barriers on the tube line

5. your city gave me asthma

tw: homophobia, mention of sexual assault
sapnap pov:

i'm not sure why i asked karl to bunk gym class with me. my dad would kill me if he knew i did that. he wants me to thrive in my football career so i have to be the best in every football game and gym class. oh well.

karl seemed nice enough. i think there's more to him than what he portrays himself as. he's not actually told me he's gay but i can very much infer it from the outfit and from what he said to the dude in the changing room.

i hoped more than anything that tara didn't see us leave together. she already doesn't like him because he was wearing a skirt and because we walked into history together when i was meant to wait for her.

we made our way to the local skatepark, somehow making it out of the school building without being noticed. karl was talking about something but i zoned out a while ago, caught up in my own thoughts. mainly upsetting memories with tara.

'sapnap?' i snapped back to reality.

'hmm? sorry i zoned out.' i laughed awkwardly

'yeah i noticed. anyway i was asking if you skated?'

'i don't but i'd really love to learn!'

'really? i have a spare skateboard at home. i could teach you some time if you want.' karl offered

'that sounds fun, we should definitely do that.'

'of course! hey you can have my number so we can arrange when to skate.'

karl put his hand out, gesturing for me to hand over my phone, which i did. he typed in his number and handed me back the phone. i saw that he saved himself as 'cutie ;)' and i laughed.

'cutie?' i looked up at him

'did i lie?' he asked, raising an eyebrow jokingly.

'well.. no.' i admitted

'mhm that's what i thought.' he stood up and held a hand out to me. i held it and he pulled me up.

'we should probably head back to school now.' karl pointed out.

'yeah.' i sighed, disappointed that i wouldn't get to see him for longer.

we walked back in comfortable silence, although my mind was racing in fear of what tara would do if she found out id spent the morning with the new kid.

when we arrived back at school it was lunch time. i walked over to my table full of the football lads and the pretty girlfriends who accompanied them.

'where have you been?' tara immediately asked

'what do you mean?' i asked, trying to put on an innocent act.

'you missed the first ten minutes of lunch.'

'oh yeah. i.. uh i was in the toilet. stomach ache.' i laughed

'oh. what about gym class? jason told me that you weren't there and neither was the new boy. you better not have been with him, you know how i feel about gays.' she spat at me

i tried not to look too pissed off at her and simply told her i didn't feel too good in gym class either. i cant tell if she bought it or not but she sat on my lap and started kissing me anyway. i know, even during school she was like this.

the bell went and she murmured in my ear that we would carry this on later.

maybe i should just play along with her. it would probably make it easier?

karl pov:
i don't know if it's just me being impatient or if i should take the hint that sapnap doesn't like me. he hasn't texted me yet so i can't even contact him because he didn't give me his number.

i didn't eat lunch again. it just seemed like too much effort. instead i decided to spy on sapnap's table full of all the popular people. the blonde bitch was talking to him, in a slightly aggravated tone. i wonder if he told her we were together.

i watched in disbelief as she sat on his lap and started making out with him. in the middle of lunch. at school. gross.

well i guess that means he's not gay. that's sad for me.

i sat by myself at a table with no food. i hoped i would make friends in my next classes.

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