Rejected

3: Cold Rejection

After his and Sam's victory in dodgeball, Gabriel felt confident going into lunch. Opening the cafeteria doors, he was met with the smell of week-old food, bleach, and a hundred teenagers just coming from Gym. It was not a pretty smell.

Gabriel scanned the cafeteria for two blonde heads. There they were, Jess and Jo. They were sitting next to each other, chatting about something. Gabriel strutted over and offered them lollipops. "Lolly, girls?" He smiled.

Jo and Jess giggled. "Don't mind if I do." Jo took one. Jess refused.

"Jo, can I actually talk to you in private?" Gabriel asked.

She stood up. "Sure," as they walked off to the corner of the cafeteria, "what's up?"

"You know, Jo. I've got an extra ticket to the football game next week. Wanna come with me?"

She laughed and laughed. Gabriel let out a little chuckle. What on earth was she laughing at? She looked up. "Wait, you're serious?"

Gabriel let out a half-hearted chuckle. "Um, yeah."

She stopped laughing. "Oh, well, I don't know-"

"It's fine, you don't have to." Gabriel said quickly.

"I don't know if I really want to go out with the nobody with an addiction to sweets." She smirked.

Gabe was hurt. A nobody? Was that what she thought of me? The whole school knows me! Well, not me per se, but still. If only she knew.

"Okay, Jo. Whatever." Gabe tried to sound like he couldn't care less, but he was actually heartbroken. He had spent all day working up the courage to talk to her, and she just shot him down like he was nothing.

"See ya." She turned on a heel and returned to her table, leaving Gabriel alone in the corner.

Already the tables closest to the conversation were whispering among themselves. Great, just great. The rumor mill was out and in full swing. Everyone in school would know by next period.

~~~~~~~

When Gabriel took Jo off to a corner, Sam saw his window of opportunity. He set his bag on the floor and smoothly took the seat across from Jess.

She looked him up and down. "Can I help you?" She asked.

"Well, my name is Sam-"

"I know what your name is. You were the last one picked for dodgeball today."

"Oh, yes, well, that was-" He stammered. "Nothing."

"Pretty impressive, actually. To go from last picked to champion."

"You think so?" He perked up.

She shrugged.

"Well, back to my point. Jess, would you like to go to the football game next week with me?"

She looked taken aback. "Woah, just because I said I was impressed doesn't mean I want to go out with you."

"I didn't mean-"

"You know what, Sam, you're a little out of your league. I don't mean to be rude, but I kind of don't want to go out with a brown-nosed nobody like yourself."

A nobody? Does she know who my brother is? Dean Winchester, one of the most popular kids in the school! Of course, Sam didn't say that. He said, "Oh. Sorry for wasting your time." Then he got up and left the cafeteria, tears burning in his eyes.

~~~~~~~

Gabriel took the red, shook it, and sprayed. In big swooping motions, he outlined the word he had just sprayed: LIVE. It was now red and blue with a solid red outline. Graffiti was always one of Gabriel's favorite things to do. It combined his defiant streak with his artistic streak. And it was fun to smuggle the cans into school.

Now another word: A. It would be green and orange, with a solid green outline, in the same style. Gabriel shook the green paint can and sprayed. How satisfying to hear that sizzling sound of spraying paint.

The last word: Little. It was purple and yellow, but in the same style as the other two words.

He sat back to admire his work. Live A Little. Maybe if people did just that, they would be happier. Maybe.

The door to the bathroom opened. Gabriel dropped the can and dashed into a stall, fearing a teacher. Instead, he heard sniffling. Someone was crying. Gabriel tried to peek through the crack of the stall to see who it was, but the crack was too small.

Gabriel took a small step to get a better angle. The crying person stopped. "Who- who's there?" He asked.

That was Sam's voice. Gabriel opened the stall door. "Sam? What are you doing? Crying?"

"Gabe? What are you doing? Graffiti?"

Gabriel shrugged, a half-smile on his face. "Maybe."

"You're a- a graffiti artist?" Sam asked, his voice clouded with tears.

"I'm a famous graffiti artist, Sammy." Gabe smiled a little bit more. "Perhaps you've heard of me?"

Sam's mouth opened in a silent 'O'. "You're the Trickster? The prankster-slash-graffitist?"

"Guilty." Gabriel bent down to pick up the can he dropped. "So why're you crying, Samsquatch?"

Sam leaned back on a sink, not commenting on the nickname. "I tried to ask a girl out today and she rejected me- quite rudely, I might add."

"Really? Who?"

"Jessica Moore."

"What'd she say?" Gabriel asked.

"That I was a-" He did quotations- "brown-nosed nobody."

"Harsh." Gabe commented. "I got let down by a girl rudely today too."

"Really?" Sam asked.

"Jo Harvelle." Gabe said. "Said I was 'the nobody with an addiction to sweets'."

"Sorry." Sam said awkwardly.

"Nah," Gabriel waved that away. "I'm over it."

"Is that why you're skipping lunch and spray painting the walls of the boys' bathroom?" Sam asked, a tiny smile playing on his face.

Gabriel tried to think of a smart comeback, but he got nothing. "Touche, Sammy."

His tiny smile got a tiny bit bigger. "So how're you going to really get over her?" Sam asked.

Gabriel's signature devilish smile came back. "I was planning on getting revenge. I mean, she was loud enough for the whole cafeteria to hear if they payed attention. It was really embarrassing."

"Revenge? What were you thinking?"

"Well, I am the Trickster. Probably a set of pranks, each one worse than the last."

Sam's eyes went to a far away place. He was probably envisioning the possible pranks he could do.

"So, you in?" Gabriel asked.

Sam returned to Earth. "I'm so in."

"Perfect." Gabriel thought for a second. "You'll need a nickname. Like I'm the Trickster. You can be like..." Gabriel thought. "Moose."

"Moose?" Sam asked, incredulous that Gabriel would actually pick that for a nickname.

"Yeah. You're really tall and have that bushy moose hair."

Sam giggled, but it was a really manly giggle. "Whatever you say, Trickster."

~~~~~~~

Yay! They're best friends now!! I kind of like the secret names thingy. They're like Batman and Robin, only Moose and Trickster.

So, I might have sorta broke my heart writing this. Looking back at it, Jo and Jess were really jerks to them. Now I'm kinda mad at myself for making them so awful.

Also, two updates in one day!?! This is a personal high score for efficiency! As always, thanks a ton for reading. If you enjoyed, please vote and comment because that would be fantabulous.