Time And I

Five

Walking into school the next day, I knew I was going to get an earful of Buddy. I did text him when I got home. I should have called, but after dinner, I was too tired to want to talk about what happened. I knew he was going to interrogate me when he saw me in person, making sure Devon didn't try anything inappropriate or hostile, so I texted him I was fine and told him everything before class.

Watching my peers stare at me seemed different today. I always was a sly comment away from being ostracized, but it seemed everyone stared at me in utter horror. I didn't do anything different to my face or attire. Same heavy eyelines. Same violet lipstick. Same black tee with black skinny jeans. I wore a scarlet cardigan to add some color, but I didn't think that was what scared everyone the most.

Then I heard the whispers. "I always knew she was a freak." "Hooking up with Devon." "She must get turned on whenever he beats up some random bystander." "Freaks of a flock fly together." Some comments were creative, I had to admit. Some were funny, and others were downright mean, but I never let their idiocy get to me. A few rumors over Devon would not scare anyone away. They'd just scare Buddy.

The moment he saw me approach his locker, he slammed it shut and ran up to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Please tell me you are alright!"

"I'm fine," I exclaimed, exhausted. "Nothing happened. He was a gentleman."

"Gentleman?" Darcy questioned. She used to be one of Buddy's admirers back when we were freshman. She joined the Clubhouse as a fellow musician, shredding guitar to the point where her audience waited on the edge of their seats for her to play the next chord. We grew close as musicians, so it never seemed like she liked me just because of Buddy.

Over summer break before sophomore year, she realized she was only attracted to Buddy because all the other girls liked him. The emotional connection she felt was completely platonic, and she only enjoyed hanging out with him because he treated her like a good friend. When the school year started, she crushed on a girl in our gym class. The girl moved away before she could figure out her feelings, but Darcy realized quickly that she was more interested in dating girls than boys.

It was a little rough for Buddy to hear the news, but only because he actually formed feelings for her. However, he remained Darcy's ally and helped her transition out of the closet and not get harassed by any homophobic bullies. That caused his admirers to fall for him all over again and prompted Darcy and I to roll our eyes on the sidelines.

"Yes, gentleman." Leaning against the lockers, I lolled my head to Darcy and showed off my hand. "He saw my bloody bandages and changed them for me."

"Gentleman," she smirked, and nodded.

"He changed your bandages? In his house?" Buddy slowly asked.

"Yes. I went in his house. He changed my bandages. I gave him his homework. I left for the Clubhouse. I drummed to my heart's content, and then I went home. Nothing out of the ordinary happened."

"He changed your bandages," he whispered as he stared at my hands.

"Ignore him. He's in shock," Darcy quipped. "Weren't you guys friends at one point?"

"Not really. The closest we ever got was being partnered up for group projects. He was as much a gentleman then as he was yesterday."

"It's so weird to know that we're using gentleman to describe Devon Quid."

I glared at her.

"I'm not saying he's not a gentleman or anything, but you've heard the rumors. You've seen the damage. Jett has a fake tooth now because of him. Gentlemen don't exactly have those sorts of things tied to their name."