Dysfunctional

Chapter 2 Unconditional Love

"Lars, what happened to your hand?"
How smart of me, I had waved at Violet when we were meeting up at our corner of the street we always met at and walked to school from, with the hand that had a cut on it. That day before, when I had smashed the plate and had to clean it up, I had been too careless and with my mind somewhere else, had stepped in a shard with my hand.
"Nothing, I accidentally dropped a plate and cut myself on a shard."
Violet rolled her eyes. "Classic Lars. You should be more careful."
"I know."
We started walking past the neatly mowed lawns and uneven sidewalk steps that you had to pay close attention to or you'd trip over an edge. It was early in the morning, but surprisingly warm for October.
The reason why I didn't tell Violet about the fight with my stepfather, was because I was ashamed. Surely, Jason had deserved my anger after a comment like that, but perhaps I had gone a bit too far with the Nazi comments. But, I was also ashamed of him, of the fact that my lovely mother had such a poor taste in men. I couldn't just tell Violet, my beautiful best friend who also happened to be of color, that my mother had chosen a man who would think less of people like her just because of their skin color. I also hadn't told my friends that I had spat in Jason's face when he was being extremely rude and disrespectful about Lilly being transgender, and as a result had gotten slapped in the face by him. That last one I even hadn't told my mother.
"Wes is having his birthday party on Halloween. You're coming, right? I already reserved a spot for us in Matt's car."
"What? Oh, nice, thank you. Yeah, I'll come for sure", I mumbled. Then, something occurred to me, and I groaned. "Don't tell me Nina is also driving with us. I can't stand her when she's around Matt."
Violet chuckled. "I know, I know. She's coming with the rest in Quinten's van."
"Thank God", I grunted.
Nina and Matt originally came into our friend group as a couple, but after some time they broke up. For a while it was all cool, but as of lately Nina had started to get obsessed with Matt again. She was convinced that they were getting back together, and talked about him like a groupie would talk about her favorite idol. It would have been bearable, just a little annoying, if Matt was just any guy. But the thing is, ever since they came into our friend group, I had been head over heels for Matt. I'd tried to suppress and deny it for a while because I didn't want to go after a guy who was taken, but after they broke up I kind of let my feelings flow and happen. Surely, Matt was still likely as straight as a ruler, but for a while I could actually enjoy crushing on him. But not anymore, though. No, now we all had to listen to Nina swoon over him, and assure her how Matt indeed must also like her very much. And the painful thing, was that we were probably right when we said stuff like that. Everybody liked Nina. Everybody also hated Nina, but we mostly liked her. She was really good-looking, and I had always been very jealous of how well-dressed she was. She was always up to giving everyone advice, and she was good at it, too. She did make jokes at other people's expense often, and also gave advice when nobody asked for it, but nonetheless she was charming when she did it. Perhaps more than liking Nina, people wanted to be liked by Nina. It was ever so gratifying to receive compliments from her, which she did often.
Matt was in a way similar, and in a way completely different. Just like Nina, everybody loved Matt, but if you said that he hadn't annoyed you at least once, you would be called a liar. It was maybe not the first thing you'd expect when you looked at him, with his tall and muscular build and long hair tied back like a Viking, but Matt was the most pure, most wholesome person anyone could ever think of. He was a bit clueless sometimes, and was always way too nice to stand up for himself, but he had a heart of gold, and it was no wonder everyone always called him the dad of the group. It was however his need to always please everyone, and his want to always take care of others that could often get on our nerves.
But, not to mislead you, Matt was absolutely not innocent. Oh no, he was the one who made the most dirty jokes out of all of us.
But the thing I liked the most about Matt, was that he wasn't afraid to show it when he was upset, or even cry. There was nothing more attractive and admirable to me than a big, masculine guy who was in touch with his emotions.

"Hello, earth to Lars?"
"What? Sorry."
Violet poked me. "I asked if you were coming shopping with the girls this afternoon. We want to buy some autumn clothes, and we also need some presents for Wes' birthday."
"Hmm, I don't know..." I said teasingly, making Violet pout.
"Come on, we need your opinion on our clothes!"
"Alright, alright, I'll be your gay stylist."
"Yay! You're the best!"

During lunch, I joined Violet and the girls at a table. The guys of our friend group were still somewhere doing whatever, talking to some old friends or something.
"We're going shopping after school, right, girls?" Nina asked.
"Lars is coming too", Violet said, pointing at me with her thumb. I was mid-bite in my sandwich, so I just nodded.
"Right, because we totally need the little twink's opinion on our outfits", Nina said with a little laugh and a sarcastic expression.
I gave her a sour look.
"My God, Lars, I'm kidding. You should stop taking everything so seriously. It's totally cool that you're coming along. You're a guy, you'll know what Wes will want for his birthday. Really kind of you to invite him, Vivi." Nina smiled at Violet. "I totally need to buy some new cute clothes this season, for when Matt takes me on a date. I mean, we're basically already dating, though. But he said he liked my plaid skirt, so I'm getting more of those. He's like... totally obsessed with me." She giggled. "He's so cute when he's trying to flirt with me, like... the poor baby really doesn't know how to flirt, but that's what makes it charming, you know?"
Simon joined our table, and leaned forward on how forearms to be let in on the conversation. "What are you girls and fairies talking about?"
I poked him in the ribs, and he playfully smacked the back of my head.
"Nina is talking about how much Matt loves her again", Anne informed him.
"Well, you better be quiet about your secret little crush now, because he's coming this way." Simon pointed at Matt and Ted coming our way.
Anne jumped up to give Ted, her boyfriend, a kiss on the lips.
"Matt! You're coming to Wes' party too, right?" Nina asked him as soon as he neared, flipping her hair over her shoulder and smiling her mesmerizing smile.
But, Matt didn't seem to hear or notice her at all, and he sat down next to Lilly. "Lilly, I checked and printed out your essay like I promised", he started rambling to her, putting his arm around her while he pointed at some notes he took on what she wrote. "If you need any more help, just ask me, ok?"
Apparently, Simon had noticed how Matt had ignored Nina right in her face, and couldn't contain his laughter. "So far from that unconditional love", he snickered. I couldn't help but grin as well.
Nina's face turned red, and she didn't know what to say.
Finally, Matt caught on. "What's going on? Did I do something?"
"Turns out you're not that obsessed with Nina after all, are you?"
"What? I-... Nina, did you say something to me? I'm so sorry, I genuinely didn't hear you. I-I didn't mean to...-" Poor Matt, he was getting all red and embarrassed too.
"Whatever, it wasn't important", Nina huffed. She clearly felt humiliated. "And you stop laughing now, faggot!" she suddenly snapped at me when I didn't clear my face of my smirk soon enough.
Suddenly, everything got very quiet and awkward for a second. This wasn't the first time that Nina had called me a slur regarding my sexuality, and everyone was kind of used to it now, although stuff still got uncomfortable whenever she dropped a bomb like that. I didn't actually feel offended, yet I still wished she didn't. She only embarrassed herself with it, really.