Chapter 5: 1 Bully and 2 Nerds

Just as the silence threatened to stretch into an eternal abyss of shame and impending doom, a loud yawn echoed from the living room doorway. Theo, rubbing sleep from his eyes, entered the kitchen. He blinked at us, taking in the scene: me, standing half-naked and rigid; Daniel, hunched over his cereal, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Shawn," Theo's voice was surprisingly sharp, instantly cutting through the tension.

He took a step closer, placing himself subtly between me and Daniel. His gaze was narrow, assessing. "What's going on here? Don't tell me you're targeting Daniel now."

"What do you mean? Daniel and I..." I stared at the protagonist and he gave me a brief glance. "...are now friends. Right?" I'm sure that sounded more intimidating than i wanted it to be, but I can't really afford to break away from Shawn's character too much.

Daniel shifted from his seat. I kept my eyes on him.

A flicker of annoyance crossed Theo's face as he glared at me, then softened slightly as he looked at Daniel. "You okay, Daniel? Just ignore him."

Daniel nodded quickly, still not meeting my eyes, his spoon clinking nervously against the bowl.

My younger brother's protective stance was clear. He knew Shawn Carter's reputation, and he knew how any of his nerdy friends usually fared when I was around. Definitely not good.

Theo turned back to me, his arms crossed. "Can you leave now?" His tone was a low warning, almost a threat.

"You don't get to order me around here, you little shit." I smiled, sarcastically. "And relax. I'm not going to do anything to your friend." He's the future arsonist around here, so in fact, you should be more wary of him instead.

Theo just gave me a warning look. He then moved to Daniel's side, pulling out a chair next to him and sitting down, effectively putting himself between us. He started rummaging through the cereal boxes, but his eyes kept darting to me.

Okay. Now that I've met the protagonist, I need to take this chance to make him dislike me a little less... just enough for my survival. While still maintaining Shawn's jock character.

I leaned against the counter, still in my boxers, trying to appear nonchalant despite my internal panic.

I let my gaze drift over Daniel, taking in his bowl cut and the quiet way he ate. "So, Daniel, huh?" I said, letting Shawn's voice adopt a slightly drawling, almost bored tone, but keeping my eyes fixed on him. "You're the quiet one, I guess. Theo always got some mute friend over." 

Daniel flinched again, a barely perceptible shudder, but he didn't look up. "Yeah," he mumbled, his voice small.

Theo shot me another glare. "Shawn, leave him alone."

"Just making conversation, Theo," I retorted, putting on my best innocent, older-brother act. It felt ridiculous in Shawn Carter's body. I turned my attention back to Daniel, who seemed to be shrinking into his stool. 

I continued, "So, Daniel. Theo mentioned you're into... art. Bit of a strange hobby for a guy, isn't it?" I teased, hoping for it to sound more like a challenge rather than an insult.

Daniel flinched, but then gave a tiny, almost imperceptible shake of his head. "I... it's just drawing," he mumbled, his gaze still averted.

Theo shot me another glare. "Not everyone plays sports, you know."

"I know." I replied to my brother but kept my eyes on Daniel. "Not everyone draws too. I failed art class. Honestly, if you gave me a pencil, I'd probably just draw a stick figure that looked like it already gave up on life." I punctuated the sentence with a quick, clumsy gesture in the air, pretending to sketch the saddest, most dejected figure imaginable.

Daniel's shoulders shook slightly, a silent tremor of amusement. Then, a tiny, breathy giggle escaped him, quickly muffled by his hand. He peeked up at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

"That's because you almost never attend any of your classes." Theo inserted, like the grumpy third wheel that he is right now.

I ignored Theo, still facing Daniel. "How about you draw for me, and I could... I don't know," I shrugged, a new, risky idea forming in my head. "Offer you my athletic abilities?"

[SUPREME BULLY SYSTEM ALERT: PLOT DEVIATION DETECTED! HOST ACTIONS DO NOT ALIGN WITH 'BULLY' ARCHETYPE! PENALTY: -15 REPUTATION POINTS]

This was bad. Really bad.

Daniel's eyes widened, blinking slowly, as if he hadn't quite processed what I'd said. He looked from me to Theo, then back, a confused expression on his face.

Theo, with his face buried in his hands, let out a strangled groan. "Shawn, don't you have, like, football practice or something today?" His tone was edged with a desperate plea for normalcy.

I play basketball, not football. I glanced at my brother. He was clearly ready for me to disappear. And frankly, so was my hangover.

"Yeah, yeah," I grunted, pushing off the counter. "I'll leave you off to your nerd stuffs."

I spun on my heel, forcing myself to walk casually out of the kitchen. My gaze snagged on Daniel one last time. He was looking at me, a faint crease between his brows, a mixture of confusion and something else... something that might have been a tiny flicker of intrigue.