Together

Chapter 4

February 18th 2017

Monday has finally fucking arrived. I make sure that I pack two iced coffees before heading to school today.

The morning seemed to pass so fucking slow as I anxiously waited for our lunch break. The bell finally rang. It was noon. I sprinted as fast as I could possibly sprint to my locker to grab the iced coffees and get to the garden without looking weird for mysteriously going to the garden with two iced coffees in my hands. After I had reached my locker and grabbed the drinks, there was a huge crowd of people in the stairwell. Great. A traffic jam. Just what I fucking need right now. I peek over someone's shoulder to see what the fuck is going on in here. Some shithead got beat up and was laying unconscious on the floor. Holy shit.  Holy fucking shit. I know this guy, his name is Braxton and he's the only other open member of the LGBTQ community in the whole school. I have to help him.
"WHY ARE YOU ALL JUST STANDING HERE!" I screamed at the people surrounding him. "SOMEBODY NEEDS TO FUCKING GET HIM TO MELANIE!" I see some tall, muscular guy scoop him up and carry him down the stairs to the nurses office. Good.
I need to get up to the garden now. I dash through the clump of shocked faces and find myself at the school's outdoor basketball court, trying to explain why I need to be in the garden with two iced cofffes.
"Look Elliot, I just saw Braxton laying in the stairwell covered in his own blood. I need to fucking think," I tried to explain.
"With two coffees?" He asked sarcastically.
"Extra thinking," I said as I left up to the garden tiered of having to explain everything I fucking do.

I'm on my way to the garden when Tanner stops me. Ugh. This really sucks.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.
"Diego said he'd meet me on the field. I need to talk to him." I replied.
"Fine.  But you better be at tomorrow's game."
"I will!" I shouted back at him as I went up the hill to the garden.

"I hope I'm not late," i said to Robbie, who was sitting in the small garden shed, holding two iced coffees. The shed was mostly used as a place for students to hang out in, considering the fact that it was completely empty of garden tools.
"Not at all," he said, handing me a coffee and gesturing for me to sit down next to him. I take a sip of the cold coffee, it is extremely sweet, but I don't mind.
"So," Robbie says, interrupting my train of thought.
"I guess you're not straight, are you," he continues raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, um, yeah, I guess I'm not..." I half-whisper. I'm not really comfortable talking about this, but it's okay when I'm talking about it with him.
"Is this really a date?" I blurt out. That was stupid.
"We said it was on Friday night, so unless you no longer have those kinds of feelings for me, or never had them in the first place, yes, this is a date," he seems so calm talking about the fact that we may or may not be on a date right now.
We sit in silence for a few moments until he breaks it.
"Braxton got beat up today," he said, no longer maintaining his usual calmness. "But I guess that's just a another Monday here..." he trailed off, realizing the grimness of what he just said. I suddenly feel the need to change the subject to something a bit lighter.
"What kind of music do you like?" I ask, hoping that it wasn't too sudden.
"Emo music,"
"Like what?"
"Black Veil Brides is one of my favourite bands," I instantly felt guilty for asking due to how embarrassed he sounded.
"Cool! I really like Panic! At The Disco,"
"Really? Me too!" Good.  He sounded happier now and that made me happy too.
"Awesome dude! What are your favourite songs? I really like 'she had the world' from way back when Ryan was still in the band," I said
"Where did Ryan go though? My favourite song definitely 'far too young to die'"
We talked about different bands that we like until we realized that it was sadly time to get back to school.
"I'm going back down to the basketball court, you head down in a few minutes so we don't look suspicious," I said, hoping that nobody connects the dots and realizes where we both were.
"Got it! This was fun though, should we do it again next week?"
"Sure!" I called back to him as I left the shed.

After that they met at the garden every Monday.