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Trent Houston and Shrub Rosehammer had been inseparable since the start of middle school, and Trent always planned to keep it that way. But, they had just started their freshman year of high school a couple of weeks ago, and Trent began to notice that Shrub would join him for lunch later, and later.
Trent watched the clock in the cafeteria, noting that twenty minutes of lunch break had passed. He sighed, pulling out his phone to text his best friend, glancing out the window. He set his phone down when he saw Shrub outside, without him.
Shrub was with other people. Other people that Trent didn’t even recognize.
Trent watched his best friend with the three other people, but his eye gravitated towards the chubby elf, who appeared to be the most outgoing of the group. Trent could almost hear the elf’s boisterous voice from inside, followed by Shrub’s deep laughter. He then watched as Shrub waved goodbye the others, the elf pulling him into a quick hug.
Is Shrub dating this guy? Trent thought, his brow scrunching up, feeling uneasy. If he is, why didn’t he tell me?
Trent’s thoughts were interrupted when Shrub slid up beside him, nudging his shoulder.
“Hey, T!” Shrub greeted him, leaning onto the table. “Sorry I was late, I was chatting with-”
“Your new friends…” Trent mumbled. “I saw you outside with them…”
Shrub noticed something was wrong with his friend. “Hey, are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Trent nodded, his voice monotone. He was unimpressed, to say the least. “Who were the people you were hanging out with?”
“Oh! They’re in my drama class in the morning!” Shrub smiled. “There’s Wardus, Yaldina, and Barley! They’re so nice!”
“Which one’s the elf?” Trent asked.
“That’s Barley!”
Trent nodded his head slowly. “I saw him hug you…are you two, like, y'know…”
“Dating?” Shrub chuckled, shaking his head. “No, man. Barley’s just a hugger. He’s not my type anyway.”
Trent knew his friend was bisexual, but whenever Shrub would mention anything related to liking a guy more than friends, it always made Trent’s stomach churn. Maybe it was the way his parents raised him, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. What his father called “faggots” made him feel a little icky. But he cared too much about Shrub to admit that, to admit that he has deep-rooted homophobia.
“Trent, I can tell something’s not right with you,” Shrub admitted, placing a reassuring hand on his buddy’s shoulder. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
Trent nodded, letting out a sigh. “I guess I just want to be included…”
“Hey, that’s not a problem,” Shrub smiled. “I’m sure my new buddies would love to meet you!”
“So…I can join you tomorrow?”
“Yeah!”
The next day, Shrub brought Trent outside with him, smiling when he saw Barley making his way over.
“Hey, Barley!” Shrub called, waving him over. “Where’s Wardus and Yaldina?”
“Debate club,” Barley shrugged, his eyes immediately drifting over to Trent. “Who’s this fellow you’ve brought with you?” he asked, winking at Shrub.
“This is Trent! He’s my best bud,” Shrub introduced.
Barley extended a hand. “Nice to meet you, good sir!” he spoke in a dramatic voice, quite bold and loud.
Trent shook Barley’s hand hesitantly. “Nice to meet you too…”
The three were silent for a minute, Barley stuffing his hands into his pockets and rocking on his heels, his lips pursed. It seemed as though he was trying to figure out Shrub’s friend just through observation.
“So, Trent,” he spoke, smiling at the guy. “What do ya like?”
“Oh, uh, I guess I like boxing,” Trent said, running a hand through his lavender hair. “I’ve been boxing for a while.”
“Cool,” Barley nodded. “I’m more of a history guy, myself.”
“Barley’s really good at Quests of Yore,” Shrub chuckled, playfully punching Barley on the shoulder.
“Oh, hush,” Barley grinned, swatting away Shrub’s hand. “You’re not so bad yourself. Just not quite to the level of quest mastery that I am.”
Shrub laughed. “Someday I might be.”
“We’ll see about that!” Barley added. “Do you play Quests, Trent?”
“Oh, no…” Trent shook his head. “Not really my thing…”
“Well, if you’re ever looking to give it a try, you know where to find me,” Barley winked, causing Trent to stiffen. “You guys wanna wander around?” he asked, already walking backwards.
“Yeah!” Shrub agreed, following him.
As they walked around the outside of the school, Trent found himself staying behind Shrub and Barley. The two of them were having such a lively conversation and they both seemed so happy. Trent didn’t want to interject, mostly because he wasn’t quite sure what they were talking about. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel jealously building up inside of him, a small fire of rage igniting in his heart.
He could see it now; Barley was going to steal his best friend.
A few weeks had gone by since Trent had met Barley. He had no interest in hanging out with the elf, so when Shrub would text and ask if he wanted to join them for lunch, he simply wouldn’t respond. Trent noticed that after a few days, Shrub stopped asking for him to join him and his new buddies, which meant Trent didn’t see his friend during lunch.
He felt betrayed. He was angry that Shrub chose some guy he met in drama class over his best friend of three years.
During the ten minute passing period between lunch and class, Trent found Barley at his locker, alone.
“Barley!” Trent called, storming up to him, his hands curled in fists at his sides.
Barley turned around to face him, sending a smile his way. “Hey, Trent! How’s it go-”
Before Barley could say another word, Trent’s hand was fisted in the neckline of shirt, exposing his belly a little as Trent yanked him towards him. Barley was caught off guard, a bit of fear striking him when he noticed the anger in Trent’s eye.
“Stop trying to steal my best friend, fat-ass,” Trent spat, not even realizing he’d insulted his victim until the words had already left his mouth.
Barley blinked a few times, his expression that of confusion, mixed with a little bit of hurt from the small negative comment about his body.
“Dude, I’m not stealing Shrub from you,” he said calmly, trying to remove Trent’s fist from his shirt. “We’re just hanging out! He’s still your friend! It’s just that, now me and Shrub are friends too!”
Trent snarled, shoving Barley against his open locker, releasing his grip on the boy’s shirt. His eye quickly fell on the small pride flag hung in the back of Barley’s locker, then he scanned around, noticing a sticker of what he believed to be the pansexual flag stuck to it. That icky feeling welled up inside of him.
“Stay away from my friend, faggot,” he demanded through gritted teeth, the slur slipping off his tongue way too smoothly.
Barley’s eyes went wide at the slur, noticing the small crowd of students forming around them. “Dude-”
“STAY AWAY FROM MY FRIEND, YOU GOT THAT, FAG?” Trent shouted this time, his hand once again fisting in Barley’s shirt, his other hand curled in a fist, raised behind his head.
Trent heard something slam against the floor, and he turned around to see Shrub standing behind him, his math textbook now on the floor by his feet.
Shrub looked hurt on all levels. “What the hell, Trent?”
At the sound of his best friend’s upset voice, Trent dropped his grip on Barley, lowering his fist he had at the ready. “Shrub, I-”
“No, I don’t want to hear it,” Shrub refused, tears pricking his eyes. “I can’t excuse you calling my friend a slur…a slur which is also offensive to me…”
Trent stepped over to his friend, regret sinking in. “Shrub-”
“NO!” he shouted, his hands over his ears. “I trusted you, Trent… I trusted that you wouldn’t be like your dad…but you are…” A tear slid down his face. “Saying slurs, hurting people…you’re just as bad as him…”
Trent’s heart sank. The last thing he wanted was to be like his father. But the more Shrub spoke, the more he realized he was like his father. Yet, when he acted that way, something inside of him felt that it was right. He began to think that maybe he was supposed to be like his dad...maybe he liked being that way.
“I can’t…” Shrub mumbled, looking at Trent with watery eyes. “I can’t keep being friends with someone who won’t support me…someone who hurts people…” he spoke louder, just loud enough for Trent to hear him. “We’re done, Trent.”
Trent’s eye went wide. “What-”
“WE’RE NOT FRIENDS ANYMORE!” Shrub yelled, the bell signaling students to get to class sounding right after. Tears continued to fall from his eyes as he stood there, feeling paralyzed.
Barley shut his locker and walked up to Shrub, patting his shoulder. “It’s alright, bud…I’ll walk you to class…”
Barley looked back at Trent with a face that read ‘seriously?’ before he led Shrub to his math class, picking his textbook up off the ground for him.
All Trent could do was watch in shock as who used to be his only close friend, walked away, and he instantly put the blame on someone other than himself, like he always did.
He put the blame on Barley.
The next day, Barley noticed that Shrub wasn’t there for drama class. He couldn’t imagine what was going through Shrub’s head, how hard it must have been to decide to drop a friend that suddenly. He figured Shrub just needed some time to get over the situation.
He sat patiently with his other friends, waiting for Ms. Redwood to start their class.
“Alright everyone, we have a new student joining our class,” Ms. Redwood smiled, gesturing for the student to walk through the door. “Everyone be welcoming to Trent, he decided to transfer into our class just yesterday.”
Barley tensed up a little as the cyclops made eye contact with him. He knew Trent had a disliking for him, and what happened yesterday probably worsened that feeling.
Class started up like normal, and it wasn’t long before Ms. Redwood separated them into pairs for some exercises. She ended up pairing Barley with Trent because Barley was the most enthusiastic of all her students, so she figured he would be best to welcome the new classmate.
“Guess we’re partners, fat-ass,” Trent grumbled, shoving his hands deep in the pockets of his pants.
Barley exhaled sharply through his nose at the comment, doing his best to brush it to the side. “Why did you switch into this class?” he asked, hoping to get an answer as soon as possible.
“Simple; I needed a way to see Shrub,” Trent shrugged. A devious smirk then tugged at his lips. “And a way to get my revenge on you for stealing my best friend.”
Barley rolled his eyes, already annoyed by Trent’s childish behavior. “Trent, you hurt him. He had every right to not want to be your friend anymore.”
“I did not,” Trent hissed, his hand grabbing Barley’s shirt. “I called you a faggot, and he got upset about that. I never hurt him.”
“You did, though,” Barley tried to explain. “That slur is offensive to Shrub as well, and he trusted you that you’d never say it. You saying it hurt him.”
“Well then, maybe he shouldn’t be a fag,” Trent argued back, shoving Barley. “You shouldn’t either. It’s disgusting,” he spat in Barley’s face.
Barley took a deep breath. “Miss!” he called to his teacher, her immediately spinning around to face him. “I’d like a new partner, please. Trent’s saying offensive things to me.”
Ms. Redwood put a hand over her mouth, disappointment in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Barley. You can step out of class for a moment, I’ll chat with Trent.”
Barley accepted his teacher’s offer, stepping out of the classroom and leaning against the wall. He knew Trent wasn’t going to give up on harassing him, so he knew he would have to just take it and do his best to ignore it.
Trent would never accept that it was his own fault his friend dropped him. He never took the blame for anything he did; he always found a way to pin it on other people.
So the way Trent saw it was; until Shrub would be his friend again, he would go after Barley. He would make the elf wish they never crossed paths.
And we all know where that led.