After that encounter, I had to change my pants, which meant that I had to go back into the class to get my gym shorts. That was just another whole mess of embarrassment. Once I was safely dressed again, the bell had already rang for lunch.

I walked with Ally down the hall. She still hadn't shut up about Martin. I'm not exaggerating when I say she was talking a mile a minute. Once we got into the lunch room, she went off to talk to some of her other friends, and I was finally given a moment of peace and quiet to buy my lunch.

Carrying my tray, I started to walk to Ally and mine's usual table, but stopped dead in my tracks when my name was called out from across the cafeteria.

I looked over to catch five dirty blonde heads looking my way. With Mat waving at me to come to them.

I could ignore them and hope that they would leave me alone, or I could go sit with them. What if they were just calling me over to size me up, you know? Like, to see if I was a threat to their secret. Of what I heard.

Ok, I'm over exaggerating, I know, but at the start of all of this I was terrified of my own shadow, if you haven't figured that out already.

Mat smiled, and it seemed like a genuine smile. I could do this. I needed more friends that Ally anyway. I clenched my tray tightly and walked to their table.

"Nikolus!" Mat said using my full name. I sat down, letting silence surround me for a few moments. The awkwardness was thankfully interrupted as Ally crashed down into the seat next to me, which was conveniently next to Martin as well.

"How are you guys!" She said as her usual peppy self.

After everyone had muttered their responses, Ally continued to pester.

"So, I know Martin, but what's your names?" She said, cocking her head to the side in interest.

The curly haired girl spoke. "Well, my name's Cassie, and this is Max, Calix, and Harper. We're the Evergreens." She pointed to each one of them, ending on the girl with the short hair. "And, yours is?"

"Ally and Nik." Ally smiled as she spoke, so comfortable in this situation. What I wouldn't give to have her confidence.

Ally continued talking, but I couldn't help feeling that all five of the siblings glances kept coming to meet me.

Eventually, I just tuned out after Ally started talking about her past weekend, I felt everyone did. I loved her, just sometimes, she couldn't tell when no one cared about who she bitch slapped.

I felt my heart drop as Cardan, my nemisis, walked by the table. His eyes glared this way, into my eyes, almost as if he was looking into my soul. I could tell he was pissed. Pissed that I was sitting with the new, hot students, and he wasn't.

After more of Ally's incessant talking, and everyone else's soft chewing, the bell finally rang. I headed to my next class, Chemistry, and was surprised when I found Cassie sitting alone in the classroom when I arrived.

I was always the first one here. How'd she beat me? And the weirdest part was that she was sitting right next to where I sit every class. Alone. How'd she had such a lucky guess?

I sat down next to her. We talked for a few minutes, more her than me. I was too nervous that someone other than Ally would talk to me. She would ask me a question, I'd answer, and then she would give her opinion on the original question, talking in depth for a few minutes before asking me another question.

I usually like to be left alone in Chemistry completely. It's my safe haven. But, surprisingly, I didn't mind the company. Cassie seemed genuinely nice.

I let myself think, that maybe overhearing Mat and Calix had been a good thing. That maybe I could finally be happy. How wrong I was.

♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️

At the end of the day I stood at my locker, trying to decide what binders I needed to carry home that night.

I zipped up my bookbag and shut my locker, turning to leave. Before I'd even taken a step, someone large slammed up against me, causing the lockers to crash as I fell into them.

I turned to be met with those same, hateful, dark green eyes from the cafeteria. Cardan.

"Cardan, come on, let me go." I said, trying to shove him off to no avail.

"Why should I fag?" He said, tightening his grip on my arm so much that I could practically feel the start of the bruise that was going to form.

"I'm not a-"

"Shut up. I want you to stay away from the Evergreens. For good. They're part of my clan, not yours. You don't deserve people like them. And don't ever forget that." His hand moved up to my throat, tightening around it. I gulped in a breath.

He started to grip my throat tighter, causing my vision to blur.

Suddenly, a voice sounded from down the hall. "Let him go!" I slid down the lockers as Cardan dropped me. I gasped with relief.

The next thing I knew, Cardan was being thrown to the ground by my savior. I looked up to see Calix, walking over to Cardan, sticking his foot against his chest.

"You listen to me. Leave Nikolus alone. If you hurt him again, I'll do more than just punch you." Calix growled.

"You don't wanna be friends with that freak!" Cardan's eyes glared at me, truth seeping out of every word. "He isn't worth shit."

"How about, I decide that. And just so you know, if he isn't worth shit, he'd still be better than you anyday." Calix moved his foot off of Cardan's chest. Cardan hopped up and ran down the hall, not stopping to look back.

"You didn't have to do that." I said, glancing at Calix.

"And let him choke you to death?" He said, defending what he had done.

"He wouldn't have . . ." Would he have if Calix hadn't stepped in. "T-Thank you"

"Of course."

"Aw, shoot. I missed the bus!" I said, breaking into a run down the hall.

"We can take you home." Calix called, causing me to stop. "It'll be a tight fit, but it'll be better than walking."

After a moment of hesitation, I said yes.

The Evergreens terrified me. Mainly because I couldn't figure out what their aim at being nice to me was. Maybe they truthfully just wanted to be friends. Or maybe I was still going to get hurt from overhearing their conversation earlier today. There was an uncertainty to them. An unknown factor. And the unknown is the greatest fear of them all. But maybe, I needed the unknown more than I realized.