Chapter 4

       After first period ended, I was heading to my locker and to do so, I had to pass by the office. While I was walking by, I noticed Wilder sitting in one of the chairs. I furrowed my eyebrows and walked over. "Hey, is everything okay?" I asked.

       Wilder looked at me. "Oh, yeah. I just go in trouble in class.

       "You got in trouble?" I asked. "How?"

       "I got a paper cut."

       "Okay?"

       "And then I yelled 'fuck' very loud."

       "So?" I asked. "Teenagers swearing is natural."

       "My teacher is Mrs. Mills."

       "Oh, now that makes sense," I said.

       Mrs. Mills was the strictest teacher in the school and did not tolerate a lot of things, mainly cursing, cell phones, PDA, and even laughing. Yeah, if you laughed in the middle of the class, even when she gave you time to talk to your friends, you got a detention.

       I never had her as a teacher, thankfully. 

       "So now, I am waiting for either my mom or dad to show up," Wilder said. "I think it will be my dad. My mom's working today."

       I snorted. "Yeah, then you're definitely not going to get into trouble." There was no way Dax would get mad at Wilder for swearing in the middle of class, especially because he was the one who taught Wilder to swear at the tender age of three.

       "I will," Wilder said. "Here, I mean. But not at home. Shouldn't you be getting to class now?"

       "Yes, but that's boring," I said as I sat down beside him. "I'll be waiting here until your dad comes just so I could be late to class."

       "But it's a class you have with Orchid," Wilder said. "I thought you would rush there just so you could ogle her all class."

       "Shut up. I don't ogle her all class."

       "You totally do."

       Dax then walked into the school and looked over at Wilder. "Alright, what did you do?" he asked.

       "Nothing bad," Wilder said. "I got a paper cut and swore really loud. My teacher didn't like it."

       "Seriously? That's it?" Dax asked. "There's nothing wrong with swearing. It's just words."

       "Exactly."

       Dax looked at me. "And what did you do?"

       "Nothing. I'm just chilling with my cousin so I could be late to class. My teacher won't mind."

       "Yes, because he'll one day be your uncle-in-law," Wilder said.

       "I hate you."

       "That's harsh."

       Mrs. Goth walked out of the office and saw Dax. "Good, you're here," she said. "So, Wilder has gotten in trouble way too many times from cursing. We don't tolerate cursing here, especially when it's done in the middle of a quiet classroom."

       Dax nodded. "I understand. Don't worry, my wife and I started a swear jar at home to get him to stop swearing. And if I ever hear he does it again at school, I'll take away his phone."

       "What?" Wilder asked. "Dad, that's not fair."

       "Yeah? And neither is you breaking the school's rules," Dax said before looking back at Mrs. Goth. "I know giving him detention won't stop him from swearing, so I'll make sure I handle it at home where he will learn his lesson."

       "Thank you," Mrs. Goth said, her gaze then turning to Wilder. "I hope I won't hear anymore foul language coming from you."

       "You won't," Wilder said.

       "Good," Mrs. Goth said. "You can head to class now."

       When she was back in the office, Dax said, "You think she bought it?"

       "Uh, obviously," Wilder said. "Nice lying skills, Dad."

       "Why, thank you," Dax said. "Seriously, a swear jar? I would never allow such an absurd object in my house. But you do have to try not swearing at school."

       "I make no promises."

       "Well, I did the best I could," Dax said before holding out his arms. "Can I have a hug, or is my son too cool for that?"

       "Me? Cool? No way," Wilder said before getting up and giving his dad a hug. "I love you, Dad."

       "I love you too, Wilder," Dax said. "Now head off to class before you get even more late."

       I got up from the chair and walked off with Wilder. He went to his locker and I went to mine before I went to my biology class. I was late, but the teacher didn't even bother saying anything to me since it happened all the time and he just gave up trying to get me to be on time.

       Well, he did say something to me, but nothing about me being late. "The class is going to be doing a project in pairs and I believe Orchid said you two already planned on being partners," Mr. McCormick said.

       I nodded before walking to the desk beside Orchid. "Why are you late?" she asked.

       "Because I wanted to be late," I said. "It's boring being on time."

       "Well, that's true, but my dear uncle would never let me be late to class," Orchid said. She then started explaining to me what the project was about, and we started planning a bit before we got bored and decided to take a break.

       Even though we were only working for five minutes.

       "Hey, I know you hear this all the time from my family, but I really want to thank you for always standing up for Nolan," Orchid said. "We all really appreciate it."

       "Yeah, well, I hate the thought of people being picked on for something they can't control," I said. "In fact, I hate when people get picked on for anything, even if it's something they can control. Their life doesn't affect anyone else."

       "Exactly," Orchid said. "Like, who cares if my brother is gay? It doesn't affect anyone else's life. At least he's in a committed relationship. I bet all the people bothering him don't even know what love is."

       "That is probably true," I said.

       "Hey, between you and me," she said, then she lowered her voice, "Jerome, Nolan's boyfriend, is planning on proposing soon."

       "What? Really?" I asked. "Isn't Nolan only seventeen?"

       "Yeah, but that doesn't mean he'll be getting married at seventeen," Orchid said. "Just that they'll be planning a wedding. Our whole family wants it to happen anyway."

       "How do you even know he's planning on proposing?" I asked. "Did he tell you?"

       Orchid shook her head. "No, he told his best friend, who's my sister-in-law, and she told me so I can talk to Nolan about it to see if he would ever accept a proposal at the age of seventeen. He said he will, and it makes me jealous because their relationship is, like, the epitome of cute. I want a relationship like theirs. You know, minus the gay part."

       "You'll find it one day," I said. "It might even come closer than you think."

       Hint, hint.

       "Yeah, you're right," Orchid said.

       Well, that didn't work.

       Maybe I should be more upfront about it.

       Come on, Atticus. Just ask her out. 

       ....No, maybe some other time.

____________________

Aww, Atticus, JUST DO IT. Oh, wait, I'm the author. I can make him do it. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )

Guys I am so sorry for taking over a month to update. I honestly forgot about it and remembered when someone posted about it on my wall. So if I take a long time, like over a week, to update FEEL FREE TO SPAM MY PROFILE WALL SO I REMEMBER. I don't want to keep taking forever to update this book.

AND JEROME MIGHT PROPOSE SOON. I know this isn't Jerlan's book and I'M STILL GOING TO FANGIRL OVER JEROME. Any guesses when he will propose? Like on a regular day or at a specific event?