Life's Worth

Craig

The next morning, Craig's alarm was as loud as the morning before, awaking me.

I opened my eyes to see heathered gray fabric, and the scent of body wash. When I tried to move, I was trapped by Craig's arms around me. I managed to get my arm free to shake him awake.

He groaned and turned off his alarm then sat up sleepily. "How the hell to do you wake up so easily?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

I shrugged my shoulders. "What time did you fall asleep?"

He glanced at the clock, then answered, "An hour ago."

"Jesus Christ," I mumble, getting out of bed.

ーXー

On the way to school, we pass Tweak Bros., and I realize something.

"Hey, Craig?"

"Hm?"

"What ever happened to working at Tweak Bros.?"

"Well, shitty hours is what happened. And they still don't have an official work schedule for you. Speaking of, you have a shift with Tweek today. I was told to let you know this morning. He said it was something about his parents going on a trip unexpectedly, so he needed someone to fill their place, and you need the money. He brought you lunch again, by the way."

"Why does he bring me lunch? He barely knows me." It was weird. Then again, the past few weeks have been weird.

"He has a big heart, despite all his fears."

"Yeah, I can see that. I just, I don't know. Everyone seems a little too accepting of me," I said, referring to me just being allowed to suddenly join his friend group and have no one give a fuck.

"I think you have just been hanging around the wrong people for two long," he said as we pulled into the student parking lot.

ーXー

After school, Craig drove me to the coffee shop. As we neared the place, I began to get a bit nervous. What if I had forgotten everything? How well will the shift with Tweek go? What if I fuck up?

Craig seemed to notice, but he didn't ask. There was no time since we were already pulling into the parking lot.

I thanked him for driving me before heading in.

"Hey, K-Kenny," Tweek greeted with a smile.

It wasn't a very busy day since it was Wednesday and most people had gone to church. I didn't fuck up any of the few orders I did need to take care of, which was great.

When there were no customers, there was a silence between Tweek and me, aside from his occasional sound he made when he had a muscle spasm. At one point, he finally spoke. "H-How do you feel about - ngh - C-Craig?"

"Why do you ask?" It seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Well, C-Craig isn't the type of person to let p-people in - ngh - easily. He...builds the w-walls, and they're practically impenitrable. You're talking to him only b-because - ngh - he wants to talk to you. Obviously he has his own reasons that may be more than for f-friendship. So, I'll ask again, though it's not really my - ngh - business, and you don't have to answer. How do you feel about Craig?"

I thought for a moment. "He's a great friend. I mean, I've got a lot of shit going on right now that I'd rather not talk about, and he knows this simply because he was a witness to it all. Despite all his monotony, he shows he cares in both big and small ways." I smiled softly to myself at the thought.

"Ah, I s-see." He got an odd look on his face, one I couldn't quite place right away.

Does he think I'm in love with Craig or something? I didn't mean to sound like that. Fuck. I've already had enough fag comments for a lifetime, I thought nervously.