Denial (Salvis)

Study Buddy {21}

        What was Sal hiding? After his confession, Sal had a complete mental breakdown. He sprung into a panic attack, hyperventilating and crying, nothing Travis did could console the poor boy. He had to call Larry and explain what was happening to get Sal to even remotely calm down. Even then, Sal remained silent for the rest of the bus ride home, completely irresponsive, staring into space. Was it Travis' fault for pushing the subject? The feeling of guilt was no stranger to Travis, it was almost beginning to feel like a comfort, something that would always return no matter how hard he would try to fight or avoid it. At some point, Travis would have to learn to accept the permanent feelings of regret and self-reproach, it would always be a part of him. Church was boring as always, but it finally gave him the chance to escape into his mind, to hide behind his own thoughts and shame, as if it would protect him. The service was nearly over, he'd soon have to return to the real world.

        To Travis' surprise, he had two new messages. One from Sal and one from an unknown number. He started with the obvious choice first, Sal.

"Sorry if i scared you yesterday lol. Anyways can u come to the apartments today after church?"

Travis immediately conjured up a response, not wasting any time.

"Hey, Sal! It's fine, are you okay? I can probably convince Father to allow it somehow."

While waiting for a response, he clicked onto the unknown number and read the message.

"Hello, Travis. This is Todd Morrison, I've acquired your phone number through Sal. I would like to follow up on the possibility of the academic assistance I proposed to you previously. Do you believe you'd like to participate in some exhilarating knowledge seeking? Sally face mentioned to me that he would prefer to tutor you in math, therefore, I will not be able to be of service to you in that regard, though I would still relish in teaching you the wonders of chemistry, physics, biology, history or English language arts."

Somehow, Todd was even more formatted in texting than Travis, which he took as a challenge, this also gave him the perfect excuse to give to Kenneth.

"Hi, Todd. I'd like to take you up on your kind offer. I'm currently struggling in physics, would you be able to help me with that?"

His reply was almost instant, Todd also seemed to type incredibly quickly. 

"As I have previously stated, yes. I can help you with physics, it would be in your best interest to come to the Addison Apartments today, as I am free all day."

Perfect. He approached his Father, who was facing towards the wall in the staff room of the Ministry.

"Excuse me, Father?" He lightly tapped on the door.

"Yes?" His voice was already full of agitation, he would have to tread lightly.

"One of my peers asked if I'd like to study with him, he said he can help me with physics, I was wondering if I'd be able to go?" He swallowed hard, his Father was difficult to deal with even when he was in a good mood.

"What's his name?" Kenneth didn't turn around, Travis found no issues with that.

"Todd Morrison. He's the smartest person in our grade. He texted me earlier and I just saw it now."

"Show me the message." He straightened his posture, Kenneth was a tall man. His height only added to his already threatening appearance. Travis walked forwards and handed him the phone, praying that he wouldn't open any of his other conversations. No, he was just worried about one, Sal.

"Sal?" His voice was quiet and unloving, the questioning tone sent a cold sweat down his back. This couldn't be happening, not now. Everything was so perfect, Travis had just landed the boy of his dreams, he'd kind of made friends, he was starting to be happy, and it was all about to crash and burn.

"Sir, I can explain." Travis didn't know how his voice was even working, his hands were clammy and shaking, his brain was numb.

"Well, yes, I'd sure hope so. Apparently this child will be teaching you math, I'd like to know who you'll be with." Kenneth sounded slightly confused. Travis forgot that Todd mentioned Sal in the text, his Father simply read the message that mentioned him. A massive wave of relief washed over him, how stupid was he to forget that Sal was named twice in that paragraph?

"Do you remember earlier this year when I was involved in a," he stopped, trying to phrase the reminder in a way that wouldn't anger the Minister, "physical altercation? The boy with blue hair?"

"Hmm, that little freak with the mask?" He raised an eyebrow at Travis, the conversation could've been going so much worse.

"Eh- yes. He's also really smart, he and Todd are friends." Travis almost corrected his Father, saying that it was a prosthetic, but quickly thought better of it.

"I see, your math grades are fucking disgusting, Travis. If that nutcase can help you succeed, then I'd suggest you get a move on." Travis looked up, pure joy in his eyes.

"Thank you so much, sir! I'll make you proud, I promise."

"You'd better. You may do this twice a week at most, you will tend to you duties at the Ministry beforehand, your curfew is 5:30 at the latest, if I want you home at any point, you will be there withing five minutes; if I get the slightest hint that you are not doing school work, you will be severely punished and banned from any other activities, and if your grades are not within the range of 85-100 by the end of the year, you'll regret being alive. Do I make myself clear?"

"Absolutely, you can count on it." Kenneth waved his hand and turned around, signaling for Travis to leave.

        The lobby of the Addison Apartments smelled strongly of mold and mildew, something about this building always rubbed him the wrong way. The soft ping of an elevator could faintly be heard, followed by the mechanical whirring of opening doors. Two boys emerged from the metal doors, both spotted Travis very quickly. 

"Hello, Travis. Glad you were able to make it." Travis always used to think that Todd's voice was rather annoying, but shockingly, it was growing on him. 

"Yeah, me too!" Sal agreed, waving at Travis. 

"Hey, thanks for inviting me over, guys." He smiles at them, trying to appear more friendly.

"We should head up to my room, follow us." Todd briskly walked back into the elevator, but Sal stayed outside, holding his hand in front of the door to prevent it from closing before Travis could get in. He walked into the small metal box, smiling at Sal. Travis still lacked a lot of social skills, but he really was trying to get better. At least he wasn't constantly hurling slurs and insults at anyone who looked at him wrong. 

        "Bob?"

"Yeah, he's my fish." Todd replied, not even looking towards Travis, "are you excited for some higher education?" Todd normally kept an even tone and didn't express his emotions outwardly, but Travis could tell he was ecstatic.

"Yeah, sure." Travis was still wearing his church attire and felt very out of place next to Sal, who was wearing ripped jeans and a Slipknot shirt. Todd motioned to a chair pulled up next to his at the large desk, Sal was already casually stretched out on Todd's bed. 

I have some spare notebooks, I thought you might appreciate them for this. They will certainly come in handy for us." The read head handed Travis two spiral bound books, his bright green  eyes lingering for a bit too long. 

"Alright, now let's begin!" This would be a very long, painstaking process. 

Word count: 1298