Skylar's POV

　　"Why aren't you eating?" Alex asked, eyeing my lunch tray.

　　Normally, food would've been my only desire, aside from sleep of course. But right now, just the sight of it made me all queasy.

　　I glanced at my tray once more before muttering, "I got a C," With a frown, I looked him straight in the eye. "Again."

　　I picked up a fry and chewed on it hoping to obtain my appetite again. It worked for all of five seconds before flashes of my Physics's test paper and a big red C on it appeared right before my eyes. I had to accept the fact that I was definitely not eating lunch today.

　　A small snicker escaped his lips before he gave me the most sincere apology, "That sucks."

　　I glared at him and he put his hands up in surrender. Sometimes I wonder how we even managed to become friends in the first place. It's not like Alex didn't care about his grades, they were decent, but they also weren't his first priority. On the other hand, I cared a lot about my grades. And you couldn't blame me. After all, I had lawyer parents to live up to.

　　"Mom will freak out when she sees my report. It's the third time, Alex. Why is this even happening to me?" I rambled with wide eyes. I was concerned for my own self.

　　To be honest, I'm not a total nerd. I didn't study every night and hugged textbooks wherever I went, I didn't even like studying. But I still got acceptable grades.

　　All except for Physics. I had sacrificed my sleep for this test, I had spent the entire night memorizing each and every one of my notes, so much so that I was completely sure that I'd ace it. But when the test papers were passed out, I'd forgotten everything almost immediately. My mind had just went blank.

　　"Don't be too hard on yourself, Sky. You'll have another test, what, next week? Another bright chance for you to ace it." He reassured me. I furrowed my brows at him. "You'll do great."

　　"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" Because it didn't.

　　You would expect him to dodge the topic off like this. Like I said, he didn't care about his grades unlike me. But then again, his strong suit was sports whereas mine was academics. At least, I'd like to believe that. Aside from that, I wasn't really good at anything else. No hidden talents or even just talents in general.

　　I shot him a disapproving look. His parents focused more on his athleticism and only worried about grades when he was on the brink of losing eligibility.

　　With my parents, it was all about the GPA.

　　"Is there anything that could cheer you up? Perhaps a chocolate cupcake?" He suggested as if he hadn't deceived me earlier.

　　I eyed him cautiously, "Depends," I scooted away a little, "do I have to go to the boy's washroom again?" Do not even ask, I was desperate at that time.

　　"No, of course not. It's not quite that drastic." He replied, his gaze flickering away from mine every few seconds. "I mean, it's just a small task."

　　Did he think I was that stupid?

　　I let out a laugh. "I'm sorry, Alex, but I don't want to be a victim of the school's social media again. Last time one of those pictures went viral, even the Principal saw it."

　　I did love cupcakes but I preferred my dignity over them. I wasn't going to be that stupid again.

　　"I promise it's not that bad, Sky." He said. "I'll even buy you a jar of Nutella after this."

　　I narrowed my eyes at that. Nutella certainly wasn't over my sleep, but it was a close second. Unfortunately, Alex knew that and he always manipulated me with such things.

　　And that wasn't even the saddest thing. The most upsetting thing was that I gladly let him manipulate me if it ever came to Nutella.

　　"I'll take that as a yes," he said when I didn't answer. "All you have to do is talk to Caden."

　　It took me a while to register what he just said. "And why the hell do you think I would do that?" I asked. There was no way I was talking to that idiot.

　　Alex looked at me in disappointment. "Because I can't. And if I don't, Coach will probably give me another lecture on all those responsibilities and shit."

　　That was the truth. Alex wasn't one to care about responsibilities.

　　"Why can't you talk to Caden yourself?" I asked.

　　"Because I hate his guts."

　　I took a sip of my milkshake. Our school cafeteria didn't have one of those delicious milkshakes, but it worked.

　　"And why do you hate his guts?" I asked him. Even though almost everyone hated Caden at some point, except all those girls who totally adored him, I still needed to hear a legit reason from Alex.

　　Alex rolled his eyes at that question, seeming almost irritated. "He tried to flirt with Stacey. And I don't think I can look him in the eye without wanting to punch his face." I'm sure it would've been Stacy who flirted first. She's one of those girls who throw themselves at almost anyone. And besides, I don't think Caden Miller ever flirts first.

　　If he ever flirts, that is.

　　"And who is Stacey?" I asked, pretending not to know.

　　He looked very irritated by now. "My girlfriend?'' He made it sound like it should've been obvious.

　　"And you didn't tell me about that because?" I continued the interrogation.

　　I already knew the answer to that, Stacey was one of the cheerleaders. Name any one of them and there's a ninety-five percent chance that Alex has already dated them. Not a long term relationship though, Alex never did that.

　　"God, will you stop that?" He asked exasperatedly.

　　I decided to think over it for a minute.

　　"No. I won't talk to Caden," I denied his previous request. "I swear to God, this was the fifth time he was running in the hallway, not even caring to help me get up from the floor when he made me fall down." I made sure to emphasise on those last few words. Because that was true, at least bits of it.

　　"You're exaggerating. It only happened twice." He corrected with another eye roll.

　　I passed him a glare at that. "Okay? But did he give me hand when I slammed into him and fell down on my butt?" I didn't wait for his response. "No, he didn't."

　　Caden was a douchebag. He wouldn't even care if he crashed into an old lady. That's what he was so popular for, his hostile and temperamental attitude.

　　He was also famous for skipping classes almost everyday. I didn't know why he even bothered coming to school in the first place. Along with his attitude problems, he also got into a lot of fights, rarely getting into trouble for that because of his dark and mysterious ways. He never got suspended for it and that was terribly suspicious.

　　People like me tried to do everything to stay away from him, and really, all I ever saw him was in the hallways when he was in a rush.

　　"What if I throw in another jar? Two big jars of Nutella?" Alex negotiated.

　　I looked at him for a moment, weighing my choices.

　　"The things I do for you." I groaned, giving in.

　　Well technically, for Nutella. If it weren't for that, I would've ditched Alex a long time ago.

　　He was my only source.