Fell Too Hard

Chapter 9

{Chapter 9}
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I laughed as I basically fell into the plastic chair of the café. JT made sure to hold my casted leg so it didn't hit the ground.

Somehow I made it onto his back to get a piggy back ride from the elevator to the cafeteria.

"My butt." I groaned laughing leaning into the back of the chair.

JT turned around and laughed with me.

"Sorry." He laughed shaking his head. "What ice cream do you want?" he asked me placing my crutches against the table next to me.

"Chocolatey chocolate. Surprise me." I grinned. He nodded his head and walked over to the freezer by the counter. I watched as he dug through the tubs of ice cream and pulled two out.

While he came over I attempted to push my chair into the table.

It's a little difficult to do that with one foot.

"I got you." Soon my chair was turned straight and I was pushed right up to the table.

"Thank you." It was genuine. Something I hadn't really felt in a while. Normally him doing things for me would get on my nerves because it would frustrate because these should be things I could do by myself. At the moment though the gestures were just sweet.

He sat down across from me at the long table and slid my ice cream over along with a plastic spoon and napkin.

"Chocolate with brownie pieces and a brownie batter core." He told me with a grin as I picked up the single serving tub to eye it.

"Perfect." I I said grinning back at him while ripping the plastic off from around the lid. I didn't hesitate to throw the plastic wrap on the table and then pop off the cardboard lid.

The cafeteria was almost earie at this point. It was cold and almost dark even though every light was on. It also silent besides the sound of our voices echoing through the room. There wasn't another person in sight. It was just JT and I sitting in the middle of the room stuffing our faces with ice cream.

"What'd you get?" I asked looking over at his as he lifted the lid off.

"Cookies n cream." He said easily while shrugging his shoulders.

"Boring." I commented as I dug my spoon in around a brownie piece and took the bite savoring the brownie chunk.

"it's a classic." He said rolling his eyes as he dug into his tub.

"Exactly. Boring." I pointed at him with my spoon tauntingly.

"Whatever." He took his spoon from his mouth and dug into the edge of mine.

"Hey!" I whined. He took the bite and scrunched up his nose.

"Too chocolately. Mines better." He took dug into my tub again just to spite me before getting back to his own.

"Watch it." I warned him threatening his with my spoon. I quickly dug my spoon into his and then took the bite.

"Eh its not bad. Boring though." I said as I pulled the clean spoon from my lips. He just rolled his eyes at me playfully.

"So what 's happening at school?" I asked digging in the batter that was off center in my tub.

"Same old stuff. I've been busy though. Basketball practice started a little over a week ago." He told me shrugging his shoulders.

I leaned back into my chair and fought my right leg through the underneath of the table to prop it on the chair next to JT

"That's fun. I'll have to come to a game. When do they start?" I asked grabbing my tub and bringing it towards my chest.

"in about two weeks. We have a lot of home games this year." I nodded my head and looked down into my vanilla and chocolate ice cream.

"So why didn't you want any visitors here?" it was a couple seconds of silence before he spoke and I guess I saw that one coming.

Anna said he asked almost every day. I was still telling myself it was guilt.

But was it really?

"I don't know. I didn't want to be the kid with cancer ya know? People that don't actually care all of a sudden become a fake friend because they feel bad. Just all that shit." I think I caught both of us of guard with that one but I can't say I regret it. I had to say it. I will not deal with someone who is faking their friendship over stupid guilt. Even if it was JT. "I know It will come out at some point but I wanted to keep my sanity."

"Yeah, I get that." He said a bit solemly looking down at his vanilla dessert. He leaned back his chair but froze in his spot. I watched with a cocked eyebrow as he reached behind him and sat up fromt eh chair more. Soon he plopped Stumpy down on the table.

"Forgot I brought the support group with us." We both laughed. I rubbed the top of his head and looked down at his missing leg.

So different yet the exact same.

"What made you do that?" I asked setting my ice cream down after another bite picking up Stumpy instead.

He eyed the dog a seconod and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. I saw how upset you were and thought maybe having a relatable friend would help." His words had a bit of a sarcastic bite to them and we both grinned.

"Yeah it is nice. He is the only one who understands the roughness of brushing your teeth with a stump." I giggled and JT laughed.

I traded him for my ice cream and took a couple bites.

"I would have never thought to do that." I told JT.

"Yeah I am surprised I thought of it. I guess I saw the one shoe by the door and it hit me." He shrugged his shoulders again and poked his vanila ice cream. "And you called him Stumpy. I figured it was the perfect remedy to cure loneliness."