CHAPTER ONE_DAMON

I pick at the pieces of Cheerios floating around in my bowl of milk. I can feel mum's eyes on me, but I don't look up.

I can't deal with her pitiful gaze right now. I just can't.

I glance at my wristwatch as I stand up, pushing my chair back.

Shit, I'm going to be late if I don't leave now.

Without raising my gaze to look at her "bye mum, see you after school"

"Bye, darling," her tone is resigned.

She's tired, I can tell. Hell, I'm tired too.

Walking out of the house, I move onto the street. Not sparing my car a glance. I don't need it today, I need to walk. My thoughts need clearing.

Plugging in my earphones, I walk slowly as Dave's British rap grace my ears.

English rap is the best, no lie.

My walls are going up as I moved closer to the school.

The sight of many happy, carefree teenagers robs me of the peace I was previously feeling on my way here. I just want to be alone, but my mom wants me to at least graduate.

It's her wish and I will grant it. There isn't much I can do for her anyway.

I move slowly towards my locker, I need to pick up my mathematics textbook and turn my assignment in.

Kids walk past me in twos and threes, not one stopping to say hello to me.

Oh, don't be surprised, I'm kind of a recluse.

I don't talk to anyone, I only have one friend and we don't really talk in school.

Well, that was my choice. I figured if people saw me talking and laughing with him, they'd see it as an avenue to try getting close to me. I definitely don't want that. I either visit his home, or he comes to my house. Isaac is my best friend, my only friend and my brother. He is family.

I grab my textbook and assignment and slam the locker door shut.

Oh well, time for some mathematics.

Mr Tobias returns our graded papers for the last test we had. Of course, it's another A+. I smirk at the paper before putting it in my bag. Math isn't hard for me. Actually, no subject is hard for me. I do pretty well in school, but of what use is that?

I raise my head up as I hear some murmuring. Mr Tobias is saying something...

"As much as some students do very well in mathematics, some are very poor. I've taken note of both groups and I've come to a decision," he says.

What kind of "haha!" moment did Mr Tobias get this time around? He always gets these ideas on how he could help bad students improve.

I'm sure other students are wondering too as the murmurs go up a notch.

"Quiet!" He barks out.

His eyes roaming around the class as everyone goes quiet.

"I've decided to pair you all according to how bad and how good you are. The best student will be paired with the worst and so on..."

Aw, man. Pairing? No, no. This isn't good.

I'm not really interested in helping anybody and I definitely don't want to be paired with anybody.

"So, I'll call out the names in pairs. Starting from the best and the worst," he says.

Groans fill the class. I guess no one wants to be paired.

"First pair, Damon Miller and Alyssa Smith. Second pair, Jordan Wilson and Carina Jones... "

He keeps calling out names, but I'm no longer paying attention. Shit, why do I have to be paired with someone? A girl for that matter. Those creatures are nothing but trouble. Man, this is not going to be good.

"Yes, I hope you all know your partners now. The deal is to get the grades of your partner up. Alyssa, you should consider yourself lucky. Damon is very good in mathematics," he says.

I can feel every pair of eyes in the room on me, but I don't give them the satisfaction of looking up.

"Alright, now that we have solved that problem, let's get on with today's class," Mr Tobias says, moving to the front of the class.

I pack my books into my bag as Mr Tobias ends the class and walks to his desk. Students start walking out of the class in groups. Picking up my bag, I walk to the door and go out of the class. I have Geography now. I need to go get some textbooks from my locker. Walking down the hallway towards my locker, I stop in my tracks as I see a girl standing in front of my locker.

Okay, what now? I move closer to her and stop a few metres from the locker. Raising an eyebrow, I throw her a questioning look.

"Hi, uh, my name's Alyssa. Mr Tobias paired us for mathematics," she says nervously, her voice is quite deep for a girl. It's surprisingly nice.

Ugh, what am I thinking?

"Yeah, alright. So what do you need?" I ask, impatience dripping from every word.

"I wanted to ask how the arrangement would be. How do we schedule the lessons?"

Lessons? Lessons, my ass. I need to tell this girl, in the nicest way possible, that I won't be able to help her. Hell, that's like signing a contract to invite trouble into my life. Neh. I'm not doing this.

"I'm very busy, so I doubt if I'd be any help. I suggest you go to someone else. I can't help you," I say, trying to sound nice.

"Uh, okay. But who would I ask? He specifically paired everyone in the class," she says, her voice sounding small now.

"Look, I don't really care. I just told you I wouldn't be able to help you. Whatever you do doesn't really interest me."

"Okay, okay. Thanks for your time," she says and walks away.

I'm not going to feel bad, I'm not going to feel bad. I did nothing wrong, I'm not going to feel bad. Shit. Why the fuck am I feeling guilty? I really can't deal with her, or anybody else. Telling her in plain words like that was the right thing to do.

Letting out a deep sigh, I open my locker and reach in for my Geography books. Retrieving my mathematics textbook from my and cramming it into my locker, I slam the door shut harder than necessary.

It's time for Geography.

Pushing the front door open and walking in, I look around for mom. "Mom? Are you home?" I call out.

"I'm here, darling. In the kitchen."

I walk towards the kitchen to greet her "hey mom, what's up?"

"Nothing much, I just felt like baking"

"Smells good, what are you baking?" I ask, smiling at her.

"A red velvet cake," she answers with a smile, she's probably thankful that I'm smiling. I shouldn't be looking sad in her presence. It's harder on her.

"Alright, I should go up for now. I'm kind of tired"

"Oh, get some rest. I'll bring a piece up for you when it's done, dear," she says with a worried expression.

I send a thankful smile to her before walking out of the kitchen and up to my room. Pushing open the door, I walk in and drop my bag by the bedside.

Taking off my shirt, I fall on the bed with a deep sigh. Damn, I'm tired.

My phone rings from inside my bag and I stand up to pick it. It's Isaac, I pick up the call with a smirk.

"What's up, fucker?"

"Where are you, Damon?" He asks, sounding serious.

"Home, why?"

"Aw, thank God. I was worried. I heard some boys got themselves into a massive fight after school and the principal called the police to restore peace."

"Really? Well, I'm home now. Wanna come over? Mom's baking a cake"

"Shit. I'd like to, but mom is not around. I'm stuck here with Dahlia."

Dahlia is Isaac's kid sister. She's a cutie and she always refers to me as her boyfriend.

"Alright, man. Later then?"

"Definitely."

"Alright, bye."

"Bye, man"

I drop my phone as the call cuts.

Getting into a fight. They have nothing to worry about, obviously.

I close my eyes as sleep takes over my tired body.

What a long day.