Broken Like Me

[ Part Three ]

Sal's POV

I felt like I finally had a breakthrough with Travis. The next day, he didn't say one mean word to me in school. In fact, he didn't say any words at all. I barley saw him most of the day, when usually he'd go out of his way to pick on me. The first interaction I had with him was when we locked eyes in the lunchroom. I gave him a small wave, and he raised his eyebrows to acknowledge me before looking back down. Good enough for me.

When I sat down at the lunch table, all my friends eyes were on my. I tilted my head in obvious confusion.

"Did you just...wave to Travis?" I could hear the disgust in Larry's voice.

"Yeah. Why?"

"He just hit you. Like, literally yesterday. Punched you in the face. You remember that, right?"

"Yeah. We had a talk. We're good now. He's not a bad guy, Larry. More like...misunderstood." I slid my lunch tray away from me. I was never a big fan of bologna day.

"Sally, do you hear yourself? This is the guy who tormented you every day since you've been in this school. He's not 'misunderstood', he's an asshole." Larry groaned, leaning backwards.

"Look at him, Lar. He's sitting all alone." I gestured over to Travis' table, where he in fact was sitting completely by himself. "He's got issues, man. Cut him some slack."

"Whatever you say, dude. But no way in hell im gonna start being nice to him just cause you're out of your mind."

Maybe I was out of my mind. But I didn't really care. Something about Travis just seemed...vulnerable. He seemed like he really had a reason to be angry.

That night, I was stuck doing homework until almost midnight. Thanks, Mrs. Packerton. I was bored out of my mind, aimlessly writing down numbers and variables. I wasn't expecting the vibration of my phone to suddenly shake my pocket, which is why it caused me to jump a bit. I took it out, reading the bold lettering on the screen.

NUMBER: UNKNOWN

I opened the screen, reading the message within.

UNKNOWN: 'Any chance I can take you up on that offer to hangout? Like, right now?'

That told me exactly who it was.

ME: 'Of course. I live in the Addison Apartments. Meet me in the lobby.'

I got out of bed hurriedly, slipping my shoes on and leaving my home. I tried to get down to the lobby as fast as I could. Something in my gut told me that Travis reaching out to me this soon meant something was wrong.

Travis' POV

The next day at school wasn't so bad. I tried to stay away from Sal as much as I could, not wanting to be reminded of our gay conversation yesterday. I also didn't really feel like lashing out on him. It's the least I could do for his help.

Thank god it was bologna day. One good thing to make my day better. I got my food and sat down at my usual table, the same friends that surrounded me everyday joining me once again. None. As I ate, I couldn't help but look for Sally. I mean, he was in my lunch period so there was no avoiding him here. As he walked towards his own table, I caught his eye. He waved to me, but I couldn't bring myself to wave back. What if someone saw?

As lunch went on, I still found my eyes wandering to Sal's table. Every time I looked over, there was that blue haired boy, talking with all his friends. At one point it looked like he was even looking back at me, but I shook the thought out of my head. Definitely not.

When I got home, I immediately got started on the ton of homework I had (thanks Mrs. Packerton). At least it gave me an excuse to hide away in my room from my dad for a while.

As it was getting late though, he found his way in. "Travis? What are you still doing awake?"

"Sorry, Sir. I'm finishing my homework. I keep getting stuck on a couple Algebra problems."

"Let me see. I'm excellent at math." My father snatched a paper up from the floor, looking it over carefully. "I'm crazy about you...This is not the way a boy should feel...? Travis? What in God's name is this?" He held up the piece of paper and I recognized it immediately. Oh no. My letter.

I had grabbed it from the bathroom yesterday, not wanting anyone else to see it. I guess I'd forgotten to throw it away. "T-That's not mine, Sir. I-It's my...u-um...my f-friends..."

The response was a quick hard slap against my face. "Don't lie to me, boy. What are you, a queer? Does my boy think he's a queer?" This time, a fist to the face. The metal of my father's rings collided with the base of my nose. I doubled over in pain, one final greeting of a kick to the ribs. "No boy of mine will be a faggot. I don't want to hear any more of this, do you understand me?"

"Y-yes..." One more kick to my side.

"Yes what?"

"Y-yes sir..." With that, he left my room and left me to suffer. I had to get out of this house. But where could I go? Who could I call? I didn't have any friends. No numbers in my contacts. Except....

No. There was no way. He barley knew me. And the only way he did know me was as his bully. But he did say I could hang out with him...fuck it. It was worth a shot. I gathered up all the courage and dignity I had left and typed out a message.

ME: 'Any chance I can take you up on that offer to hangout? Like, right now?'

God I sounded like such an idiot. There's no way he would respond. He was probably already asleep. He wouldn't-

My thought were cut off by the sound of my phone chiming.

SALLY FACE: 'Of course. I live in the Addison Apartments. Meet me in the lobby.'

I couldn't believe it. He actually responded. I quickly (but quietly) gathered up some clothes in my backpack, slipped on my shoes, and escaped out of my window.