The first step of apologizing is throwing away the idea that you were right. Perched on the bottom step of the staircase leading into Lans High, Lucas sat with his earbuds stuffed in his ears. Five different people had mentioned Carvington while Lucas was at church. Lucas even tried to call Carvington after church. His call went straight to voicemail. Students laughed as they entered the building, not even sparing a glance towards Lucas. Other cliques of students gathered in front of the building speaking to their friends. He preferred the ambiance in the library.

Lucas bounced his leg as stared at the pages of his book. After hearing a fellow student utter the words "Joseph Carvington", he shoved his earbuds in his ears, turned on the loudest songs in his playlist, and attempted to read the same page for the last ten minutes. Occasionally, he would graze the crowd before going back to staring at the black text. He pushed himself to focus on the unfocused blots of ink on the page. The blots became words and finally began to make sense, his leg was at rest. He attempted a full sentence. He held his breath after reading the sentence.

"The deer-in-the-headlights awareness that something really, really bad's coming, but not being able to do anything about it, is probably the world's best (or should I say worst?) recipe for ultimate, deluxe, supersize terror."

The tempo of the song he was listening to picked up to a lightning fast speed and his heart joined it. He slammed the book shut. He let out a heavy breath, tightly shutting his eyes. "Dammit," he breathed, his eyes flying open, before pulling his phone out his back pocket. The screen lit up, illuminating a white 7:30 on top of a picture lying on top of a picture of a character from a cartoon he watched.

They were late.

He unlocked his phone, clicked the phone application, scrolling through his contacts until he landed on one. Clicking the call button, an image of the Leo making vulgar gestures popped up on the screen while the music was changed from electronica to a long ring.

One.

Two.

"Why are you calling me?" He heard Leonardo ask, his voice echoing. He felt someone nudge his foot before the call dropped.

Leonardo stood before Lucas. He eyes were still misted from waking up. He stretched out his long limbs, yawning.

"Didn't know you were here," Lucas said.

"Oh," Leo said moving Lucas' backpack on the step in front of Lucas, taking its place. "Thought you still would be at the library."

"I'm not," Lucas said, stuffing the book into his bag. He placed his backpack on his lap. He exhaled heavily, closing his eyes. "He didn't come with you, today?"

"Nope. He called and said he was going to walk by himself."

"Oh." He called. Did that mean he was all right?

"You're worried about him too, huh?" Lucas didn't respond. "You hate being around people almost as much as I hate salad. Why else would you be at your personal hell so early?"

He shrugged, ruffling his curly mop. "I've changed my thoughts on people." Leo snickered. Lucas simpered.

"Okay," Leo said his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I hope you know Jess is still upset about you going off on Sophia. You know how she gets with stuff like that."

"Yeah," he muttered. The loud crowd hushed, and everyone stopped. The people in cliques were stopping their friends before pointing towards the forming crowd near the front of the school. Leo stood slowly, towering over the crowd to see what was causing all the commotion.

"New couple?" Lucas asked as he stood next to his friend.

"No way," Leo said, his jaw slack. "It's Carv."

The crowd split revealing Carvington, balancing on crutches. He was wearing baggy grey sweatpants and a blue Lans High football sweatshirt. He moved through the crowd, hovelling on his left leg. He nervously looked around the crowd, crutches wobbling as he made his way to the stairs.

Leo grinned, rushing towards the long-haired boy. He called his friend, finally being spotted by Carvington. Carvington smiled coyly as Leo chatted away. Overwhelmed by his excitement, Leonardo raised his arms to give Carvington a hug.

"Stop," a familiar voice shouted. "Leo! Be careful. Don't touch him."

Lucas couldn't believe who was clumsily balancing both Carvington and his backpacks bag on his shoulders, carrying Carvington's biology textbook in his thick hands.

Drake Petrov was carrying Joseph Carvington's books.

Drake spoke to Leonardo, moving his hands as he spoke. He pointed to Carvington occasionally while speaking. Leo nodded as Drake spoke. Carvington joined in, speaking after Drake was done talking. Leo threw his hands up dramatically before pointing towards Lucas.

Shoot.

Lucas held his breath as Drake followed Leo's thin finger, locking eyes with Lucas. Drake broke his glace first but Lucas' eyes wouldn't budge. His breathing raced, rigid, stiff, as Drake moved in his direction. Lucas stepped back, his foot missing the step. He fell. His backpack cushioned his fall, but his butt stung from being smacked against the cold stone.

But they saw him fall. They all saw him fall. Drake, the football team, every single person that usually ignored him five days a week. They all finally noticed him when he looked like a complete fool.

"Lucas,"

Lucas looked up.

"Are you alright?" Carvington asked. He hovered over him, Leonardo holding out his hand for him.

"Yeah," he said. Leonardo pulled him up.

"You fell very hard," Carvington said, frowning. "Do you want to go to the office?"

"Carv, I'm fine," Lucas said. Carvington nodded giving Lucas a light smile.

"Joey," Drake piped. "Come on. We're gonna be late. I still gotta go to class too."

Carvington frowned. "Alright," he said. "See you at lunch."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gossip traveled fast in small towns, and even faster in the high schools of those towns. By the time lunch came around, Lucas had already heard the many theories his classmates cooked up about Carvington. The most popular theory was Carvington was blackmailing Drake, forcing him to do whatever he wanted. Some said Carvington actually tried to off Mr. Rose, the man that hit Carv while coming back from the bar. Unfortunately, Mr. Rose was currently suspended for driving under the influence. So, he wasn't able to disprove this theory.

Since Lucas and Carv didn't have their morning classes together, he wasn't able to hear what really happened-or at least his side of the story. Impatiently watching Leonardo express his disappointment in getting a salad for lunch again, Lucas waited for Carvington to join them like he always did. He waited for him to take the extra sandwich he packed just for him, like always. He wanted things to be normal, formulaic, in spite of Carv being hospitalized only a few days before.

"Do you think it's true," Jessica blurted. Lucas was a bit taken aback. She had been ignoring him all day. He knew the only reason why she sat with them was that she was just as curious about what happened to Carvington as them. "Do you think he would really blackmail Drake? I mean it doesn't seem like him."

Jessica wasn't herself. Her hair was thrown up in a curly ponytail, and her eyelids were bruised from sleep deprivation.

Leo grimaced before giving a half-hearted shrug. Lucas turned away from Jessica's expectant stare. "All I know is he's late," Lucas said. Lucas hummed his agreement noticing the lunch lines were significantly smaller than they would be at the beginning of the hour.

"Well, he is on crutches," Jessica mumbled. She sighed, straightening her back, searching around the cafeteria. Head stopped at an entrance, grinning as she saw who walked in. "I think it's our guy!"

There he was, slowly passing the volleyball team's table. Drake followed him, lugging their backpacks across his shoulders. Drake was rambling on about something to Carvington, while Carvington focused on not slipping.

"You think Drake's gonna sit with us," Leo asked. Lucas clenched his fist, his gaze locked on Drake.

"He just might," Jessica mumble. Lucas scratched thigh at the thought. "Didn't you two get into a fight this morning?"

"What? No. He just told me to be careful with Carv. Said he's still bruised from the accident."

"Oh,"

"He lives!" Leo cried once Carvington was a few feet away from their table. Carvington coyly smirked and rolled his eyes. Jessica and Leonardo began to whoop and cheer, as Drake pulled out a chair.

"Thank you," Carvington said as he stopped at the seat. He grunted as he stretched his right leg out and used his crutches to balance himself, easing himself into the seat. He gathered the crutches and placed them against the back of his seat.

"Do you need a seat?" Drake asked. He moved before he could get a response grabbing a chair from another table. "Put your leg on here."

As Drake helped Carvington put his leg on a chair and unpacked his lunch, Lucas was finally able to get a good look at him. Other than the fact that a car hit him, Carvington looked fine. Great even. His skin face didn't hold any scars. His eyes no longer held their usual drowsy shroud. They were bright, awake, even more so than the rest of his friends. He moved slower and more carefully, perhaps to alleviate the pressure put on his bruises.

"I'll get you after lunch," Drake said. "Okay?" Carvington nodded, dismissing Drake as walked away.

He watched Drake walk away, as his friends watched him in awe. After Drake reached his destination, the football team's table, he finally looked at his friends. He moved his gaze from person to person.

"Hey," Carvington said.

"Hey," Jessica bravely said, Lucas and Leonardo still at a loss for words. "You okay?

"As okay as I can be," Carvington replied.

"Are you going to tell us what happened?" Jessica asked.

"Jess," Leo interjected.

"No," Carvington said sighing. "I owe you an explanation. It was a long weekend."