𝑺𝑾𝑬𝑬𝑻 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴𝑺, cory wilson

𝒕𝒘𝒐. snug

chapter two
snug

...

𝑪𝑶𝑹𝒀'𝑺 𝑷𝑶𝑽:

MY JAW CLENCHES AS PEYTON LEAVES. The door rattles behind her and I hear the hallway outside the hub go silent. I stand up, pulling my bag onto my shoulder before moving to follow after her.

"What's her problem?" Alya sniggers, "Has she got. . . issues?"

I whirl around on my heel, "Give her break, will ya? Just because she spoke the truth, don't try being her down."

Alya hesitates, almost surprised by my words, before she continues, "Seriously though, what is her problem?"

"You," I snap, pointing a rough finger in her direction, "You are her fucking problem."

She slowly smirks, her eyebrows slightly creased, "Are you and her. . . a thing?"

"No." I hiss, "And even if we were, it wouldn't matter to you." I pull the door open, marching out quickly, only for a hand to smack into my chest and I come to a quick halt.

"Cory," Mr Bell lowers his hand, "What happened with Peyton? She just left school. Do you know why?"

I shake my head, "She got frustrated with Alya. I could tell she wanted to kick off, but she held it in, y'know like we've been telling her to do for months. I'm just worried that she's gone to take it out on someone else, or herself. Sorry, sir, I have to go." I explain, shoving past him harshly.

"I'll excuse you from school, go find her." Mr Bell shouts after and I shout a simple thank you back at him before running through the school.

𝑷𝑬𝒀𝑻𝑶𝑵'𝑺 𝑷𝑶𝑽:

My hands are still shaking when I pull my vibrating out of school shirt pocket. I glance down at the notifications, taking in a deep breath while I read the words from my best friend.

DICKHEAD

Where are you?

Pey?

???

Where the fuck are you?

With a groan, I push back on the swing I've been sat on for the last hour and gently swing back and forth. I squeeze my eyes shut, still trying to calm my anger down. I take long and deep breaths, and tighten my grip on the chains at either side of my body.

"PEYTON!"

My eyes fly open at the loud call, and I look
over at Cory Wilson sprinting his way over to me, sweat dripping from his hairline and eyebrows.

He stops in front of me, hunching over and resting his hands on his knees while he attempts to regain his breath, "Thank god I found you. I thought I was gonna have to file a missing person's report." He pants, "Why— why did you leave school?"

I smirk, "Why did you leave school?"

"To come check on you." He mumbles, straightening up and wiping the sweat away with the back of his hand, "I don't want you hurting yourself. . . again."

I clench my jaw at the mention of it and I bit my lip anxiously, "No need to bring it up. I've stopped, okay? That's in the past."

"Well, to be honest, I can't always take your word for granted." He says quietly, not exactly knowing how I'm going to react.