𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 (𝚂𝚊𝚕 𝙵𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛)

Operation Team Work: Sorta Failed {Twenty}

"Far across the emptiness
I walk the night..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's extremely unfortunate that Max found me later during the day as I was hanging out with the group.

I could compare him to the old Travis and say that Max has become a nuisance and a leech, constantly stuck to my side— but even Travis was never this bad.

It's also extremely unfortunate that Larry practically fell in love with the nuisance. Ash didn't seem to mind, Todd genuinely didn't care, and Travis was the only one on my side.

Max and Larry animatedly talked about their favorite music and video games. I've never heard Larry exclaim the word "Dude!" so often in my life. And he's the embodiment of "dude."

This catastrophic chain of events leads to the present— a point in my lifetime that I never expected.

"I can't believe Larry likes that guy. What a fucking meathead."

Travis and I are peeking around a corner of the hallway, watching Larry and Max from afar. Max has that aggravating smirk on his face, as always, and Larry is beyond excited. I wish I could let the situation be but there's just something I don't like about Max.

Maybe it's his arrogance, or his asshole persona, or his ignorance— actually, who am I kidding. It's all of those things and more.

I nod beside Travis, narrowing my eyes at the two boys who finally go separate ways.

I pull back from our little hiding spot and look up at the former bully with a very visible scowl on my face. "I can't exactly explain how, but that guy is trouble. He's also an asshole in general. I'm shocked that Larry hasn't caught bad vibes yet," I say, noting Travis' scowl that is much like mine.

"No kidding. He's gotta be an idiot to miss shit like this—"

I cut him off with a glare, "What did I say about being nice?"

Travis blushes lightly, grumbling as he looks off to the side. "Sorry," He mumbles, "What I meant to say is that Larry has to be pretty... ignorant to overlook the negative aspects of this guy."

Nodding again, I smile. "Good. That's better. Regardless, I agree. It seems we're the only two on the same page. We'll just have to be the eyes and ears of the group and hopefully keep Max away for as long as we can."

"Team work makes the dream work." Travis snickers, sticking out his fist. I bump mine against his and grin. "By the way—"

"Hey, Emsy, Trav!"

My eyes widen as I look up and find Larry speeding up his pace to reach us. How the hell did he get here? Even Travis looks shocked.

Thank god we finished that conversation when we did.

"Larry!" I say a little too enthusiastically. After all, we were just talking about him. It's hard for me to look someone in the eye after I've practically just called them ignorant, for example. I feel bad about it— but it's the truth! "How's it going?"

Larry slaps on his signature grin, pushing a hand through his hair as he comes to a stop in front of Travis and I. He stuffs his hands in his pockets after that, closing his eyes as he starts talking. "Well, I must say it's going pretty glonky. I made a new friend. Made group plans with new friend—"

"Group what with who?" I force out, nearly choking on air as I put the words together again. Have Travis and I failed already? We didn't even get to fucking start.