Assistance Required

Dive In

TW abuse

Patton insisted Virgil sit next to him in Reinassance history. He talked about possibly painting his nails during the movie which Virgil honestly found amusing. After class, he went home to shower and get changed in his uniform. He checked the cuts on his arms from earlier in the week. They were already scabbed over. He decided to arrive early and do some reading while waiting for his shift to start.

His shift was uneventful. He closed the store with the owner and drove home. He changed into pajamas and started working on schoolwork. He plugged in his phone and noticed a text from Patton.

What to meet us at the student center at one tomorrow?

He chewed on his lip for a minute before responding.

Yeah, I'll be there.

He sent it before he could his mind. He always hated social gatherings but he actually liked these guys. He knew just needed to dive in and commit before he had time to back down.

He forced himself to focus on his schoolwork to keep his mind from coming up with ways it could go wrong.

He woke up with his face in a textbook and his father yelling. He groaned as he crawled out of bed. He looked at the clock. What could his father be upset about at eight in the morning? He walked out of his bedroom to see something fly across the living room from the kitchen. He heard glass shatter as an empty bottle hit the wall.

"Virgil!" his dad said when he saw him.

"Y-yeah?"

"Drive me to the store! I'm out of beer."

Virgil shuffled on his feet.

"I actually need to focus on homework so I can meet a group for a project before work today. Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

His father walked over to him and grabbed him by the arm. He winced as he squeezed the cuts across his arm.

"I didn't ask you to take me tomorrow! I asked you to take me now!"

"I-I know, but-"

A hand struck him across the face. He was pushed into the wall.

"Be ready in five minutes!"

Virgil scrambled to get to his room and got changed. Out of habit, he grabbed his eye shadow. He hated leaving the house without makeup. His father burst into the room as he was finishing up one eye.

"I SAID FIVE MINUTES!"

"I-I'm almost done!"

His father stood impatiently in the door while Virgil finished the other eye and grabbed the keys to his car and his phone. Virgil drove his father to the store. He decided to grab some chips while they were there. He paid for his chips and walked to the car to wait for his dad. He scrolled through Tumblr while he waited. A notification popped up on his screen. Patton had texted him again.

Can I add you to our group chat?

Virgil bit his thumb while he thought it over. He'd never been in a group chat before. He didn't want to get too many notifications. He could always mute it later though, right? He was already planning on joining their movie night. Just... dive in.

Sure...

A few minutes passed before his phone buzzed again.

Say your names so Virgil knows who's who!

Virgil watched the screen popped up showing their different names. He added their names and numbers to his contacts.

Roman: I want a quick count of who's joining!

Patton: You know I'm coming!

Roman: You always come. Thomas? Joan?

Joan: Obviously.

Thomas: Can we watch Frozen?

Janus: You watched Frozen last week! Pick something else!

Roman: What would you want to watch?

Logan: Do you always have to pick a Disney movie?

Patton: Would you join us if we watched something else?

Logan: I might consider it.

Roman: Pixar?

Thomas: Inside Out!

Patton: I love that movie!

Remus: Can't we watch something with a little more action?

Virgil tore himself away from the conversation when he heard the trunk open. He turned back to see his dad putting stuff in the trunk. Virgil muted the conversation and put his phone away. He chewed on his thumb while his father finished loading the trunk. He drove them both home and went to his room to work on his homework. He glanced at his phone and smiled. He was nervous and excited to join the group in watching a movie. It was his first time being invited to a social event even if it was a small one. He was always the loner in high school. No one had even wanted to talk to him back then. Now people were reaching out to him. They were studying with him, inviting him to watch movies, and wanted to help him with his problems. He couldn't understand why they were putting so much effort into him. They were being so nice to him.

He smiled as he pulled out his book. Maybe if he kept diving in like this, he'd actually have a group of friends.