Denial (Salvis)

A Warm Welcome {17}

         Four days had passed since the incident. Travis miraculously convinced his Father to allow him to stay home for two whole days, but his patience ran thin, Travis had no choice but to attend. The morning sun spilled onto the marble countertops of his kitchen, illuminating his fingertips anxiously tapping the cold surface. His stomach was tied in knots so tightly he felt as though he physically couldn't move, let alone eat. Sal knew his heinous secret, not even God could save him now.

        The first period passed in a blur, Travis sat stiffly in his chair, when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned, bracing himself to see the plastic face of Sal Fisher, but was instead met with Carla, an obnoxious loud mouth with whom he shared an algebra class.

"I believe you're in my seat."

"What? No, I've always sat here." Why was she bothering with such a blatant lie?

"Are you stupid? Get out of my seat, weirdo." Travis was a bit taken aback by her hostility, they'd never spoken to each other once, but she already hated him? He pushed away the knowledge that he'd done the exact same thing, the insults readied of his tongue, when a different voice spoke out.

"Hey, Trav! Welcome back, we had a desk change while you were gone." It was who he was fearing, the shiny prosthetic almost reflected Travis's grimacing. His face flushed out of both embarrassment, and the close proximity to Sal. He stood quickly and grabbed his books from the incorrect desk. 

"Over here, you're next to me!" Sal's cheery voice melted his typically stone cold heart. 

"Uhm, thanks." Travis dropped his book on to his rightful desk and rigidly seated himself again.

"Why were you gone for so long? I don't think I've ever seen you miss a day of school."

"Sick." He wanted to keep conversation to a minimum, but he knew Sal wouldn't like that.

"Okay, are you feeling better now?" Sal drew out his first word, the way he spoke added the expression to his sentences that were stolen by his mask.

"Yep."

"Not much for conversation today, hm?" Sal hummed, sending a shiver up his spine.

"Mhm." He meant that to convey his disinterest, but Sal just kept talking.

"Anyways, wanna come sit with the gang and I at lunch today?"

"What?" Travis's head shot up, this was worse than anything he could've imagined. 

"Yeah, you just seem so lonely, man. We're friends now, I just wanna spend time with you!"

"I- uh, no. Sal, your friends don't like me, I don't want to be there when I'm just being a bummer." Travis was looking for any excuse to avoid the things that fed into his sinful attraction. 

"Nah, I already talked to them, they're all okay with it! C'mon, man, it'll be fun!" Silence fell between the two, Sal awkwardly and shakily, placed his hand over Travis's on the desk. When Travis looked into his eyes, he could see the fear of God in this poor boy's eyes. Sal quickly dropped his hand and looked away, clearly embarrassed. To be fair, it was incredibly cringeworthy, and even made Travis lean backwards a bit.

"I'll take your silence as a yes, then." Sal turned to face the front of the class, his prosthetic buried into the palms of his hands. Travis couldn't help but laugh, Sal's humiliation was still somewhat amusing to him, despite the face that they were acquaintances. 

        Travis resumed his normal spot in the cafeteria, isolated from his peers, Philip was on a trip to Washington, and didn't tell Travis until a week after he left. A shadow fell over Travis, the hair on his neck stood up. With the size and shape of the figure, there was only one person it could be. The most terrifying student in the school, by Travis's standards.