"I heard that Jonah Minty's dad made a donation to the school," a student whispered as they marched through Dakota High.

Another one nodded their head, "Yea, I heard that too."

"I wonder if he'll have another welcome party this year."

"Maybe he will, we definitely have to go."

"I need to figure out what to wear as soon as possible."

"Going to a senior party will be so fun—"

"Excuse-me?" They all turned their heads and frowned disapprovingly when a boy stood there, scratching the back of his head uneasily. Kylan Burkens smiled shyly, arranging the glasses that were seconds from falling from his nose. He never liked confrontation, but this time it was greatly needed.

One of the girls rolled their eyes, scrutinizing him and not liking what she was seeing. "What?" she hissed.

Kylan chuckled nervously before quietly saying, "You are all standing at my locker and I can't get through."

"Couldn't you see we were in a conversation?" One of them hissed, turning around and marching elsewhere, letting his locker free of space. They all left afterwards, sending him dirty glares without hiding them.

That was what being Kylan Burkens meant it to be. Receive some unnecessary scowls that he had gotten used to, but it was not as if he had no friends. He did have friends. Actually, he had one friend, and she barely counted as a friend, since she was his cousin. However, they were near the same age, attended the same school, which meant that they considered themselves best friends and spent time with one another a lot. However, the difference between the two was that she had a bunch of friends, since she was ridiculously hot. Which also meant she did not let anybody mess with her younger cousin, which was quite embarrassing at times. She would even pull her fists up when a guy would tease him and say, "Let's go at it, try to tease me."

Kylan shuddered — she was scary at times.

"Jonah, what's up dude?"

Kylan's back straightened, as his eyes slowly glanced over his shoulders. Jonah had entered the building, and his new locker was near Kylan's, which did cause the oxygen to become stuck in his throat. He attempted to take deep breaths, his cheeks suddenly becoming red as he heard Jonah's voice as he greeted his friends. It was quite low for his age, and he was tall, almost six feet and two. He had jet black hair that was often gelled backwards, and a toned chest, abs, biceps, triceps and every muscle Kylan had studied and could pinpoint. Even his legs were thick, and those were attributes Kylan could not miss.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As Jonah walked behind him, he entered a classroom down the hall, and a full glob of air was exhaled. Suddenly, Kylan felt a sharp pain on his back as someone slapped it, and winced. He heard the cackling of his older cousin, whom smiled brightly. She was almost his height, but the two inches that she was shorter was means to act superior, which he often did. He was five feet ten, which was tall enough for average height. However, he was not as tone and big as Jonah, which he did not want to be.

Ella smirked, "I saw the way you were groping him with your eyes."

Kylan became flustered as he closed his locker, "You don't have to say it out loud."

"Ha, you've had that crush for over a year now, and you haven't made a move yet?"

"Because he's probably not gay—"

"You don't know that," she hissed in disapproval.

Kylan sharply turned his head to face her, "I do know that since he fucked every girl on the cheerleading squad."

Ella laughed quietly before adding, "That doesn't mean he's not gay," she nudged him, "Just fucking try it. See what happens."

"You've been saying that for a year now — I'm not telling him."

"Maybe I should instead."

"Just go to class," he narrowed his eyes at her, and watched her laugh as she continued skipping down the hall, waving to her friends as she passed by them. It was the first day of his senior year, and he was excited to get this year over with, since high school had gone on for far too long. However, when he entered the classroom, his eyes primarily spotted Jonah sitting in the back, chuckling as he faced a few girls from the cheerleading squad.

Kylan felt his heart squeeze nervously. He had never had a class with Jonah before, since he had always been a year younger. He had completely forgotten Jonah was a fifth year, meaning that they were technically in the same grade now; he needed to retake senior classes.

"Are you in the right class?"

Kylan returned to focus, and faced Professor Miller whom narrowed his eyes at him. Kylan apologetically smiled and made his way through the isles before finding a seat. It was in the same row as Jonah, but he was a few chairs down. However, he was now able to see him every morning, which had him grinning towards the ceiling. Maybe this year was going to be different, better yet maybe they could become friends. Whatever was the case, he was looking forward to what would happen this year.

The bell rang, the door closed, and the teacher began the introductions. Icebreakers were always the first day, and contrary to what one may believe, he was not luckily paired up with Jonah. The only interaction he did have with Jonah, which did cause him to pout, was Jonah approaching him with an unbothered stare as he asked, "Do you have a pen I could use?"

And he did not even return it afterwards.

When Kylan exited the classroom, he crossed his arms angrily and continued down the hall to his next class. However, as he reached the second level, he was about to step into his next class when he heard someone yell, "Hey!"

He turned around, and his heart almost stopped beating when he realized it was Jonah marching in his direction, his navy eyes staring directly at him. He did not move, but waited until Jonah approached him. When he was a few steps away, he threw the pen in his direction, and Kylan did not even have time to catch it, as it bounced off his glasses and fell to the floor.

Jonah had turned around by that time, and muttered a fraudulent, "Thanks."

This was going to be a long year.