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 Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 3:42 pm
It was a pretty weird day. Not overtly so; the school looked as run down and normal as ever. The sun was out, that was nice. The clock on the wall was ticking closer and closer to the hour mark. The teacher was droning on about something or other and Shiloh was lost like usual.
Ah, right, he was actually in school.
Or at least sitting in his English class. The only saving grace was lunch being in T Minus 30 seconds, and you could bet Shiloh was counting down under his breath. The teacher always hated it when kids packed up before he was done lecturing, but when did Shiloh care? No, he was hungry, tired, and had a lunchbox full of teddy grahams with his name on it.
Well, not just ********' finally." he murmured under his breath, swiftly standing up without a moment to spare. He actually had no idea if him and Jamie had the same lunch period, nor did he have any idea where to look for him, but maybe he'd get lucky. Course, the hallway was swarming with people, and he wasn't sure where to look.
Well, Jamie seemed pretty skittish? Where would a nervous, skittish, shy kind of guy go?
He turned away from the lunch room, roaming some of the less traffic-heavy hallways.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 4:51 pm
Last class before lunch. All morning Jamie had been thinking about the plans he'd made with Shiloh, the promise to meet up at lunch. It was two things to Jamie: scary and exciting. Making friends was hard when you could barely manage to speak to strangers without going weird-freeze-up-stutter all over them, but he'd done it, or at least laid the ground work. They'd hit it off better than he ever imagined.
Still, there were roadblocks to the idea, too. What if they didn't have the same lunch? That thought had plagued Jamie since he had enough cognizance to form thoughts (geez it was getting so ungodly hard to get up in the morning). Or what if Shiloh had simply been playing cordial and didn't actually want to see him? That thought was honestly the worst of the two.
The bell rang and Jamie literally shook his head to shake the thoughts away. Shiloh sounded genuine and he wanted so badly to keep believing it. For now, he wouldn't give up. Grabbing his backpack, he booked it to his locker where he normally would've loitered. He switched out books like a speed changer in a play. He stood up with great purpose. He slammed closed his locker. He...
Yeah, he was still nervous.
Standing there, staring at his closed locker, Jamie bit his lip. It was an awful feeling, doubting himself so much that he thought for a split second about ditching on their promise. Jamie knew it was a bad idea to go the opposite direction of the lunch room, but he needed to clear his head. It would be okay, he'd go back and look for Shiloh once everyone else stopped moving around so damn much. It would be easier that way, anyway.HiThereMelancholies more ready than i've ever ******** been
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 5:52 pm
People were funneling out around him, either having ventured back here to access their out-of-the-way lockers or scattering for whatever other personal reasons they might have had. Maybe reasons like Shiloh's, maybe not. It wasn't a concern to him. He ventured these halls quietly and frequently, whether it was lunch or between classes or during classes. They were solemn and vacant and a little nostalgic sometimes.
He stopped by a window, looking outside. The sun on his face felt nice.
A sound snapped him from his momentary daydream. It was loud, empty, metallic and echoing down the hallway. Right, Jamie.
Actually, just a few more footsteps and he'd see he was right on the money. Sure enough, there was that familiar poof of reddish-brown hair, quietly meandering down the hall. They were basically alone at this point, but the question was, how should he approach him? It wouldn't matter which direction he took; Jamie was likely to be startled regardless. Might as well be a d**k about it.
"Avoiding me or somethin'?" he called out down the hallway. Never mind the playful expression on his face; the apologizes and reassurances were already on the tip of his tongue.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 7:04 pm
Commend Shiloh on his powers of observation, because if there was one thing he was 100% right about today, it was that Jamie would be startled. Most of the noise had filtered away around him, leaving only a distant din. Then there he was, the new friend Jamie was casually avoiding out of nervousness, cutting through the silence with his accusations of the very same thing.
"W-What? N-n-no!" Jamie immediately retorted, a little louder than he'd meant to, stopping in his tracks and nearly dropping his backpack. This was an awful way to get things started. Flinging the backpack over his shoulder to try and appear casual, he started to walk again, closing the distance between them while looking very poignantly at the floor instead of Shiloh. Unsurprisingly, he missed the playful look on his face.
"I, um..." Now he'd driven himself into a corner, struggling for an excuse. There was really no reason to be walking away from the lunchroom. "... Hi, Shiloh..." was what he finally decided on, because maybe it was a better idea to try and make this whole thing a little more normal. That, and he had no idea what else to say.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 7:20 pm
Shiloh knew it. He waited for him to finish, smile still on his face, shaking his head. Maybe he'd gone too far; it was mean messing with Jamie like this, but he couldn't help himself. It was all in good fun, and he planned to let him know.
"Hi, Jamie." he offered back, bending down so he could try to look up at his face. "Y'know, I'm just ********' with you."
Because well, he was. He laughed—it was short, sharp, light as he stood back up, readjusting the backpack on his shoulder. "So don't look that way okay? I said we were friends didn't I? I usually eat my lunch down this way anyway, so it works out." they weren't supposed to eat outside of the cafeteria grounds, but he had yet to meet a teacher that actively enforced it. So long as he wasn't being a nuisance, most everyone saw it as too much effort to address.
"Did'ja ever end up getting more sleep?" he tried to make idle conversation as he walked around him, pausing to see if he would follow after a couple steps.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 8:06 pm
There was a slight tint to Jamie's cheeks as he momentarily met Shiloh's eyes. Despite having met him just yesterday, something in Jamie reminded him Shiloh was the type to pull stunts like this. Coming down from the sudden adrenaline, he knew he should've expected it, but he was so bad at mentally preparing for anything social that even if he'd reminded himself fifty times before their encounter, he likely still would've jumped and ran his mouth before he could stop it.
"I... I know," he huffed, trying to make it sound like he meant it. "O-Of course we're friends." It was a notice to himself as much as it was an agreement with Shiloh. All the doubt earlier hadn't miraculously vanished just yet, but it felt nice to be reassured. Truth be told, he'd had a lot of fun last night and badly wanted their fledgling friendship to work out. When Shiloh began walking, Jamie followed with almost no hesitation.
"You don't, um, get in trouble for eating outside of the cafeteria?" he asked, scuffing a shoe at the ground before continuing. "Oh, but I got some sleep, yeah. Fell asleep really fast once I got inside. Cept morning came too soon..."
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 8:39 pm
"Nah, not really." he put his hands in his pockets as he started walking again, looking forward. "So long as you're not dumb and you're not loud or nothin', no one really cares. Usually I just nap and stuff so the teachers don't even really notice."
Except today, there would be no napping. He'd actually brought a lunch (if it could be called that), and he actually... was sorta looking forward to talking with Jamie again. He was nice and it was calming, even for as frantic and frazzled as he could be. Again, the key word was predictable.
"That sucks though, about the sleep." he stopped walking as they rounded a corner, the stairs leading to the second floor of the school greeting them. He eagerly took a seat on the bottom step. "I got s**t for it too though, so I feel you." absentmindedly, he patted the spot next to him. An invitation wouldn't hurt his anxiety, after all.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 9:01 pm
That was enough of a consolation for Jamie. There was always a fear of getting in trouble, it was ingrained in him despite the fact that he was a stereotypically good kid and hardly had issues with authority figures. Still, more than one wrong step with bullies in his childhood had taught him that keeping his head low and staying as invisible as possible was the best way to avoid very bad situations. It no longer mattered whether threats were his age or older, Jamie was always wary.
He trusted in Shiloh's assurance, though. And anyway, if there was one thing he was good at, it was being quiet.
"That's okay," he said, taking a seat as he did so. It was impossible to hide the small smile setting in. Already the little things were adding up. Already Jamie felt a strange happiness at the invitation to sit. Such a simple thing, but it made their relationship feel all the more real. "It was still good sleep."
"But, um... I hope you didn't get in too much trouble..." There was a pang in his chest at that. He'd completely avoided any repercussions, and while he had no idea the extent of Shiloh's home situation, he felt bad either way that he'd apparently been caught.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 9:26 pm
Shiloh tugged a paper bag out of backpack. It was crumbled and smashed and could hardly be called a lunch bag, but that was okay. It didn't need to look pretty; all that mattered was what was on the inside.
"Oh, I didn't." His father had been fast asleep by the time he made it back home, passed out on the couch with the tv still playing and a can of beer clenched in his fist. Oliver was awake, and he had given him that knowing look when he passed by his room, but they both had a pretty mutual understanding of each others insomnia. So long as he came home, his brother was relatively calm with his excursions. "I just wish I coulda' slept longer too."
"Anyway, that doesn't matter too much. What does," he reached into the bag, producing a smaller bag full of teddy grahams. "—Are these ********. You ever had one?" he would have assumed that yes, Jamie had in fact consumed teddy grahams before. But this was the same kid who had never tried an icee, so Shiloh expected the unexpected from his seemingly deprived life.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 9:42 pm
"O-Oh..." Jamie's eyes were a bit wider than usual, but he was breathing a sigh of relief. "I misunderstood." Going for his own lunch, a small, insulated lunchbox also produced from his backpack, he found himself sighing again. This was one of those rare good misunderstandings and he was so very glad for it. "Maybe, um, we'll both be luckier with sleep tonight. Or something." It was a nice thought, even if he could say with almost certainty for himself it wouldn't be the case.
Setting his lunch in his lap, Jamie waited to see what did matter, though. It was actually kind of exciting, especially once he saw it—the glistening, golden teddy graham treasure. Without even thinking, he leaned in closer to get a better look.
"Chocolate chip?" he asked, eyes widening further. "Wow, I have, but I've only ever had the regular honey ones..." Leaning back, he blinked up at Shiloh before realizing something. "O-Oh-! Um, I also brought something to share. I-If you want." Unzipping his lunchbox, he pulled out a fistful of at least six individually wrapped string cheese tubes. He hadn't meant to grab so many, but he'd done it fast, trying to be sneaky so his mom wouldn't notice and ask about it.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 9:50 pm
Misunderstood? He raised an eyebrow. Jamie was pretty caring, all things considered. He was pretty sure this guy was almost too good for this world. Almost.
"You've never had the chocolate chip ones? Jamie, I swear to god." he was in for it now, "Listen to me. First, you tell me you ain't never had an icee. Second, you start pullin' this honey only teddy graham s**t. And then—"
His voice fell short when Jamie produced not one, not two, not even three—but six goddamn string cheese tubes. Honestly, he was gawking, eyes wide, a single teddy graham between his two fingers mere inches from his mouth.
"Jamie." He sat up straight, setting his hands down in his lap. "Why in the hell do you have half of the goddamn bag with you."
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:31 am
Until Shiloh laid down the law, Jamie had no idea he'd committed such a grave offense. There was a significant pause as he sat there, cheese still in hand, the expression on his face shifting from confusion to concern and back to confusion again. His mind just didn't know what to flip about first.
"I-I..." he finally fumbled, "I can't help it, m-my mom does the grocery shopping. I just eat what she buys..." With a small huff, he set the string cheese down on the top of his lunch box. "L-L-Lemme try the chocolate chip, then?"
Despite the question, his eyes were focused down towards his lap. When he spoke again it was almost a whisper. "I didn't meant to grab so many..." It really was half the bag, wasn't it? Jamie was totally sweating.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 2:17 pm
Shiloh let the silence pass for a moment, then he laughed. It was lighthearted, fun, kinda... carefree almost. "That's alright. More for us, right?" he grinned as he handed over a teddy graham.
"Y'know Jamie, I don't mean nothin' by this, but like," chomp "You take stuff pretty seriously. I promise I'm not actually bein' a d**k to you y'know. Just joshin'." he gave him a playful shoulder bump. Hopefully that'd help smooth some of the tension over.
"Just ask her to buy you some next time, then." he told him as he unceremoniously plucked up one of the cheese sticks. "Problem solved."
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 6:18 pm
The way Jamie took the teddy graham was stiff, like he wanted to be excited for it—and truth be told he was excited for it—but he didn't want to look foolish again after already flawlessly accomplishing it once. He was nodding as he carefully brought it to his mouth, silently agreeing there was more for them, trying to play it off like it had been nothing. That was the cool, casual thing to do, right?
Oh, wow, the chocolate chip teddy grahams were good.
He was in the middle of thoughtfully chewing and swallowing the head he'd bitten off when "y'know Jamie" caught his attention. What did he know? He turned to look at Shiloh again, the rest of the teddy graham in his mouth now, and damn if he didn't almost choke on it when Shiloh bumped him in the playful way he did. Swallowing hard, he looked startled, but there was a fluttery sort of happiness in his stomach, too.
"I-I know." It was just hard to stop his ingrained reactions. "I wish... I didn't," he admitted. "But it's hard." He played with one of the cheese sticks. "Can I... have another teddy graham? Maybe I will ask. They're good."
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 7:02 pm
"One? Yeah, sure."
Shiloh proceeded to unceremoniously dump half the bag into Jamie's hand. He took another cheese stick for his efforts.
"It's alright though, I get it. Your head's real shitty like that." he nodded decisively, "It plays tricks 'n tells you a bunch'a s**t that ain't true. But that's alright."
He was picking the package open, slowly tearing down line after line of string cheese before finally deciding to ******** it and just bite into the damn thing. Jamie may have liked going for the heads, but Shiloh appreciated a slower torture. It was good. Satisfaction showed on his face.
"I'll just keep reminding you. S'fine." saedusk you aaaare NOOOOT ALOOOOONE
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