"Gregory Murphy, Damian Grant, Kate Hobb….."
Damian didn't care to listen for the names of his group members anymore. He had heard one name, and that was enough for him to shoot up from his desk.
"I want to change groups!" He requested audaciously. The old Damain probably would have never found the courage to do something like this. But this wasn't the old Damian, and this new one wasn't about to spend a whole week working on an assignment with one of the core reasons why he had almost killed himself.
"I'm sorry Mr Grant, but there is no room left in the other groups. Or would someone be willing to trade their spot for Mr Grant's?"
There was a deep silence for thirty whole seconds. Nobody moved or said a word, and that was all the teacher needed to hear.
Mr. Reynolds sighed. "Please settle down, and do your best to get along with your group members." He didn't say much after that, he simply gathered his books and walked out.
Damian took a second to turn towards Gregory, and sure enough the bully was staring right back at him. He shuddered for half a millisecond before picking up his books and shoving them into his school bag. He knew what would come after now, but that wasn't the reason why he was so in a hurry to leave the classroom. He didn't fear Gregory as much as he used to anymore, he simply wanted to avoid the drama.
"Damian!" A voice called after him. It was Gregory's voice, and while Damian was shocked the bully hadn't called him by a slur, he didn't stop to answer or even look his way. He made for the door, but Gregory was quicker and a lot more athletic than he was.
"We need to have a group meeting first, before anybody goes home." Gregory explained, his figure towering over Damian's little one.
"I don't care what you do, just leave me out of it." Damian answered promptly, his heart beating fast while he fought hard to maintain a fearless persona. He wished Amanda was here, maybe Ethan. Neither of them took art classes, and he never expected to see Gregory in art class either. He guessed the bully's artistic talents were dropping since he hasn't been seeing any penis pictures drawn across his locker.
Gregory blinked, visibly thrown. For a second he looked like he might argue, then his shoulders dropped a fraction.
"The assignment's thirty percent of our total grade," he said quietly. "You can't just—"
"Get out of my way."
He didn't shout, he simply said it in a way that made Gregory understand that he wasn't in the mood for this conversation.
Gregory stared at him for a second, stunned silent. Then without any words, he stepped aside and let the boy pass.
Damain didn't slow down until he rounded the corner and nearly collided with Amanda.
"Whoa…Damian?" She grabbed his arms to steady him. "What happened? You look like you just fought a war."
He exhaled shakily. "They put me in a group with Gregory. I asked to switch. No one would trade. I told him to leave me out of it. He actually listened."
Amanda's eyes widened. "Holy shit. You stood up to Gregory Murphy and he backed down?"
"Yeah." Damian rubbed the back of his neck, a little proud of himself. It wasn't his first time standing up to Gregory, but it was the first time he had done so without immediately being met with a shove or a punch. "I think I scared myself more than him."
Amanda smiled proudly as well. Her friend was finally growing a spine, and she was happy to see it.
"But you'd need the grade, perhaps I could help—"
"No." He shook his head. "Don't bother. I'll figure it out. Or fail it. Whatever. I'm not letting him ruin this class for me too."
Amanda didn't argue, she knew better than to do so when Damian's mind was this made up. She simply just listened to her friend and led the way towards the front door.
They'd barely taken two steps when a familiar voice called from behind.
"Damian!"
Zayn jogged up, track jacket unzipped, hair still slightly damp from practice. He held out a small rectangular ticket, black cardstock with silver foil flames embossed along the edges.
"Bonfire tonight. Sports teams are hosting. Thought you might want to come."
Damian stared at the ticket like it might vanish if he blinked.
"Me?"
Zayn's smile tilted, soft and hopeful. "Yeah. You. Starts at seven. Field behind the bleachers."
Damian took it carefully, fingers brushing Zayn's. "Okay. I'll… I'll be there."
"Cool." Zayn's eyes lingered on him a second longer. "See you tonight."
He turned and jogged off toward the gym.
Amanda grabbed Damian's arm the second Zayn was out of earshot and let out a muffled squeal. Damian joined her, high-pitched, ridiculous, and completely unstoppable, until they both dissolved into breathless laughter.
The sound died the instant they looked up.
Gregory stood across the hallway, leaning against a locker, eyes fixed on Damian. Not angry. Not mocking. Just… watching. When their gazes met, he pushed off the wall and walked away without a word.
Damian's stomach twisted.
Amanda squeezed his arm. "Ignore him. Tonight's about you and Mr. Track Star. Go get ready."
Damian smiled, Amanda was right. Things were finally going well for him, and he wasn't about to let Gregory Murphy ruin it for him.
*****
7:00 p.m.
The bonfire roared in the center of the back field, orange light painting faces in flickering gold. Music thumped from portable speakers. Laughter rolled across the grass. Damian arrived in dark jeans and a borrowed hoodie that smelled faintly of Amanda's vanilla perfume, heart thudding louder than the bass.
He spotted Zayn almost immediately, standing near the fire pit in a black hoodie and gray sweats, talking to a couple of teammates. The second Zayn saw him, his whole face lit up.
"Hey…you made it." Zayn crossed the distance in long strides, stopping close enough that Damian could smell cedar and clean sweat. "Glad you're here."
"Yeah. Me too."
"Stay put for a sec. I'll grab you a drink. Soda? Water? We've got hot chocolate too."
"Hot chocolate sounds good."
Zayn grinned. "I'll be back in a sec."
He disappeared into the crowd near the coolers, leaving Damian to stand by himself for a minute. Then five, and soon ten. He had definitely been gone for a while, Damian thought to himself. And it didn't help that he barely knew anybody here. They were mostly his seniors, and even though he could spot a handful of his classmates, he didn't exactly have anything to say or do with them.
After fifteen whole minutes, Damian figured it was best to find Zayn himself. Maybe he'd forgotten that he was waiting, or maybe he got into some problem somewhere. Either way, he started walking, weaving between clusters of people, eyes searching.
A hand closed around his wrist hard from outside the crowd. Before he could react, he was yanked sideways into the shadow of the equipment shed, out of the firelight.
Gregory.
Damian's breath caught. He shoved at Gregory's chest with both hands. "Get off—"
Gregory didn't budge. Instead he stepped closer, crowding Damian against the rough wood wall, one hand braced beside his head.
"Wait," Gregory said, voice rough, urgent. "Just—wait."
Damian froze, chest heaving. "What the hell do you want?"
Gregory's eyes searched his face in the dim light, wild, conflicted, something raw flickering behind them.
"I'm sorry," he started, the words cracking. "For everything. For all of it. I never thought you'd go that far, i didn't mean to push you that far."
Damian stood still, frozen in shock and fear at the same time. Was this really the same Gregory he knew, or had he had too much to drink for the night? He didn't smell alcohol, so this Gregory was definitely sober.
"Gregory—"
"I'm really sorry, Damian….I…I…"
Damian waited anxiously, eager to hear what Gregory had to say, but words never came, it was Gregory's lips that crashed forward instead.