Denial (Salvis)

Treading Lightly {4}

A/N

Hey, I'm gonna start underlining uncommon words and putting the definitions for them at the top just in case some people don't know what they mean :), happy reading!

   Sal eagerly responded, "Hey, Travis! Must not have been busy."

The screen of his flip phone remained dormant for a few moments, before lighting up again.

"What are you talking about?"

"You said you would text me if  you had time, and you texted me."

"Oh, yeah whatever. What did you need me to text you for?" 

Todd was right, Sal was able to get two sentences out before Travis started looking for his ulterior motives.  

"I don't need you to do anything, I just wanted to talk to you."

"Well, I don't know what to talk about."

Travis was either extremely uninterested, or just bad at carrying conversation.

"What are you doing right now?"

"Texting you."

Sal decided he was uninterested, maybe he would be more receptive if Sal changed the topic?

"Hey, who's Philip?"

"He's the guy that usually sits with me at lunch. He goes to my church as well, we attended the same youth group years ago before he quit."  Travis was oddly punctual despite his normal, vulgar vocabulary. 

"Cool! Do I have to join church for you to talk to me? Lol."

"Seeing as we're talking right now no, but it will save your soul from damnation."

Sal cringed at this, somehow forgetting Travis's unassailable religious beliefs. He hovered his thumbs above the buttons, thinking out how to change the subject again, but he didn't have to. 

"I'm sorry, Sal. I know you just wanted to help me, but I don't like this. It feels wrong."

"What feels wrong, talking to me?"

"Yes."

The masked boy blinked rapidly, considering his next approach.

"Did I do something wrong? That's not what I meant to do, sorry, man."

"It's not something you said, it's just you."

Sal's concern quickly shifted into irritation.

"You feel so uncomfortable with this, because you're talking to me? What the hell. I've been nice to you, you shouldn't just say that."

"That came out wrong, I don't know how else to phrase it."

"Try to figure it out."

The messages stopped for a few minutes, in which Sal eagerly awaited Travis's response, curious to see what was so awful about talking to him.

"I've spent so long hating you and I'm not used to being civil. You and your friends go against everything I believe in, I don't see how it's un reasonable to be hesitant."

"There's a difference between being hesitant, and homophobic, Travis."

"What do you want me to do, apologize?"

"Yeah that's pretty much it."

"Make me. All you faggots will burn in hell and you deserve it. This isn't right, it isn't what god intended. I never asked for your help, fucking homo."

There he went again, spouting belligerent comments and slurs. Sal's long temper was lessening by the minute, yet he would refuse to lose control of himself like Travis had. 

"Travis, I don't understand. You can't possibly feel that way, I know that note in the bathroom was yours. It was your hand writing, how can you hate gay people if you are one?"

Sal was met with radio silence. His anger dissipated, soon replaced with the familiar sense of creeping restlessness. He sent Travis another text, "Travis, you there? If anyone understand how you feel, it's me. Please talk to me."

Once again, Sal was left with nothing. multiple hours passed by, he wouldn't see Travis until the following Monday. He rushed to do the only thing he could think of.

The sound of repeated banging filled the hallway, Sal was sure his fist may have damaged the wooden door. He stumbled forwards as the door opened while his fist was making contact with the hard wood. 

"Welcome back, Sal. As I previously stated, you don't have to knock down my door, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't attempt the destroy it." Todd sighed heavily, but Sal didn't pay any attention to him. Instead, he pushed past Todd, walking into his bedroom. Todd followed quickly, sensing Sal's agitation and closing the door behind him. 

"I tried to talk to Travis but he got mad and stopped responding." Sal explained, fiddling with his hands.

"Did you say anything to him that might have caused this reaction?"

"I guess I did, but I didn't think it was that serious at the time!" 

"Enlighten me, Sal." Todd sat down onto his bed, patting the spot next to him. Sal picked up his signal and followed his lead. 

"I promised Travis I wouldn't tell anyone."

"If you're this concerned for him, perhaps it's best if you explain the situation to me. You know I won't tell anyone." Sal looked up at Todd, searching through his eyes, before handing Todd his phone to read the messages. 

"Yesterday, I walked into the bathroom and found a note on the floor. It was someone writing about their father not being supportive and stuff, pretty clearly about their sexuality. When I walked further I found Travis in the bathroom and we talked about his homelife. He admitted that he never hated us and I told him he could come to me if he needed help with anything. When I was leaving, I left my phone number next to the note on the ground. I waited outside until Travis left and checked again. He took my phone number, and threw out the note as well. It was definitely his, and I guess he didn't want me to say anything." Todd exhaled sharply. 

"I can't say I'm surprised that he's gay, and I'm not surprised he reacted this way."

"Todd, what do I do? I'm not going to see him until Monday, what if he completely reverts back to the way he was?"

"I doubt that will happen, but if you're this upset, I'm sure you could see him after church on Sunday. He's bound to be at the Ministry, after the service you can try to talk to him. Just be sure to stay out of sight, we don't want anyone at the church to be suspicious if they see you lurking around."

Sal nodded, he needed to talk to Travis before he was back in a school setting.

Word count: 1019