swiftly [d.d.]

2 - it's nice to have a friend

i knew david would be embarrassed; obviously i did. but i didnt expect him to do anything about it.

heath told me he was escorting me to lunch today, which did catch me by surprise. we kept our distance at school. he sat with his friends and i sat at my own table. but i wasnt going to pass up seeing david again.

heath sat me down in between him and carly. i stayed silent before glancing around the table. david wasnt making eye contact.

"okay, this is my sister. she got half of the people at this table home last night when they were piss drunk, so i decided she was gonna sit here today."

"sorry i almost puked in your van yesterday." zane grinned.

"you almost puked in my van?"

"...no."

i looked away from him. the lunch ended quickly, so i accepted what just happened. people looked at me as i left the table. i knew they were, i didnt entertain the idea that i could now get them into this sacred, private group. 

everyone else took their own ways away from the cafeteria, and i didn't even think about david again until after sixth period, when he caught up to me in the hallway.

"hey." he said, lightly grasping my arm and pulling me to the side. i couldve swore people were staring at me as they walked past.

"hey, david. about last night-"

"last night? what happened last night?'

i thought about how it would probably be embarrassing for both of us. "nothing. you just tripped getting out of the car."

"what? why would that be embarrassing?"

"i dont know. whatever. what did you want to talk about?"

he hesitated. "um.. will you tutor me?"

i was caught slightly off guard. i really expected something more pressing with how weird he was acting. "yeah? sure. sure. in what?"

"i dont know. language arts."

"fine. i have to go, though. heath has my number, get it from him and text me a time or a day or something."

i pushed past him into the flow of kids. i think he wanted to ask something else, the way he was composed. this was very not-david.

when i got an unknown number texting me four times in the middle of math class, i knew who it was. Even if he hadn't said his name three times, i couldve been able to tell.

Hey is this (Y/N)??? it's D

It's Davi

Holy shit it's David I'm trying to txt unde r the desk sorey

Can u just come ov r tonite???????????? Like meet my by tye flag pole

i hate how funny i found him. it made me feel like everyone else at the school. maybe some things were basic for a reason, though. 

yeah. okay. stop texting under the desk tho u nerd, ur gonna get caught.

i set my phone on the desk next to the papers i was supposed to be filling out and ignored when the screen began to glow with horribly misspelled text messages that i knew i would ignore until i saw him again.

as i walked outside, i saw david standing where he said he would be, texting on his phone. i walked up to him and tried to wait quietly until he looked up. 

"ready?"

he looked up. "oh, yeah. let's get out of here."

david lived only seven blocks from the high school, so he never had to fuck around with taking a car. 

 "okay, you have your language arts stuff, right?"

"why?"

"that's.. what you asked for help in."

"what? oh. yeah, i guess."

we walked silently together for a moment. it was a filled silence, like neither of us knew exactly what to say. until,

"youre a sophomore, right?" he asked.

"uh, yeah. only a year between me and heath. youre a junior."

"that wasnt much of a question." he laughed.

"obviously. youre with heath, thats how old he is." and then, "wait, youre older than me. why do you need me to help with your homework? youre more advanced than i am."

david shrugged. "i kinda lied. i just wanted to hang out."

we stepped over top of a chalk outline, obviously done by someone under 10. a bride and groom. cute.

"you couldve just asked. i wouldve said yes."

he swallowed. "wanna hang out?"

"yeah, sounds like fun."

he wanted to play video games. i don't play video games, but when he smiled at me i felt like i had to. he was so happy about it, his grin was wide. so, i said yes. 

the whole time we were playing, my brain was nagging at me. he's truly a boy i think i could get stuck on. every time he killed someone in the game, he would grab my knee and shake it. when i couldn't figure out how to get out of a hole, he did it for me and then showed me, step by step, how to do it. i started getting stick places on purpose just so he would tell me, really slowly, how to play the game. 

when we had finished playing, i slumped down onto the bean bag i had occupied and he plopped down onto the floor next to me, leaning back onto my bean bag.

"why did you want to hang out with me?" i asked. "it's just a little... out of the ordinary. i dont know."

he turned a bit. "i dont know. i dont see you hang out with anyone at school, really. i kinda.... i dont know. nevermind."

"no, what?" i asked, sitting up.

"i kinda assumed... you didnt really have friends. so i thought we could hang out."

"oh."

"oh'?" he laughed a little. "'oh' what?"

"this is... kind of a pity hang, then."

i stood and grabbed my bag from the ground. 

"what? where are you going?"

"i've got to go home. it's 5 oclock, david. school ended three hours ago."

"youre mad." he stated. not a question. 

"yeah, i am a little mad. but a lot of things make me a little mad, so. it's fine, david. i kinda thought this was a vibe, but i'm just gonna go home."

"you dont have a ride," he replied, standing. "heath drove you to school. there's not a car at the school." 

"fine. i'll just call him." i shrugged. "i just wanna go home. i dont really feel good."

"oh. okay. um, bye, i guess."

i nodded once, left his room, and then dialed heath as i walked down the steps. 

this all went to shit really fast. maybe i did overreact, i dont know. 

i kinda regret it now.