fxxing tommy!

9%

sam's head was muddy, the whole day was a hazy blur while his body functioned on autopilot. not even the violent wind that whipped his umber hair flush against his face could wake him. eventually, sam's legs found their way to the benches tucked under white flowering treetops. karlo was already there sitting on the bench, absentmindedly kicking his skateboard back and forth while jeremy walked solo from apush, as eliotte was doing his shady "extra credit" that day.

while sam dragged his feet with glazed eyes, he tripped right the fuck over karlo's skateboard and it yeeted his body towards the ground.
karlo yelped and rushed to his side

"oh my god, dude are u ok?"

he grabbed one arm and struggled to pull him up, but sam's body wouldn't follow.
jeremy jogged over and pulled up the other, uneasily propping his torso up against his will
sam winced and brought his hand up to a wide scrape on his cheekbone
karlo shook him and his panicked green eyes drilled into sam's confused face

"fuck, man say something! or did you crack your skull too?"

sam blinked and let out a halfhearted grunt
karlo punched his arm in frustration

"girl i almost killed you and all u can say is ooga booga?? i swear dude what the fuck is up with you lately? it's kinda spooky, like you're a shadow of yourself."

through his best friend's furrowed brows sam could still see a tinge of sadness and genuine worry. he pulled himself up from the floor onto the bench, rubbing his eyes to try and snap out of it for karlo's sake.
jeremy plopped down next to sam after retrieving his skateboard and stretched his arms around sam's shoulder

"nah, man. he's just lost in the simp sauce"

karlo pouted and glanced to make sure sofia wasn't around and lowered his voice

"seriously, this whole girl thing is getting out of hand. at this point, she just makes you sad, like i don't get it. i mean, do what you want but i just want my homie back :("

as the two girls came into view, karlo placed a reassuring pat on sam's shoulder and greeted them, making sure his skateboard was tucked away.

the friendly chatter buzzed in sam's ears, but he could not comprehend the words as he struggled to appear like he's paying attention. he didn't even have the energy too look at sofia, or maybe it just hurt too much to do so. he tried to follow and look each person wile they spoke with his blank eyes, but his mind was still in a different plane.
he was still squinting at jeremy's blurry face when karlo asked him

"hey, are you coming to tommy's party tonight?"

immediately, he thought
"no, not today, i'll pass"
and internally added
i'd rather wallow in my depression alone, thanks

"whaat, no, come on, it'll be fun! it's just a couple people, like, really chill"

sam rolled his eyes, he barely had the social stamina to withstand a 40 minute lunch break with five people, especially in his current state

"ugh no, it's thursday anyway, who the fuck goes out on a thursday night?"

it was also sam's movie night with his moms, as thursday was the only night his lawyer mom, melanie, had off during the week.
just then, a melodic voice chimed in

"come on, even i'll be there! it's a chill little get-together and i'm baking brownies for y'all"

karlo expectantly raised an eyebrow at him
sam sighed, he doesn't want to let sofia down and leave her alone with tommy, and who knows? anything is possible at a party.
he muttered "fineee" and karlo stood up with a satisfied grin, then beckoned sam to join him in the b hall bathroom

b hall was in the first floor of the science building, its impressive red brick facade provided shade and an ample alleyway for students to make out in and do other breeder shit. however, the bathroom was always the best and safest place to vape in the school, and the two made b hall their base. with a few puffs, the dingy blue tiled room smelled of sweet vanilla and oranges. sam finally didn't have to pretend to listen anymore, as the nicotine buzz woke his tried mind.
karlo smiled at him with warm nostalgia

"isn't this epic, just the two of us here alone like we used to"

sam remembered those days in freshman year when they knew nobody but each other in this unfamiliar private school. they'd spend all of nutrition and lunch huddled on the bathroom floor, talking among themselves away from it all (except that occasional guy that came to piss). when he thought of it, it really has been a long time since it was just the two of them. ever since they met eliotte, who introduced jeremy, who introduced andie, who introduced sofia, there were always others.
as if he could read the other's thoughts, karlo frowned slightly

"yeah, i feel like everything sorta changed, especially when you met sofia"

he was right, sam was so infatuated with her that he neglected his oldest friend.
karlo came closer so they stood eye to eye

"anyways, like i mean she's really cool and sweet and i guess i can kinda understand, just this chasing has been going on for months and like everyone knows by now"

sam flushed red.
"fuck, so does that mean she knows? does andie know?"

"well, technically no but i'm just saying you should tell her or you'll be simping forever. like, i hope everything goes well but you've got to stop being a pussy and just say something, because it's hurting you and- i don't know, it just hurts me to see you hurt, you know?"

sam's eyes were wide and his heart beat loudly with fear of rejection, of loosing the idea of her. but, karlo was right and knew him better than anyone.
his bestie's pep talk made his hands clammy, it confronted him with the reality that it really dont b that deep and fuck it. karlo's kind words reminded him of an earlier time and strangely filled him with warm, overflowing emotion, a welcome change to his  cold numbness.

sam beamed
"come here, give ur homie a hug"

the bell rang and sam dragged through 5th and 6th period, his mind on the inevitably of disappointment if he does nothing at all. however, he was still scared absolutely shitless and willfully slipped into his simp ways once again to stay in denial.

<party coming next chap 😼😼hope u likey 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩