Penelope and I spent the weekend doing nothing, really. On Sunday, we finally buckled down and did our homework, but that's it. We spent two days watching movies and eating too much junk food. Spencer was never far from my mind, obviously. I was worried about him, and I felt guilty for acting so cold. Spencer owed me nothing, and I had no right to feel this way. Sunday night rolled around, and I was just getting out of the shower. Grateful that I did my homework beforehand, I fell into bed. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I promised to give Spencer a ride tomorrow morning. My stomach lurched. For a fleeting second, I considered not showing, but I was the one who insisted on giving him a ride home on Friday. It was my fault he didn't have a car to get to school. Damn.

Driving to Spencer's went by quickly. However, my stomach wasn't in knots, and I didn't feel sick. I was elated. I knew it was all in my head, and I was over reacting. Sighing happily, I relaxed in my seat and enjoyed the ride.

When I got to his house, I parked on the street. I got out, leaned against my door, and waited patiently. After ten minutes, Spencer finally came out. He didn't look much better than he did Friday, but I bit my tongue, and said nothing. He stopped in his tracks when he saw me, his widening.

"What are you doing here?" He said after a moment of silence.

"I promised you a ride, didn't I?"

"I assumed you weren't coming," he confessed, hesitantly walking towards me. I sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry for how I acted on Friday. I had no right to act that way. I was worried, but that doesn't excuse anything. You owe me nothing, and don't need to tell me anything; as far as I'm concerned, it's all water under the bridge. So what do you say? Truce?" I ask, sticking out my hand. Cautiously, he grasped my hand, and shook it.

"Truce."

"Great, now let's go. Any longer, we're going to be late." Silently, he nodded and got into the car.

The car ride was silent, but not uncomfortable. When we arrived to the school, we both had to rush to get to class on time.

The first two periods flew by, and then I had a free period. I decided to head to the library in attempts to make up for the work I didn't do over the weekend.

"Derek!" I groaned internally, it was Jeff, whom I hated venomously. But he was my teammate, and I knew that if you got on his bad side, it could get ugly. Jeff caught up with me, throwing his arm around my shoulders.

"Hey, man,"

"Listen, we have to talk."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you see, some of the guys saw you getting the car with that freak this morning." My stomach dropped.

"Huh?"

"You know, the freak who thinks he knows everything. What's going on there?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because he's a fucking smartass who thinks he knows it all, on top of that he's a fag. Also, he's the reason I couldn't play in the championship last year. That fucking freak reported me to the administration for cheating. I was almost kicked off the team. I had to do 50 hours of community service." That was Spencer!? Fuck. I had to think fast.

"I…I was just giving him a ride. My mom asked me too, our mom's are friends." I explained quickly, shrugging his arm off my shoulder. "Not that it should matter, though. I don't see how my social life concerns you." Jeff barked out a bitter laugh.

"Derek, we're teammates, we're co captains, and we're friends." No we're not. "We gotta stick together. That little good-for-nothing freak is the reason I couldn't play all last year. Do you know how many scouting opportunities I fucking missed? The only reason I haven't pounded the living daylights out of him yet, is because his only friends are the administrators." My stomach twisted uncomfortably. I knew what Jeff was capable of, and I knew my contact with Spencer was only putting him into more danger.

"Sorry, dude, I had no idea. I'll make sure to stay away from Spe—the, uh, freak." It felt as though I just swallowed a bottle of acid.

"Smart choice, man," Jeff grinned. "Yo, want to grab so breakfast?"

"Nah, man, I got to head to the library and get some work done." I responded.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, go on without me."

"Alright, later." He said, turning around to go the other way. I felt as though I was going to throw up. Fuck. I wanted so badly to tell Jeff to fuck off, and to mind his own business, but that would only end badly. And I needed to stay on the team, or I would have absolutely no chance of getting a scholarship, and I needed to help my mom out. I couldn't put the burden of college tuition. She's already paying for my sister to go to school, even with all the help and scholarship Des is getting, my mom is still left with paying a huge amount. She won't let us know, but we all know that it's taking a toll on her. I couldn't do that to her.

Groaning, I slammed my books on the table, I was instantly shushed by the librarian. I gave her a sheepish, apologetic smile. All of a sudden, the thought of doing anything but curling into a ball seemed like too much work.

"Hey," I jumped at the sudden voice. I looked up to see Spencer taking a seat across from me.

"Oh, hey." I whispered, subtly looking around the room for any team members. When I saw that the coast was clear, I let myself relax a bit.

"You okay?" The concern in his voice made me want to cry.

"Fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay…so, how's your essay coming along?"

"It's coming, slowly, at least." He laughed softly.

"Well, you know what they say, 'slow and steady wins the race.'" He grinned, and the funny feeling in the pit of my stomach came back. Fuck.

"Yeah," I laughed, "you're right." A silence fell over us, but it wasn't uncomfortable. We both diligently worked on our homework, and I managed to pump out another page of my essay. Throughout the hour, though, I couldn't shake the feeling that I someone was watching me. I kept looking around, but I never saw anyone. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I jumped when the bell rang. Quickly, Spencer and I packed up.

"So, what's your next class," Spencer asked, slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder.

"English, actually. You?"

"AP Psychology. Which is on the other side of the school, so I have to rush. See you after school?"

"Yeah, see you then." With that, Spencer headed to his class, and, with one more look around the library (and finding nothing—again), I headed to mine.

For the rest of the day, an eerie sense of dread loomed over me.

Author's Note:
I honestly don't like how this story is coming out, and I keep rewriting it, and I don't know...but yeah, enjoy.