Serendipity

Private

After the weekend at Tim's house wrapped up and I went home, it became the only thing I could think about for the rest of the day.

Even at school, I caught myself spacing out and thinking about waking up beside Tim.

Like something out of some cheesy romance novel.

"Agh," I moan, ripping my hands through my hair and startling Tai, who sits beside me absolutely destroying a ham and cheese sandwich.

"What's up with you?" He asks around his mouthful, spraying bits of crumbs all over his lap. A tiny triangle of cheese sticks to the outside of his lip. I wince.

"Nothing," I mumble. Though my eyes betray me and land on Tim, who sits quietly at his group. He has some kind of yogurt in his hands, and Ream casts nervous glances over at him occasionally as he slowly spoons it into his mouth.

Tai grunts, bringing my attention back to him.

"What'd ya do for the weekend?" He jabs me in the ribs playfully, but I push him away with a grossed-out laugh as more crumbs fall from his mouth.

"Dude, have you forgotten how to swallow?" I ask, my voice pitching up slightly. "Or are you trying to feed the earth worms?"

"Both," He grins, crumbs and ham and cheese bits spilling from between his teeth.

"Get away from me, you foul beast!"

"Rawr!"

"Aaah, no! You just spit on me!"

"Plegh!"

"Oh my god, that's disgusting! Stop! You're getting it all over the place!"

"I hate to interrupt," A different voice cuts through our banter, and my head whips around to look at the person standing a few feet away, their hands on their hips. "Because while this looks very appetizing, I have to ask you guys something."

"Oh, uh," Tai suddenly looks a lot more nervous with the new company, swallowing his bite and hastily dusting crumbs off his clothes. "How can we help you, Heather?"

Oh.

Heather Darson.

Tai's long-time crush.

Even before Heather came out as trans, I had always teased Tai about being a little gay for someone that used to be called Walter.

But, when I saw them again in my freshman year of highschool, Walter was no more, suddenly replaced with the out and proud Heather, who always wore bright colors and gave out little chocolates. Suddenly Tai was denying the teasing a lot less.

I'm tempted to mess with Tai and talk about his crush, but (like the good friend I am) I just smile and wave for Heather to sit down.

"What's up?" I ask as she carefully sits down beside me. I can practically feel Tai's disappointment radiating off him, but I ignore it.

"I know you guys are pretty close," She says. "And I'm gonna sound pretty shitty saying this right off the bat..."

"Go ahead," I prompt when she trails off, tugging on a couple strands of her long golden hair.

"Sydney," She looks at me. "You've been hanging out with Tim a lot-"

"Really?" Tai interrupts, then blushes fiercely and claps a hand over his mouth. He sends me a look that says 'we are so not done talking about this', then lifts his hand enough so he can mumble. "Sorry."

"It's okay," She shakes her head kindly, reminding me once again of her saint-like patience that I can only dream of having. "I just wanted to ask him if he could help me talk to him. I dunno, it's just that he's always hanging out with someone and I don't want to interrupt."