I Think I Like Him | JeffMads (DISCONTINUED)

4: Blind Date

Thomas was sitting in biology class, neatly taking notes like he was meant to. He was a visual learner so, used highlighters, stickers, coloured pens and so on and so forth. He loved his work to be neat and colourful, that way he'd remember stuff much easier. They had a test in the next few days, anyway. He was minding his own business when a paper plane landed on his desk, right where he was about to write. It wasn't big, probably made out of A5 paper. He frowned and looked around then sighed. It was probably a hate message from two of his bullies who happened to be in his bio class: The Freckled One and The Foreign One. He shrunk a bit in his seat, but opened it. To his surprise however, the letter read:

Hey boo XxXx

  I've seen the way you look at me, and it ain't hard to tell you like what you see, honey pie. No worries, I won't tell anyone... not even my girls. This stays between you and I. You ain't gotta answer this, but meet me after school in our English classroom. Got a little something for ya ;) ♡

See you there XoXo

He immediately felt his face flush. There was only one girl in the entire school whom he had eyes for, and, indeed, they were in the same English and bio class. He knew exactly where she was sitting, and that sort of is where the letter came from. He did, however, feel a little proud of himself. At least now he knew someone liked him. Well, excluding Aaron, of course. He let a small smile crawl onto his face, and looked down to continue his note making.

***

Aaron sat with his arms crossed, looking at Thomas with a disbelieving expression as he told his story. The latter looked up at him, a smile on his face, about to put his spoon in his mouth. But he paused and placed his spoon down again, chuckling.
"What? Jealous that ya boy got a girl before you?" He asked, winking. Aaron just shook his head. 

"No. Thomas, I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but this whole thing seems kinda sketchy. Like, are you sure she'd like you back that way? You? Of all people? Like, honestly. You two are on two very different social levels... do you even have a level? I'm just, I'm just sayin'." He ended off, shrugging and taking a sip of his juice.

No lie, Thomas was slightly offended. But he was too sure this was real, so ignored his uncivil comments. He shrugged,
"Oh, Aaron. One day you'll learn my skills." He laughed, a spoon of rice pudding going into his mouth soon after. Aaron just frowned, what skills?

***

Applying lip balm to his already soft lips, Thomas strolled confidently over to his English classroom, certain he was going to get a kiss. Sure, he was a little nervous for having never actually done that before, but he'd seen it happen enough times to know which direction he were to take. His first kiss with his long-lived crush, who, pretty popular, decided she'd crush on him back. This was going to be a dream come true.

And a dream indeed.

Because, stepping into the classroom, standing in a line, cracking their abused knuckles, Thomas noticed none other than The Brown-Eyed One, The Giant One, and The Littlest One, all standing there with ghastly smiles which spoke, "gotcha". He froze immediately. How could he have been so stupid? Aaron was right, why would his crush like him, of all people in the universe? He looked back then forwards, the three now closer to him. He took a small step away, looking back again then forwards once more. He wasn't going to get out of this. He sighed and let it be. The Littlest One stepped forward, lifting Thomas' chin in that manner that was almost affectionate. He winked,
"Hiya, honey pie."

***

Later that day, Thomas stood in his bathroom, in front of the mirror, trying to apply make up to his black eye and cut lip before someone noticed it, simultaneously speaking on a video call to Aaron who was pretty much scolding him in an Aaron-type-of-way.
". . . And this is exactly why I always say think before acting because how many times has this happened now?" There was a pause, "Exactly. Thomas, you're very bad at this thing called listening. Maybe if you listened to me sometimes, you wouldn't be getting yourself fucked up like this all the damn time. But you never do. Why? Like, honestly, why?"

Thomas sighed to himself.
"I'm sorry. Okay. I just... sometimes I feel like I can deal with shit but I really can't. I just always hope I'll do it this time. And... your advice... it's not that I don't listen, I just feel undermined because you talk to me like I'm hopeless, which, actually, I am. And, you see... I'm a good person at heart, Aaron, and... maybe too much of a good person. I... I don't like hurting other people whether physically or emotionally, and... I don't like to see other people suffer. They can do it to me all they want, but... I wouldn't... I can't do it back. I'm just... I'm just an idiot, I'm sorry."

Aaron just sighed, oh brother.

"Okay, firstly, you aren't hopeless, and I'm sorry I've made you feel that way. Secondly, you are an idiot sometimes, but aren't we all? Thirdly, you gotta stop apologising for everything. You're human like the rest of us. Humans make mistakes. I make mistakes. A hella lot of them. But your mistakes don't define you as a person. I agree, you are a... really good person, Thomas. I know this, but, dude, you've gotta stand your ground sometimes. You can't keep letting people push you around and walk over you like you're nothing. I know I said show 'em you're a brown belt, but I only said that because I wanted you to see how strong you are as a person, not necessarily so you beat them to a pulp. You didn't, good, but please,"

"I really need you too see your potential, Thomas. You're more than you think, trust me, man. No homo, but, I love you, and I hate to see you like this. Especially as your best friend. In case you didn't know, I ran into Alexander today, and he said to me that my best friend - you - was the pussiest kid he'd ever come across. I couldn't let that slide, no way. I had to step in. So I told him he should quit treating you like shit, especially with the fact that he used to be bullied by kids just as much as you and that shut him up. 'Course he snarled and shit, but I stood up for my friend, and in doing that I stood up for myself. You can do the same."

Thomas paused and put his make up away before grabbing his phone off the sink and going back into his room. He sat on his bed and faced Aaron again. He'd heard everything he was saying, and he was honestly touched.
"But... do you really think I can...?"
"Think?" Aaron started, "I know you can. And I know you will. It's all up to you, Thomas."
Thomas nodded, taking this into consideration.
"I don't know, man. Guess I'll try..."
"Yeah. Try. If you fail, just remember it's not the end. It's a learning curve and you can try again. A thousand times if you want. But just try. I'll be right here with you to help you. Got it?"
Thomas nodded,
"Yeah. I got it."
Aaron nodded back.
"Great. I gotta go now, but you're fine and you'll be fine. Bye man, see you tomorrow."

After ending the call, Thomas put his phone down on the bed. Maybe Aaron was right. He was probably right. He was always right. Even if he started small. But that was the way to go. Small steps forward were the key to success.

☆