Operation Sal | Sally Face x Travis Phelps

5

"You actually showed up," Larry's hazy eyes blinked as Sal haphazardly dropped to the ground at his side.

The floor was dusty and probably coated with a thin layer of sweat. Sally Face picked at the peeling tape lining the gym floor.

   "Yeah," He hummed softly, running his free hand through the mess of bangs laying just above his mask, "I told the lady that it was a family emergency." Sal clarified with a hint of a smile in his voice.

   "Hello, Sal," Todd looked up from the nonfiction book that he was immersed in. His back was slumped against the wall, and his legs were bent with the covers of the book resting against his thighs.

   "Hey," Sal offered a nearly unnoticed grin, prosthetic shifting up against his face, "new book?"

Todd nodded with a smile, "I picked it up from the school library earlier today. It's about infrared processing technology," he clarified, pushing the edge of his glasses up with the back of his pointer finger, "I speculated that it may be able to help us pinpoint paranormal activity that's not observable with the naked eye."

"Wow," Sal leaned forward, eyes wide. He rested his palm against the floor, "You'll tell me if you find anything, right?"

The redhead tilted his head and grinned brightly, eyebrows drawn together, "Naturally," he nodded.

Larry leaned his head back against the padded wall and closed his eyes, legs sticking out straight in front of him, "Who're you with?" He mumbled, voice tired and gravelly.

Sal shrugged vaguely and pointedly avoided mentioning Travis Phelps (he was well aware of Larry's hostility towards him), "a bunch of random kids," He said quietly, holding his hand back to glance over his shiny, black nails. "You guys are lucky you're together in here."

"You could stay," Todd said, not lifting his ginger head of hair from the book he was reading, "although, you didn't bring your backpack."

Sal thought back to his bookbag lying slumped against the wall of the cafeteria and sighed, "Yeah," he said calmly, "and I told the teacher that I'd be quick, so I can't be away for a long time."

Larry huffed and Sal couldn't tell what he was thinking, or what the exact tone of the weak half-laugh was.

The brunette pulled out his flip phone with a grin and gave his brother a playful side glance, hair slipping from behind his ear, "well, my friend. Allow me to inform you of the wonders of technology."

"You will text me, right?" Sal sighed. His tone of voice gave the impression that he was exceedingly desperate for Larry's attention. He wouldn't say that was far off.

"Totally," Larry slid his cellphone back in his pocket and closed his eyes again, listening to the slight shuffle that Sal's vans made as he stood up. Kids in the center of the gym played something akin to dodgeball.

Todd kept his head down and ignored the commotion, as if he didn't notice it at all, until Sal stepped in front of him, leaning into a stretch. "Say hi to Travis," The redhead teased with his expression verging on a smirk.

"Travis Phelps?" Sal asked, pretending that he wasn't already aware of Travis's presence.

Larry kept his eyes closed.

"Mhm," Todd nodded and glanced back down at his book, "I have a friend with the same homeroom as him, and they're in the cafeteria."

"Oh." Sal said simply, swallowing his awkwardness the best he could, "Yeah," he shifted his weight, "I may have seen him."