A Change Of Heart

12

October 12th, 1967

12:00 p.m.

Sitting in our normal circle in the grass my eyes drifted back over to Tom who was unusually silent today. By now everyone in our group had noticed this and was questioning him as to what was wrong. This resulted in him taking on a snappish attitude as he didn't really like to reveal his emotions and didn't like being questioned in general.

"Tommy..." I whispered watching him pick at the grass. My eyes scanning his hunched over figure intently before looking back at the other boy's to see them engaged in conversation.

"Hey..." I pressed, reaching out to touch his shoulder only to have him fling himself backwards out of my reach.

"What?" He spoke quietly, his eyelids puffy and his eyes slightly red. He had obviously been upset, I didn't want to push him to talk about it though as I didn't want him to be uncomfortable.

"Let's take a walk, hm?"

Nodding, he smiled weakly, stretching before he stood up next to me.

"You don't have to y'know..."

"No, Luna, I want him to leave you alone."

"Tommy, will you please just leave it be? You're upset, I'm upset, just back out."

"And have him and the rest of the school call me chicken? No way in hell!" He whispered sharply, narrowing his eyes at me before storming off. A nervous pang shooting through my system as I watched him make his way down the sidewalk, blonde hair shining in the sun.

"Tom!" I yelled, my eyes beginning to cloud with tears as he ignored me and continued walking. My knees shook so badly I felt I wouldn't be able to stand much longer, and my throat felt like it was closing off. I felt rejection, biting my lip as I watched his lanky form began rounding the corner out of sight.

"Luna, just let him be..." Ben paused, jogging up to me and resting a hand on my shoulder. I blinked, looking at Tom's retreating figure once more before nodding at Ben.

"Come on, class starts soon and I can't afford to be late again." He joked, offering me a kind smile before we left to head for class. My mind racing, leaving me unable to focus on anything but Tom.

///

4:01 p.m.

My heart pounded loudly as I ran along with Ben to the back of the school, so loudly in fact, I could feel it beating in my ear drums. We were already a minute late, and my nerves definitely weren't helping my bleak outlook on this event.

Rounding the corner of the building, we shoved our way through the crowd of people who were circled around the two boys. I hadn't spoken to Tom since lunch, and by the look in his stormy blue eyes he was prepared to give this fight his all. Glancing over at Ben I shifted from foot to foot, smiling nervously when he nodded and gently patted my shoulder.

"I hope you made yourself an appointment with the dentist, because I'm planning on knocking those buckteeth right outta your mouth." Danny sneered, cracking his knuckles while he circled Tom menacingly.

Tom cocked an eyebrow, his eyes locked on his opponent as he remained deathly silent before simply shrugging. This made me giggle, as small as he was, Tom was never one to back down from anything or anyone for that matter.

"Dumbass can't even answer me." Danny barked, looking over his shoulder at the crowd. He smiled, winking when his gaze landed on me. This move however, was his downfall. In his distracted state, it gave Tom the chance to quickly get an upper hand.