Operation Sal | Sally Face x Travis Phelps

14

   Travis walked down the hallway with him in silence, towards the cafeteria.

   Larry's hands were buried somewhere deep in his pockets, and he didn't appear to be affected by the awkward situation in the slightest. Though, he hardly ever seemed outwardly worried about anything other than his brother anyway.

   He and Travis were walking so far apart that approximately six Sal's could fit in between them easily.

   Travis wished that there was at least one Sal at school with them today.

He wondered if Sally Face read his Valentine's Day note. It wasn't as good or as sweet as the one that Sal had written him. Even now, It made the butterflies in his chest take off into flight as he walked quietly into the cafeteria, and to the right, towards his usual lonely table.

"Where are you going?"

He jumped at the sound of Larry's voice, bag slipping off of his shoulder for a second. Travis flinched, grabbing it swiftly before it could hit the ground.

He glanced over his shoulder at Larry, who was standing with his legs wide apart, fists still stuffed in his pockets.

"What... Do you mean?" Travis mumbled, blowing a stray lock of golden hair out of his face and pulling his backpack up again.

He could feel a few of the students at the nearest table staring, watching the exchange.

Larry cocked his head and narrowed his eyes harshly as if he thought Travis was some sort of imbecile, "You're Sal's friend, aren't you?"

Travis felt a chill rush up his spine.

Oh, God.

Did he really have to keep asking about that? Travis swallowed and shifted his body towards him slightly, midsection shrinking inwards, "Uh- Well, Yeah- Yeah."

Larry blinked, unphased. "Okay, then shouldn't you sit with the rest of his friends?"

The guy must have been trying to kill him.

Immediately, Travis's heart began to pound, sending him into a spiraling frenzy. He stood in place as he frantically tried to work out the situation in his head.

   Larry expected him to sit at Sal's lunch table with all of Sal's friends even though Sal himself wasn't there. What good would that do him? What good would that do Sal?

More importantly, was Larry even being serious?

   "Pussying out again, huh, Phelps?" One of the voices in his head sighed, "I can't say I'm surprised."

   "You don't have to sit with them if you don't want to," another quiet voice chimed in, "especially if it'll make you anxious."

   "You're going to have to get over it at some point," a snippier voice complained, "do you expect to be his friend and also stay 20 feet away from him and his other friends at all times?"

   Larry's brows creased and he narrowed his eyes, twisting his boot against the floor impatiently, "You coming or not?"

   Travis trembled slightly, feeling the blood rush up into his head.

   Well, there was no getting out of it now.

   "Uh," he looked up at him, "I- uh, yeah. Sure." He wanted to punch himself in the face.

Travis followed Larry towards the table, keeping several feet behind him for good measure.

What would he even say to those kids that he had bullied for the past three years of High school? He still wasn't sure how to talk to Sal. How was he going to talk to Sal's friends when it was so clear that they still hated him?