Lethal Friends

Eliot

"London," Logan said slowly looking deeply into my eyes. I hummed in response not trusting my voice, he had put me totally on edge. I didn't know what to do in this situation. What did he want me to think? What did I want to think? This was insane, what type of badboy had this type of secret in his back pocket? Should I be honored that he trusted me with this or trust him in return with my own? Who all knew? It didn't seem like anyone I talked to, other than Autumn.

My legs swung back and forth as I sat on the ledge of my open window, Logan sitting across the way mirroring me but not moving. He looked down at his palms as if he could find my answer in them. He wouldn't.

A wind picked up and ruffled my hair. My arm automatically went to my head to fix it and as I ran my hand through my hair, Logan looked back up and focused on it, watching me intensely. I slowly brought it back down and Logan followed my movement until it sat in my lap, at which his big brown eyes flicked up back to meet my own grey ones. He was trying to say something through the look and I felt a shiver run through my entire body. Was he pleading, begging, worried, or scared that I would ignore him because of it?

I broke the link between our eyes and let my gaze wander over him, not caring if he saw me, feeling confident. I took this opportunity to study his features, like really study his features. For, at this moment he had finally pulled off his mask and let all his real emotions be displayed for me to see. I don't think he really realized it himself. But it didn't matter, because I was so not used to it, I didn't know what was going on with him. His eyebrows had creased together in worry and anxiousness, but was it at the event or was it because he was waiting for my response and was afraid of what I would say? His skin was a nice tan, but I could see calluses and scars marring his hands and twisting up his arm. I didn't know how I had missed this before. They didn't look like self-harm or anything, so maybe an accident? He was leaning forward slightly, and his shirt hung loosely off his chest. I didn't feel guilty when I looked and saw his six pack. Or when I let my eyes study his tattoo, fully this time, not a glance like I had previously. I gasped, for as I stared, something clicked and the intricate twists and loops and designs all came together in the middle of the ink forming a name.

Elliott.

*********

*Two hours previous*

I cut through the water moving in time with the music that was stuck in my head. It was called Believer by Imagine Dragons and it reminded me of the one and only picture I had glanced at two nights ago in Logan's bedroom. I had no idea why it reminded me of that, maybe because Logan believed in the little boy? Wow deep, London, I thought to myself and would have laughed if not for the water bubbling all around me.

DING!DING!DING! Someone had broken the record time. I paused a second not concerned in the slightest about what it might do for my own time, and treaded in the water looking for who it was. I smiled widely when I found it was Autumn hanging off the edge of the pool and breathing hard. If anyone deserved that time she did.

Over the past few days the swim team had been practicing a lot and I had finally gotten the chance to listen to Logan's words and take his advice. Oh not the majority of his words, I wasn't that stupid trust me. I meant about that I should talk to Autumn more and that we would get along. It was scary at how right he was. I had talked to her the first day apologizing for smashing her to the ground after I found out Logan had stolen my clothes. She had laughed it off and it was almost like our inside joke now. She was super nice and extremely encouraging. She even supported me in the war rather than Logan even though she was closer friends with him.

I pumped my fist into the air for her and she smiled back at me. She waved and then pointed at the clock. She might be done her laps but I only had a minute left to do cool down laps. If I went over time I had to do an extra four laps and I was already exhausted. So I sped up splashing through the water at top speed even though this was supposed to be relaxing.

I was breathing hard by the end of it and popped up out of the pool with my last bit of energy.

"Good job, Autumn, your swim time was amazing!" I said to her waiting figure that stood in front of my lane.

"You should watch your own time, you know, so that you can concentrate on your speed." she says. I loved that she was always so concerned for me and honestly so. She wasn't like half the fake girls at this academy, who you could tell wore so much makeup you'd think they thought their face was a children's colouring book, and were so plastic they would melt if they stood too close to anything hot.

"Maybe, you should watch me instead of your friend here," A guy said coming up behind her. He looked cute- oh sorry forgive me- he looked hot, dressed in tight jeans and a black tank top clinging to his chest. But I wasn't planning on falling for that, he looked exactly like the Logan type. Wait, was there another one of them- Logan, Ryker, and now him? Didn't this school have enough irritating jerks already? I turned cold thinking about it. I wouldn't let this turn into another war.

"Maybe you should watch your own lips and train them to met one another and shut up," I said forcefully looking away and grabbed Autumn's elbow dragging her away.

"London, what do you think you're doing?" Autumn asked crying out, not being able to stop me or get out of my grip.

"Saving you the time and effort of having to deal with another jerk." I said with a little bit of too much force.

"Stop, London. I said STOP!" Her eyes turned angry and for the first time since having met her, she showed her strength and anger. I stopped right by the door of the girl's change room and turned to look at her surprised. Please, don't say you've fallen for him, I prayed silently.

"That's Adrian, and he's one of my best friends," Oh, well then. Maybe I should have let it play out and actually gotten to know the guy before I judged him. I mean if he was Autumn's friend he could be another Logan, but he also could be a sweetheart, a real sweetheart like Autumn herself, (but that was rare nowadays). But, I didn't know and that was the point.

I looked down shamefully, "I'm sorry I didn't know. I just assumed he was another Logan and I didn't want to have to deal with that."

"It's alright, I totally get that his appearance definitely screams out badboy doesn't it?" Autumn said crinkling her nose affectionately. "But, he's not. He's an amazing guy, London, straight A's and everything. Yeah he might smoke a joint here and there or get drunk at parties, but doesn't everyone in high school?" I nodded at her words.

"Yeah, okay, I'll give him a chance and remember not to judge so quickly. I promise." We walked back and I couldn't bear to look up, feeling a little guilty from my harsh reaction. When I did finally look after a minute of silence I found him laughing silently at me. I crossed my arms.

"What?" I asked.

"Logan, did say you were feisty, but he never mentioned how sassy and funny you can be when you're upset." He responded. My mind twisted unexpectedly. Logan talked about me with his friends? What did he say? Because I swear if he showed them the photos he had of me or anything else embarrassing I wouldn't hesitate to rip his throat out. Why did it matter what he said anyways? We hated each other for the most part, I don't think he had much things to say that would, shall we say, 'build up my image.'

"I wasn't upset, just a little too quick to judge. You look exactly like a second version of that jerk, Logan." I said hoping he would take the hint to prove to me he was different, and not another problem.

"Well as they say, 'Don't judge a book by it's cover'. Oh and I should say that you don't have anything to worry about yourself, being judged by your cover that is." He was smirking and stupidly I took his bait.

"What are you talking about?"

"You basically didn't have a cover back there in the gym, and I got a fine view of what lays underneath." He winked as my mouth fell open in disgust. He had been in the gym too? But I thought that was a grade 12 class. Did every guy in this school who I met had to have seen me nearly n***d?

Adrian set his eyes back on Autumn who was laughing a little but sending a sympathetic look my way. His eyes brightened at her glowing figure and a small content smile hovered on his lips as he admired her while she looked at me. He caught himself a second before she turned towards him.

"I'm still giving you a ride home, right?" Adrian asked looking hopeful. Autumn nodded a smile beaming across her face, but unlike him she didn't try to hide it.

"I just gotta take a shower, unless you want your whole car to smell like chlorine," She voiced.

Adrian shrugged, and slung an arm smoothly over Autumn's shoulder starting to walk, "I don't mind," He replied softly, making Autumn blush and glance away shyly. I was torn between wanting to cry out at the adorableness and barf at the too sickly-sweet attitude between them. But, I couldn't help thinking of how lucky she was to snag a guy as sweet as that. People like Logan would never be as nice as that. How would you know about Logan's soft side? My inner critic made itself present. Pfffttt, soft side? Logan? I don't think so.

He walked her to the door of the girl's change room, me trailing behind, and paused as if he wanted to say something important. He looked a little conflicted too, but I didn't know what to make of it. Autumn stood waiting on baited breath, ready for him. Then he glanced back and remembering that I was there slipped his arm off her shoulder and stepped back mumbling a short goodbye, and walked away. Autumn looked down at her bare legs and feet on the wet tiled floor disappointingly and sighed.

"It's like he always has something to say, but never says it!" She groaned twisting her hands together and leading us into the change room where only a few stranglers of the team were finishing up.

"Okay, can I just say that I've only just met him and seen him with you for ten minutes and I already know what he wants to say. It's obvious," Autumn looked back at me over her shoulder pulling her stuff out of her locker to take a shower.

"What does he want to say then?" She really didn't know?

"Wait, are you guys like together?" I asked tentatively. I thought they were.

"No... He's my best friend," She sighed unhappily and padded over to the stalls. The sound of water hitting the hard floor came to my ears, and I realized how blind she was to how clearly infatuated Adrian was with her.

"I think you can have high hope that it might become something else," I replied.

"Really?" She asked, and I could almost picture her scrunching her nose up like she did five minutes ago.

"Definitely," I answered stepping into a shower myself. I heard her sigh of contentedness and I smiled to myself.

"So what's he like than?" I asked truly curious.

"You have no idea, London. He's such a sweetheart, a true one, you know, not like the way Logan uses the word. He's a gentlemen, at least to me, and I guess by a lot of girl's standards a golden boy. But it's a good thing, with him he doesn't flaunt it like the other guys or try to get in your pants, and he's humble about his list of accomplishments. And man, is it long. Captain of the football team, straight A student, valedictorian of middle school, probably high school too when we get there, and so many other things. He's always been there for me too, known him since I was in sixth grade, so I think I can say we truly know each other inside and out." I could hear the admiration through her words, I didn't need to see her face to know that she was smiling.

"So, if he's so nice, what's the deal with Logan? How can one of them be so amazing and a gentlemen and the other so awful and rude, and well the way he is? Why is he the way he is? How are they even friends?" The fruity smell of shampoo entered the air and I breathed it in wishing I could be clean of Logan, just like how I was clean after a shower. But is that really what you want? You are kinda enjoying the war, now aren't you? How did that thought come back to the surface? I thought I had stuffed in the very back bolted off sections of my brain.

"Well, friends are friends, no matter how different, they just click I guess. And I think that they've known each other since first grade, so longer than Adrian and I. I don't think anything major could ever really split them, even like the whole thing with Elliott. And as to why Logan, the way he is, well he didn't really choose it, it was almost like he forced himself to be a jerk against his own will. He used to hate those boys who toyed with girl's emotions, you know. He would rant on and on about it in ninth grade watching the older guys. But then he became one of them, became the very thing he hated." She sighed again, "It was after the whole Elliott thing too, I think he blames himself."

"Who is Elliott? And what happened with this kid?" I asked hoping she would tell me the very thing Logan had thought she had the other day. I had to know, what was so important about this kid? Were they close? Friends? Family? Was it a girl maybe, a girlfriend ?

"Wait, so you don't know? He never told you? The way you guys act, well I thought he had." She answered. That wasn't a real answer.

"No he never told me. Actually flipped out one day, before we both had to go detention. He thought that you had told me and asked me- quite violently and scared me sh*tless when he did I might add- if I knew anything." I hoped she would still be willing to tell me.

"Oh, well then you should ask him about it." She answered. No that was not the answer I wanted.

"I did, though, and he asked me not to. He was adamant so I left it," I told her the truth.

"If he was that serious about you not prying into his past then I'm not going to give up a friend's personal experience. If he doesn't want to share with you, you have to wait until he's ready." I groaned quietly as I turned off the shower and slipped on my clothes.

Autumn joined me in the locker section as we finished up and put on a light dusting of makeup.

"Trying to impress someone are we?" I asked laughing slightly, and she shoved me away softly smiling nonetheless.

I followed suit, but only ended putting on mascara before giving up. My Thor shirt did enough for me, and my hair dried straight, the red tips still held their dye, there was no need for an extra flare if I was only going back home anyways.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Autumn said finally and I followed her out into the school parking lot, Adrian's motorcycle fit for two the only one left.

Autumn looked over at me and grinned, "Okay, I'll see you later. We should hang out soon, talk more about this war with Logan, hey." She winked.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I cried out as she ran towards Adrian who was grinning. He handed her a helmet and revved the engine to life. Then they sped away leaving me in the dust. I smiled after them, happy for what seemed like an obvious outcome for the two.

That's when it hit me, I had no way of getting home. It was four thirty and my Aunt and Uncle had taken Conner to a school trip and wouldn't be back till six, Adam had a basketball game tonight in a different region for his Wallagher's school team. But wait what about Jordon? I could call him. I was sorely disappointed.

"Sorry, can't come to the phone right now. You know the drill, leave a message, number and name, etc," His voice mail was the only answer I got. The same went for Kayla and Ryan. Not that they could drive but maybe they knew where Jordon was.

So that left one person. Dammit, why was everyone else gone? I didn't want to call him, but I was desperate. I looked up and saw sure enough the sky was grey and threatening to cry all over me with wet tears of rain. I pressed the dial button hoping against hope he wouldn't pick up.

BOOM! I heard thunder. Oh sh*t , please pick up, Logan I don't care anymore.

"Why are you calling me London. Is it possible for people to be tased through a phone? Because if this is some sort of prank call, I will be royally pissed and anyways you've already had your turn, you shouldn't be doing a double hit that's not fair."

"Oh suck it you big baby. I'm stuck at school with no one in the building, no one to pick me up, no one answering their phones, and the sky is about to dump all it's friggin' emotional tears at it's latest breakup with the moon on me. So please shut up and come pick me up," yes that was my way of asking politely. He didn't deserve politeness so I wouldn't be giving it to him.

"The sky's latest breakup with the moon? Whhhaaaa?" Logan asked confused.

"It's raining, stupid. About to pour all over me and it's-"

BOOM! The thunder and lightening temporarily cut me off.

"Thundering and lightening. So-"

"You're weird," He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Just pick me up," and I hung up.