F!ckings of a Pretty Boy ; sidemen

7) Tell me

"Shouldn't you have done more research first?"

"I made the decision to do this 5 minutes ago."

Simon scoured the various boxes of hair dye on the shelf, overwhelmed by the numerous choices and brands. He took boxes in either hand and looked back and forth between them. Tobi stood next to him wondering why he and Harry had to come along. The dark-skinned man glanced up and down the aisle to see what other people were looking for. The campus' CVS store was so out of date the floor was carpet and the walls were painted a dark gray rather than everything being white like most versions today. The lights weren't harsh fluorescent ones either. The barely-working air conditioning was enough for Tobi to feel the cold air brush the exposed parts of his legs through the rips in his jeans. He pulled down the sleeves of his oversized flannel to stay warm.

"Do you know what color you want?" Tobi asked to try and help point the scattered boy in a direction.

"I think either this lilac or silver color. What do you think?" Simon displayed both boxes. A photo of a woman with the respective dye color having the time of her life was pictured on both.

"Ew. The silver one for sure." Tobi shook his head at the lilac color.

"Oh! Or what about this platinum-y yellow blonde one." Simon reached over and grabbed a third box to present to his friend. More or less so, Simon considers Tobi a friend. Albeit, they are more acquaintances but that doesn't stop the social butterfly from calling everyone he knows a 'friend'.

"The silver. It's more fun." Tobi stuck by his original choice.

"What do you think Harry?" They both turned around to hear his opinion. He didn't share one. Instead Harry was totally enveloped in whatever business was taking place on his phone. "Harry?" he repeated.

"Huh?" His head popped up looking completely lost. He hadn't been listening to them at all.

"Do you think this silver would be a good color on me?" Simon held it up next to his head.

Harry tried hard to imagine his hair as a different color. He scrunched his face and narrowed his eyes, then closing them to use his imagination.

"Yeah. That would be cool!" he finally answered.

"Okay, thanks! Now which brand do I get...? The expensive one or the well known one?" He continued to mutter to himself.

"What're doing on your phone?" Tobi prodded.

"Oh, uh, texting... someone." he answered intentionally vague.

"Who?"

"Someone." he nervously repeated.

"You can't tell me who?" Tobi was saddened the other boy didn't feel comfortable sharing. Harry didn't give an response. "Oh come on you can tell me. It'll stay between us if that's what you want. You'll stay quiet right Simon?"

"Wha? Oh yes. Your secret is safe with me. Now tell us. Who's your mystery boyfriend? Or girlfriend." Simon intrigued. Suddenly he was very interested in Harry and less in his hair dye debacle.

"...Ethan." he disclosed the mystery person.

"Ethan?" They both gawked as they looked at each other in surprise.

"What's he texting you for?" Tobi wondered. Harry sighed,

"He's inviting me to come smoke pot with him and his friend tomorrow." The dreaded internal conflict. Harry had hoped Ethan forgot about that conversation. Apparently not.

"That sounds fun!" Simon cheerfully exclaimed.

"What's the problem then? You sound so defeated about it." Tobi questioned.