Sage & Vera

12:15 PM

twenty-five

Sage| Vera

Sage balanced two lunch trays in his palms, one belonging to Benji, as his best friend quickly stuffed his fingers into his bag pocket to find his worn wallet. Once Benji made contact with one of the frayed edges, he started examining the remaining options in the vending machine. ❝You know, I'm not too sure if I should be hurt that you've started hanging out with me less and less over the past few months, or find it hilarious that Vera Dearest has managed to get you to start having sleepovers as if you're some bitch.❞ Benji said, ending their silence with another Vera conversation.

Sage regretted telling him about the sleepovers. ❝There's nothing wrong with sleeping over at her place. You know I hate it at home with my Dad, I only do it for Oliver. And besides... it can really fuck with someones head to be alone at home for so many months. She's one of the strongest people I know, but I know it's still not easy for her.❞ Speaking about Vera was easy, Sage noticed. He didn't like to share too much information about her, to protect the personal things she revealed to him, but speaking about Vera started to feel like a second sort of nature to him.

❝How much are you bullshitting me? The two of you, in her parent's empty apartment? I'm sure you two have all the fun in the world fucking all over the place.❞ Benji countered with a sly smile, deciding to get a bag of Doritos and a bottle of Cherry Pepsi.

❝Can you last two seconds without thinking of fucking? At this point, it's a serious question.❞ Sage couldn't help himself as he laughed at Benji's response. He waited patiently as Benji stuffed his soda and chips into his bag before taking back his lunch tray, and the two of them walked back to the cafeteria to find a place to sit. ❝It's more than just sex with Vera. It's so much happening in just a few months, and I'm honestly still processing how the fuck this even happened to the two of us.❞ Sage said.

Benji raised his eyebrows as he quietly listened to Sage speak, his sign of genuinely giving a damn about the conversation. Benji dropped himself down at the first available table, slouching his shoulders a little as he fixed himself in a comfortable position.❝Okay.❞ Benji began, taking his first bite of plain, unseasoned chicken breast. ❝Talk to me about her. How did you two even meet?❞

The question seemed simple, very surface-leveled, and deserved a simple answer. But the answer was complicated for a lot of reasons. The main reason being that Sage was keeping a lot of secrets from Benji. He didn't tell him that Oliver passed away last summer, and sent his father into another spiraling episode that hasn't stopped. He hasn't told him that he's been pretending that Oliver has been alive all f this time, because it's easier to imagine that his little brother was sent away to boarding school instead of being gone forever. He didn't tell Benji about the abuse. The days where Sage's father would rage out and attack him because he couldn't handle his own grief, and that he had to carry both of their suffocating waves of depression.

Sage didn't know how to answer. Should he talk about the lies? That he's been going to compulsory therapy sessions, that he was seconds away from killing himself before they returned to school for their final year? That he was so tired, tired in a way that he couldn't explain, and felt miserably chained to what appeared to be Hell? Sage was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that he was clenching his plastic fork so tightly that it broke into two pieces, and he couldn't find the right words as he stared at Benji. ❝It's so complicated,❞ was the safe response for Sage to say. ❝It's been a complicated summer. A complicated fall. I don't know how we're seriously in February. I don't think I would have made it this far without her.❞