How to Forget

r00d

After a long day of grueling school work, all I want is to do is go home and binge on some unhealthy food while I watch a terrible movie that gives me the privilege of forgetting about all of my other responsibilities for an hour and a half or more, but my ride home is nowhere to be found.

Nat and I have set up a routine based on the day we met, and we have been sticking to it for a while now. We meet each other every afternoon at the place where I was waiting for my mom to pick me up before Nat invited me to play baseball with him, and then Nat escorts me to his car and drops me off at my house before returning to his own, even though he's wasting extra gas by going farther from school to reach my house then closer to it to reach his own. He says it's worth it because he gets to be in my company for longer.

Only today, it appears as though he is busy with something else besides being in my company, as he is ten minutes late. He's a straight A student, so I doubt he's talking to a teacher for extra help. Although because he's a straight A student, he may be involved in some good deed somewhere, but if he were really concerned with doing good deeds, he would fulfill the good deed of texting me to tell me about it.

I linger at my spot for one more minute before straying to search for him. When I finally locate him after approximately forty-five seconds of searching, it's on the basketball court where the rest of his friends are gathered for a game of afterschool knockout, except they're not playing. Instead, they're huddled around Nat, five against one, berating him.

"Did you really break up with Tessa for that worthless piece of shit?" the tallest one criticizes him.

"We all know you were fucking her anyway, so all I did was open her up to you." Nat tilts his head and invites a mocking tone to his voice. "Or are you only interested in girls who are taken? If that's the case, then you shouldn't pretend to care about women, and that includes Tessa."

The tallest guy draws back.

"I wouldn't have guessed you were a faggot," says another, the one with a square for a head.

"That's because you're a moron."

As I approach close enough to their line of sight for them to see me, a third guy shouts, "Oh, look, there's the other faggot himself!"

"That's me," I acknowledge half-heartedly, too exhausted from school to even give a shit about idiots like them. I instead spend my energy walking up to Nat and leading him away from the thick cloud of stupidity.

"Aww, they're so physical with each other," the square headed guy taunts.

I spin around to address this nonsense, plain-faced and just trying to get out of here. "I'm so sorry that the only person on this earth to give you physical contact is your mother, but you don't have to take it out on us."

Even some of Nat's friends laugh at that.

~~~~~

We pass the time in the car by saying nothing at all, and we are both aware of this but do nothing to address it so as to maintain the phenomenon. It isn't until Nat pulls up next to the curve that I finally say something.

"What did I ever do to them to make them hate me as much as they do?"

It's not like I care all that much, but I am curious. Even if I was a nuisance to them before the crash, I'm a new person now who doesn't remember any of it. But I guess fools like them don't understand that. Their kind of people don't change, so that's what they are accustomed to.

"It doesn't say anything negative about you if you're the one they pick on," Nat assures me. "They're just the classic high school assholes. You'll find them everywhere, even after high school."

"Why are you even friends with them, then?" My voice is distressed, while Nat's always remains calm, sometimes too calm. "You're such a kind and considerate person, yet you hang out with such rude kids."

A sad smile. "Sometimes people just make harmful decisions." Not convinced that I'm entirely convinced, Nat leans across the console to kiss me. "Besides, I have you now, and that's all I need."  

~~~~~

A/N: nat's friends are so shitty smh

~Darkoot