Knowing Me, Knowing You

Eagle

Xander drove Dante home after practice. The moment their team was back in the locker rooms, checking their phones, everyone saw what happened between Trevor and Jessica during his bathroom break. Since they were arguing loud enough for the students practicing for the school musical in the choir room to hear, a few of them began to share the argument on Snapchat and Instagram, quickly spreading to everyone on the swim team.

No one said anything to Trevor after seeing the argument. Only Steven and Josh gave him petty looks. Since everyone on the team was okay with Josh being gay, no one felt awkward about him being gay, too. It was only Josh who understood the severity of the situation, as no one else on the team understood the true fear of being abused for being himself, though Steven understood well enough to know what happened last night was a big deal.

Xander didn't look at the video, choosing to listen to Trevor talk about what happened instead. "I know the team is going to bring it up tomorrow. No doubt they're pissed at me for using Jessica all this time."

"They've never been in a life and death situation where their only chance to feel safe was at the expense of someone else."

"Great, so you think I'm a dick, too."

"It wasn't the most moral thing to do, but I don't judge you for doing it. You did what you had to to feel safe, and you called it off when you realized how bad things had gotten, and you came clean and told Jessica the truth. You did the right thing in the end by telling her and apologizing, but don't ever expect her to forgive you."

He snorted. "Like I ever would."

Xander pulled up outside Dante's house and clamped his hand on Trevor's shoulder. "I'll see you later, bud."

"Thanks for the ride."

After Trevor closed the car door, Xander rolled down the window and called out, "Take care of your face!" before driving away. Laughing, Trevor shook his head and entered Dante's house.

The exhaustion from the day weighed him down, and he dragged his feet to the couch where Dante was sitting while watching TV and doing homework at the same time. When he noticed Trevor in the doorway, he closed his textbook, placed it on the table, and opened his arms wide for him to cuddle.

Moving hair away from Trevor's forehead, Dante bent down to kiss his temple. "How was today?" he whispered in his ear.

"Shitty," Trevor mumbled into Dante's leg. He lifted his head and frowned at him. "I had a run in with Jessica."

Dante winced. "Yeah, I saw the video."

"Has it really spread around the school?"

"Probably. My guess is that everyone who has a social media account will find out tonight, and everyone else will know by tomorrow."

"Know that I'm a shitty person who led her on."

"You can clearly hear what you said about your parents, so I'm sure a lot of people will be on your side for this. It's obvious, though, that all of Jessica's friends will side with her, but it doesn't matter what they think, because in the next...I don't know, two years, they will forget all about it. We'll be the only ones who remember."

"So will Jessica."

"In a way, I hope she doesn't. I want her to move on and find someone who will love her the way she deserves, and you will be nothing but a bitter memory she only thinks about during that awkward half awake, half asleep daydream shit you do when you're trying to fall asleep."

"I call it The Cringe, because it's when I think back on every cringey thing I've ever done."

"Have you ever done anything to me that you now find cringey?"