Fear (TordTom)

Chapter 8: Confrontation

Tom was almost bursting with joy. Almost the whole day had passed without Edd saying anything to him. The boy had been keeping to himself, to Tom's luck, and would only glare daggers at the no-eyes male.

Unfortunately, Tord had made it his business to watch over Tom like a hawk, despite Tom's insults and pleas for him to go away. Why do you care so much about me all of a sudden? You've treated me like dirt up until this point. Tom thought angrily as he walked to his last and final class, Computer Science, with Tord following him like a lost puppy. Tom almost felt like whirling around and slapping the commie, but that wouldn't be good, especially for Tom. Tord had a short temper that would flare if someone wanted to fight him.

"Stop, Tord. This is my final warning." Tom growled as Tord hovered behind him. Tom grabbed the motherboard he had been working on. The class was making their own computer, and Tom had been in charge, along with Edd, to create a functioning motherboard, which contained the principal components of the computer. Tom cringed slightly. If Edd was going to do anything, it would be to mess up the motherboard, and that would be bad.

"No." Tord laughed, leaning his shoulder on the lockers and opening Tom's locker door wider while Tom grabbed his textbook and a pencil. "I won't go away. You'll have to force me."

Tom slammed his locker shut and turned his back on the commie. "I'm going to ignore you."

"'I'm going to ignore you.'" Tord mimicked in a stupid, high pitched voice. When Tord's voice cracked loudly, Tom couldn't help it. He snorted before letting out a small laugh.

"Alright, just stop acting like my bodyguard." Tom rolled his eyes.

Tord walked in front of Tom, stopping him. The commie looked over him, and Tom shrunk back, embarrassed. "What?" He squeaked slightly.

"I'm doing this because I care about your wellbeing." Tord whispered slightly. "I care about you Tom, even when it seems I don't."

Tom felt his face heating up involuntarily.

"Listen, I've been meaning to say something-" before Tord could continue, the bell sounded loudly throughout the hallway. Tom slowly crept back, turned heel, and ran down the hallway towards his class.

What the hell was that?

...

Tom slunk in his computer chair. The teacher was going on and on about things Tom had heard over and over again. Now Tom was busy looking through social media, scrolling past people's sappy posts and pictures, until something caught his eye.

It was something Edd had posted recently, almost five minutes ago. It was a paragraph long, so Tom decided to read it thoroughly.

"So, my friend wanted me to share this with everyone, and honestly, I feel quite honored that he decided to entrust me with this big secret.

Guys, I'm happy to announce that Thomas Ridgeson is gay! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 Hit the kid up, he's quite lonely :)

Tom felt his heart drop and shatter into pieces. His chest felt contracted and his head hurt so badly he had to control himself from screaming in pain. He glanced at other people's screens to see if they'd seen the post. Damn it, almost everyone is looking at it! Kids began snickering and glancing at him, whispering under their breath.

Tom shrank into his chair, closing his computer forcefully. The bell rang just as he did this, and not wanting anybody's attention, he sped out of the class and ran to his locker, where two guys with shaggy hair were waiting for him.

"Hey, I saw the post your friend put up on his page." The one with blonde hair spoke, his voice drawled out. He smiled a crooked smile. "You're pretty cute. Wanna head over to a pizza place?" The two boys began to advance on Tom, while onlookers just stared and watched and laughed and whispered and rumors, rumors, RUMORS. He began to hyperventilate, and one of them tried to grab his shoulder. He fell backwards, and clutched his chest, looking down at the marble tiled floor.

Tom felt his head burst, it was coming out, it was it was it was it was. He couldn't help it, he tried but it pushed itself out. He could feel himself begin the transformation.

"Scram!" A voice shouted. Tom looked up from the floor to see Tord with bloody knuckles, a expression of disgust on his face as he looked down at the two boys, who backward crawled away from Tord. The Norwegian spun around to face the crowd. "You sickos! You see a kid in an uncomfortable situation and you don't help? I bet you would if it was a person in your family, or your boyfriend or girlfriend. But you think it's funny, and you whisper and stare, and it isn't right." Tord snarled.

One kid piped up from the crowd of kids. "But he's gay-"

"So?" Tord looked enraged, like a demonic force was driving him onwards, but also shocked, like he didn't know about the post right until now. "It doesn't matter! You always agree to the 'Be Yourself!' campaigns yet you can't even follow them? What liars. You all disgust me." Tord spat.

A girl rolled her eyes. "Why should you care? You're popular, you're straight, and you're smart. Common sense tells you to avoid people like him." She looked down her nose at Tom.

"Yeah, and my common sense can tell me if I had a face like yours, I'd sue my parents." Tord growled, while the girl narrowed her eyes.

"Isn't Tom on the soccer team or something?" Another kid called out. "He's really good, isn't he?"

"Yeah, and I support him." Tom's friend Ethan spoke up, and Tom gave a small smile. Tord had noticed and looked angry for a moment before resuming his tough guy glare.

"Whatever, he's lame. The only reason why he hasn't been picked on is because of you, Tord." One kid declared as the crowd began to disperse. Tord narrowed his eyes and snorted. Tord looked down at Tom and reached out for Tom to grab his hand. Tom took it willingly. The commie hoisted him up, and Tom grabbed his backpack, which was tossed on the floor.

With no words being spoken, the two walked out onto the courtyard. Tom remembered the first day of school. So much had happened in little time.

"Tom..we need to talk."