Together Again / Brendon Urie

6. Brendon

I wait patiently for Adler outside of biology, I have to apologize, I have to tell her. She comes up walking to the room and stops when she sees me waiting against the lockers. She thinks about turning around but obviously she can't, she, we, have a project to do. "Adler," I begin and she puts her hand up. "I don't need any help Bren-"

"I want to help!" I cut her off and she bites her lip anxiously. "Its fine Brendon," she states in a monotone. I run my hand through my hair, seeing as I'm completely frustrated. "Addie, what do you want from me?" I ask and she looks confused. "I'm mean to you and you hate me, I'm nice to you and you hate me. What do you want me to do?" I ask, almost falling apart on the inside. On the outside, my shell is hard a rock. "I just want to get this over with," she pushes by me and our teacher is right there. "Ah, trouble in lab partner paradise?" She teases and we both go to our table. Bitch you have no idea.

We sit at our table in silence and I write on a piece of paper, sliding it over to her side.

I'm sorry

She scoffs at it and slides it back.

I thought we were becoming friends

I write underneath and slide it back. She reads it and leaves the paper there. After listening to the teacher and a couple moments later she starts writing.

We can never be friends

She replies and I, I don't know what to think, say or do. I'm trying so hard, apparently not hard enough.

Why?

I ask and wait for her reply.

You hurt me too much

I sigh

What can I do to have you forgive me then?

She reads it and slides it back. I push it back to her. "No," she whispers and I get frustrated. I raise my hand, the sub looks surprised. "Yes Brendon?" She asks cautiously. "Can we go first?" I ask and Adler looks at me like I stabbed her cat. "Uh yeah sure, let me finish speaking." She replies and I nod and sit back in my seat comfortably. "Brendon what the hell?" She whispers at me and I smile.

Our project worked perfectly, our paper was drafted correctly and we passed with flying colors. Now we sit at our table in awkward silence and Adler is angry. "I can't believe you put us on the spot like that." She mumbles and I shrug. "It had to be done anyway, why not just get it over with."  I reply not as quietly. The teacher glares at us. "Keep your voice down," she corrects me and I laugh. "Or what?" I challenge and she squints her eyes at me in annoyance. "Mr. Urie and Ms. Victor, take your conversation outside." Our sub announces and I cover a laugh with a cough. "No, no, Ms. Thompson. It's ok, Brendon's done." Adler tries to dismiss the request.
"I'm actually not," I speak loudly and the class and Adler look so surprised. "You two, outside, now." The teacher kicks us out and we stand in the quiet hallway. "Great thank you, now we are probably going to fail."

"She already graded us, and our talking in class isn't going to demerit the work we just did, relax." Adler looks at me annoyed and starts walking away. "Where are you going?" I ask, walking faster to catch up. "Away from you," she throws over her shoulder. I catch up and grab her arm lightly. "Addie," I say gently and she turns around. "W-why do you keep calling me that?" She stutters and I smile. I love her stutter, its adorable whenever I make her nervous. "Because it's your name." I say matter of factly.
"No, my name is Adler." She fights back. "You wouldn't know that though because we aren't friends Brendon. We weren't and aren't ever going to be friends. Just graduate, leave me alone and move on with your life." She says angrily and turns, walking away again. "I can't," I speak up and she pauses turning around to face me. "Why? Why, must you torment me?" She asks and I play with a piece of rolled up paper I had in my pocket. "I'm not trying to torment you," I reply quietly. "Then what?" She asks and I take a breath.

"I like you, like a lot, like more then a friend." I answer confidently and her jaw drops. I step closer and she doesn't move. "We spent 20 days of the past month together, for hours on end. I drove us home from school, picked you up when I was done work. You're just so,-"

"So what?" I smile and look down at my feet before looking back up at her brown eyes. They're brown like mine. "So stubborn." I finish and she shifts. "I have a right to be. Y-you can't be trusted. Maybe in an alternate universe yeah. But-but, you hurt me physically and mentally. I can deal with the scrapes and bruises. But stay out of my head." She replies. "I'm sorry, the boys thought it was funny."

"What about what I thought? How I felt, going home to explain another bruise to my dad that it was from sports. Or cuts on my knees because I tripped on a curb." She's tearing up, this isn't how I expected this to go. "Mentally telling myself, I am skinny enough, don't listen to them." She continues and I feel regret, a lot of it. Hitting me in waves. "J-just,"she pauses. "Forget me from your life," she states and walks away and I don't  follow her.