Chapter Five

I was gathered with Axl and Anne at school, during sports class, Axl's favorite subject and Anne's most hated one.

"I don't want to play volleyball," Anne said, looking away from Axl, who was trying to convince her to play with him.

"Come on, Anne, it's fun. Plus, it helps you stay in shape." Axl tried to sound subtle... but Anne already had a swollen vein on her forehead.

"What are you implying, you fool?!" she shouted, furious.

"Calm down, I... I just wanted to be nice." Axl quickly hid behind me.

I sighed, looking at Anne, who didn't take her eyes off Axl, still hiding.

"Anne, I don't want you to break Axl's arm... or at least try to.

-It's not that I want to break his arm, but sometimes he deserves it - Anne growled, crossing her arms and shooting a withering look at Axl.

Axl, with a nervous smile, peeked his head behind me. -Come on, Anne, I was just saying that sports are good for you, nothing more... - he tried to calm her down.

-Of course, because I need your personal trainer advice, right? - Anne replied with sarcasm in every word.

I sighed again, used to the clashes between them. Ever since we were little, there was always something that made them argue. But deep down I knew they cared for each other, even if they would never admit it.

-Come on, guys, let's play. I don't want the teacher to punish us for wasting time arguing - I said, throwing a volleyball towards Axl to distract them.

Anne snorted and headed towards the court, clearly not wanting to participate, but at least she had given in.

-You have to learn to talk to her, Axl. If you keep saying things like that, one day she'll really break something in you - I said quietly as we walked to the court.

-I know, I know. I'm just trying to motivate her... but I always seem to mess up - Axl admitted, shrugging.

The volleyball class went by with the same dynamic as always: Axl being enthusiastic, Anne reluctantly participating, and me trying to keep the arguments from getting out of hand.

At the end of class, as everyone headed to the locker room, Anne approached me with a more relaxed expression.

-What do you think? Have I restrained myself enough? - she asked.

-Let's just say that Axl is still whole, so yes, you've made a great effort - I joked, causing a small smile to appear on her lips.

-You say it as if it were an unstoppable fury - she laughed softly, clearly calmer.

Axl appeared a few seconds later, with his usual carefree smile, no trace of the fear he had had before.

“We did well! Anne, you should admit that you had a little fun,” he said, giving her a small friendly push on the arm.

Anne looked at him, and although she tried to keep a serious expression, she finally burst out laughing.

“You're a lost cause, Axl,” Anne sighed.

The three of us laughed, not knowing what was going to happen.

“But look at who we have here, the golden trio of weirdos.” A group of obviously idiots who always bothered us approached.

Our laughter faded and we looked at the three most popular and stupid boys that could have ever existed in all of humanity; Adrian, Clara and Schneider.

They were like opposite versions of us, only stupider...

(...)

Ahem, I'm going to stop for a moment to break the fourth wall and tell you about them;

Adrian was the typical athlete at school who plays soccer, has terrible grades and already drinks alcohol, oh yeah, I forgot to mention, he's my personal bully, and of course, he's dating Emily, the girl I'm interested in...maybe I'm the stupid one.

Clara was a plastic, yes, you probably already got the reference of where that label came from, and if not, well...look it up. She always discriminates against Anne, which I don't understand, Anne is much prettier than her...ah...I don't know why I said that, but she is.

And Schneider, German, handsome and with money, you could say he's Axl's rival but...he's never done anything to us, maybe because he doesn't speak the language well or his accent doesn't help, anyway, of the three of them he's the one we like the most.

Well, once I explained this...let's continue, I don't want to be hit and be...on pause. Wait, did I pause it? Oh yeah...well, let's continue...

(...)

-What do you want? -I asked in a serious tone

Adrian approached first, with that mocking smile that irritated me more than I would like to admit.

-Nothing special, we just wanted to say hello to the group of weirdos at school. It's always a pleasure to see them. -He crossed his arms, looking at each of us with disdain.

Clara ran a hand through her hair and gave Anne a venomous look, as if her mere existence offended her. -Anne, darling, how do you still stand being with these two? You could do better.

Anne frowned, clearly holding back the urge to say something stronger. It was the calm before the storm.

Axl, as always, tried to smooth things over. -Come on, guys, we don't need to do this, do we? We're just finishing sports class, we don't want trouble.

Adrian laughed. -Oh, you don't want trouble either? Look, I thought you'd be used to that, being so... "smart" and all.

I could feel Axl tense up beside me. He'd never liked being attacked for his intelligence, and Adrian knew how to push his buttons.

Before the situation escalated any further, Schneider, the only one with any common sense, stepped in. "Leave them alone, Adrian. There's no point in arguing here. Let's go."

For a second, I thought things would calm down, but then Clara opened her mouth again.

"By the way, Jacob," she said with a sly smile, "you already know that Emily isn't going to look at you twice, right? You should just give up."

That sentence hit me like a bucket of cold water. I knew Emily was dating Adrian, but for Clara to say it that way... I only managed to clench my fists, trying to keep my composure.

Axl put a hand on my shoulder before I could say something I would regret. “It’s not worth it, buddy,” she whispered.

Anne, who had been silent until now, stepped forward, looking at Clara with the same contempt. “You know, Clara, maybe you should focus on your own life instead of worrying about ours. I doubt Emily cares what you think.”

That made Clara frown, but before she could respond, Adrian ended the conversation.

“Come on, Clara, Schneider. These three aren’t worth our time.”

The group turned around and walked away, leaving us alone. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Axl looked at me with concern, but didn’t say anything.

Anne, for her part, sighed. “I don’t know how you can stand those idiots, Jacob.”

“I don’t,” I replied, with a bitter smile, “but I’m not going to let them get to me either.”

Axl nodded, trying to take the weight off what had happened. -Hey, at least they didn't end up breaking our faces. That's something.

The three of us shared a tired look, and headed to the dining room after showering and dressing. We served ourselves some food and sat at one of the tables.

We ate quietly, with nothing to say or talk about, we were tense and it was noticeable in the atmosphere.

Suddenly Schneider approached them with a friendly look? He's German, you never know when they're angry and when they're not.

"I wanted to apologize for what happened a while ago. I don't think you're weird, you're normal people like everyone else. It's just that there are people who don't understand it. I just want to make peace with you," he said seriously.

Anne, Axl and I exchanged surprised glances. We didn't expect Schneider to come up to apologize, even less so after what had happened. There was something in his tone and expression that seemed sincere, but it was hard to believe coming from someone who had been with Adrian and Clara for so long.

Anne was the first to react. She crossed her arms and looked at him suspiciously. “And why should we believe you? So far you've only been with them, you've never intervened or done anything to stop them.”

Schneider kept his gaze calm, unfazed by Anne's harshness. “I know I haven't done much to help, and that's something I want to change. I don't have the same mentality as Adrian or Clara, and... well, I'm tired of being around them. I feel like they always follow them just out of fear, but that's not what I want.”

Axl, always the most conciliatory, gave him a chance. “Are you saying you want to be friends with us?”

Schneider seemed to think about it for a second and then nodded. “I don't know about friends, but at least I don't want to be part of their nonsense. You guys are... different, but that's not bad. I... just don't want to be in the same group anymore.”

I looked at Axl and Anne, trying to gauge their reactions. Anne was still suspicious, but Axl, with his usual good heart, already seemed willing to give her a chance.

I sighed and decided to speak up. “Look, Schneider, we’re not going to judge you for what happened before. If you’re really fed up with those two, I believe you, but it won’t be easy. We’re not going to welcome you with open arms just because you apologize.”

Schneider nodded, understanding. “I don’t expect them to. I just want to prove that I’m not like them.”

Anne, although calmer, still didn’t let her guard down. “If you betray us or try to play a trick on us, don’t think we’ll just sit still.”

Axl let out a small, nervous laugh. “Wow, Anne, are you always so threatening?”

She simply glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and then turned her attention to Schneider, who, for the first time, smiled with some discomfort. “I understand. Don’t worry, I’m not a traitor.”

“Okay, Schneider, we’ll give you a chance. Just… don’t waste it,” I concluded, finally.

Schneider nodded again, and after a moment of hesitation, he turned around and walked back to his table, only this time he seemed calmer. As we watched him walk away, Anne let out a sigh.

“I don’t know if this is going to work out,” she muttered.

“I don’t know either, but at least he seems sincere,” Axl replied.

I stayed silent, thinking about how quickly things change. Maybe Schneider really did want to get away from Adrian and Clara. Maybe things could get better… or even more complicated. Time would tell.