brothers.

35~ Surprise

A/N: Happy Heavenly birthday, Dad.

Tommy

October 18th, 2023

I was dressed completely in yellow for today. On Monday, it was Pajama Day, so I wore a plain T-shirt and checkered pants— basically Mom's nightmare. Tuesday it was Tie Dye day, and I tried to make a shirt... didn't really work out, since Harry and I started shooting paint at each other and they made us leave.

It was Wednesday now, and Spirit Day was pretty big at Summit. Underclassmen wore blue and the rest of us wore gold or yellow. The cheerleaders and dance team were in uniform the whole day. There were tables and rooms reserved for games, like water balloon fights in the gym, bounce houses outside, and the big Homecoming Parade. The Homecoming Court was announced just yesterday.

It was fun during freshman year, but after all 4 years, it got pretty tiring. Same stuff, nothing new. All I anticipated was the game.

My foot bounced and I continuously glanced at the clock, waiting for Pre-Calc to finish. After this, I was to head to the locker room and change for football practice, then appear in the parade. The rest of my class also seemed anxious, filling the room with tension.

The bell rang and many of us flinched, but our professor believed in 'The bell doesn't dismiss you, I dismiss you'. What was the point of having a school bell, then?

He erased the board slowly, obviously teasing us. I impatiently tapped my pencil on my desk. Everyone cursed under their breath and desperately looked at the door.

The professor then chuckled. "Alright, alright, you can go."

We all burst into action, hurriedly packing our things and heading out. The men's locker room was pretty far, so I walked at a fast pace. My phone buzzed urgently in my pocket. I pulled it out, expecting a call screen, but instead saw a series of messages from Shirley.

TommyFieldsBaby: Tommy bearrr what r u doing??

Babe r u ok?

Why arent u answering?

U better not b w those s—y cheerleaders!

Tommy this is why i hate homecoming

Pls answer

Baby!!

Geez, it was only a few seconds!

"Hey, babe," I recorded. "Don't worry, I was in Pre-Calc. I just got out. And no, I'm not with any cheerleaders- I don't even know any of them. Relax. I'm going to the locker room, I have practice, okay? Love you."

I didn't really blame her distrust after what I did. Prank or not, the truth came to light when Diana shared those things. I'd been avoiding them, but sometimes, I couldn't help but look at them when I was stressed. It was like they gave me energy to get through the day. I didn't know what else to do.

Harry was already changing when I entered the locker room. Most of the other guys were there, too. To my relief, our star quarterback wasn't here just yet.

"What happened?" Harry asked me.

"What?"

"You looked upset."

I did? "Uh... nothing."

"Shirley?"

My shoulders tensed. "She just texted me, that's all. We weren't fighting."

"Okay," he said doubtfully.

"Could you mind your own business, pringle?" I felt bad for snapping at him, but he had the same problem as all my brothers. They were always so nosy when it came to Shirley. They wanted to frame her as the reason for all my problems. And that wasn't true.