Wrong Impression

6. I thought she was trying to be funny

Tom slammed his locker shut. What the hell had he been thinking? Thursday was the only day he actually had some free time. He could spend it sleeping, walking around aimlessly, practicing everything from his dancing for the competition to his drums. He could go ride his skateboard through half the town.

No, instead, he offered up his time to this complete stranger, just because she'd seemed dejected. He had no idea he had a generous bone in his body.

"Hiii, Tommy!"

Ugh, if anyone could make this day any worse, it was Gina, his ex-girlfriend. "Hey, Gina," he answered bored.

"Listen, me and Ross and Lily wanna go out clubbing tonight. There's this hip new place that just opened up down town." She leaned against his locker, twirling a lock of blond and pink hair. "Wanna come?"

Tom raised an eyebrow, looking from her expectant face to her way too transparent top. "I can't even afford the bus fare downtown, let alone entry fees, and you know it. Besides, I have a test tomorrow."

Gina rolled her heavily made up hazel eyes. "You're always studying. You have like the biggest grades in the year. Learn to live a little. Stop being such a dork."

He'd learned to live a little. It almost pushed him off a building. He was done with that. "Yeah, as persuasive as your arguments are, I'm still going to pass. By the way, I can see your boobs."

She let out a short laugh. "That's kinda the point of the outfit, darling."

"No, I mean I can literally see your boobs. Pull your bra up, woman."

Gina blushed furiously and turned with her back to him to adjust her clothes. Tom waited patiently for her to be done, though heaven knew he actually wanted to just get away from her already. They'd broken up months ago and she still didn't seem to get the message.

"Anyways," she faced him again, everything neatly tucked in place. "You should hang out with other people. Not just that nerd."

"I think I'll take Billy over Ross and Lily, thanks." Ross was a complete douche, heavy gold chain included and Lily... well; he was one of the few people who didn't know Lily up close and personal.

"Oh, Tommy." Gina shook her head in pity.

God, he hated it when she called him Tommy. When anyone called him that. And he also hated when anyone dared feel sorry for him. Sure, his life wasn't easy, but he had other stuff. He had Jimmy for one thing, who was the best brother in the world. He had a lot of skills. He had his brains and a body who didn't look bad at all and could do amazing things.

"Oh, Gina," he replied, mimicking her tone and the shake of her head.

Gina's nose scrunched in disgust and Tom knew what that meant.

"Hi, Tom's ex-girlfriend who won't leave him alone already," Billy said, stopping next to Tom, his sharp little nose buried in his portable PlayStation.

"Ugh, get lost. I might get some nerd germ from you," she said, looking away pointedly.

"That's not nice," Tom said.

"Better a nerd germ than an STD," Billy mumbled, still not looking up.

Gina glared daggers at him for a second, then at Tom for not standing up for her, then thankfully whipped around and stalked away from them.

"Good riddance," Tom mumbled. "Where have you been?"

"In a raid. Still in it, actually. It was quieter in the bathroom," Billy explained. "Heading for class?"

"Yup." Tom picked up his chemistry books and followed Billy down the black and white tiled corridor. It had always looked like a giant kitchen floor to him. At least the big windows made the place look a little more bearable. For being a very good school, the place was decorated a little funky. Classes actually had linoleum of the floor. The mustard yellow kind.

"Ah, damn, I died." Billy lowered his PlayStation and glanced at Tom. "Why are you still so nice to that bimbo?"

"Ah, come on, she's not that bad. And I want to be civil."

"She'd totally let you do her."

"Wow, Billy, really?" Tom stopped in front of the chemistry lab and faced his friend.

"What? She totally would. Oh, Tommy!" Billy said in a nasal voice and leaned against him.

Tom pushed him away, laughing. "Knock it off."

"Come on, Tommy, I'm right here."

"If you call me Tommy again, I'll blacken your eye, I swear."

Billy grinned, but pulled away. He then shrugged and returned to his game. "Why'd you break up with her? I'm asking because she apparently doesn't hate your guts which means it wasn't a nasty fight."

"Oh, that..." Tom hesitated. He knew why he'd done it, but it sounded awful inside his own head. "She asked me what a Nazi was."

Billy's grey eyes shot up from his game, wide and curious. "Huh?"

Tom sighed. "She was texting a friend and I was looking over her shoulder and she wrote your instead of you're and I corrected her and apologized for being a grammar Nazi. And she asked me what a Nazi was." He paused. "Then she spelled it Nahtzi."

Billy blinked, stupefied. "Seriously? So you broke up with her because she doesn't know who Hitler is?"

"Yeah... and she thinks vaccines cause Autism and that soy milk comes from an animal."

Billy doubled over, laughing, and Tom couldn't blame him. It was maybe cruel, but he'd actually broken up with Gina because she was too dumb. And it wasn't that which bothered him, but the fact that she wouldn't change her mind or seemed to want to learn. There was no way he could have intelligent conversation with her.

"Oh, my God!" Billy gasped for air. "How? How did you go out with her in the first place?"

Tom shrugged. "She's fun and friendly and outgoing. And pretty."

"But dumb as a rock."

"In my defense, I thought she was trying to be funny."

"You sure know how to pick 'em."

Tom's mood instantly plummeted. Yeah, he sure did. At least Gina was harmless. The sea urchin, however, had left its thorns deep inside his soul and he was still trying to pluck them out and avoid shattering himself.

"Wanna come to my place to study after school?" Billy asked, pulling him out of his miserable thoughts. "A lot of food is involved."

That went without saying. If Billy could be defined by two words, it would be food and videogames. But it was the only place Tom could get a decent meal and actually bring back something for Jimmy as well. Because Billy's dad was loaded. Tom had never actually seen him. Billy didn't have a mother, so he was alone most of the time with the help. Tom didn't envy him. He wouldn't give Jimmy up for all the money in the world.

"You know I can't say no to food."

"Awesome. You can actually help me with our math homework. Was doing an arena and might have missed most of the lesson."

"Oh, yes, of course. Arenas are more important than math."

Billy huffed. "Do you have any idea how much professional gamers make?"

No, he didn't, and honestly, he didn't care. He cared about his grades and realistically doing something to make his life better. Videogames were only a waste of time.

Just like your marvelous meeting with Angie. Ugh, maybe she wouldn't show. He probably came across as a creep anyway. She'd seemed shocked. He hoped she just dismissed him as a weirdo and he could take his nap.

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Will Tom get his nap or will Angie actually show up? Stay tuned and find out.

What do you think about Tom? After this chapter, I think you can actually get a pretty good feel for him.

How about Gina? And Billy? Want to know something interesting about Billy? Just let me know.

Thanks so much for reading and don't forget to vote and comment. I'm writing like three stories at the same time so it's a little hard for me to judge how this one's going.