Chapter Text
Yesterday was probably one of the most stressful days Travis has ever had in his entire life, and that’s truly saying something. If he could go back and redo everything that happened, he would. Now here he is, sitting at the edge of his bed, contemplating if he should go to school and see Sal, or pretending to be sick and praying his Father couldn’t see past his lying. Yes, lying is a sin, but God could make an exception in this case, right? As he continued weighing his options, the sound of Sal’s words still lingered in Travis’s mind, taunting him.
“I don’t think you’re a bad person, Travis.”
“I think under all of that anger, there’s a good dude who’s afraid to be himself.”
“...and what I said, about being here for you if you ever decide you want a friend. I meant that.”
“I meant that.”
Those three words played on repeat in Travis’s head, like a record stuck on loop. Did Sal actually mean those words? Sure, he said it, but did he really mean it? It was hard for Travis to believe that the boy who he physically, and verbally assaulted multiple times, truly MEANT that he would be his friend. Hell, if Travis were in Sal’s shoes, he would prefer to never have to see the face of his hypothetical bully ever again.
After a few more minutes of going over the many cons and pros of each option, Travis decided to ‘be a man’, and go to school. He didn’t want to risk the chance of his Father noticing his lies. Travis has learned what happens to him when he is caught lying and would prefer not to learn that lesson again. He begrudgingly stood from his less than comfortable bed and slung his backpack over his shoulders. A heavy sigh left his lips...
“Please Father God, protect me from a potential breakdown today.” He muttered to himself before finally walking towards his bedroom door.
_
Nockfell High, or as Travis likes to call it, his ‘Own Personal Hell’. His worn-down sneakers squeaked beneath his feet as he dragged them along the tile floors that looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since Christ had roamed the Earth. Every morning is usually the same. Wake up, get dressed, say his prayers, walk to school, sit alone, sit alone, project his insecurities onto other people, sit alone...then go home.
Sadly, today broke his streak of his usual routine.
As Travis entered the cafeteria, he was suddenly greeted by a very familiar face.
“Morning Travis!” The blue-haired boy spoke. Travis blinked his eyes a few times, thinking for a split second he was hallucinating.
Of course he was going to come up and say ‘hi’, that’s just the kind of person Sal is.
“Oh, uh...hey, Sally Face.” Travis’s coal-colored eyes darted everywhere except for Sal’s direction. Even though he could only see Sal’s eyes through his mask, that was still enough to make his heart race if he even dared to make contact with them.
There was a moment of awkward silence. Travis’s right hand fiddled with the hem of his sweater, desperately wishing to be anywhere but here.
Sal then gestured behind him towards a table that consisted of his little group of, as his Father would call them, 'delinquents'. Larry, Todd, Ash, Maple, and Chug. “Soooo, would you maybe wanna come sit with me and my friends?”
Travis already knew in his mind how insanely bad of an idea this was and became very confused as to why in the hell Sal would even suggest it. His eyes locked onto Larry’s cold and glaring stare, which then sent a shiver down his spine. He completely understood why they all hated him. I mean, hey, he hates himself too. After giving the other four a glance, he decided...
‘Yeah...Hell no.’
They all had a look of disdain on their face at the sight of the blonde. Travis knew how to read a room, and if he agreed, this would lead to the most uncomfortable interaction ever.
“Yeah uh, I’m good. Thanks though, I guess.” Travis replied as he looked back down at his feet.
Sal chuckled. “If you’re worried about everyone hating your guts or anything, don’t be.”
Travis’s head lifted as his eyes widened. His hands tightened around his backpack straps as he tried to keep his cool.
“Did...Did he seriously tell them? After he said he wouldn’t?”
His heart began to beat against his chest, but before he could open his mouth to scream words of hatred, Sal spoke.
“Don’t worry! I didn’t tell them anything about yesterday!” He quickly said, trying to calm the boy down before he would say something he’d regret.
Travis’s demeanor instantly relaxed. He moved his hand towards his heart and rested it there, feeling it slowly calm itself.
The blonde’s mouth went dry. “O..Okay...good.” He then let out a long sigh.
“Still though, I think I’m going to have to decline.”
Sal’s eyes saddened slightly, which Travis hated to see. He knew when he wasn’t wanted though and just kept trying to pray that Sal would give up on him and leave.
“Alright man, if you say so. I won’t push it.” Sal then turned around, but before fully walking off, he turned and glanced one more time back at Travis. “See ya in math!”
The boy spoke and waved off. Travis watched as he walked back towards his table. A slight feeling of disappointment hit him. Whatever, soon Sal will realize that Travis is unfixable and will never be able to befriend him like he wants.
Like Travis wants.
-
Travis lifted his head from his desk as the bell for third period rang throughout his ears. He let out a groan and stood up from his previous sleeping bed. His third period was math, how exciting. He lazily slung his backpack over his shoulders and slowly made his way towards the classroom. He prayed repeatedly in his head that this class would go by quick, and with as minimal Sal interaction as possible.
As he stepped into the blindingly white room, he immediately made his way over to his desk. Even though he walked as slow as he could to class, he was still earlier than Sal. This wasn’t surprising though; Sal usually comes in right as the bell rings. Travis sighed as he put down his backpack next to him. He leaned down to unzip it and grabbed his designated red notebook labeled ‘Math’. However, out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed a pair of red converses in front of him.
“I guess God picks and chooses with what prayers he listens too.” Travis angrily thinks to himself before leaning back up towards his desk. He looks at the boy standing in front of him and furrows his brows.
“Hey Travis!” Sal happily greets him, giving him a small wave as well.
“Hey, Sally Face...” Travis responded. Why was he here earlier than usual? Typically, Travis would watch as Sal stumbled through the door right as the bell rang, watching as he would heave a sigh of relief that he wasn’t counted as tardy.
Travis speaks quietly, turning his eyes towards his notebook on his desk. “Uh, so, what are you doing in class early? You’re usually stumbling through the door right when the bell rings.”
“Awe you pay attention to meee~.” Sal teased the boy.
Travis scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Well it’s hard to ignore someone with bright ass blue hair always bursting through the door every day at the last second.” Sal chuckled at Travis’s words.
“Haha! Well too actually answer your question, I just felt like being on time today.” Sal raised his left hand to fiddle with one of his pigtails.
Travis glanced back at Sal, then towards his paper again. He didn’t really know what to say in response, so he just began to tap his pencil against his desk, trying to signal towards Sal how he wanted this conversation to end. Silence continued until Sal eventually spoke up once more.
“You know, I was actually gonna ask you somethi-” Suddenly the bell rang, cutting off Sal mid-sentence.
“Alright everyone settle down now settle down. Please take your seats.” Mrs. Packerton spoke in her scratchy voice. Sal let out a small sigh and walked towards his seat, which was a few behind Travis’s.
The blonde-haired boy’s mind began to wander, what did Sal want to ask him? He silently cursed the bell for interrupting Sal. Now Travis would be filled with anxiety all class period, wondering what in the world could Sal possibly want to ask him.
“Everyone please open your notebooks and look towards the board. Today we will be learning about blah blah blah...” Mrs. Packerton’s words fade to gibberish in Travis’s mind. Paying attention to whatever the hell she was teaching right now was the least of his priorities. He now had a whole class period of contemplation to do.
“Alright, I’m going to be calling each of you up one by one to show you what you scored on your test from Tuesday.” Great, just great. Travis was already positive that he bombed it. No doubt in his mind. Everyone in the class already knows Sal aced it. Not only because Mrs. Packerton quite literally TOLD him in front of everyone two days ago, but because it was also just a known fact that Sal was incredibly smart. Especially when it comes to math. Something Travis heavily envied.
“Sal!” Mrs. Packerton called out. Sal scooted his chair back and made his way up towards her desk. Their interaction was very brief, because as previously stated, it was announced to everyone how much of a super-genius he is.
Travis’s eyes followed Sal as he walked back towards his desk. Sal glanced at him and made brief eye contact, which in turn made Travis dart his head away.
“Travis!” A grumble left the boy’s throat as he stood from his seat. He dragged himself over to where his extremely old teacher sat. Her face held a look of disappointment. Her nose scrunching up causing even more wrinkles, if that were even possible at her age. Yep, he could tell. He failed.
“You made a 45 on yesterday’s test Travis. Now are you just not paying attention or what?”
Travis fiddled his fingers back and forth before answering. “I try to ma’am. Math is just a bit...hard...for me.” Travis’s eyes stayed glued to the floor, God this was embarrassing.
Mrs. Packerton sighed. “If you keep your grades up like this, you won't pass the state exam next month. Stay here after class. We’ll find a way to help you. If you fail this class Travis, you’ll be held back.” His eyes widened slightly at that. If he gets held back, his Father will be furious. He’s been good at hiding his bad grades so far, but getting held back would be obvious that he was sucking in school. He didn’t even want to imagine what would happen to him. Travis shakily nodded his head.
“Yes ma’am.”
“You may go back to your seat now.” Travis turned around and slinked back to his chair. He could feel eyes on him, and it made him want to jump out of the classroom window. Even worse, he could feel Sal’s eyes burning into the back of his skull.
Travis dropped his head onto his desk once he sat down. Great, just great. Now he has to stay in this classroom longer than usual. He wasn’t necessarily upset that he was going to have to talk to Mrs. Packerton more but upset that he was going to have to stay in this nauseating classroom for a few minutes longer. The bright fluorescent lights and strange smells always made him feel uneasy.
After the last student made their way back towards their desk, the bell rang out for lunch. Everyone began to excitedly grab their bags and make their way out of the classroom, desperate for whatever slop the cafeteria was serving today. Travis silently wished it was bologna day again; that would make today just a little better. Even if it was though, he sadly wouldn’t be able to make it first in line, for now he had to go and talk to Mrs. Packerton about his doomed future. As Travis stood from his desk, he heard his teacher call out another name.
“Sal, come here.” The blue-haired boy stopped in his tracks and turned his head.
“Oh, okay.” He slowly walked back towards their teacher’s desk. Travis’s face was filled with confusion. Why in the world was she making Sal stay after class too? He sighed and made his way to Mrs. Packerton, avoiding any eye contact with her or the boy he was yearning for.
“Sal, I was wondering if you could tutor Travis.” Well, that sure got both of their attention.
Travis’s head lifted with wide eyes. “What?” He asked, confused.
Sal replied, with a little enthusiasm. “Oh! Uh, I’d love to.” Travis’s eyes looked over towards him and saw how his eyes were squinting some. Was he smiling? Travis tore his gaze away and angled it back to the ground.
“Great. After school tutor him here in the library. There are other students and such studying or tutoring there as well, just be sure to be out before 5.” Mrs. Packerton informed the two. Travis’s mind was too busy freaking out over this. He had been desperately praying for Sal to avoid him, and now he has to spend two hours a day after school with him. Just the two of them...
Alone...
Together...
“Yes ma’am!” Sal replied. He then looked towards Travis, who ‘s mind was definitely elsewhere right now. “Hey uhhh Travis, did you hear all that?” Sal’s voice spoke. Travis snapped out of his daze and looked over at him.
“Yeah, yeah I did.” He replied quietly.
Mrs. Packerton spoke once more. “Lovely, Mr. Jones monitors the library during this time, so I’ll be sure to tell him to keep an eye out for you both.” Both of the boys nodded their heads. “Alright you two are dismissed now.” At the sound of those words, Travis turned on his heels and darted out the class, leaving Sal stranded behind him.
“Today must be opposite day with the way God is treating my prayers.” Travis angrily thought to himself as he bit down on his bottom lip.
Well, at least it was lunchtime, a chance for Travis to sit by himself while eating something somewhat edible that the school provided him.
...Oh right. Today was pizza day.
...
...Travis hated pizza day.