False Confidence (bxb) (NOW ON KINDLE VELLA)

Eight

"Hey," Reid broke the silence, looking up from his paper. "I feel like I need to tell you something about me, now," he laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

Lance frowned and shook his head, pushing his binder and paper to the side so he could write in his notepad.

No, it's okay. I don't' usually just go around and tell people that kind of stuff—I just wanted to explain things a little better to you. I don't expect anything like that in return. This is just a school project; we only need the basics to get by, not the deep, ugly stuff. Once it's over, it won't matter anyway.

Reid jerked back with furrowed eyebrows as if he'd been hit. "Huh?"

He hadn't really been thinking about the fact that the project would be over soon, but he did figure that he'd still be able to be friends with the guy afterward. Lance had an impact on Reid—one that the older boy wanted to look into more.

"I mean, we can be friends after the project still. I'm not, like... the jerk-jock-type who will bully you or just ignore you because I think I'm 'cooler' than you. We—we can still be friends after... right?"

Lance hadn't meant it in the way Reid was taking it—he already knew Reid wasn't like that. But he didn't expect him to still want to be friends with him after the project was done. Lance was quiet; he couldn't crack jokes or join in on the conversations—couldn't put his own two-sense in or even relate to the conversation... and that was all before his voice was taken from him. Now, it was the same but so much worse because he literally had nothing to say. He didn't know how to have friends before, and certainly not now, so why was the jock in front of him, with he piercing green eyes and contrasting blue locks, acting as if they'd still have any kind of relationship after their last two weeks were up?

I didn't mean it in that way. I just meant that you'll go back to your busy life and I'll go back to mine. It's hard enough to find time to do this project—how would we be friends? He slid the note to him and gave a sheepish smile to let him know that no hard feelings were between them. There truly wasn't—Lance wanted to go right back to the shadows when this was over and just make it through 'till graduation.

The thought pulled at something in his chest though, and when he dug a bit deeper to find out why, he realized it was because he'd made an attachment to him—to the fact that they had a lot in common even if Reid didn't know it.

He shook it off and waited for Reid to finish reading the note so they could go back to planning the layouts of their projects asking questions that didn't really matter.

Reid was frowning even deeper now, reading the note over a few times. "Just because we don't see each other all the time doesn't mean we can't be friends. Friends are people that are there for you when it counts the most—not just there all the time except when you seem to need them the most." He paused and looked up from the paper, eyes finding Lance's. Reid swallowed hard and sighed, continuing, "I have so many friends; I'm the captain of the football team and an important part of the soccer and basketball teams. Then there's the cheerleaders and the people who hang out in our group. They're my friends because they kind of have to be—we're teammates and we have to trust one another to make it through the games. But... I don't actually know any of them. I know their names, their positions, their team number, and whose best in any given position... and we hang out sometimes after a game, but that's to get pizza or to see a movie and all we do is talk about the game we just played." He stopped again and looked away from Lance, tugging at a frayed end of his jeans.

"My parents are in the final stages of divorce. My teammates don't know, and the ones who do don't really check in on everything. Y'know? Not that I expect them to or anything, cause it's whatever," Lance knew it wasn't 'whatever' but let him continue, "but I seem to be in the know about everything going on with them... I'm the one they come to, but the minute I need to say something, everyone's too busy or don't want to hear it 'cause it brings them down. If I'm not being uplifting or pumping everyone up all the time, then... then I'm afraid that I might be... useless," he finished with a shrug, letting go of the frayed fabric and looking up to see Lance's reaction.