Hello my lovely readers. Here's another chapter for you guys. I decided to post this part a day earlier because I will be a little busier after this.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy. Don't forget to share your thoughts.

God bless you guys and have a great day ahead. Also, please stay safe.

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Eli's POV

"Stop it guys! Give me my book back. It's not funny." I tried to be firm. They just laughed at my misery. I hated the basket ball players. I hated sports. I hated the gym with a passion and I don't play any kind of sport. I just came here to talk to the coach who happens to be my advisor.

Once I finished discussing certain important things, he left.

I turned around to pack my stuff and when I looked up, he was gone. Just like that.

He left the gym with me and the athletes.

The moment he walked out, I felt like a piece of meat surrounded by lions.

They hated me for no reason. They messed with me for extra sport. They didn't like me because I always finished my assignments first and I gave everything to my lecturers. On certain occasions, when I would hand in my work, I remind the lecturers that they actually gave us work. So that's where the real problem started.
The last time that happened was yesterday.

Okay so maybe they had a reason but physical torment isn't necessarily people.

"Stop!" They started shoving me around and one of them pushed me to the ground. My glasses flew a few feet away and I hit my chin pretty badly. I groaned and tried to get away but two muscular guys held me by my arms and lifted me to my feet.

"Please don't sock me in the eye." I sounded pathetic. I was pathetic.

"We've already done that asshole. Guys, we should try something new." The center player, Ethan said. He hated me the most and took great pleasure in watching me get shit scared.

"Let's take turns smashing the basket ball in his face!" One of them shouted and laughed like a maniac on drugs.

Oh please no!

Ethan was quick to grab one of the basket balls. He walked away from me and stopped when he left a distance of eight feet. "This is going to be fun, jackass." He chuckled and played with the ball.

"You don't have to do this guys! Karma will come for you!! God is watching!" They all burst out laughing. Two of them couldn't stop.

"Let's see if we can send you back to him!" Ethan snickered and aimed the ball at my face. The moment he raised his hand, I heard footsteps.

Pleeeeaase be someone good. Please be someone smart.

"Hey! My group is having a football game in five minutes. They need players now. Go!"

Thank you Lord!

"C'mon man, we're just getting started with this piece of shit." Ethan almost whined.

"We know who he is and he's not going anywhere. You can take care of him tomorrow Ethan. C'mon! Out! All of you!!" I was roughly shoved forward. The moment I was released I scrambled to get my glasses.

Once everyone was out and gone far away, Rylen helped me up. "How many times do I have to save your ass?" He chuckled and smacked my shoulder.

"Thanks. That was perfect timing."

"You squeal like a girl so I followed the most irritating sound in the world." My best friend shook his head at me.

When I looked at Rylen, I immediately thought of AJ.

I was even half expecting her to help just now. I kind of wished it was her. Smiling at the thought, I picked up the file that I dropped earlier.

"What's up with the creepy ass smile?" Rylen gruffly asked.

"Hey the last time you saved me was a long time ago."

"Five days ago." He muttered.

"And that's a long break. Your job is not as heavy as it used to be right Ry? I'd say it's half of what you used to do." He squinted his eyes at me.

"Yeah, but you're still a fucking loser okay. A five day break is not an accomplishment man. It's like you try to get yourself killed. You literally beg to be pushed around. Do you have some sort of fetish for being overpowered? You can tell me."

What the hell?! I couldn't tell if Rylen was being serious or sarcastic.

"What is wrong with you?! They come after me! I don't do anything!"

"Which is also a problem! But anyway, I'm used to this so whatever." He shrugged.

"At least she doesn't insult me," I mumbled under my breath.

"Who?"

"A friend."

"You said my work isn't heavy now. What did you mean by that? You have someone else saving you?" He asked. I stared at him for a fleeting moment.

"Yeap, and she's really cool." He simply scoffed at me like it was a joke.

"None of the girls here are cool Eli. None. They're all the same." He angrily gritted. I just smiled at him.

"Not my friend. She's not like anyone you've met. AJ is special." I said softly, recalling the time when we first met. How she told Lizzie to leave me alone. That was awesome. I like AJ a lot.

"AJ?" He raised a brow at me. He looked as if he was calculating something.

"Yeah, she's not like most girls you know."

"Describe her." He suddenly demanded.

"She's slightly shorter than me, amber eyes, shoulder length dark hair-"

"The fucking nerd who talks too much." He grumbled and tightened his jaw.

"She's actually very nice-"

"She's a weirdo with the stupidest personality ever so it would be good if you stayed away from her-"

"Enough!" I burst out, making him stop in his tracks. "You don't even know her! You can't make comments like that about her. You just don't like her because she's nothing like any of your flings. Don't ever call her a weirdo again Ry. You don't know her."

"And you do?" He asked completely unaffected by my outburst. He just had a lazy look.

"Yes I do. We are closer than you think."

"Because she saved you from the bullies." He pouted like a baby which only angered me more.

"No! I mean yes that's how it started but it's more than that okay. We've really bonded and she's not at all like what you just said." Why was I defending her like my life depended on it? I shouldn't be like this with Rylen.

I don't have much time here.

"I'm sorry but she's become a dear friend of mine." I said quietly.

"It's fine. Keep up this attitude and maybe the other guys will not try to kill you."

That made me laugh.

"But seriously, I just don't like her. And before you come at me like you did, let me just say, I've met the weir- the girl." Rylen controlled his words. "Even Jaxon told me I should be careful with a girl like that." He added.

"Why did Jaxon tell you that? How does he know AJ? Are they close?" Rylen shrugged. I sighed to myself. Was Jaxon her crush? If he was then the competition would simply be too high.

"You can't just believe what others tell you. Listen, I can't make you like her but just...."

"Don't insult her because you have a crush on her." My cheeks heated up to a point where I couldn't do anything.

Rylen groaned.

"I...I do n..not have a crush on her."

"And I just joined the fucking opera." He said deadpanned.

Of course I like her!!! Who wouldn't?! She's strong, feisty, beautiful, smart, super smart, funny and bold and she gets full scores on quizzes. AJ is like a superhero.

But does all these mean that I like her in a romantic way? I'm not sure about that.

I didn't know how much time passed but Rylen started to become slightly irritated with my zoned out face.

"Just sleep together already. Maybe after you guys fuck, things will start to become clearer." Rylen seriously suggested. I blushed again but I knew we were not going to do that.

That's Rylen's way of getting a girl.

Personally, I think it's a dumb way to determine a relationship status.

"We are not going to........have sex." I said as he picked up a basketball and started playing.

"Why not? You like her right? Just do it."

"Yes but I don't see how that connects to sex. Oh wait! You're Rylen Gael Cameron. Everything is about sex to you." Rylen was about to throw the ball into the net but stopped midway. People would think that I had offended him but no.

He turned to me, smirked and threw the ball into the net without looking. He scored of course. "What's so bad about that Eli? Sex is great. You need to loosen up dude. Quit being a virgin. We're at the best years of our damn lives!" He raised his voice and scored another goal.

I didn't expect my best friend to say otherwise. He's a boy who's got it all. The brains, the looks, especially the looks. He could get any girl he wanted. Rylen was tall, muscular and athletic. He had striking grey eyes and a sharp jawline. Dark hair that is always styled to perfection and even when it was messy, girls loved it.

He was already attractive on his own. Now add the tattoos and piercings. I don't understand what's all the fuss about these two but a lot of girls go crazy for them. By a lot, I mean a lot of girls.

He didn't look like a gangster though. The tattoos were artistic and he didn't have them all over his body. Just his arms, and a few creeping up to his neck. He had his ears pieced plus a plain silver nose ring on the left side. He could still manage a decent look if he wanted.

"That's easy for you. I'm not like you."

"No you're not. You're a hopeless romantic and that's a huge problem," he replied.

"Wait a second. I'm not even sure if I like her like that but let's put that aside. What's so bad about being romantic?"

"Oh gosh! Do you hear yourself?" He groaned and threw the ball, missing the net. "You live in fantasy land! You expect way too much and you expect for things that you're never going to get. Man, if you keep up with this mentality, you're gonna get crushed by all these girls. They will step on you over and over again, then leave you with nothing. None of them are going to live up to your childish dreams."

I thought about what he said. The gym was quiet apart from the basketball bouncing. The more I thought about what he said the more I was certain about a few things.

"You're wrong Ry. It's not like there isn't one girl out there who is like me. Not all girls are bad, not all girls cheat." I firmly said.

Something happened to Rylen. Something very personal. His view of girls are just so.....biased and he only had one view of them. He was a great guy and a good person. The best that I know of. We just didn't see eye to eye on this particular topic. If I argue too much, it might trigger him and this can turn into a very shitty day. Plus, triggering Rylen never ever ends well.

His mocking laughter made me focus again. "You'll learn soon Eli. And when you do, you'll come back and say how right I was all along." He smugly replied.

"You're only against me because you don't want romance or love or any sort of relationship. Just because you don't want stuff like that doesn't mean it can't be that way for others and you can't say that these things don't exist. Now you're being childish. Good relationships get stronger over time..."

"Blah, blah, blah. Okay Shakespeare I'm done." I glared at him and his attitude. "If you want all that romantic shit, go ahead. I just don't want you to get butt hurt which is an extremely high possibility. Almost a certainty. Chicks are not what they seem to be. Most of them are crazy. A lot of them are fake. The one percent of the decent ones are either taken or married with children so yeah."

I could only gape at him. Arguing will not do anything and I didn't want to argue with my best friend over girls. I still didn't know how much time I had here. Errghhh, if only I hadn't bring this up in the first place. Why were we even talking about this? I vaguely remember telling him about AJ. Ah yes that's how.

Her fierce look instantly filled my thoughts. I couldn't help but smile again. It has only been a day since I last spoke with her and I already want to meet her again. I honestly don't understand why she pays any attention to someone like me. It's odd but I will enjoy her company as much as possible. That made me remember something.

She had a crush on someone. That someone might be Jaxon.

"Damn you guys really need to sleep together. Like tonight." I yelped and staggered back. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice Rylen standing directly in front of me. He smiled at my shocked reaction then he focused on my sudden dullness.

"What's up with the frown all of a sudden?"

"Nothing. Hey we have class in ten" I informed him. He nodded and stayed in the gym while I left. No one knew we were best friends. He was with a badass group and I was.....well....me.

I liked having time for myself and reading books. Don't need girls and boys pestering me about Rylen's whereabouts or his favourite things to do. Besides, I didn't want to be the target of Rylen's enemies. Well, not enemies but there are people who disliked him and they have already used me as bait once. Let me just say that I almost died.

Never again will that be repeated.

As I walked out across the field, my heartbeat quickened. The reason was walking towards me. A few feet away, five feet and now two feet.

AJ walked towards me with a wave.

My hero.

"H...hey." Why the damn stutter?!!

"Afternoon Eli." She smiled at me. "Where are you going?"

"To class. You?"

"I'm going to meet Noah." I nodded in understanding and continued to smile at her like a crazy person. An awkward silence took over.

"Sooooo, anything interesting happened today?" She seriously asked. Her tone was different somehow. Like she was expecting something big.

"Ahh, no. Not really. Wait! I almost got beat up by the basketball team so that was an interesting near death experience." I chortled at myself.

Worry took over her features. "Are you okay?  Did you get hurt?!" She demanded

"Yeap, I'm fine they didn't get the chance to do any damage so here I am. Running late to class." She looked apologetic.

"Oh, you better go. I'm sorry for talking so much." No!!! 

"No you didn't. Don't worry about this." She laughed and shooed me away.

Why did I have to say that?! I should have just skipped class and gone with her to get ice-cream.

She has a crush, remember?!

That doesn't mean I  can't compete.

What about your plans?!

Right.

My shoulders slumped as I dragged my feet to my next class.

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Two minutes late to class and the entire hall stares you down. I put my head down as I speed walked to my seat.

Physics was a pain for many but it was my favourite. And so I enjoyed the whole lecture. I didn't enjoy Rylen shooting small paper balls at the back of my neck so much but I planned to make him suffer when he would ask my help with today's assignment.

What a potato sack?! Paper balls?! How old was he?

He usually sat beside me to get a better understanding of the subject. It's quite difficult to digest, but fortunately my best friend gave a lot of importance to his studies and he was a very smart guy. This was well known among his group of friends so they don't usually question about him sitting next to me. However, that was not the case today. His friend Zach had insisted that they sit at the back and play a game. He never declined any of their requests. His group was almost everything to him.

Did I mention how he loved being at the top of the pyramid? Oh, he enjoys the respect and the attention.

After I felt the sting of another, I turned back and glared at him.

Rylen then signalled that he needed my notes.

Hah!!

Not today.

I kept glaring and turned back to our lecturer.

Sadly, two hours later our class was over. I took my time clearing my desk. I knew Rylen was still here. He usually waited until everyone left before he would speak to me. I opened my zipper to see the familiar silver box inside.

I groaned and took the damn thing out. Whoever this person was, they needed to stop. They needed to understand that they had the wrong boy. Or more precisely, the wrong bag and the wrong table.

After making sure the hall was empty, I turned around.

"Hey Rylen. Here's another one. Enjoy."

His features brightened up at once. One other thing Rylen loved.

These cupcakes that I keep getting.

He was crazy about them.

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That's all for now readers. Do lemme know your thoughts 💭 💭

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