Chapter 3
“Yo Hendy I’ve got something! Not your hearing aid but it’s cool!” Jeremiah yells, running over to where I’m crouched on the ground next to the base of the basketball hoop. I think I can see the- Jeremiah Kennedy’s foot lands directly on my lost hearing aid right as I reach out for it.
It lets out an audible crunch.
Kennedy instantly jumps backwards and I let out a silent sigh as I pick up the sad little thing. They’re hardly made of glass but if a big guy like Kennedy jumps on it, then…
“Shit I’m so sorry bro, I didn’t mean to- fuck! Shit I’m so sorry,” Jeremiah exclaims, hovering around me like a little fly. Shrugging, I just stand up, taking the broken hearing aid and dropping it in the bin- or, sorry, the trash as everyone here calls it.
“It’s fine, it was probably fucked before then anyway,” I lie to save Jeremiah’s feelings, but at least he looks visibly less worried now. Chester comes up behind his brother, his expression telling me that whilst the younger Kennedy might believe me, the scrawny older one doesn’t.
“Jeremiah you broke it, so let’s go fix it,” Chester says like it’s the simplest thing in the world, and Jeremiah’s eyes instantly light up. “Yeah! Let’s tell the principal.”
“No, you really don’t need to. It’s fine, I can sort it myself,” I try and reason with the Kennedy brothers, but apparently neither of them are having any of it, as they pull me along back to the principal’s office.
Jeremiah knocks on the door loudly, before wrenching it open and dragging Chester and I inside. “Ah, if it isn’t the Kennedy twins! What can I do for you two?” The principal says brightly, before his eyes land on me at the back.
For some reason, he raises an eyebrow at me and sighs, when he spots the graze on Jeremiah’s temple. “Already causing trouble, Hendricks? It’s your first day, can’t you - keep it down, a little?”
Fuck this guy.
Apparently, Chester thinks the same thing. He instantly frowns at the guy, staring daggers at him whilst Jeremiah quickly explains what happened.
“It’s fine though, I can just get a new one. It’s not a big deal,” I try and get this over with - I mean there’s only a few minutes left of the lunch break and I’m yet to even eat anything, so if at all possible I’d rather be anywhere other than here.
“I’m afraid it is a big deal - your parents expressed concern over you being bullied for your disability and even if this was not intentional, we must get both of your parents in,” the principal says, looking between the Kennedys and I, making me roll my eyes. I’ve been bullied for this shit before, and it’s nothing like having a nice guy accidentally stand on my hearing aid.
“I’ll make a few calls, and have them here by the end of the day. For now though, you should all go to your lessons. You’re dismissed,” the principal says flatly, but the moment Chester and Jeremiah step out of the door, I hang back a little, throwing a last look over my shoulder.
“And by the way, they’re my guardians, not my parents. I thought they would’ve made that expressly clear too.”
The principal just waves me off, going back to his paperwork. Rolling my eyes, I shut the door with a little more force than necessary, just for good measure.
Now I’m just pissed off.
And Joyce and Sam will get involved and Joyce will have a hissy fit over me not telling her what really happened, because apparently she genuinely wants to know what’s happening in my life, and if I don’t give her copious amounts of attention then she decides she hates me.
No, I’m being unfair. Joyce and Sam got lumped with me, a kid they didn’t want, but they still took me in - took me away from the others, so this is…this is ok. I guess I just don’t really understand them, and…Joyce really doesn’t understand me either. Not like I’ve ever made it easy for her, but still.
Sam is a little better - at least he doesn’t get angry like Joyce does. Whenever Joyce gets angry, I expect something bad to happen, but for some reason - it never does. Sam just talks to her, and the next day Joyce goes back to trying to be nice to me.
And she is nice, I guess.
I just don’t know what she wants from me.
The rest of my classes go pretty quickly, and I begin to realise that I share a decent number of classes with some of the guys I played basketball with earlier, as well as Biology with Chester and Maths with Jeremiah. It’s not like any of us are friends, but it’s cool to know people. I guess.
And then at the end of the last period - history, yay - I’m pulled out to go to the principal’s office. For the third time today.
When I get there, Chester, Jeremiah, Joyce and Sam are already there, as well as a woman who I’m guessing is Mrs Kennedy. She looks distinctly anxious, so that’s fun. Meanwhile, Joyce looks angry and Sam looks worried.
Sinking down into a seat next to Sam and as far from Joyce as possible, I try and hide myself in the seat. Not very easy.
“So, Jeremiah and- Chester,” the principal says Chester’s name weirdly slowly, like he’s just pronouncing it for the first time. Chester’s mum rolls her eyes, placing her hand on Chester’s arm and squeezing slightly. “Have relayed the events to us all, but we were wondering if there was anything that you would like to add, Avi,” the principal manages to say my name right at least.
Shaking my head, I sink lower into my seat. Sam places his hand on my shoulder, smiling at me. “Avi, you said you’d tell us if anyone gave you trouble, so if something else happened that you don’t want to say…” he fades off, and I sigh, shaking my head.
“No, it was just an accident. This is so pointless,” I mutter, and Joyce sends me a sharp look. “Sit up properly, Avi. You’re being rude.”
I bite back a retort about how she’s rude for shouting shit about me up the stairs and then pretending that I can’t hear it, and like she’s not in fact deliberately saying shit in the hopes of me hearing it.
Sam says something to Joyce which vaguely sounds like him chastising her, but Joyce just huffs and crosses her arms. “We’re just worried, you see Principal,” Joyce goes on, her smile almost as fake as mine. “That Avi would be an easy target for bullying, given his…issues - after all, throughout childhood he-“
“And what the fuck would you know about my childhood, Joyce?” I snap before I can stop myself, standing up from my seat. Sam grabs my arm, but I shake him off. “Jeremiah and Chester did nothing wrong and I don’t even care that much. You’re all acting like this is the bloody end of the world and it’s not. It’s one broken hearing aid.”
Ok I’ll admit, maybe stomping out of the principal’s office wasn’t my most mature move. However, I’m too pissed off to think properly, and instead I just head to the car park as fast as possible. I’m so tired of all this shit.
“Wait! Avi!” Chester calls after me, and boy does that guy have a pair of lungs on him. Turning around, my scowl disappears the moment he reaches me and doubles over panting. He holds up one finger, silently asking me to wait as he gasps for breath.
“Asthma,” he wheezes out, grabbing an inhaler from the pocket of his hoodie and taking a puff from it. When he can breathe again, he finally says something else. “Look I really appreciate you standing up for Jeremiah - he can be a bit of a meathead sometimes but he’s my little brother and he means the world to me. But I think you should apologise to your mom, she started crying after you left.”
Aaaand my scowl is back again. “Joyce is not my mum, and yeah I’ll apologise later. And then she and Sam will have their usual shouting match over why the fuck I’m allowed to live with them,” I mutter under my breath, turning away from Chester.
“Ok well I don’t know what any of that means, and I’m not going to tell you how to live your life. But in my experience…it’s always better to apologise and sort out disagreements sooner rather than later. Otherwise you might never get the chance,” Chester says a little sadly, shivering slightly as the wind picks up, billowing around us and trying to carry Chester’s voice away from us.
Wordlessly, I pull my jacket off and push it in Chester’s direction. “Wear it. My skin’s like whale blubber so I don’t need it,” I lie.
I actually hate the cold. It reminds me of that freezer my previous foster family had - one of those big chest freezers that could fit a body in. My body, specifically.
“Thank you,” Chester says softly, bringing my thoughts back to right now, and him. He sticks his arms through the sleeves which are way too long for him, and buttons up the front, giving me a big goofy smile that really shows me how he and Jeremiah are twins.
“Avi!” Sam calls, running out of the school building and up to me. “You, Joyce and I need to have a proper talk when we get home, ok?” He says, and I try not to have a panic attack at the very concept of being in trouble, but at least Sam instantly knows that he worded that not the best way for if you’re talking to a fucked up kid.
“You’re not in trouble! We want you to be able to express your emotions with us- you haven’t done anything wrong, Avi. I promise. Everything will be fine, but Joyce wants to apologise and um. If you would like to too…” Sam fades off, grimacing slightly.
“Of course,” I whip up one of my perfect smiles, demure and innocent. Not strategic at all.
Chester glances between Sam and me a few times, before fiddling with the cuff of my jacket. “Keep it, I’ll see you tomorrow anyway, right?” I ask, kind of hoping so anyway. I like the Kennedy twins.
They’re both a breath of fresh air, in different ways.
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