[TAC] THREE'S A CROWD

Chapter 07*

{New}

New drags his pencil across the notebook paper as he glances back and forth between his textbook and his calculator. He only has two more problems left, and so far, the problems he's done have been a breeze. He can't remember a time when math was this easy for him.

He's sitting on Off's bed, his legs crossed underneath him, and he's genuinely doing homework while Off is lying on the ground, reading one of his poetry books.

"Done," New declares excitedly as he finishes jotting down the answer to the last problem.

Off's head turns towards him. "Really? That was kinda fast."

New shrugs as he grins at Off. "It's just getting that much easier."

Off smirks as he gets up from where he is on the floor, before walking over and plopping down next to New on the bed.

He takes New's notebook from him and sets it in his lap, scanning his eyes over the problems and checking for any errors. New isn't a stranger to how fucking thorough Off is---if there's even one mistake, like a missing zero or a decimal out of place, Off will find it.

Off finally looks up at New, closing the notebook in his hands. "Looks good. You're really improving."

New grins, both at Off and at himself, for finally being the nerd his mother always wanted him to be. "That's because you're a miracle worker," New says, reaching out to pinch Off's arm.

Off looks down at his chest bashfully. "No, you had it in you, New. I just had to get you to tap into that part of yourself."

Often, New excuses Off's ridiculous sounding proverbs and phrases by laughing at them, but that's only because he doesn't want to admit how he's truly moved by Off sometimes. He has this different way with words that New's never witnessed from anyone before, and it's like every time Off talks, he just wants more.

Off's eyes flutter back up to meet New's, and he gives him a warm smile, his eyes soft and easy like they always are.

New lets out a happy sigh before averting his attention to his surroundings.

"So, where's the bong? I'm stressed," New says, and he's already up before Off can reply. He finds it tucked in the corner next to Off's bed, where his mother can never see it if she peeks her head into the room.

Off laughs as he takes the bong from New. "We can't get high anymore."

New's face twists in confusion as Off easily puts the bong back, before slumping in one of his chairs.

"Why not?" New asks, sitting back down on the bed.

"Because Tay beat my ass, and as I was spitting out blood---you know, after having gotten my ass beat---he said that if I ever got high with you again, he'd murder me," Off explains, a grin on his face as he tells the whole story.

New rolls his eyes, annoyed by Off's obviously fake story. He can't help but laugh though, when Off won't stop wearing that stupid grin.

"I know that's not true, Off," New says, brushing his hands across Off's duvet.

Off scratches at his head. "Well, it was a bit of an exaggeration, but yeah, something like that went down."

New groans as he pulls his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. He has Tay's jacket on, and he's basically been swimming in it all day, so the jacket looks like it's surrounding his body and legs like a tent.

"What happened?" New asks, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Well, he came by my locker and said something about it," Off says. "That's all I'm going to say."