Rumours Only Grow [Jamilton]

Scene Thirteen {Thomas}

Giving Up My Number Doesn't Mean You're Helping 

I managed to force the door open to my dormitory the next afternoon, despite my crutches. I hadn't accomplished this as of yet, so I was quite pleased with myself. I made my way into the dormitory. Once the door was shut, I walked - or crutched - over to my bed and sat down. I needed to start on my homework. Before that, though, my phone had been getting blown up all day. I needed to see what James and Aaron were going on about this time. 

Welcome, Thomas. You have fifty-one notifications. Please swipe right to open or swipe left on a notification to delete it. 

Did they always have to blow up my phone? It was very inconvenient to sort through my notifications, with or without theirs included. I was able to sort through twenty-two of them, figuring out those twenty-two were mostly Instagram and Tumblr alerts. That left twenty-nine to my best friends to come up with. I swiped right. 

Chat: Southern Democratic Republicans

SmileMore: Thomas, we added you to a group chat. 

NumberTwenty-Nine: We'd like to add that Alexander's in it, just so you accept ;D

SmileMore: It's really important that you do accept, though. 

I raised an eyebrow. So there were only three notifications from this chat? That meant that the remaining notifications had to be from the new chat. That was worrying, to say the least. If I had twenty-six notifications now, who knew how many I would be getting in a few days? I hesitantly clicked the invitation to the group, clicking accept. 

Group Chat: Jamilton <3 <3 <3

*SmileMore has started the group chat.*

*NumberTwenty-Nine has entered the group chat.*

*SneakyTailor has entered the group chat.*

*LaffyTaffy has entered the group chat.*

*RunningOutOfInk has entered the group chat.*

RunningOutOfInk: You spelled my name wrong. :P

SneakyTailor: It's not a chat for just you. This is also Thomas' chat.

LaffyTaffy: Oui! James and Aaron have provided sufficient evidence to suggest that Thomas is crushing on you. 

SmileMore: It's what we do. 

RunningOutOfInk: Where is he then?

NumberTwenty-Nine: He usually mutes his phone until the end of the day. It helps him not focus on his internet world so much. He used to use Tumblr like thirty-five hours a week. 

RunningOutOfInk: Thomas has a Tumblr?

SmileMore: Yeah. He's pretty much your classic edgy teenager. 

SneakyTailor: Anyways, when will he be answering his phone? 

NumberTwenty-Nine: That's debatable. Sometimes he keeps it off a few more hours while he works on his homework. 

LaffyTaffy: Well, classes just let out. Maybe he'll be on soon! 

SmileMore: He might take a while to get to the dorm, with those crutches. Maybe you should go to his last class and help him out. 

RunningOutOfInk: Which class is that?

SmileMore: Theatre with Mr. King. He complains about Mr. King 99% of the time. The two have some sort of student-teacher rivalry. 

NumberTwenty-Nine: He'll ramble about how bad he is if you ask. 

RunningOutOfInk: I'll have to when I escort him back to our dormitory. 

RunningOutOfInk: erm... Thomas isn't here. 

SmileMore: Oh shit. Do you think he's hurt? You should go looking around for him. 

RunningOutOfInk: I will. 

Ah, that explained why Alexander wasn't in the dormitory. I hadn't been worried about it this time around, since he was usually a little later than I was whenever it came to getting back to the dormitory. I decided to enter the group chat. 

*ToffeeSkinnedVirginian has entered the group chat.*

ToffeeSkinnedVirginian: Wow. You guys are really mature. Anyways, I'm not hurt or anything. I can make it around by myself. I do appreciate your concern.

RunningOutOfInk: Well damn. I just bought you some chips from the commissary in case you were dying of starvation. 

ToffeeSkinnedVirginian: Erm, I'll pass.

About ten minutes later, when I finally started on my homework, Alexander came into the dormitory. He had a bag of chips from the commissary with him, like he had said in the group chat. 

"I really don't need those. You can have them." I insisted. I didn't look up from my homework, since I was busy writing a response for a history question. 

"No, I bought them for you. I noticed you weren't at lunch. You really need to eat more." Alexander nodded, sitting on the bed next to me. He put the chips next to me.

"Do we really need to have this conversation again?" I sighed. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can. I just..." Alexander hesitated before he continued. "I just really don't want you getting hurt, alright?" He admitted. "You're like, one of my friends now."

I was actually pretty flattered that Alexander would say something like that, considering we used to loathe each other. I looked over at Alexander. "Alright." I chuckled. "I'll eat some of the chips if it'll make you worry less."

"Thank you." Alexander smiled. 

I set my work to the side, grabbing the bag and opening it. There was a soft pop as the bag opened, revealing the chips. They were the plain salted kind, which honestly aren't my favorite, but I wasn't about to complain about an act of kindness. That would just make me seem rude, and I had to admit, having Alexander around for company was comforting. Alexander was my roommate, and thus easier to access if I had an urgent need. 

Before I ate, I paused, looking over to Alexander. "Why wasn't John in the group chat?"

Alexander shrugged. "He wasn't interested. He went on a rant about how stupid it was to assume that we would never date. I mean, I'm not really interested in you at the moment, but the way he acted, you'd think he wanted to date me." He let out a soft chuckle. 

"He very well could." I pointed out. I began eating the chips, waiting for Alexander's response. 

He was silent for a moment before laughing. "Very funny. We've been best friends for forever. He wouldn't want to date me."

"Whatever you say." 

END SCENE THIRTEEN