Rules To Live By

Chapter 12

He's not in this chapter, but the picture on the right is of Daniel!

Chapter Twelve

                It’s been a week since Will and I made up (sort of), and ever since then things have been…weird. For starters, Will has been trying extremely hard to become my friend all over again. The next day at school, he even greeted me the exact same way he did when we first met in the second grade.

                “You’re hair looks weird,” he said, repeating the very first words he said to me in the second grade.

                “What’s your favorite super hero?” he continued, much less serious than when he was as a child.

                Playing along, I couldn’t help but let a smile escape. “Superman,” I replied, giving my exact same answer as years ago.

                He faked a disgusted expression, mimicking himself at eight years old. “I think I’ll have to change your mind about him,” he said. After that, he should’ve walked away and not spoken to me until the next day. Instead he added, “and about me.” Before I could respond to that, he chose to walk away then.

                However, it wasn’t only the fact that Will was being absurdly respectful to my ‘just friends’ wish that made this week weird. It was that and the combination of Damien’s behavior. Before Will and I started talking again, Damien and I actually had a good thing going. We were finally…well…friends. Yes, as much as it surprised the world, we became friends. He didn’t ignore me as often at the house, and we spent our breaks talking about trivial things, rarely letting a dull moment go by.

                But after I came back in the diner with an unexpected smile on my face after talking to Will, it was like a dark cloud surfaced above Damien. He started going back to his old self, avoiding me at work and ignoring me at home.

                I wasn’t taking his sudden change in behavior to heart though. I figured he was going through something in his life. Maybe he was sexually frustrated or something. And I certainly wasn’t going to offer to help him in that department.

                “Not working today?”  Ben asked me, taking a seat next to me on the couch.

                I shook my head. “Nope, Joe gave me the day off.”

                “Wow, no work for a whole day? That’s a surprise,” he replied. It was true, I had worked almost every day since I started. I actually enjoyed working at the diner though, so I didn’t mind.

                “I know. It’s barely noon and I’m bored already,” I laughed.

                “What, you’re not hanging out with your boyfriend?” Damien sneered as he entered the room, sitting in the chair farthest from me.

                I raised an eyebrow at him. “What boyfriend?”

                 “Will, obviously.”

                “What makes you think we’re together again?” I asked, genuinely wanting to know. Sure, Will and I have been spending a little more time together, but only in the presence of our friends. Like I told Will, Ben, and practically everyone else, I just want to be his friend now.

                He rolled his eyes. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that you’ve been around him every day since you made up? Or the fact that you’ve admitted that you still care about him?”