Chapter 18
KAI
It was lunch, and I caught myself scanning the field for Alex. I still couldn’t wrap my head around what happened in PE. The way he snapped at Coach like that - none of us had ever seen anything like it. Half the class was still talking about it, replaying it like some dramatic moment from a film.
Sure, the lads and I could be hot-headed sometimes, and I’d been in a few fights over the years, but that… that was different. Going for a teacher. And the speed of it - the way he reacted before any of us even understood what was happening.
What stuck with me was how out of character it felt. At least, out of character for the Alex I thought I knew. The quiet kid who kept to himself, who barely spoke unless someone dragged a word out of him. The one who always looked like he was trying to take up as little space as possible.
But the truth was, I barely knew him.
“D’you reckon he’ll get in trouble?” Callum asked, tapping the ball to me across the break field.
“I dunno.” I shrugged. “Coach is pretty chill.”
“Nah,” Bryce said as I passed the ball his way. “You can’t shove a teacher and get away with it. Doesn’t matter how chill Coach is.”
“I still can’t believe it, lads,” Callum said, shaking his head. “Who knew Alex had a fire in him? See, I told you, didn’t I? What did I say about the quiet ones?” He wagged a finger like he was some kind of prophet. “You have to watch them.”
“You did, to be fair,” I said. But something about it didn’t sit right. Yeah, Alex had fire - but it didn’t look like anger. It looked more like fear to me. Or something close to it.
“I might as well have a crystal ball, lad,” Callum said proudly.
“No way you could’ve predicted that,” Anderson cut in, adjusting his headband. He was sitting on the grass, arms resting on his knees. “The kid’s basically a recluse.”
“I could’ve,” Callum insisted, hands on his hips.
“Bullshit.” I shook my head. He was chatting out of his arse, and everyone knew it.
“No, honest.” Callum nodded like he was some kind of expert. “Look at his family. You only have to see his brother to know that kid’s a troublemaker.”
“He’s got a point, to be fair,” Bryce said with a shrug.
“Yeah, I just hope he’s okay,” I said, trying to sound casual as I kicked the ball back to Callum.
“I’m sure he’s fine. Probably just off somewhere having a smoke,” Callum said.
“Yeah - if he hasn’t been dragged off the school grounds by Mrs Carter,” Anderson added.
I frowned. “Surely not. It’s bad, yeah, but not worth expulsion.”
Anderson shrugged. “We’ll see, won’t we? Depends if he turns up tomorrow.”
Tomorrow.
We had studying tomorrow.
And I wanted him to be there.
I hoped he’d be there.