Against All Odds | Tyrus

4. Inconvenience

❝He felt lucky recently. Especially after meeting TJ. After all, what was luckier than gaining a new friend out of the blue?❞

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Cyrus's party had reached its end. Not without some drama, though. Cyrus was sad it was over, but even sadder that he hadn't seen TJ again after visiting Madame Le Doux. He knew he'd probably get to see him at school, however, school couldn't seem further away. He wanted to see TJ much sooner rather than later.

TJ had left the party marginally early. Being near Cyrus while not being able to come clean worsened his guilt, so he asked his mother to pick him up. He decided that the next time he saw Cyrus, he'd tell him exactly what happened.

• • •

It was Monday morning. Cyrus happened to wake up early, so he took his time getting ready and ate a sizable breakfast; leftovers from his bar mitzvah. After putting on his shoes and a light jacket, he was out the door. He walked to school where he met with Buffy outside.

“Hey, Cyrus,” she waved. “Can you come to The Spoon with me and Andi after school today?”

“Yeah, sure. You're paying for the baby taters though,” he joked.

“Actually, I am. I need to talk to you about something important so I was planning on paying to make it up to you,” she spoke seriously before breaking out into a grin. “But you're paying next time.”

“Alright. Fine. I'll pay next time,” Cyrus smiled as well. Then, with a sudden curiosity, he asked, “Oh, but what do you need to talk to me about? You didn't sign me up for dance classes without telling me or something, did you?”

“No, it's nothing like that,” she laughed. “Don't worry about it, Cyrus. We'll talk about it at The Spoon.”

“Okay. Should I meet you there, or...?”

“Let's just go together. I'll meet up with you once school is over and we can walk there.”

They agreed to meet at the front of the school by the sidewalk. Then, Cyrus said goodbye to Buffy and went to his locker to put his bag and jacket inside. As he was hanging his jacket up on the hook, he heard the soft clang of metal from the other side of his open locker door. He peeked around the door and grinned.

“Not-So-Scary Basketball Guy!” he greeted; however, TJ, who was leaning against the locker next to Cyrus's, did not smile back.

“Hey, Underdog,” he spoke softly. “I'm sorry I left your party early.”

“It's fine, TJ.”

“It isn't. I left for a lame reason. I just felt guilty for something I'd done earlier.”

“That's a totally valid reason! If you don't feel good somewhere, you shouldn't force yourself to stay.”

“Thanks, Cyrus. Actually, I really want to come clean about something. Do you have time to talk?”

“Sure, I think so,” he replied, and immediately after, the school bell rang. “Or maybe not.”

“I guess I won't get to tell you now,” TJ sighed.

“Sorry. Let's try again later.”

“Sure.”

Cyrus and TJ ran in opposite directions to reach their classes in time.

• • •

Classes couldn't seem to be going any more slowly. TJ and Cyrus impatiently watched the time in their respective classrooms, wanting to see each other. TJ felt incapable of focusing until he could tell Cyrus what happened at the party. And Cyrus was extremely worked up over the expectancy of his inevitable conversations with both TJ and the GHC. He was curious of what Buffy and TJ needed to tell him.