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Brian tries to look all cool and unbothered as he enters the classroom next day as if his face doesn't look all swollen. 

"What're you looking at!?" He snaps at whoever stares for too long. 

After a while, Jake arrives with Willie by his side. Brian's eyes narrow at the sight of the two. But then he notices Jake's face.

"Damn, Flynn," he says loudly. "Did you get ambushed by empty chairs yesterday or something?" 

Jake doesn't respond but his jaw clenches. There's a limit to how pompous a person can be. 

"He's making fun of you getting beat up," explains Willie with a whisper. 

Jake makes a face. "Yeah, Willie, I got that, thanks."

Brian stares as Jake's breath catches when he sits down. Brian's eyebrows pull together. There's no way those bruises are from the cafeteria incident yesterday. 

"Oy," says Brian, kicking Jake's chair. "Who did that to you?"

Jake pays him no attention. Exhaling slowly through his nose, Brian stands in front of Jake and bends down close to his face. 

"I think I told you already," he snarls, "to fucking look at me when I'm talking to you."

Jake meets his eyes. "Or what?" He challenges. "You want me to beat you up twice in a row?"

Brian gives one humorless laugh and stands straight. Then his fist meets Jake's temple. It takes Jake one second to punch back. But he's in a very bad shape from yesterday's ambush and soon, Brian is crouching over a Jake who's flat on his back on the floor. 

"You. Rotten. Piece. Of. Ignorant. Bastard," Brian says, punching Jake between every word. "You--"

"Stop it! He's had enough!" Willie throws himself on Brian. "Please! He's already injured from--"

"Get OFF!" Brian yells and pushes Willie away but Jake has caught his breath in the meantime and throws Brian off himself. This time Brian lands flat on his back and Jake sits over him. 

"Fuck off, Chase," he hisses, raising his fist. "Fuck off!"

But before the punch can land, their homeroom teacher arrives. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" he booms. 

Jake gets extended detention. Everyone in the teacher's room gives him an earful for being stupid enough to mess with Brian Chase, that too twice in a row. Willie comes to speak for Jake and says Brian hit him first but nobody pays any attention to him and sends him back. After what seems like hours, Jake is allowed to go back to the classroom. 

"Get treated in the infirmary first," says the homeroom teacher. 

Outside, Willie and Winter are waiting for him. "What're you doing here?" Jake asks the girl. 

"Everyone's been talking about your fight," she says. "I came because I was worried."

There she goes with her worry again. Jake coughs awkwardly and starts walking. 

"Where are you going? You aren't suspended, are you?" Willie asks quickly, tensed.

"No. Just another month of cleaning," replies Jake. 

"Then let's go to the infirmary first!" Winter says.

"No need, I'm--" he begins but the twins are already pulling him away. 

As the nurse tends to Jake's bruises, she asks if he feels uncomfortable anywhere. 

"It looked like he was dizzy a while ago," replies Willie at once. 

"I was not!" Jake lies. 

Somehow, everyone sees through his lie and he's instructed to lie down and rest till break time. 

"I'll tell the teachers, don't worry about it," says Willie before leaving for classes. "Make sure to sleep tight!"

"We'll come get you in the break, rest well!" Winter says and leaves too.

Jake sighs as he lies down. For a while, there's no sound. He sighs again, muttering, "Stop hiding already. I know you're there."

The curtain beside him is swept away at once. "Excuse me, you jerk, I was here before you!" snaps Brian.

Jake just closes his eyes. 

Brian doesn't let go and stands in front of his bed. "Why didn't you beat me up today?" He demands. 

Jake snorts. "Didn't know you were so eager for that."

Brian doesn't give in to anger this time. "What happened to you? Who beat you up like this? Are you some sort of a thug? What kind of a high schooler has so many enemies?"

"Is that a concept of yours? Or do you really not know?" Jake asks. 

Brian frowns with confusion. "What?"

Jake sighs. "Don't talk to me. I need to sleep."

Baffled, Brian opens his mouth to retort, steps up to do something that'll make the new guy less disrespectful, but all he does is stare at a closed eyed Jake for a moment. Whatever is so intriguing about this bloke...

He sighs, too. "I'll let you go since you're hurt so bad," he mutters. When Jake doesn't respond, he rolls his eyes and leaves. 

On the way to the classroom, Brian thinks about what Jake meant about pretending to not know. Does it mean Jake's condition is from yesterday? Impossible. At that moment, Brian notices Willie. 

"Ah, right," he says and stands in front of Willie. 

"W-what?" Willie visibly shrinks. 

"Roberts," says Brian. "You know what happened to Flynn, right?"

"What do you mean?" asks Willie.

"Why did he show up at school looking like he had a boxing match last night?" Brian demands.

Willie's eyes narrow. "You don't know?" 

"WHY DOES EVERYONE EXPECT ME TO KNOW SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?" Brian yells. 

Willie jumps. Fixing his glasses, he says, "Your friends from the next class cornered Jake after school yesterday. I wasn't there but Jake said there were seven of them." 

Brian's teeth smash together. He stands still for a moment, then says, "Right. Got it," and goes back to his seat. 

Jake sleeps surprisingly well in the quiet and cold infirmary. When the twins wake him up, he feels so fresh he smiles at them. 

"Let's go eat!" Willie says. 

"We brought your bag with us," says Winter. "You have lunch here, right?"

"Yeah, thanks," replies Jake. 

On the way, Willie tells Jake what happened with Brian. "Do you believe it that he doesn't know his lackeys ambushed you? As if they move without his orders."

Jake believes it. It was clear Brian doesn't know. But Jake keeps his opinion to himself and walks silently. As they are entering the cafeteria, students push past them in a rush. 

"What the hell? What's going on outside during lunch break?" Willie wonders. 

They hear the excited murmurs soon enough: Brian is beating up his friends. 

"Shit, shit, shit!" Willie gushes. "You two eat here, I'll just be back!" He runs out with the rest. 

Winter starts bouncing on her feet. "Um, where do we sit?" she asks, her voice extra loud.

Jake rolls his eyes. "Just go." 

She gives him a sheepish smile. "Sorry. You eat, I'll be back fast," she says and also rushes out. 

Jake looks at the almost empty cafeteria for a moment until he, too, heads toward their classroom. Turns out those 5 guys are from the class next to theirs. Everyone was crowding outside it and inside, Brian was taking his turn with each of the boys. 

Jake watches as Brian punches the last guy standing until he also falls on the floor. 

"How does it feel to get helplessly beaten up?" Brian snarls. "Isn't it ugly? You could clearly win with me if you had the nerve to raise your hands against me. How does it feel to not do that? Isn't it shameful?" 

Nobody replies. 

"And you assholes did this shameful thing to that new guy under my name? How. Dare. You?" He gives a kick to all seven of them. "If I ever hear that you pulled such ugly moves behind my back again, I won't stop so easy next time." He heads outside, stops, and turns. "When Flynn gets better, I'd like to see you try win against him one on one, you piece of utter losers." 

Everyone stands aside to make way for Brian. He walks straight, all cool and unbothered but his steps falter when he notices Jake standing a few feet away from the crowd. 

They watch each other for a moment. 

Then Brian snaps, "What're you looking at!?" and stomps away from there quickly.