50. DRAMATIC

I walked into T's room the next morning just as he was about to walk out.

"I don't know why you're dressed. You can go ahead and take it all off again."

Timothy scoffed. "We have school."

"We can skip first period. Or better yet, not go at all."

"Yeah, except, I would actually like to graduate this year." Timothy tried to walk by me. I pulled him close to me.

"I've been waiting all night for this."

"You're so dramatic."

"No, you are. One missed class isn't going to tank your year. Now be a good boy and turn around." I smirked.

Timothy raised his eyebrows. "You're so romantic. I feel so loved."

I smacked my teeth. "You already know I love you,"

Wait, what the fuck!

Timothy's eyes widened.

"I didn't know that." T blinked a few times. "Actually."

My whole face was going red and I absolutely could not look at him.

Why the fuck did I just say that? Where the hell did that even come from?!

"Fuck it, let's go to school." I turned away.

"No, no, no, hold on." Timothy grabbed my arm. "What did you just say?" He smiled, leaning in.

"N-nothing."

"I think I heard something." Timothy insisted.

I sighed. "Just let it go. It slipped out, okay?" I looked at the ground.

"So you didn't mean it?"

Crap. I was stuck. No matter what I said now I was fucked. Especially since there was no way in holy hell Timothy was ready to say it back. He probably didn't even fucking feel that way.

Joe walked into the room. T let go of my arm.

"Surprise! I have the day off so I can bring you boys to school!"

"You can bring Timothy, I'll take my car." I rushed out of the room.

✪

I was so fucked. Timothy knew I loved him. It was a catastrophe. Why the fuck did I have to say that?

I sat alone in the history classroom since I was way too early.

"Yo." Dave said as he walked into the classroom. He sat next to me.

"Sup."

He looked tired.

"What's your deal? Did you spend all night boning Jennifer?" I smirked.

Dave frowned. "No?" He snapped.

"What's your problem?" I asked.

Dave shrugged.

"Your dad again? What did he do now?"

Dave took a slow, deep breath.

He looked out the window.

"Dude," I grabbed his shoulder. He jerked his arm away.

His eyes were filled with tears. What the hell was going on? In all the years I'd known him Dave never cried.

The collar of his shirt moved down a little. There was a bruise on his neck.

Shit..

His lips trembled as he tried to hold in his tears.

For a moment I felt bad for him. And I worried that things at home had gone from unhealthy to unsafe.

"Dave, you can tell me anything." I grabbed his shoulder.

Dave froze and said nothing for a long time. Then he opened his mouth only for a second before people entered the room. Before we knew it the room was full and the teacher had started his lecture.

Dave sniffed and angrily wiped a tear. No one else saw.

He walked off right after class without another word.

✪

My other class ended early before lunch so I figured I'd wait in the cafeteria. There were about five people there apart from me. Four from my class and Jennifer. She looked god-awful. Well, not really. She wasn't capable of that but she looked messier than I was used to. Her usually over the top outfit was now replaced by a pink velvet tracksuit and shades.

I decided to ignore her. I walked past her, towards the window.

"Hey Josh." She said.

I sighed and turned around. "What?"

She shrugged. "I was just wondering how you were, is all."

She sounded normal for once.

"Do you wanna sit down?" She pulled out a chair.

She was Dave's girlfriend. I should probably attempt to get along with her.

I sat down. "I'm fine."

"Really? You look stressed."

"I could say the same to you. What the hell are you wearing?"

"Hello? This is Juicy Couture. All the celebs-"

"It's a fucking tracksuit. I'm shocked to see you without heels." I smirked.

Jen smiled. "It's one of those days."

"Ew, don't tell me you're on your period!"

"No!" Jen laughed. "And don't say 'ew'!"

"I'm sorry but it's gross."

"You like pussy but you don't like womanhood." Jen shook her head.

Did I even like pussy? Now whenever I wanted to get off I thought of Timothy.

And then I remembered I said the L-word to him.

"Fuck." I mumbled.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I just.. Told someone something I shouldn't have."

Jen eyed me curiously. "What did you say?"

"Something stupid." I sighed. "Whatever, I'll fix it."

Jennifer patted my arm in support.

"Wanna tell me what your deal is?" I asked.

She sighed. "I don't know.. Have you noticed anything different about Dave lately?"

"I mean, sure."

"He's always in a bad mood these days."

I mean, she wasn't wrong..

"I guess. So is that's what it is? Did you guys have a fight?"

Jen nodded.

"About what?"

Jen looked at me for a moment and opened her mouth. Then she looked away. She looked ashamed. Even with the shades on. I again felt that weird worry.

"Was it bad?"

Jennifer shrugged and averted her gaze.

"Don't worry about it. You know how he is. He'll turn around." I shrugged.

Jennifer kept quiet. She kept staring at the table.

Her behavior kinda reminded me of how Dave had acted earlier.

"I mean.. it couldn't have been that bad.."

Jen looked at her lap.

I strangely got the impression Dave had done something to her.

"He didn't touch you, did he?" I asked quietly.

The bell rung and soon hoards of people filled the cafeteria.

"Jen?" I grabbed her shoulder.

That's when Dave came in. "What's up, guys?" He eyed us suspiciously. He looked frustrated. I removed my hand from Jen's arm.

I could hardly look at him. He hurt her? I knew Dave wasn't exactly the kindest but hurt a girl? Would he really go that far?

"Hi." Jen smiled at him. It looked like it took a lot of effort.

Or maybe she was just stirring shit up. She was petty enough to do it.

Some of our friends joined us and soon Dave was in deep conversation with them. He had his arm around Jen's shoulder.

I eyed her. She looked distressed to say the least. There was no way in hell she was lying.

I looked at Dave and for once I felt scared. I was scared he was even more of a monster than I thought.

"I gotta go." I grabbed my bag and left the table. Jen watched me leave.

God, please, this has to be a lie. Dave wouldn't hit a girl. He just wouldn't.

I was going to the bathroom to splash some water on my face. I walked through the busy cafeteria into the empty hallway.

I turned the corner and bumped into Timothy.

I caught him in my arms before he had the chance fall to the ground.

"Thanks." He smiled.

"Yeah." I let go of him and looked around. One random guy ran by us into the cafeteria.

T cocked his head. "Everything okay?" He said after taking one look at me.

I shrugged. "Nothing you need to worry about."

"I worry about you. So if something bothers you, you should tell me." T shrugged.

"I don't think you wanna hear about Dave and his problems."

"Why not?"

"Because he's awful to you. But he's.. He's still my friend, you know?" I stared at the ground. It was almost embarrassing to say it. Was there nothing the guy could do to make me stop caring about him?

"I already told you I don't take it that hard. Tell me." Timothy leaned against the lockers.

I sighed. "Well, he's been fighting with his dad. Physically.. apparently."

And not just him.

"Really?"

I shrugged. "I feel bad but then he's.. Jen seemed to insinuate he's been fighting with her too."

"You mean that he's hitting her?"

I shrugged again.

Timothy looked surprised for a moment. He took a breath.

"I don't know what to do. Things seem to be getting out of hand with him."

"Maybe you should talk to him. I'm sure he'll listen to you, you're his best friend. He looks up to you."

"Pff, he doesn't. He sees me as competition."

"He looks up to you. I'm telling you. You don't see how he looks at you." Timothy gave me a soft smile.

"Really?"

"I think if you talk to him about it he'll realize he's wrong. Can't hurt to try, right?"

I smiled and sighed of relief. He was so good at staying neutral about things that seemed impossible to overcome to me sometimes.

I leaned in. Our noses touched. "Thanks." I smirked.

T cracked a bright ass smile. "Is this why you love me?" He teased.

"Ughh..!" I groaned. "I didn't mean to say that!"

T chuckled. "It's fine. I'll stop bringing it up."

"Okay." I pecked his lips. "Just know that that doesn't mean I don't love you."

"Sure." T smiled.

I smiled back and he leaned up on his toes. I kissed him hungrily. I grabbed his waist before sliding my hands into his back pockets.