The Foreigner & The Pessimist (malexmale)

25. Lane

By the end of the week, Tallon and I still aren't talking. Which has been...strange to say the least, because in all our many fights throughout the years, Tallon has never made himself this scarce before.

He won't answer his bedroom door when I knock, he won't answer my texts or calls, he hasn't been eating with us in the cafeteria, and he won't even acknowledge my existence during our technology course. He doesn't even sit with Fallon and I anymore.

And it sucks. It sucks, because this feud has been distracting me all week, and there doesn't seem to be a thing I can do about it because Tallon won't talk to me! It's like we were friends one moment, and now suddenly he's just decided to kick me aside.

And for what? All because I don't feel about him the same way he does about me? As if it's even a choice!

Fallon keeps saying I just need to be patient. That Tallon will come around eventually, he's just hurt and needs time. But I don't want to wait. I don't want to give him more time to fester and be angry. I just want to talk it out and be done with it.

Yes, he's in love with me. That's out in the open now, and neither of us can do anything about it. But he can get over it, right? I mean, he knows I don't feel that way about him now, and that I'm not going to, so why can't we just put it all behind us and go back to being friends? Why does this have to be such a big issue!?

Suddenly, the room around me erupts in cheers as everyone leaps to their feet. Fallon included.

"Did you just see that?" she asks, pointing to the large tri-panel of screens stretched out across the front of the theatre where the SIM game is currently playing out before us.

Thankfully, even though her brother has decided to hate me, she's chosen to stay neutral and continue being my friend despite her twin's disdain.

I shake my head, clearing it as I look up at the screens. "We're tied now?"

She nods, grinning as her green war paint glows in the darkness of the room against her skin. A fate she also inflicted upon me, after insisting that it was the customary way to show our support for Zuuro and his team.

Before all of this – and maybe it's just because she's dating Paul right now – I didn't realize how much of a sports fan she was. I knew she sometimes went to the SIM games, but I thought that was only to support whoever her flavor of the month was at the time. Now, however, I'm not so sure. Maybe she goes to these games a lot more often than I think.

And if she does, how do I not know this about my best friend? Probably the same way you never realized your other best friend was in love with you. I tell myself, frowning a little.

Am I really so wrapped up in my own issues that I don't notice these things?

I push that thought away for now as I focus back on the screens. "So how many does that leave us with?" I ask as we all sit and the room quiets down again.

"Well, if we can get at least two more before the end of this quarter, I think we might actually win. But I don't know, we've only got another ten minutes, and the other team is pretty spread out now, so I'm not sure if it's really possible." She says.

I nod. Usually, a tie would be something we'd try to avoid, but in this case it's a good thing. The pink team has been kicking our team's ass through most of the first half of the game, so a tie means we're not losing anymore. In fact, pink was doing so well that I was almost certain there was no way our team was going to come out on top tonight.

But then...I don't know. Maybe Mr. Carrera gave them a pep talk or something during the five-minute break they get between halves to rehydrate and pull anyone who's health seems in jeopardy – we lost one player because of that – but our team came back in this half with a vengeance, and they've been playing like their lives depend on winning ever since.