Friendship's Overrated

Chapter Two: University

Levon answered his cellphone after letting it ring for a few moments, staring at the caller ID with little interest. He brought it to his ear, staring blankly at the ceiling, knowing that the conversation would likely be unpleasant.

"Hello?"

"Levon, what the fuck?" Aisha asked and Levon rolled his eyes. He was sprawled on the bed of his single dorm room, wanting to sink into the mattress and stop existing.

"You'll have to be a bit more specific there, Aish," Levon sighed.

"What the hell happened between you and Todd?" She asked. Levon didn't respond. "Betto said that Todd came back in one of the worst moods he's ever seen. And when Betto asked what was up with him, Todd said that you had flipped out on him for no reason. What happened?"

"I'm pretty sure Betto's exaggerating," Levon told her. "Remember that time in high school when Todd got that shitty grade in English? I think that's still the worst we've seen him. That was crazy."

"Don't try to change the subject."

"What do you want me to say, Aisha?" Levon asked tiredly. "It's Todd and I. We fight. We shout. We bitch about each other for days, and then we move on."

"What was the fight about?" Aisha spoke and Levon couldn't say that he had randomly flipped out because Todd tried to sit with him. That was ridiculous. The whole situation was ridiculous.

"I was just having a bad day," Levon finally said. "I took it out on him. It escalated fast. That's it."

"Well," Aisha sighed. "You should probably call Todd and let him know. He really needs to chill out. He's been keeping Betto up the last two nights playing angry video games."

"That's because he's a child," Levon grunted.

"No, it's because you're being an asshole," Aisha snapped. "Now call him and apologize before I come up there and kick your ass. I'm sick and tired of this high school drama."

She hung up and Levon dropped the phone on his chest. Levon idly wondered if he should get more friends. Anger bubbled in him at Todd's words from their fight. Levon had friends at the University. He hung out often with the two girls that lived on his floor, they thought he was hilarious and did homework with him. He went drinking with a small group on the weekends, he talked to people in all of his classes, he had regular sex- either with Bradly, his bisexual fuck-buddy or with guys he met around. Levon made an effort to be social, outgoing and polite, and he found that people liked him. Todd didn't know a fucking thing.

Levon let out a long, pained sigh before snatching up his phone and going to his contacts. He tapped on Todd's contact Annoying Fucker and listened to the ringing. He was just about ready to accept that Todd wasn't going to answer but the man picked up on the fifth ring.

"Levon," Todd answered, voice hard.

"Todd," Levon responded just as coolly. There was a pause. "Are you busy?"

"I just got back from class," Todd said. "Waiting for Betto to get out of his lab so we can go for supper."

"Nice." Levon wanted to punch himself. Todd just hummed in affirmation. Another pause as Levon tried to find a way to dispel the tension in the call.

"Are you good?" Todd asked when Levon failed to form a sentence, and Levon realized how out of character it was for him to call Todd. There a was a layer of concern just under Todd's indifferent tone, and the protectiveness that seemed ever-present in Todd when they were younger, and Todd was always saving Levon from his problems. Levon's anger seemed to melt away at that familiar sense of security. This was Todd.