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ayumidahAlex Irvine sighs, brushing strands of unruly dark hair out of his eyes. He's sitting alone in the high school cafeteria, ignoring everyone around him pointedly. He pokes around his unappetizing tray of lukewarm spaghetti and soggy looking bread, careful not to glance up when he hears familiar voices, their owners passing by his table without a pause.
Luke Bristol and Haven Smythe, former best friends of his. Even without looking, he can tell as they walk past him and towards the table they all used to sit at, talk and discuss plans for their next club meeting. The impulsively created club had been simple, maybe a little geeky, but they'd all enjoyed it and its lax rules. So many clubs, even ones ran outside of school had rules or little details that none of them had liked, so Alex had taken over, deciding to create his own for him and his friends.
They'd spent the meetings doing whatever they'd wanted-- video games, writing stories, sometimes homework if one of them needed help with it. There was always a lot of laughter and good times, until everything changed. His growing crush on one of his closest friends, Alyssa Isaacs, had come to a head when she'd somehow figured it out. Either by knowing him so well, or someone giving her a hint, it had thrown him when she confessed to feeling the same. He'd been uncertain about it, not wanting to lose their friendship, but had followed through with his feelings.
Their relationship had been short, life and their general lack of experience working against them until he grew tired of feeling so needy and uncertain about everything said or done by her, by him, by their group. Telling her that maybe they should take a break had been the hardest thing he'd done, especially since she was still part of the club, and he still ended up seeing her more often than not. Instead of making the awkwardness better, their old friendship returning, it just made it worse. It made him worse. He didn't like the person he was becoming, so he did the second hardest thing he'd ever had to do.
Asked her if she thought they should break up, and trying to appear strong when she agreed. But the time that passed did nothing: He was still sad, he still missed her, things were strained in the club, and he reminded himself every time he saw her that losing an important friendship for a relationship that barely lasted three months is never worth it, and he could never repeat that mistake again. Despite his growing unhappiness, he thought he had at least one thing left that was decent: his club... until one day he went to the assigned spot in the park to find it abandoned, empty.
It had been chance when he'd found them in Alyssa's parents' garage, laughing and leaning over tablets, doing who knows what. Realization of what it'd meant had ate at him until he'd stuffed his hands in his pockets and left. They had taken the club he'd pushed for the creation of and moved it elsewhere without him. Point taken.
So now he's here. Alone and doing everything possible to not watch the others move on without him, smug and laughing at taking everything that had mattered to him in one fell swoop. He swallows hard and pokes some more at the spaghetti before preparing to stand and throw it all away, the smell alone making him feel worse.
He's just half standing when a faintly accented voice cuts into his dark thoughts. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
He blinks and looks up and over, staring at a brown haired man with equally dark eyes, a kind of mischevious gleam to his eye. He shrugs, staring at the empty seat across from him. "Have at it. I'm leaving." He's picked his tray up, about to turn away and walk off, when...
"No, wait," the guy insists, holding a hand out to him. He glances uncertainly at Alex's tray. "You haven't ate." He hesitates and smiles warily. "It isn't that nice looking, is it?" He settles down in the chair and organizes a couple of sandwiches and vegetable sticks in front of him. "I'm allergic to cafeteria meals, so I pack my own. It perhaps gives people here more reason to avoid me, but I can't bare to attempt to eat that." He pokes a plastic fork towards the mess on Alex's tray before staring down at his food. "I'm aware you don't know me, but perhaps if you stayed, we could share? I have plenty."
Alex stares at him, confused. No one's tried to do anything nice for him since the club was taken from him and he's not sure why this random man is doing this now. "Why are you doing this? Did Luke and Haven tell you to, or...?"
The man looks confused. "Who? I have no idea who those people are. I just transferred here, so I haven't met many people yet."
He seems sincere so Alex relaxes a little, glancing towards the food scattered around his plate. He still misses his friends, his club, the easy trust he'd had in making new friends. He misses Alicia with every breath, and he's not sure if he could ever handle going through something like that again, the loss of everything so suddenly. But he's so damn lonely and this random stranger seems so inviting with his edible looking food and his friendly gaze that Alex finally takes his seat again, pushing the tray of cold spaghetti out of sight down the table. They've moved on... maybe it's time for me to too...
Even so, it takes everything in him to extend his hand, hold the other man's eye and try to smile through the pain. "My name's Alex."
"Mine's Antonio." Pushing one of the sandwiches over to Alex, he grins goodnaturedly. "Nice to meet you."
As Alex sits back, unwrapping the sandwich, for the first time in weeks, he's not inclined to focus on his former friends without looking at them. He smiles slightly. I think I can get used to this.
Luke Bristol and Haven Smythe, former best friends of his. Even without looking, he can tell as they walk past him and towards the table they all used to sit at, talk and discuss plans for their next club meeting. The impulsively created club had been simple, maybe a little geeky, but they'd all enjoyed it and its lax rules. So many clubs, even ones ran outside of school had rules or little details that none of them had liked, so Alex had taken over, deciding to create his own for him and his friends.
They'd spent the meetings doing whatever they'd wanted-- video games, writing stories, sometimes homework if one of them needed help with it. There was always a lot of laughter and good times, until everything changed. His growing crush on one of his closest friends, Alyssa Isaacs, had come to a head when she'd somehow figured it out. Either by knowing him so well, or someone giving her a hint, it had thrown him when she confessed to feeling the same. He'd been uncertain about it, not wanting to lose their friendship, but had followed through with his feelings.
Their relationship had been short, life and their general lack of experience working against them until he grew tired of feeling so needy and uncertain about everything said or done by her, by him, by their group. Telling her that maybe they should take a break had been the hardest thing he'd done, especially since she was still part of the club, and he still ended up seeing her more often than not. Instead of making the awkwardness better, their old friendship returning, it just made it worse. It made him worse. He didn't like the person he was becoming, so he did the second hardest thing he'd ever had to do.
Asked her if she thought they should break up, and trying to appear strong when she agreed. But the time that passed did nothing: He was still sad, he still missed her, things were strained in the club, and he reminded himself every time he saw her that losing an important friendship for a relationship that barely lasted three months is never worth it, and he could never repeat that mistake again. Despite his growing unhappiness, he thought he had at least one thing left that was decent: his club... until one day he went to the assigned spot in the park to find it abandoned, empty.
It had been chance when he'd found them in Alyssa's parents' garage, laughing and leaning over tablets, doing who knows what. Realization of what it'd meant had ate at him until he'd stuffed his hands in his pockets and left. They had taken the club he'd pushed for the creation of and moved it elsewhere without him. Point taken.
So now he's here. Alone and doing everything possible to not watch the others move on without him, smug and laughing at taking everything that had mattered to him in one fell swoop. He swallows hard and pokes some more at the spaghetti before preparing to stand and throw it all away, the smell alone making him feel worse.
He's just half standing when a faintly accented voice cuts into his dark thoughts. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
He blinks and looks up and over, staring at a brown haired man with equally dark eyes, a kind of mischevious gleam to his eye. He shrugs, staring at the empty seat across from him. "Have at it. I'm leaving." He's picked his tray up, about to turn away and walk off, when...
"No, wait," the guy insists, holding a hand out to him. He glances uncertainly at Alex's tray. "You haven't ate." He hesitates and smiles warily. "It isn't that nice looking, is it?" He settles down in the chair and organizes a couple of sandwiches and vegetable sticks in front of him. "I'm allergic to cafeteria meals, so I pack my own. It perhaps gives people here more reason to avoid me, but I can't bare to attempt to eat that." He pokes a plastic fork towards the mess on Alex's tray before staring down at his food. "I'm aware you don't know me, but perhaps if you stayed, we could share? I have plenty."
Alex stares at him, confused. No one's tried to do anything nice for him since the club was taken from him and he's not sure why this random man is doing this now. "Why are you doing this? Did Luke and Haven tell you to, or...?"
The man looks confused. "Who? I have no idea who those people are. I just transferred here, so I haven't met many people yet."
He seems sincere so Alex relaxes a little, glancing towards the food scattered around his plate. He still misses his friends, his club, the easy trust he'd had in making new friends. He misses Alicia with every breath, and he's not sure if he could ever handle going through something like that again, the loss of everything so suddenly. But he's so damn lonely and this random stranger seems so inviting with his edible looking food and his friendly gaze that Alex finally takes his seat again, pushing the tray of cold spaghetti out of sight down the table. They've moved on... maybe it's time for me to too...
Even so, it takes everything in him to extend his hand, hold the other man's eye and try to smile through the pain. "My name's Alex."
"Mine's Antonio." Pushing one of the sandwiches over to Alex, he grins goodnaturedly. "Nice to meet you."
As Alex sits back, unwrapping the sandwich, for the first time in weeks, he's not inclined to focus on his former friends without looking at them. He smiles slightly. I think I can get used to this.
no subject
2015-07-03 21:51 (UTC)It kind of threw me when you introduced Antonio as a man ... that struck me as unusual considering they're in a high school cafeteria and high school students aren't generally discussed as "men" or "women". There was a minute or so there I was thinking ... What's a grown-up doing sitting down for lunch in the cafeteria! ;)
Anyhoo! Glad to see that you joined in the June game :D See ya in July!
no subject
2015-07-03 22:25 (UTC)Thanks, looking forward to it :D