Young, Poor and Crazy

Chapter 14

Life is just not looking out for me right now. That was all Roger could think as he lightly banged his head against the lockers a couple of times. To say that he felt torn would be an understatement. Being openly friends with John while simultaneously keeping Mark happy was a balance he just could not keep. He couldn't help but think he was weak for calling John back. He was about to walk out of his life forever. That would've been better for the both of them, right? They had only known each other for one day. One freaking day! How did I get so attached? Roger thought forlornly as he dragged his feet through the hallway. Without him realizing, he'd started to head for the exit.

'Well, well. Roger Taylor in school after hours! What's the occasion?' The light hearted taunt slightly startled Roger and he whipped around to see none other than Brian May smirking at him. Normally Roger would have some kind of clever retort ready for these kinds of encounters. Not this time. His shoulders sagged as he let out a long sigh.

Brian frowned. 'What's wrong, Rog?' Roger let out a dramatic groan and heavily leaned his forhead on Brian's chest. 'Oh Brian, is the schoolyear almost over?'

-'ah, well no.' Stuttered Brian, slightly taken aback. 'It's September, Roger.' The blonde boy let out a high pitched whine that kind of sounded like 'But whyyy?' and grabbed at Brian's shirt.

'Rog, I can't help you unless you get a bit more specific about what's bothering you.' Brian reasoned while trying his best to give Roger a comforting hug. 'School problems?' He got a shrug from Roger and a mumbled 'Always.' Which told him that was not the main cause of Roger's distress. 'Trouble at home?' The blonde head shook 'No.'

-'Well the what is it Rog? Do you have a problem with your friends?' Another whine came from his friend which made him realize he'd just struck gold. Holding the blonde boy at an arms' length, Brian tried to make eye contact with him. 'Can you explain?'

And Roger did. He told Brian everything about his impromptu friendship with John, his encounter with Mark and Mark's inevitable meeting with John, his fear about losing everything he had at this school and more if this all blew up in his face and above all, his indecisiveness about what to do.

'I hate school so much Bri, I worked really hard to be sort of happy and I know I'm destroying it, but I don't know- I.. I can't-' Roger sighed, his eyes brimming with tears. 'I don't know what to do.' He whispered.

Brian's heart ached for Roger. He hated seeing his normally happy-go-lucky friend look so utterly defeated. It wasn't right. At all. At a loss of what else to do, he pulled Roger into a proper hug and rubbed his back until he felt him relax a bit.

'I think you do know what to do.' Said Brian softly. 'Don't think too much about it. Just follow your heart.' Sensing Roger was about to make a sarcastic comment about his cheesy advice he added: 'Don't think, just answer me right now. Who's got your back? John or Mark?'

'John.' Said Roger without any hesitation. his eyes widened in surprise, baffled at how simple the answer turned out to be.

'Right.' Said Brian. 'And so do I. I'd like you to know that whatever you have to go through, I'll help, Okay?' He squeezed Roger's shoulder one last time and smiled encouragingly. 'You're not a bad person Roger. I'm happy John's making you realize that.' He walked past Roger and started to descend the stairs that led to the exit. It took a moment for Roger to start moving, so he had to run to catch up to older student. When he did, he flashed Brian a smile that was supposed to say thank you. Brian smiled back and a comfortable silence surrounded them, the school having been empty for quite some time now.

The two boys, now outside.,went to say their goodbyes at a fork in the road. Brian had to go into town, as his parents lived almost right at the centre. Roger had to go the opposite direction, as he lived in the suburbs. Just as Brian had to leave, Roger called him back.

'What is it?' Brian asked. Roger had a confused look on his face. 'Brian, what were you doing at school this late?' Brian let out a breathy laugh. 'What? Is it so hard to believe I got detention too?' Roger threw him a sceptical look and Brian chuckled again. 'Okay, I was doing some extra Maths homework. Mr. Smith wants me to compete in the annual MathsMatch and he's taking it very seriously.'

'Wow, so you're taking extra classes, you're tutoring all us dumb kids AND you're competing at annual academic competitions?' Roger looked impressed as he shook his head laughing. 'I don't know how you do it, Bri.' He said in wonder. The blonde boy waved at Brian and set off home. Brian smiled a small smile and waved back. His reply was too soft for Roger to hear.

'Sometimes I don't either.'

To be continued.

(A/N) Listen guys, I have no excuses for not posting for so long. I hope I can get my schedule back on track but I don't want to make any empty promises. Just know that I'll try. Thanks for reading!