A Cliché Love

5

Tom stayed up late Friday night texting back and forth with Eric. He sent a couple texts Tori's way, to check in with her since he knew she was so angry. She read his messages, reacting with a like to one of them, but never responded back. Tom decided to give up on her for the night, figuring that was a problem for tomorrow.

"You are really trying to tell me that Ross and Rachel were on a break huh? -E"

"They were on a break Eric! She was taking time for herself, they hadn't broken up yet! That's where they were heading, a break usually leads to a breakup but they were still together. -T"

"HE THOUGHT SHE WAS CHEATING! -E"

"I can't believe you're still trying to defend Ross here, Ross is garbage in every way. -T"

Tom had made the mistake of bringing up Friends when Eric asked him what he was doing, which launched the two of them into an argument. This has been going on for the past 20 minutes with no end being near. Although they were fighting, even with it just being a play fight, Tom spent the entire conversation with a smile plastered across his face. Tom finally managed to get Eric off the subject by mentioning Pokemon, another passion the two seem to share.

"How many times do you think they say 'Gotta catch em' all!' in the theme song?- E"

"Oh shit, it's 4 am. Go to bed you weenie. -T" The two boys texted at the same time, Tom realizing how late was. The two said their goodnights as Tom finished getting ready for bed. He laid in his bed with a smile on his face, even though the day had extremely rough moments, it was also probably the best day Tom has had since he moved. He was almost asleep when his phone buzzed, signaling that Eric had texted him again.

"I know we already said goodnight but I needed to tell you I had a good time with you. I know I'm not supposed to like you, but for some reason I do. -E"

Tom didn't reply, instead the smile on his face grew wider as he slipped into sleep.

Hours later when Tom woke up, his first instinct was to check his phone. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, a text from Eric or a text from Tori. When he actually got the courage to check his phone, he saw neither. Tom sighed in disappointment, he wasn't sure why his heart ached so much at the thought of not getting a text from either of them. He got up and headed towards the shower, leaving his phone plugged in by the side of his bed, considering it didn't charge all the way since he was up so late. After his shower, he was excited to see a notification come across his screen. He's never moved quicker to pick up his phone and check it. Tom was so deep into this nonexistent relationship with a guy he literally just met. He was relatively relieved to see it was Tori.

"Sorry I freaked out a little last night. -Tori"

"It's okay Tori, I understand we all have our things that set us off. Let's talk about it today!- Tom"

"Can't today, sry. -Tori"

Tom stared at his phone in confusion, Tori has never been too busy to hang out with him, granted he hadn't been here long.

"What are you doing today? -Tom"

"Things. -Tori"

"What sorts of things?- Tom"

"I'm just busy today, I'll talk to you later. -Tori"

Okay? Tori was for sure acting weird and Tom didn't like it. He decided to text Eric, considering he never texted him back last night. He wasn't sure if he should reply to that text or just start with a good morning text. Tom contemplated for a few minutes before deciding to just start a new conversation. 4 am texts are a different type of texts, at 4 am you say what you want without thinking. He sent the text and then moved on to start his homework that is due on Monday. Tom felt like a complete loser, doing homework on a Saturday rather than last minute on Sunday night, causing himself stress because he saved it all for once.