Sorry, I Love You.

2.05

Day Nine.

Silent Night, Holy Night
Sleep in Heavenly Peace

~

Christmas music put Teddy Morgan in a very, very bad mood. The second he walked into school on Monday morning, December 19th, Teddy put his headphones in, threw his hood over his head, and blasted his music as loud as it would go. He wouldn't have to do that if the school didn't blast Christmas music through the overhead speakers all over the building but, he had no choice. The school suddenly smelt like a hospital, as well. Sense memory was a bitch.

Even though this had been Teddy's typical state for a few years now, it had been a few months since his classmates had seen him like this. Teddy was almost amused by the fact that people dodged his tall figure in the hallway now, like they used to. He hadn't even noticed but, when he ditched the hood and headphones, people cared a lot less about bumping into him. But, this morning, his shoulders were free from any accidental nudging and brushing as people scurried out of his way.

Teddy almost missed this. Before Zoe came along, he could just walk into school, suffer for a few hours, and go home or go to work. That was it. He didn't have to talk to anybody, deal with anyone's shit, or try to act like a normal human with friends and shit. Now that she was gone, he could return to that state. Although, this state wasn't really Zoe related at all. Just because she wasn't here didn't mean he didn't have people he had to keep an eye on. He just didn't care.

When Howl spotted Teddy sauntering down the hallway with his hood and headphones, he nearly rushed to his side to tease him about how badly he missed Zoe. And then he remembered that it was almost Christmas. Everyday that edged closer and closer to Christmas was another day that Teddy would secrete back into his shell. Howl knew enough about him to know that. Even Howl was thankful Zoe wasn't here for Christmas. Teddy would lose his mind if he had to worry about her at the same time that he was mourning his mother.

"Joseph! We warned you about that sweater last year! Did you bring a shirt to change into this year?" A teacher scolded loudly through the hallway.

Teddy glanced back over his shoulder to the shrewd chemistry teacher and then forward to see Joseph standing in front of a line of girls. He turned to throw his hands up in outrage at Mrs. Pond's scolding, revealing his sweatshirt to those passing, as well as Teddy. It was a Christmas sweater with the pattern of reindeers humping each other across his chest, big woven letters that spelt out 'Kiss Me Where I Pee', and a mistletoe under the words that pointed to his crotch.

"I knitted this sweater with my own two hands! Are you trying to stifle the creativity of one of your young pupils, Mrs. Pond?" Joseph dramatically lied in his own defense.

Teddy snorted a laugh as he passed Joseph. Not because he thought the sweater was funny but, because Joseph was so immature and always tried so hard to be the center of attention that it was ridiculous. Joseph caught Teddy's faint laughter but, met his eyes only briefing before Teddy passed him and disappeared into the crowd. Joseph turned to stare curiously at the back of Teddy's head, which was overcome by his hood, and then, Joseph smirked to himself.

Teddy must have similar humor to his own if he was laughing at his sweater.

"Change! Now!" Mrs. Pond yelled across the busy hallway, pulling Joseph from his thoughts.

"Fine!" Joseph threw his hands up again in defeat.

Joseph said goodbye to the girls he was harassing before he hurried through the busy hallways. The hallways were so crowded that Jospeh had to bob and weave in order to make it through. He was so unreasonably frantic that he couldn't help but accidentally push people and then trip over others. A lot of people, that weren't his friends, called Joseph the Tasmanian Devil. He was obnoxious, crude, shameless, frantic, and didn't really care about the messes he left behind wherever he went.