A Little Bit... A Little More. (Huh?)

Type: Chapter 8

I was still seething long after we had finished eating as we were walking around the mall. I couldn't understand how Tharn could still look at Tar with so much love in his eyes after everything he had divulged to me that day about their relationship. He was holding his hand and walking through the mall like there was nothing wrong when everything was. Especially for Tharn. He got nothing from Tar but he still looked at him like he was the best thing that ever happened to him. 

'How stupid is he?' I thought, kicking the floor as I hung around waiting for Techno to pick a shirt at a sports store. 

"Dude, what's wrong?" Techno suddenly asked in concern. 

'Everything,' I thought, but didn't voice out loud.

"Can I stay over at your place for the weekend? I'm going to be bored in the dorm," I asked him.

"Why? You always tell me about how much fun you have with Tharn on the weekends," Techno said, confused. 

"Not every weekend. He goes home on some weekends. He's not going to be around this time because he has band practice for the college event," I lied as convincingly as I could. I wasn't sure about the band practice or if he was going home over the weekend because we hadn't talked about it yet, but it was the best excuse I could come up with without it sounding suspicious.

"Really? Tharn is going to perform? That's so cool! He's a really good drummer. When I saw him perform the last time, the crowd went absolutely mad for him. The girls were throwing themselves at him when he walked down from the stage," he said.

I was surprised to hear that tidbit. My suspicions about him were just proven to be correct. He did have girls chasing after him. I thought if we hashed the issue out by the time the performance rolled around, I could use Tharn's popularity to finally talk to some girls. It was only a perk I was allowed as his best friend. But that seemed unlikely since I was extremely mad at him. He was disrespecting himself and I couldn't stand by and watch it happen because it made me feel extremely uncomfortable. You could say that I even cared about the dude too much by that point to be able to do it.

"We'll see if you're right on Friday," I said as we walked to the counter to pay for his shirt. 

-

I stayed at Techno's for the entire weekend and came back to the dorm on Monday evening after football practice. I hadn't talked to Tharn all weekend. He had texted me to ask me where I was and I just sent him a small text to tell him I was going to be over at Techno's. He wished me a good weekend and I hadn't replied to him after that.

As I stood in front of the door, I was suddenly caught in a mix of emotions. I was scared to face Tharn. I didn't know what to say to him. He had told me that he was going to think about what we discussed that day and had run right back into Tar's arms like nothing happened. It made my blood boil but it also made me extremely uncomfortable to see him hurting himself like that. I didn't want to talk to him, but I had no other choice since we shared a room. I couldn't just move into Techno's house to avoid facing Tharn. I was an adult and, as an adult, I had to face my problems head on. 

With that thought in mind, I finally opened the door and walked into the room to find it empty. I looked at the time and it said 9:30 PM. 

"Where is he?" I said out loud as I scratched my head in confusion. He had never been out of the room this late. I was a little relieved that it bought me more time before I had to face him, but I was concerned. I debated whether to ask him where he was or not and decided to let it be. 

I jumped into the shower and then got into bed. I quickly drifted off to sleep in the familiar comfort of my own bed. I had not slept well at Techno's because of the battle going on in my head and also because of the fact that I had to sleep on an unfamiliar couch for three days straight. As soon as the smell of the laundry detergent mixed with the fabric conditioner hit my olfactory senses, I immediately felt relaxed and at home so I fell asleep pretty quickly.