I was irritated before I even opened my eyes. 

Why was the sun so fucking bright?!

Piece of shit motherfucking fucker, I cursed angrily in my head. I wish you would explode and take the world out with you.

A strange smell had me opening my eyes, confused, and the first thing I saw was what looked like a cum stain on a pair of joggers sitting on my chest.

I grimaced, pushing it off me. Fucking gross. Why was I lying under a pile of dirty laundry, anyways?

It took a moment for me to recognize my surroundings. Shit, did I fall asleep during PE? 

I yawned, noticing the headless chickens running around chasing a football. It seemed I had, indeed.

Before I could lie back down and feign sleep to get out of having to join in the pointless endeavour that was male posturing during high school gym class, Coach Watson looked over and realized I was awake. 

He blew his whistle and yelled for everyone to get changed before coming over to see me.

"Oliver, bud, you feeling better?" he asked, crouching down to press his hand against my forehead. I nodded, still sleepy, resisting the urge to smack away his hand. 

Why was he touching me, I thought grouchily.

"Yeah, just tired," I replied, throat a little hoarse. He passed me a water bottle.

"The infirmary is under construction, so we had you rest out here. There's only a few minutes until class ends, so take it easy, okay? I'll give you a late pass for your next class." I nodded, thanking him politely.

The thud of footsteps was all the warning I got before I was surrounded by a bunch of sweaty guys.

 I resisted the urge to wrinkle my nose. Pee yew. They smelled awful.

James squatted in front of me, panting as he scanned me carefully. Beads of sweat ran down his dark skin, and I tried not to scrunch my nose. Why did they all get so excited over an over-glorified game of chase?

"How're you doing, Oliver?" James asked, concerned enough that I had to take advantage of it.

I faked a yawn, rubbing my eyes. "'M fine, sankuu," I slurred a little. 

James softened as I expected, but he stood up to put his hand on my forehead. What was with everybody's touchiness?! What was I, some sort of animal to pet?!

"Are you still tired? Feeling sick?" He asked. "Do you want a snack? I've got some leftover McDonalds... Or I can get you something from the vending machine?" He offered.

I debated it for a moment—who didn't love free food?—but decided against it. "Thanks," I grinned appreciatively up at him. "I'm alright though. If I eat anything, it'll probably come back out," I joked. 

James huffed a laugh, but his brows furrowed with concern. 

"I'll walk you to class," one of the others offered kindly—Andrew. He always shared biology answers with me, even if he was reluctant at first, so I liked his usefulness enough.

"That's be great, if you don't mind. We have chemistry together, right?" He nodded, but then looked away, clearing his throat. Was that a blush?

I didn't catch on until someone else snickered. "Aww, Andrew, you have chemistry with Oliver?" he teased. Who even was he? 

People have too many fucking names, I grumbled to myself. Why couldn't they just stamp them on their foreheads. 

I let out a small chuckle. "Aww, come on, he didn't mean it like that." I turned to him. "Right?"

Andrew gave an awkward nod, badly playing it cool. 

I made a mental note not to hang out with him. I wanted homework answers, so I had worked to get close enough to him that he wouldn't refuse me. 

But if he was catching feelings, it was time to depart. Crushes were such a pain in the ass.

James helped me up, but I still stumbled over my feet. God, I was tired. 

Which was a bad thing, considering I was irritable in general, but especially irritable when tired. 

My mental energy was diverted to keeping myself upright, and thus less was devoted to my filter.

I literally had to bite my tongue to keep from snapping at one of the guys who was being obnoxious. How old was he, seven? Nobody made 'yo mama' jokes.

Andrew waited for me as I sluggishly got dressed. Coach Watson gave me an excuse note, and we head off to class.

One more class, I promised myself. Just sleep through chem, and then you can go home and sleep some more.

Andrew badgered me with questions. Was I okay? Was I eating well? Did I need to hold onto him? 

I wanted to snap at him to shut up, but instead took his offer of leaning against him. 

I grit my teeth as his arm slid around my waist. Touchiness. I would have to shower before I could sleep when I got home. Dirty people and their dirty hands. If his hand slid any lower, I'd cut it right off. 

Andrew walked a bit faster than I expected, when we arrived at class, so I stumbled into his chest. He apologized, face red, and I cordially ignored it, flashing the teacher our excuse note. 

I whispered a thanks to him before finding a seat at the edge of class. Everyone was watching, curious why we were late, but they seemed to get the hint when I laid my head down on the desk.

With my head pillowed on my arms on the desk, I could see half of the class to my left. 

And I could definitely see the glare Axel was giving me. 

I blinked, thinking maybe I was imaging it, or that he was looking elsewhere.

Nope. From across the classroom, Axel Reaper was glaring at me.

At the end of my patience, I stared back, unflinching even as glower intensified.

I was in the worst mood. I was tired, cold, irritated and just wanted to go home and sleep. If some random asshole wanted to fight, I was more than ready to, reputation be damned.

My leg bounced, jittery with the aching desire to just go home. At long-last, class was almost done—

—But then the teacher told us to meet up with our partners and touch base on our projects before we left. 

I sighed and put my head down again, fully intending to just lie there and close my eyes.

I was listening to the sounds of the classroom with my eyes closed when all of a sudden I was yanked up. 

My eyes flew open, and scowling, I was ready to snap at whoever was bothering me.

The unimpressed look on my face didn't falter when I saw it was Axel. 

I wasn't surprised, who else would bother me when I was making a show out of not feeling well? 

Today was awful, so of course I would have to deal with him.

The nasty glare on his face took me aback. 

What, he wanted to pick a fight? I raised an eyebrow, meeting his rude look with one of my own. 

Any other day, I would have been more patient, but not then. I was in no mood to deal with his bullshit.

He stood there for a moment, just being all huffy, before eventually grabbing a chair from nearby. 

Yanking it over aggressively and sitting in it, he spread his legs, crossed his arms, and stared down at me, chest out and chin high.

"Hey, listen we can work on this over the weekend, can't we?" I gestured at the clock. "Class is almost over, so there's no point starting now."

Axel glared.

My patience was wearing thin. "Look, I'll draft up the proposal by next class, so don't worry. I got the notes from Ashley."

"Who's Ashley?" Axel scowled. I stared back, a bit disbelieving.

"...She's partners with Andrew," I gestured vaguely, clearly ending the conversation.

"Andrew?" Axel scoffed, unimpressed. "Oh, you mean the wimp who carried you into class?"

For whatever reason, he was angry, and he was taking it out on me. 

I, too was irritated, and if he felt the need to get into a petty argument, I was more than willing to comply.

"Yeah," I replied. "Actually, he's really strong and dependable. I'm sure he's a great partner." 

I looked at Axel with an expression that made it clear I thought Axel wasn't.

His scowl darkened, and I saw him clench his fists. "We're partners," he said lowly through gritted teeth. "You're mine."

I stared at him for a moment. "Um, yeah? I know we're doing the project together. Listen, I'll text you or something, so I can be 'your' partner some other time, okay?" I air-quoted sarcastically.

He must have really wanted to start working on the project. Which was odd for him. 

And what did he mean by I'm 'his' ?

I didn't like the connotations of that. In the off chance that that was what he meant? No way in hell.

His clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth so hard the sound grated on my ears. "Not that."

I stared at him, irritation swarming me. "...Then?" I gestured in impatience.

Axel looked like he was physically restraining himself from lashing out at me, but I didn't care. If he tried hitting me, I'd just play innocent. 

Ashley was in this class, Andrew and other people who wouldn't like to see me get hit, they'd all come to my defense. I knew they would. 

So I didn't have anything to fear, and could continue to bait him. I could just apologize next class and say I had a fever, anyways.

"I was talking about how you're my m—"

The bell rang.

I got up. I had barely even opened my stuff, so I was out within seconds. I heard Axel yell behind me, but I didn't care.

I was out of there. Good riddance to bad rubbish.