Sorry for the dey in uploading this chapter, enjoy.

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  After making fun of my straionship with Regina, my friends began to talk about their typical teeopics, as always, every now and then, An or I ended up as judges of strange disagreements between our other two friends.

  An and I were so engrossed in watg an argument about which magazine was better that we didn't notice when Geie, our fifth friend, had arrived.

  "Hey," Geie said, greeting us with a big smile.

  "Hello," David and Brock quickly respoo tiheir discussion.

  "Good m, Geie," I said to our newly arrived friend. "Are you nervous?" I asked as I watched him move things from his surprisingly messy locker.

  Surprised by the question, Geie froze for a moment with a notebook in hand. "What?" he asked aloud, nervously. "Nervous, me?" he asked again, furrowing his brow and looking around. "No, not at all. Why do you ask?" he tinued hastily, closing his locker hurriedly.

  "He's definitely nervous," An ented with a small mog smile.

  "Don't tease him," I said to my calm friend with fake annoyance, giving him a light shoulder punch. "It's normal to be nervous, Geie," I tinued, giving my nervous friend a one-armed hug. "If you need anything, you always t on me; after all, we're friends," I said with false sweetness, pg my hand on my chest.

  Seeing the strange expression Geie gave after my ent, I couldn't help but ugh, apanied by An. "Idiot," Geie said as he pushed me with annoyance, whily made me ugh even more.

  "What's going on?" Brock asked, who had at some point stopped his strange argument with David.

  "Oh, nothing, it's just that Geie here is a little nervous," An said, desdingly mog in his tone, causing my other two friends to exge puzzled looks for a few seds before breaking into a big smile.

  "Is that true, Geie?" David asked with feigned in his voice as he quickly approached Geie and trapped him under his arm.

  "No," Geie immediately responded defensively, trying to dodge David's arm but failing.

  "e on, Geie boy," Brock said, imitating David's falsely ed tone. "You don't o hide your feelings. Tell great Brock how you feel," he tinued, also trapping Geie under his arm and starting to walk alongside David, dragging our friend with them.

  Beside An, watg the situation in front of us, we chuckled and bumped fists in a small celebration before following our friends.

  "PJ!" I suddenly heard Sheldon's voice a few steps away from us. Turning and searg for my little friend, I found him, or at least his arm raised among a crowd of teenagers. It took him several seds to extricate himself from the mass of people in the main corridor.

  Dressed like a full-fledged insurance salesman with dress shoes, pressed pants, a button-up shirt, and perfectly bed hair, moving strangely due to a briefcase that was basically the same size as his torso.

  "Wait, please," he said, practically shouting over the endless noise caused by our sates' versations.

  "Good m, Sheldon," I greeted my little friend when he finally reached us.

  "Good m, PJ," Sheldon responded elegantly, straightening his back. "Friend of PJ," he tinued, also aowledging An with a slight nod.

  "Mini Cooper," An said, returning the greeting with a strange haughty smile.

  "I'm nine years old, obviously, I'm small," Sheldon ented, offended, straightening his back even more in an attempt to appear taller thaually was.

  "Sure, whatever you say," An tinued sarcastically, making Sheldon, for some reason, nod with pride, sn.

  "Don't pay attention to him, Sheldon; he's just teasing you," I advised the child calmly, who iurn showed fusion in his expression. "e on, do you need me to apany you to the ?" I tinued, ign his puzzled expression and pointing to the hallway where dozens of people were filling every avaible space.

  "Yes," Sheldon responded seriously, looking with at the crowd of people in front of him.

  As we made our way through the crowded hallways, I occasionally shielded him from excited teenagers who were approag without notig.

  "Will this happeime there's a game at school?" Sheldon asked worriedly, as I gently guided him, avoiding another excited teenager.

  "It's possible it won't," An replied, without taking his eyes off the path, "it's the first game of the season, so it's especially exg for everyone," he expined, still not taking his eyes off the path. "If we win and tinue doing well, I'm sure it will stay this way," he finished seriously, still moving forward.

  "Then I sincerely hope you lose," Sheldon said after thinking for a moment, strangely hopeful.

  "Wow," An and I said at the same time, surprised, stopping for a moment to look around.

  "Sheldon, for your own sake, I strongly reend that you keep those ents to yourself," I said calmly to the child, trying not to draw the attention of dozens of football-loving Texan teenagers.

  "Why?" Sheldon asked, pletely bewildered.

  "Well, Mini Cooper," An said, ughing slightly, causing Sheldon to furrow his brow in annoyance again. "You're in Texas, and here, if there's something people believe in besides God," An tinued, interrupting Sheldon, who seemed to want to say something about the niame An gave him.

  "It's football," I finished An's thought.

  "Exactly," An said arrogantly, causing Sheldon to fall silent again. "So, what do you think will happen when a bunotional and nervous teenagers hear you, little genius, say that you hope their team loses?" An asked, still with arrogance.

  "They'll hate you and possibly attack you," I replied, jokingly teasing the child.

  Our words seemed to affect the young boy, as he simply stared at us, occasionally shifting his gaze from one person to another before nodding slowly.

  "Look, Sheldon, I protect you from a bunch of people on our way to the ," I said as I moved him to avoid another excited teenager, "but from their collective hatred," I tinued, shaking my head and clig my tongue on the roof of my mouth, "a man is just a man," I firying to scare the child as we ehe , where we had arrived a moment ago.

  On our way to our usual seats at the back of the , An and I shared a quiet ugh.

  "Hey, where were you guys?" Geie asked as we took our seats. "Apanying your little brother," An replied ironically, trying to annoy the easily agitated teenager, which, as expected, worked, making Geie roll his eyes and snort with annoyance.

  "Yeah, basically doing your job as the older brother," I added sarcastically with a big smile, also teasing Geie.

  Geie seemed like he wao say something but was interrupted when the door opened. "Good m, everyone," Mrs. McElroy said, receiving a response from almost everyone in the room, including me, while still proudly smiling at Geie for my joke.

  "Now, who tell me the family names of Romeo and Juliet?" the teacher asked after a few moments in css, smiling at the css.

  As usual, the first and basically the only oo raise our hands were Sheldon and me.

  Mrs. McElroy, seeing that I raised my hand, smiled cheerfully before ging her expression to a forced smile. "Yes, Sheldon," she said with defeat ione.

  "Romeo is the only son of Lord and Lady Montague, and Juliet is the daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet," Sheldon said proudly, straightening his ba his seat.

  "Correct, Sheldon," Mrs. McElroy said seriously, still with a forced smile.

  Upon hearing his 'victory,' Sheldon turned with a smug smile, which I had already bee aced to, so I simply returned a calm smile. A not receiving the rea he expected, Sheldon turned back.

  The css tinued retively normally, except that every time my hand was raised, it was ignored. Strangely, Mrs. McElroy aowledged my presend my raised arm but never asked for my response, which was making me nervous for some reason.

  As time passed, Sheldon's arrogant smile grew even wider, and incredibly, his back straightened even more than usual.

  At the end of the css, everyone ag up their things. "For homework, you o start your essay on Romeo and Juliet," Mrs. McElroy said with a fake friendly smile.

  "Are you ing?" my friends asked as they began to move out of the . "I'll be there in a moment," I replied as I approached Mrs. McElroy.

  "Oh, PJ, hi," Mrs. McElroy greeted cheerfully. "How are you?" she asked with a friendly smile.

  "I'm fihank you," I responded, hoping to tinue and ask her why she ignored me, but the teacher interrupted my words. "Well, that's good," Mrs. McElroy nodded with a big smile. "You have to be at your best today, PJ," she tinued with a certain degree of seriousness. "Coach Cooper said that with you oeam, there's a great ce of going far this season," she said as she guided me out of the .

  "Go wolf!" the teacher excimed excitedly, cheered on by passing teenagers before closing the door in my face.

  "So, I just wao ask why you didn't ask me anything today," I said to the closed door in front of me. "Oh, I see. Well, I guess I was worried for nothing. Thanks, Mrs. McElroy," I tinued, pretending to speak with the teacher.

  Taking a deep breath, I decided to ighis first css and tih my day.

  Advang quickly and catg up with my friends in the hallway, An asked, "So, why?" as he stopped slightly, distang himself from our other three friends who were engaged in an incredibly animated discussion about magazines.

  "What?" I asked, puzzled by my friend's question.

  "Why didn't she ask you anything?" he replied calmly with a small smile.

  Surprised by his accurate assumption, I didn't respond for several seds as we walked behind our other three friends.

  "I didn't mao ask her," I finally replied after a few seds.

  "Well, I don't think it's anything bad," An said calmly with a small smile.

  "I hope not," I said hopefully when we arrived at our period.

  Our period was a sce css with Professivens. Once again, my hand was ignored. After a few attempts, I decided to give up and simply sit through the css without raising my hand, allowing only Sheldon to do so.

  At the end of the css, I approached Professivens, who had his head buried in his arms, lying on his desk, likely feeling depressed due to Sheldon's stant verbal punishment during the css, not realizing how it affected an adult much older than him.

  "Mr. Givens," I said softly to the depressed man, causing him to lift his head a few timeters. "Dun," he said with fake enthusiasm. "What are you doing here?" he asked, puzzled.

  "I wao know—" I was about to say until I was interrupted again. "You have to go with your friends," he said quickly, gaining energy. "Today is an important day; you have to win that game so you go to a great uy and not end up as a high school teacher with a student who is clearly more intelligent than you, despite his annoyingly young age," he tinued rapidly without pausing to take a breath as he guided me out of the . "So, please, I implore you, win that game so you achieve great things," he finished with a forced and fake smile, closing the door in my face for the sed time.

  "Twi one day," I said, uo believe it. "What's going on today?" I tinued, still puzzled, before walking again to catch up with my friends in the cafeteria.

  In the cafeteria, my friends were already seated at our usual table.

  "Hey, SuperStar, I know you're a nerd and all, but do you really o stay after css in the ?" Brock asked with a teasing smile.

  Taking a seat without b to respond to his obvious attempt at mockery, I greeted the other people at the table with a slight nod of my head.

  "So?" An asked with a proud smile.

  "Nothing," I replied irritably, not surprised by his quick dedu.

  "I'm sure it's not a big deal," he said, downpying the matter as he ate his lunch.

  I didn't bother to respond. The game, the decision about Dr. Donnall's proposal, my future, and now everything strange – it was all making me worried.

  "Hi, PJ," a girl's voice said from behind me.

  Turning to face whoever had spoken to me, I found a teenager I had probably never seen before. "Hello," I responded, surprised, as the teenager made annoyed gestures to a group of girls at aable.

  "I just wao wish you good luck with the game and everything," the unknown teenager said nervously.

  "Thank you," I replied, genuinely grateful. "I'm sorry, I don't know who—" I was about to say when a sudden movement caught me off guard. "PJ!" Regina's excited voice, very close to my ear, with pressure on my shoulder and two arms squeeziightly.

  "Regina," I said, surprised, as she took a seat o me, pushing one of my teammates aside.

  "I came to ask again where our date is," she said sweetly, tightening her arms even more. "You know, on Saturday," she tinued with a strange smile, looking directly into my eyes.

  "At the café in front of the ema," I said, a bit distracted by Regina's incredibly entig strawberry st and the sensation on my shoulder.

  "Good," she finally said, releasing the tight embrad returning to her own table with a hypnotic sway of her hips.

  Starting to think about math problems again to address a growing issue in my pants, I remembered what I was doing befina interrupted abruptly.

  "I'm sorry," I apologized, turning to nobody, surprised because the girl was no lohere. I turo An on my other side to ask where she had gone.

  "I told you," An said without looking at me, still eating his lunch.

  "Intimidating," David and Brock said simultaneously, ughing while making feeble attempts at creepy sounds.

  "No, not at all," I immediately denied. "Regina just came to ask about our date," I asserted, trying to appear more fident than I really was. I had a lot on my mind, and I didn't want any issues with Regina to be one of them.

  "If you say so," An said, obviously desding, with a little mog smile, apanied by teasing from my other friends.

  Ign them, I decided to quickly eat my lunch.

  The day went on, the st period, mathematics with Mrs. Ingram. Of all the teachers, I was sure if there was anyone who would allow me to answer some questions to distract my mind, it would be her.

  "Now, who tell me the result of this equation?" Mrs. Ingram asked, turning towards the board.

  Once again, as was often the case, only Sheldon and I raised our hands.

  Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Ingram, without looking at anyone in the css, said, "Yes, Cooper," leaving me pletely speechless.

  "The answer is thirty-two. I would like to mention that the most effit way to solve this equation is..." Sheldon was saying, but I interrupted him, "No, not you either!" I said, raising my void standing up. All the pressure I had felt throughout the day made me fet my manners. Mrs. Ingram turned, surprised, looking at me fixedly, which made me realize how disrespectful I had been.

  "What?" Mrs. Ingram asked, surprised.

  "I'm sorry; it won't happen again," I said, embarrassed, sitting back down in my seat.

  "No, it's okay, Dun. Tell me what's going on?" Mrs. Ingram said, much less surprised.

  "No, it's just that, well," I was trying to say, "it's just that all the teachers have been ign my hand to answer questions, and I thought you wouldher. It was just an outburst of excitement. I'm sorry," I quickly said, now even more embarrassed.

  The fell silent for several seds until a loud burst of ughter from Mrs. Ingram interrupted the silence, making all my cssmates, including myself, look at her in fusion.

  "Oh," Mrs. Ingram finally said after several seds, clutg her stoma pain from the ughter attack, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she tinued, wiping a few tears from her eyes, "I knew you wouldn't mind answering a few questions." She said, still with a big smile.

  "What?" I asked, not uanding what was happening, a se I shared with the majority of people in the .

  "Oh, it's just that Coach Cooper asked us to go easy on you, Dun, after all, today is the first game, and you o be focused," Mrs. Ingram said with a big smile. "But I knew you wouldn't mind."

  "We're oeam too," Geie suddenly said, offended as he stood up.

  "Yes, but unlike you guys, Dun actually wants to be tested," Mrs. Ingram replied haughtily, immediately making Geie sit back down.

  "Well, let's tinue, Dun, you tell me the ao this equation?" Mrs. Ingram asked with a big smile, writing on the board.

  "The answer is 10," I quickly responded, doing the calcution in my head.

  "Correct," Mrs. Ingram firmed cheerfully.

  Sheldon, upon hearing my 'victory,' turned with a deep frown on his face, responding with the same calm smile, and turned his face back to the front.

  It felt good to have the ao something in these days.

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  Author Thoughts:

  As always, I'm not Ameri, and definitely not a doctor.

  Here ends another chapter, getting closer to 100k words (WOW!).

  Now, this chapter might feel like filler (it definitely is), and I apologize for that. I've been having very little time to write tely, with the first exams of this period ing up, I've had to put writing aside a bit to focus on education. There will be a chapter every week, that's for sure, but I hope you'll five me if some of those chapters are of lower quality.

  Having said that.

  I think that's it, as always, if you find any mistakes, let me know, and I'll correct them immediately.

  Thanks for reading :D