Chapter Text
Jake... Didn't know what to feel.
He was sad, not just sad, he was devastated, heartbroken. He couldn't believe it. Even if it wasn't exactly stated by the club leader, he knows he's been kicked out of the Music Club.
Getting kicked out of an after school club shouldn't hurt this much. But when singing is your passion, and you've basically grown attached to every single member? It's as if daggers had pierced through Jake's soul, only he wished they were real daggers to help ease the never ending pain present in his heart.
Sadness was accompanied by regret.
He was regretful of the things he said behind their backs. The club was never using him, and he should of never said those things about Hailey.
You know, it's rather humorous really.
To think that these were the exact same thoughts he had a couple minutes back, so sure that the guys would never have to know about what his friends pressured him to say.
So sure that everything would be fine, everything would go out as if he never talked behind their backs.
What a fool he was.
Then, there was a third emotion. A third bubbling inside to add on to the remorse and guilt already present.
Anger.
No. Not just anger.
Acrimony. Animosity.
This rage was channeled onto one particular subject.
Drew.
He was one of the few people who witnessed him state such bile words about his friends the club members in person. He was the one who started the chain of shaping the club as some toxic bunch who only used him for his talents. He was the only one capable of doing something like this. Heck, even if Henry and Liam join in, they can't properly threaten someone without Drew starting it off.
He and his... goons of a partner and buddies set him up, made him look bad, and got the guys to detest him.
Tears still streaming down his face, Jake stood up from his position. His despair now dissipated and turned into pure hostility, towards his group, towards Zoey and Lia, towards his friends, towards Drew.
With all of the strength he had left, he marched down the halls. Going straight towards the lockers. The all too familiar place where he always hung out with them.
His sneakers roughly squeaking against the clean tiles of the school halls. A thought in mind and a heavy heart.
It took time, but he found them. Chattering away like always. And there was Drew. He looked so chill, so nonchalant, as if he was never guilty of what happened, as if he were proud of whatever conclusion had come to. Disgusting. Jake felt disgust towards the boy he used to believe was his friend. He stomped towards him, and before the magenta-haired teen could even say a proper hello, Jake didn't hesitate a second to hit his face.
"I hate you." Jake muttered under his breath. Head down, strawberry blonde locks hiding his facial features. Drew, shocked from the sudden contact, appalled by his peach-haired friend's sudden outburst. "Wh— What was that for???" He asked whilst he caressed his sore cheek.
"I hate you!!" Jake repeated, alot louder now. He glared at Drew with utter rage, the tears did not stop falling.
"W-Woah dude, what's gotten into you..?" Liam asked from behind. "Yeah Jake, what happened?" Henry chimed. Liam felt uneasy, Henry felt worried. Jake couldn't bring himself to believe this facade of theirs, even if they showed sincerity.
"I know you recorded our conversation yesterday! I know you sent that voice clip of me to Hailey!!" Jake was practically yelling, each word he emphasized were seeping with venom.
"Ugh... What are you even talking about?? I never recorded nor sent anyone a voice clip of our little Ted talk yesterday..! And why are you so worked up with little miss uptight all of a sudden..?" Drew asked, unaware of what Jake meant. This only made the latter seethe even more.
"That voice clip. Everyone. Everyone in the club now knows what I said! Hailey, Sean, Luke, Zander, Milly, Everyone! And thanks to that clip you sent? I got kicked out!!!"
"Woah wait, they kicked you out?" Liam asked.
"Damn bro, looks like we were right about them!" Henry snickered.
"Huh. Well what do you know. My thoughts exactly, they think you weren't good enough for them and just like that, they throw you out like some biodegradable waste." Drew was amused by the thought. The sudden anger he had when Jake punched him in the face had disappeared at the knowledge of what had recently transpired.
"Come on Jake. Who needs those Music Freaks anyways? We're your real friends, your buddies! Those imbeciles are nothing compared to us, we can give you anything you've ever wanted." Drew tried to humor the distraught teen infront of him.
"So what do you say buddy? Come on, where's the real Jake! We know he's in there somewhere." He continued.
Drew was a fool to think Jake would go back to him.
"Heh... You say you could give me anything I've ever wanted..?" Jake's voice cracked, he lowered his head back down, an amused smile had plastered itself on his face. "Of course! Laptops, new phones, clothes or whatever, consoles, Gacha Switches, I'd give it to you." Drew had that shit eating grin again.
Jake timidly chuckled. "You seriously think I'd want any of that crap?? Have you ever considered what I actually liked for once.??" His voice wavered with each word he said. He was hurt, hurt because he said crap about the club, hurt because he brought pain to Hailey and the rest, hurt because his friends
betrayed him, hurt because Drew was being like this to him. "Do you even know me..???"
"Ugh, cut the act Jake. Of course we know who you are—"
"No you don't..."
Drew, for the second time, was appalled. Before he could utter another word out, Jake cut him off again.
"I never wanted any of the stuff you've given me Drew. The only reason I accepted anything you give was because I didn't want to hurt your feelings, because I know you were my friend. Every time, I would consider what you wanted because I'm a good friend." Jake stated.
"But have you ever considered what I wanted for once..? What I genuinely wanted..?? Have you Drew?" Drew was silent, he held that deadpan expression that was mixed with a little bit of shock and annoyance.
"All my life I always wanted to sing. To show the world what I'm capable of, to prove that dreams come true as long as you keep reaching high. During elementary and middle school, I've been detested by that, I was an outcast for my ambition." Jake shifted in his position, Liam and Henry held eachother close.
"One of the reasons I stayed with you guys was because I thought you guys liked me for who I am and who I wanna be... But every time I mentioned about singing, you either brush it off or bring up the club... I never wanted to become a jerk like you guys, the thought of becoming something I hate made me uncomfortable. Heck even after all this time I spent with you guys I still feel disgusting after saying a mean remark about anyone!" Jake snapped back towards them, Liam and Henry were looking uneasy under the gaze Jake gave them while Drew remained thesame.
"So what? You're just gonna leave us like that huh? After everything I've done for you!?" Drew's anger rose back up. He felt betrayed by the peach boy, as if Jake didn't feel equally.
"So what if they kicked you out of the club? Wasn't your only reason to join was to impress Daisy? Well where is she now hmm? Don't you recall that Zoey and Lia basically revealed she had a thing for that Sean guy!?"
"All this time I held you by my side, you were practically my right hand man. I gave you everything, I gave you superiority over anyone in this damn school. And then you're just going to go up to me one day and tell me you don't need me anymore just because of that Freak Show??? Heck, what even are you without me." That last sentence wasn't even a question, it sounded like it articulated it's own answer along it's delivery.
Jake stayed silent for awhile, giving Drew the opportunity to continue.
"That's right, without me, you're a nobody. Just another outcast to be loathed and alienated by everyone else!" The magenta-haired sprinkled salt to a wound.
"What I am without you...?" Jake stared Drew down. "I'm myself"
To Drew apparently, he sprinkled salt on a wound that already been dried up, it's healing process had a long way to go, but nothing can hurt it anymore.
It closed itself off, preventing anything that can inflict pain upon it.
The halls were silent for once. No one moved, no one dared to utter a word.
They were all accompanied by the quiet whirring of the ventilation system providing the school with cool air. The white noise welcomed comfort to anyone present in the halls.
Jake broke that comforting silence.
"That “Freak Show” of a crowd were the only people who I was comfortable with being myself! They made me feel like I belong for once, even if I used to pick on some of them!"
A long pause occured before the blonde spoke again.
"Hailey was right."
Jake did not hesitate to continue. "She was right about you guys all along. The truth about you guys? You're all toxic assholes!" Liam and Henry were taken aback. Deep down those two boys’ hearts, they cared about Jake.
Drew was not having any of this.
"You guys would go through lurid extents just to feed off your selfish desires! Bullying, stealing from others, blackmailing, I can name them all if you'd like!" Jake seethed. "You really expect after what you guys had done to me, that I'd still wanna be friends with douchebags like you???"
"So that's settled." Drew countered.
"If you wanna be with your dumb Freak show, then fine by me!" Drew approached him, spitting every word filled with venom equal to Jake's. "But just to remind you, Jake." Drew grabbed both collars of his friend's
jacket, their faces inches apart.
"You are no longer one of us. So don't expect us to treat you any differently than the rest of the school just because you used to be our friend." used to be our friend, those words felt foreign in Drew's mouth with the context of Jake.
"Never come by my house, never call me, don't even think of going near us ever again!" Drew shoved Jake down, giving the latter a painful crash on the tiled flooring.
"You don't deserve any of what you have now. That guy back in our first day was right, you deserve to be alone somewhere." Drew glared at the boy who used to be his friend before placing his hands inside his black hoodie's pockets and walking away.
"You coming you idiots?" He glared at Henry and Liam next. This made the duo shiver and instantly following his lead.
Jake stood back up, he glared at his fr— at Drew and his pals as they walked away. Liam's head hung low while Henry kept glancing back at Jake with a sad face. After all, Henry and him shared so many memories of watching anime together. Especially MHA every Saturday.
And when they were finally out of sight, Jake inhaled sharply and choked out a sob, he didn't stop the tears, he couldn't even if he tried. Now that the music club and his friends practically hate him, he had no one left. He pulled himself together and made his way to the roof, he can't cry on the hallway like that, if he wants to bawl then he'd do that on the rooftop.
He pulled on his jacket's collar and edged it near his face as he sprinted towards the nearest staircase.
Lashing out at Drew like that was a mistake, Jake should never have done that. Drew, Liam, and Henry were his best friends ever since the beginning of their Junior High, Hailey mistook the difficulty of letting go of your long time friends. But Hailey was still in the right, even though those guys were his best friends, they were the most toxic bunch in all of Rosemeadow High. It's hard juggling time to spend with both parties, but now? There's no need to waver in-between, both said parties abhorr him now, detested, disfavored, held great contempt against him. This thought gave Jake another reason to get to the roof as quickly as possible.
Left, right, left, right. Each and every step he took made him feel the stress and pressure dawn on him further, rendering his body weight become heavier and heavier.
Everything was just so much. Far too much for him to handle.
He wanted to scream, as loud as possible more than anything. He wanted things to end as abruptly as a click of light switch connecting to a ceiling lamp. He didn't like this feeling.
This oh so morbidly familiar feeling, it disgusts Jake to a universal extent.
Thinking of thesame situation he currently found himself in that occured a few couple years ago, it made him have the urge to vomit.
It felt like an eternity but he was there. He was finally there, at his usual spot on the roof, in the corner back facing the cage railing.
Just like that, Jake let everything out. His anger and frustration, sadness and dismay, all of the pressure and stress he felt, all the weight he carried on his shoulders, not once did he hesitate to let it all loose.
Everything he bottled up went loose in that moment, yet he knows he would feel anything but relief after this.
He looked utterly stupid no?
Him of all people, to be seen breaking down like this? What would others think of him now?
Worse case scenario, someone would be a witness to this wreck loose. The last thing he'd want to happen.
How ironic...
“Jake...?”
The others were right huh? Jake really is a big idiot.
“Daisy....” Jake didn't even raise his voice like everytime he would say her name infront of her. It wasn't even a question hinted with surprise. It was just a soft statement, having no energy left to react.
Daisy knows. She knows Jake is in emotional distress. She knows who he is, who he truly is, who he is below the surface, and she knows what the next right thing she's supposed to do.
After all, what kind of a Head Girl is she if she'd leave a suffering friend in this kind of state..?