At Least Pretend To Love Me

2. If only seconds could last forever

±4000 Words

When Tommy woke up, twenty minutes after his alarm was supposed to go off. He fell out of his bed onto the ground. Laying there for a good two minutes, he tried to think about his options.

One, he could just skip school. Phil wouldn't care anyways. Maybe he'd tell him he's embarrassing the family name, but nothing more.

Two, he could get ready for school as fast as possible, riding his bike instead of walking to school, and probably still be on time. He could play music all day in Mr. Foolish's class.

So Tommy got up in a hurry, put on the first clothes he could find, and rushing downstairs into the kitchen. There, he was surprised to see Phil making breakfast for everyone and Wilbur sitting at the kitchen island.

Well, 'everyone' might be a bit far fetched. There were three plates on the counter, one of which was already empty, Wilbur was eating from another and Phil was just reaching over for the third.

Phil didn't usually make breakfast, but when he did, he didn't make it for Tommy. he claimed it to be so Tommy would become more independent. This started when Tommy was six.

Because every six year old should become independent and make their own meals, of course.

"Morning" Tommy mumbled, grabbing the box of cereal and the carton of milk from the fridge. Pouring both of them into the bowl at the same time in an attempt to hurry up his morning routine.

When he turned around he noted how both of them hadn't said anything back. He decided he could just ignore that and eat his breakfast. They all ate their breakfasts in silence, Phil giving Wilbur a smile as he took the boy's empty plate to put it away. Wilbur sent back a smile to Phil before leaving the room, ignoring Tommy's existence completely.

Now it was just Phil and Tommy, standing alone in the kitchen, eating and drinking without a word to say to each other. Tommy, however, really felt the need to strike up a conversation, or at least try.

"I've got this recital coming up, it's the 'end of the year' recital where I show what I've learned and stuff. I was wondering if you wanted to come? It's on-'' Before Tommy could even finish his sentence Phil put his hand in the air.

"I can't, I'm busy" Phil replied shortly, waving his hand dismissively. Tommy simply nodded and threw out the rest of his meal into the trash, not feeling the need to eat anything anymore. Phil not even letting him finish what he was saying made him feel sick.

Tommy left the house shortly after, without saying goodbye of course, and cycled to school. He put in his earbuds and listened to some music on his little trip. When he got to school he decided to attend his first class. That was only because it was art, and how bad can art class be?

Exactly.

Art, music and, somehow, math, were the only classes Tommy hadn't been failing. He was just musically inclined, so of course music class wasn't going to be a problem. Art was just drawing or painting something. It wasn't too hard.

And math was just something he was good at. He wouldn't pay attention, he wouldn't even attend class. But everytime he had a test, he'd just look through the chapter they were doing the evening before and he'd always get an above 80 percent score. So, he wasn't going to complain about that.

But when he entered his class he found his friends sitting all the way in the back, almost hiding behind the big canvases they were working on. Tubbo was sitting next to the window, occasionally looking outside while Ranboo's face was almost against the canvas.