Chapter 80 - Drew (1)

To say eating with Drew was awkward was an understatement. It was a tense moment like when you were eating with your school principal or your boss. It was as if the air was choking Aki. No matter how much Aki wanted to hasten to eat, it seemed like he had trouble swallowing his food. He just could not relax.

There were only a handful of times when Aki and Drew were alone together. The first time was when Zy got called in the faculty after cutting classes to see Drew. Aki and Drew waited outside, worried about what was to come. They did not talk, yet somehow they felt a sense of camaraderie with each other at that time.

A few months after he transferred, Drew's attendance dropped. By this time, Zy had already attached himself to Drew and watching his new-found friend like this worried him.

One afternoon, Zy sneaked out of class to follow Drew. In turn, Aki followed Zy, worried for his friend and worried that Drew might be doing something bad that might affect Zy. Drew was always the cool and quiet guy. It was hard to guess what he was thinking. With this nature, some of the gossip-lovers at school spread that he was doing something illegal which explains his absence.

Their assumptions were all proven wrong when the two of them arrived at the shop where Drew worked at. Because of his father's health, Drew had to help at the shop as a mechanic while his father recuperates. They were short on money so they could not turn down customers either but also would not allow them to hire other part-timers. Naturally, the responsibility was passed down to their only son.

While everything went well for Drew after he explained, it did not bode well to the teachers that Zy and Aki skipped classes. But Zy claimed all of their faults and told the teachers that he tricked Aki to come with him. Aki was saved while Zy was punished by having to clean up and lock the gym for a week. Both Aki and Drew secretly helped. That event made all three of them closer to each other.

The second time was when Zy got super mad at Aki and Aki was so worried about what happened to Zy. Aki could not remember what exactly happened, it might probably be something trivial but he remembered how Zy stormed out of Aki's house. His friend rarely got angry so it was such a surprise when he did.

Aki was scared out of his wits that it might have ended his friendship with Zy. Even if it was awkward, he called Drew to help find their friend because he knew that Zy would not be able to resist Drew. Aki thought that maybe that time, subconsciously, he already acknowledged that Drew was already a big part of his friend.

Now, as Aki inhaled his food, he cast a surreptitious glance to the guy in front of him. Drew was good-looking if one's into the rugged look with his cropped hair and that sharp jaw. He has a five o'clock shadow around that jaw that made him look rougher and even dangerous when combined with his always narrowed dark eyes as if he was learning all your nuts and bolts like the ones he worked with on a motorcycle. Many girls from their high school hit on him the first day he transferred. Aki guessed that it must have been that bad boy look. But for Aki it only made him feel like he wanted to stay at least at an arm's length from the guy.

"I know you like Zy," Drew said in that straightforward manner of his.