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“Sorry, excuse me!” I ran past everyone in the hall, accidentally bumping into people as I moved. Granted they were just as late to last period as I was. Twenty minutes late, if we’re counting.
“But, how?” You may be asking. I got locked in the bathroom, that’s how! All I was doing was going pee and then the janitor locked me in there!
I was banging on the door for what seemed like forever until the principle came and unlocked it. It was so embarrassing, I swear to God. I mean, who gets locked in the bathroom anyways?!
Whatever, I just had to get to English. I didn’t like being late and walking into a room where everyone would be staring at you would make it so much worse.
When I got to the room, I threw open the door and went in. Just as I expected, everyone turned their full attention to me but, then again, why wouldn’t they? I practically jogged over to my seat and gave Josh a small smile before sitting down.
“You’re late.” He turned around and told me. I nodded and sighed as I slumped back in my seat. I looked around, trying to find Mrs. Flynn but I couldn’t find her anywhere.
“Where’s Mrs. Flynn?” I leaned forward and asked him.
“She’s not here. We have a sub but they just went to the bathroom. She said that Flynn didn’t leave any work for us so we can just relax.” He explained. I nodded as he finished. At least I was off the hook for being tardy.
A couple of minutes later the sub came in and I told them I was here. They didn’t ask me for a pass so I just went back and talked to Josh for the rest of class.
We’d been talking a lot, I’ve noticed. I mean, if two weeks count as a lot then, yeah, a lot. He was actually really nice and funny and I enjoyed talking with him.
“I don’t know, I feel like aliens exist.” Josh smiled. He was a bit weird but that’s alright. I liked it.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I mean, you never know what’s out there. We don’t even know what’s at the bottom of the oceans so who’s to say aliens can’t be out there?”
“That’s a good point. Then mermaids could be real, too.” I added with a chuckle at the end. He lifted his hand up for a high five and I returned it in a swift movement. Right as I did so, the bell went off and I slung my bag over my shoulder to go.
“I’ll catch you later, Tyler. Look out for my messages!” Josh told me. I smiled and nodded before taking off out the door.
Today I had work so I got off the bus at a different stop that was closer to the ice cream shop. I had a long shift tonight so that kind of sucked but at least I had more opportunity for tips. I’d be the only one working tonight, too, so I got the keep the tip jar tips and my personal ones.
When I got there Jenna was waiting at the front door. She couldn’t leave until I got there, I just hoped I wasn’t too late.
“Hey, sorry to keep you waiting.” I jogged up to the door.
“Oh, you’re fine. Just make sure you lock up. Later, Tyler.” Jenna said. She threw me the keys and walked to her car as I got inside and changed in the back room, getting ready for my shift.
Work went smoothly. I didn’t get an overwhelming amount of customers but enough to have a decent amount of tips.
I closed up around 9:30 and walked home since my mom went out for the night. Fun.
I ran home because I hated being alone in the dark. It was fucking scary. When I got home, I took a shower and got dressed in some comfortable clothes. This was usually how my Friday nights went and there didn’t seem to be a change in sight.
Taking out my phone, I noticed that I had missed messages from Josh. It was only about 10:15 so I figured I’d answer them instead of leaving him hanging.
Hey, sorry I’m so late. I had work 🙁
I responded. I then turned on my TV and put on Netflix as I waited for a response. I knew he wouldn’t be asleep; Josh went to bed really late.
Josh: That’s fine.
Okay. Are you tired?
Usually Josh told me about his day after I didn’t answer so I kind of figured he’d had a long day.
Josh: No.
Oh, okay. Is something wrong?
Josh: No.
Yeah, right.
Josh: Yeah.
I wasn’t taking that anymore. I knew something was wrong and if he didn’t want to tell me over text, then he would tell me over the phone.
I dialed his number in my phone and held it up to my ear and waited for him to pick up. It took him a few rings but he answered eventually.
“Hello?” He answered sadly.
“Tell me what’s wrong right now.” I demanded. I didn’t like hearing him sound sad. It didn’t sit right with me.
“Nothing’s wrong, Tyler.” He said plainly.
“I know that’s not true. How come you don’t want to tell me?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I don’t know how to.” He explained. I nodded to indicate that I understood even though I knew he couldn’t see me.
“Well, that’s okay. You could always just spit it out and tell me.”
“I guess.”
“Do you want to give it a go?”
“Sure. Um, I was just thinking,” He paused. “Are we friends?”
“Oh.” I thought about it for a moment. We’d been hanging out for a couple of weeks and he was pretty great so the answer was a no-brainer. “Well, yeah!”
“Really?” He sounded surprised. Was the feeling one sided?
“I’d like to think so. You’re really cool and fun.”
“Thanks.” He said in a small tone though I could practically hear the smile in his voice. I guess it wasn’t.
“Of course.” I smiled back. “Okay, well, I have a question, too.”
“Okay, shoot.” He said. He sounded kind of happy again. It made me smile.
“Is this, like, new for you?” I asked. I realized it sounded weird so I clarified. “I mean, because, I’ve never really, you know, had a, uh, friend before? It’s weird, I’m sorry. I was just wondering if it was the same for you.”
“Nah, I understand. Yes.” He stated.
“Wait, for real?” I was astounded. He seemed so cool and great. I would’ve never guessed I was his first friend.
“Yeah. At least you’re my friend now though.” He piped up.
“That’s true!” I cheered. “Can we talk or do you have to go?”
“Dude, you know I have nothing to do. I can talk.”
“Sweet. So, what’s up?” I started off. We talked for the rest of the night. It ended up being around three in the morning when we actually stopped talking. It’s not that I was tired. It was that my mom came home and I didn’t want to hear her complain about something so I had to go.
We didn’t talk about anything particular, it was just about miscellaneous topics but I really enjoyed it. He made my night better and I hope I did the same for him.
***
Bam.
catch you on the flip *
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