Better Than I'd Thought | Sally Face x Travis Phelps

six

... . .

"It's ok, " Sal shrugged, holding out his hand, "I don't mind."

"N-no, " Travis shook his head frantically, "that's not what... I mean- I-"

"Don't worry." Sal smiled. "I can pretend to go back to sleep if you want."

"No!" Travis cried. That would be the worst possible scenario.

"Okay, " Sal chuckled, squeezing his eyes shut. "I won't ask."

__

"Travis is a nice guy." Sal's voice was unclear. He was actively gnawing on the plastic straw that came with his apple juice. "He even helped me with my math homework the other day. Isn't that unlike him?"

Every day, he'd try to wave Travis over to his lunch table so that his new friend wouldn't have to sit alone, but he always refused.

Sal didn't blame him. He'd almost definitely be ignored at best by Larry, and he knew that Ash and Todd didn't want anything to do with him either.

"What's with all of this Travis talk recently?" Ashley raised an eyebrow. "Are you into him or something?"

"Huh?" Sal's face reddened under the prosthetic. "N-no, I'm not."

"I'm cool with you being into dudes," Todd laughed, scratching his head,

"Obviously." Larry snickered. "It'd be weird if you weren't."

"But I'm not sure that Travis is a good pick," Todd mumbled.

"I'm not trying to date him or anything." Sal stammered nervously. He was glad that his blushing face wasn't visible.

   "Yeah, sure, " Larry nudged him playfully. "As if he's not all that you talk about, bro."

   "Well, that's because he lives with me now," Sal mumbled.

   "Dude, " Larry cocked his head, "I know he got kicked out of his house and shit, man, but like, why didn't he go to uh, anyone else?"

   "What do you mean?" Sal set his apple juice down.

   "I mean like, up until recently, he like, hated you, little dude," Larry said. "Even if you were the only one he could go to, bro, it's surprising that he like, mustered up to courage to do it."

   "Well, " Sal sighed, "I know that, up until now, it's very unlike him to show vulnerability, and I'm not 100% sure what happened that day, but..."

   "But what?" Ash chuckled.

   "He's here now, " Sal said, "and he's come so far, so..."

    Larry laughed and shook his head. "You're admirable, dude."

__

   "Travis!" Sal cheered as he caught sight of the blonde in the hallway. He lifted his hand to wave to him but hesitated, "What happened?"

   "Nothing..." Travis grumbled. His injured eye was a brighter shade of red before, and it was 10 times more swollen than it was the day he moved in.

   "No, it's not." Sal frowned, "You can barely move it. Did someone hit you?" He reached out to touch the area surrounding Travis's eye.

   Travis scowled, pushing his hand away, "I said that it's nothing, Sal."

"Yeah, right, " Sal sighed, grabbing his wrist.

"H-hey, what are you doing?!" Travis exclaimed as Sal dragged him down the hall.

"Don't worry about it," Sal mumbled, pulling him into the boys' bathroom. "Sit here." he tapped the edge of the sink.

Travis obeyed him and watched as he pulled a red first aid kid out of his bag. "We're going to miss class." He said.

"I know."

"We have a test today." Travis frowned.

"I know." Sal opened the first aid kit and pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a pack of bandages. "We'll have to take it tomorrow."

Travis stayed silent as Sal wet a paper towel and pressed it gently against his eye. It hurt, but he didn't say anything.

"What happened?"

Travis sighed. "It was some of the boys from my father's church."

"Mhm, " Sal frowned, holding Travis's cheek with one hand and cleaning his eye with the other.

"They found out that my father kicked me out."

"I'm sorry, Trav."

Travis felt his heart pound at the nickname.

"This is gonna, sting, alright?" Sal warned him, holding a rubbing alcohol-covered cotton ball. "Only for a second."

Travis nodded and hissed as the cotton ball made contact with his eye.

"Sorry, " Sal whispered, "but it'll help it heal."

"It's never gonna heal if people keep punching me, " He grumbled, blushing at the way Sal was holding his face.

He let go for a moment and grabbed a bandaid, sticking it on the wound that was under Travis's eye. "All better." He smiled.

"Sal?"

"Yeah?"

Travis stared at the floor. "What does your face look like?"

Sal grimaced and looked up at him with a sigh, "I don't know... Pretty bad, I guess."

Travis nodded, staring at his mask.

"Maybe one day, I'll let you see," Sal whispered.

Travis shivered. He wasn't sure he'd have the right reaction if he ever saw Sal's face. What would Sal want him to say? "I'm sorry that I keep asking about it. That's... Not right."

"Oh, don't worry about it." Sal held his hands up, shaking his head. "I'm very used to it. It's been like this for a long time, and I've gotten all sorts of questions."

"Has anyone other than you ever seen... You know, uh-"

"My real face?" Sal asked. "Yeah. My dad, a bunch of times, Larry too, and..." He blushed. "That girl, Ashley has seen it before. Only once. Obviously, everyone saw my face before it got messed up, but I was real young."

"You shouldn't have to hide your face."

Sal shrugged. "I don't think anyone should have to see it."