Fear (TordTom)

Chapter 13: The Love Note

.-.

This is technically a part two for Chapter 12, but I don't really know if parts deserve their own title or not, so I'm just gonna wing it.

And I didn't realize this whole segment was gonna be so long so expect a part three HAH-

Tom quickly sat beside Ethan, his heart pounding so loudly he felt everybody in the classroom could hear it. He was currently sweating in an oversized gray hoodie with the hood covering his eyes. Thankfully, the school dress code allowed hoods so long as the student wasn't asleep, wasn't paying attention, or wasn't doing their work. And Tom wasn't doing anything from the list, so he was excluded from that rule. Even though he hated school.

Come to think of it, Tom had alright grades. He got mostly A's and very rarely a B+, even though some teachers labeled him as dimwitted due to his unique appearance and general attitude in class. He didn't really like working and learning, but he knew if he didn't do well at school he'd get his head bitten off at home.

Anyways.

While Tom was sweating a whole lake inside his hoodie, Ethan stared down at his paper, thoughts circling his mind. He was already done with the assignment and didn't feel like reading or trying to talk with Tom, because he knew that if he did, Tord would notice. But Ethan already knew Tom's plan was a stupid one, because one, Tord already knew he was in class because of attendance, and two, Tord kept throwing discreet paper airplanes at them with astonishing precision. Though Ethan crumpled them up, he read them before doing so. All of them were desperate pleas asking why Tom was ignoring him and what was going on and...

Dear God.

The most recent one that Ethan was looking over was 10 minutes ago, and it was the last one Tord sent before nervously glancing around and sitting hunched over in his seat, shoulders slumped as if he was worried or upset over something. Ethan guessed it was because Tom wasn't responding or because Tord had maybe noticed that Ethan was the one receiving the notes, but boy, was he wrong.

The letter was a love note.

Ethan gulped and looked curiously at Tom. The boy was staring at his paper, already completed. Sweat was trickling down his forehead so much that Ethan wanted to rip off the hoodie, throw Tom at Tord and demand them to make up for whatever they had done to each other.

But he didn't. Instead, he kept to himself as he read the note.

Tom,

I know you're ignoring me. I know I probably did something wrong, and whatever I did, I'm sorry about it. We've been really close this past month, and if I didn't care I wouldn't be hysterically trying to get your attention by sending you paper airplanes and trying to catch your eye from across the room.

Truth is Tom, I've been thinking about you a lot lately, more than I should be of course. I've been a huge prick to you all these years because I've been in doubt about what I'm about to say to you. It takes a lot of courage for me to say this to you because I don't know how you'll react. I don't know if you'll still hate me or if you'll change your mind about this whole situation we're in right now. Knowing you, you'd probably pick the former.

But I still want to tell you this. Because I want to get it off my chest. It's been bothering me to the point where I don't sleep much at night. When I do finally close my eyes, my mind automatically gives me an image of you, then I wake up in a cold sweat. You would joke about how I had bags under my eyes because I was constantly worrying about Edd and what he'd do at school that day and if we'd be prepared for it. Truth is, I was worrying about you. And I'm glad Edd hasn't done anything significant so far.