wait for an answer."Rowan's a nerdy freshman and I Jakob's on the football team. They're my cousins."
Claudia stayed quiet when he said he didn't want to continue this topic of conversation. Of course she wouldn't push him. Why would she? She wanted to make sure he was happy, so if he wanted to drop the topic, she would bury it herself.
"Jakob and Rowan?" She thought for a moment. "I don't think -- wait, Jakob Remington?" She raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, I know him. He's friends with my ex, Ryan."
Claudia cringed at the thought of Ryan. She hated him with a passion, mainly because he had only wanted her for one thing, and when she wouldn't give it to him he had turned cruel. She had broken up with him about four months ago and hadn't thought of him since, despite him being friends with Brogen. Claudia just ignored him when he sat with them. Well, she didn't have this issue any more.
"Jakob's alright," she said, shrugging. "I don't know about Rowan. I don't think I've met him."
"Yeah, he doesn't exactly stand out much. He's really shy, sticks to a small group of friends. But he's a nice kid." Lucas shrugged a shoulder. And that was mainly the reason he avoided rowan. There was no way that kid couldn't handle any sort of bullying, verbally or physically from Crystal or anyone else for that manner."He's really smart. I overheard my uncle talking with my mom about letting him skip some grades."
"And you already know about Jakob." He was a cool guy, light-minded and charming. It was no wonder why he was part of the popular crowd."We used to play a lot when we were kids. He'd always rough me up a lot. Luckily, he doesn't do that anymore, seeing how he's a lot stronger now." He chuckled.
"I think his only fault is his friends. Such as Ryan, no offense." He knew they had broken up, but he had no idea how she felt about it. However, in the back of his mind, he was hoping it was nothing to her anymore. It must be the case if she chose Luca's company over his.
Claudia nodded. "Yeah, Jakob's nice. He was the only one who could knock Ryan down a notch when he was being particularly disgusting." Claudia finished her lunch and wiped her fingers off on a napkin, sighing. "Ryan's an asshole. I don't know why I ever dated him."
That wasn't exactly true -- she had dated Ryan because Ryan had liked her and Claudia had simply been doing what was expected of her. What she didn't know, what she couldn't understand, was why she had had this need to make everyone happy before herself. This had changed now, of course; now that she was spending more time with Lucas she could properly be herself.
Claudia stood up and checked the time on her phone. "We've got ten minutes left of lunch," she informed Lucas. She couldn't afford to miss any more lessons; if she had any more unexplained absences the school would call her parents, and Claudia had no particular desire to sit a one-hour lecture on her school life. "Will I just go home with you after school?" she asked him.
Lucas couldn't help but beam at her response based on Ryan. He was overjoyed to hear that. She had no remaining feelings or sentiments for him. On top of that, she saw how much of an asshole he was. That was obvious and Claudia was smart so it only made sense she could see it.
He literally had to bite his tongue before he said something embarrassing by mindlessly agreeing with her. Instead, he simply nodded his head and tried to notch down his smile.
"Yeah, we can walk. My house isn't that far from school, but we can take the bus if you'd like." He packed his things up and raised up on his feet.
Once they were inside the school again Claudia saw the same football player who had pushed her into the wall, walking to the nurse's office with a black eye. Tate and his best friend Trent were following him; Claudia made eye contact with her brother, who nodded to her and gave Lucas a glare.
"Well, at least he's not being a total twat," she said to Lucas as they made their way towards History.
That class was different, too. After the fiasco of yesterday everyone was looking at them with unreadable expressions. Claudia guessed they were astounded that she had shouted at Crystal, and still wary of Lucas. She sighed. She wanted them to change. She couldn't wait until high school was over.
"I'm just happy that guys got what he deserved." Lucas folded his arms over his chest, still pleased with the outcome.
During history, he tried his best to focus on what the teacher was saying. It was already hard enough to do with Mr. Ives monotone voice as he explained the events of the past. And adding the extra stares from usual, it was damn near impossible to listen at all.
For this class, he was obviously going to have to go back over the book pages. Another thing he knew was that this was going to last until the end of the day. He was tempted to just turn on his mp3 and put in his earbuds.
With only a few minutes until the bell, Mr Ives announced a new assignment.
"In the next few lessons, you'll be paired off and you will do a project on the historical leader of your choice," he said in his typical monotone voice. "Just ... I don't know, work with whoever you're sitting next to."
"Wow, he really puts a lot of effort into his lesson plans," Claudia whispered sarcastically to Lucas just as the bell rang. "I'll meet you at your locker after school, okay? I'll see you later."
The next few lessons were quite dull for Claudia. She was already a week ahead in Specialist Mathematics so she just read Coraline, which she enjoyed just as much as she had the first time she had read it. They were doing criminal profiling in Psychology, something she already knew all about because she watched a lot of Criminal Minds. It was no surprise that she bounded out of her seat and practically ran to Lucas's locker when the final bell rang.
Lucas had just slammed his locker door shut when he saw Claudia speeding down the hall and coming his was."Isn't there some kind rule about running in the hallway?" An obvious joke it was when you take into account that no one followed that rule. He was even saw a kid or two skateboard on the hallway floor.
"Are you ready to go? Because I am. They day has been long and filled with many hardships." He exaggerated an exhale to prove his point.He had gotten through the long classes and open stares he received, but it wasn't any less tiresome. And he had double the homework for chemistry. The teacher for that particular class had found him and reprimanded him for skipping.
"I can't wait until the weekends. Then we can really relax."
Claudia made eye contact with Brogen as they walked out of the school. Brogen was standing with Crystal and he gestured for her to join them; Claudia shook her head and walked away with Lucas.
"If someone tries to mug us on our way out can I trust you to fight them?" she asked Lucas as they walked.
Lucas raised eyebrow at her random question."If some does try to mug us, I will not hesitate to fight back. But I am not sure whether I'd when or not depending on the person."
"Why?" He peeked over at her brother and his friends, curiously. That is where she was looking before she asked."Do you think we're going to get attack by someone here?"
Claudia laughed. "I don't actually think anyone is going to mug us, Lucas," she assured him, putting a hand on his forearm and squeezing gently. "I was kidding. But it's nice to know that I can rely on you to defend me in the unfortunate circumstance of a physical attack. As proven by the events of this morning, I am very physically weak."
She was tempted to slip her hand down Lucas's arm and take his hand, but she thought better of it. He wasn't her boyfriend, so she had no right to do so. She dropped her hand to her side and looked ahead as they walked.
"Oh." Lucas laughed along wth her, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm just a tiny bit on the defensive side after today."
"Come on." He said and lead her away, off school grounds and to the best stop. He would'v walked, but he didn't want Claudia to be winded down or tired when they got there. The walk was almost two miles when he thought about it again."Is your brother going to pick you up after or will you be riding the bus again?"
"I'll get the bus," said Claudia, sitting down on the bench beside Lucas. "I don't think you want any of my brothers to know where you live, do you?"
Claudia didn't actually believe her brothers would try to harm Lucas but she didn't want to give them the chance. Besides, the more time she had away from Tate, the more time he had to cool down and hopefully not snap at her when she got home.
"I should probably text him," she thought aloud, pulling her phone out of her pocket to text Tate.
C: I'm having dinner at a friend's.
T: Lucas?
C: What's it to you?
T: Whatever. Just come home, okay?
Claudia sighed and put her phone away. "I'm expected home so don't kidnap me, please."
