Tales of the Underground: Crestfallen - 11. Stitches

They say there are 2 sides to every story, theirs and yours, but that’s bullshit. We all tend to forget the 3^rd option, the truth.

Walking into class that morning it was impossible to stay focused. I became obsessed with the idea of what happened to Eli’s boyfriend. A week ago I had no interest in learning about anything that happened in the underground, but today I’ve found myself in the eye of the storm. Whether its learning from Eli, or hanging out with Jayden…this disaster has begun to drag me right into its aftermath. Lunch was a welcomed distraction and I found myself fighting off a giddy smile as I took my seat next to Jayden.

I reached out and gave him a light shove, and to my surprise he retaliated with one of his own. “You gonna give me more stitches?” I teased.

“I might just” he replied with a smile.

“Oh yeah?” I teased while reaching over and swatting his water bottle to the other side of the table.

“You’re such a punk!” he called out with a laugh.

Our eyes met and I saw a plan begin to form “What are you gonna do about it?”

His smile grew wider “I guess you’ll have to wait and see”.

“Holy hell new kids smiling!” Henry shouted, loud enough to draw attention from nearby tables.

Jayden quickly began to slide lower into his seat as his smile faded. “There’s nothing to see” Ivy announced returning everyone to normal “Jesus why is everybody always so nosy?”

“Because Henry doesn’t know how to use his inside voice” I muttered a bit upset that he ruined me and Jayden’s moment.

“How’s this my fault” Henry let out “Tell homeboy over there to lighten up more, and it won’t be as big an announcement”.

“He doesn’t smile that often” Ivy agreed.

“He smiles when we’re not ganging up on him” I defended “Let’s just stop making him the center of attention so much okay?”

“You don’t have to keep defending me” Jayden uttered while trying to fix how he was sitting

“When you start to do it yourself, I’ll stop” I sighed “Deal?” Jayden rolled his eyes and turned his attention to his food. “Why are you mad at me? I’m just trying to help!”

“For the last time Aidan I don’t want your help” he muttered “We’re supposed to be friends remember? Stop treating me like some type of puppy” .

My face turned a little red as I realized he was speaking the truth. “I’m sorry, I guess I just get carried away”. He peeked over at me but quickly moved his attention back to his food. “I’m serious, I just don’t really know how to…” I droned on not knowing how to finish my thought.

“Be a friend” Henry offered with a smile “He really is serious Jayden. Aidan has 0 idea how to show any sort of emotion. If he ever shows any it’s purely him reacting, and not on purpose”.

Jayden still didn’t bother to look up, instead he kept pushing around his food “Then why’s he always smiling and laughing?”

I accidently let out a short laugh “Because it beats all the other options. Put your best foot forward, and if you’re lucky enough everything else will follow”. Jayden rolled his eyes and snickered. “I’ll tell you what; you want me to treat you more like a friend? I have a fight Tuesday night, all my friends show up.”

“All your friends are me, Ivy and Perry!” Henry butted in.

“You should be there” I spit staring down Henry for interrupting me. “You’re even welcome to be in my corner if you want.”

“I’ll go but there’s no way I’m being in your corner” he said finally looking up.

Ivy met his gaze with a warm smile “It’s cool you can come sit on the bleachers with me and Brooke. Maybe if you’re lucky Aidan’s dad won’t give you a dirty look.”

“Nah” Henry answered before I could speak “If Aidan invited him to his corner that means dad already likes him, isn’t that right?” he prodded.

“Like is a strong word” I muttered.

“Dad wants you to show off” Henry excitedly shouted. Our eyes locked, but before I could say anything he knew he was right. “Heh Dad must not be taking those stitches well huh?”

Jayden uncomfortably fidgeted in his chair. “I’m sorry; I really didn’t mean to get you in trouble”.

“Apologize one more time and you’ll be eating your teeth for lunch” I spit.

“Tuesday night’s going to be a rough one” Henry provoked, knowing what was going on in my head. “How bad is the other kid gonna get it?” Jayden stared at me and awaited an answer I wasn’t going to give. “That bad huh?” Henry resolved with a smirk.

Jayden’s curious stare shifted from me to Henry “What do you mean?”

Henry’s smirk morphed into a malicious smile. “Whenever Aidan does something faggy his dad makes him fight a lot more barbaric then he normally would”.

“He does not” I lied.

“Oh yeah? How do you explain the fight after he caught you and Brooke getting manicures?”

“Drop it” I muttered “We were bonding”.

“Sure” he teased “still had to break your next fighter into a million pieces”. I bit my lip out of frustration and stared him down. “Why are you getting so upset? It’s pretty badass when you do it” his gaze switched from me to Jayden. “During that fight Aidan purposely kept his opponent conscious so he could keep it going. He walked out of the cage covered in blood that night.” He let out a quick laugh, thinking back on that moment “Aidan’s small but he can be pretty freakin scary when he wants”.

I kicked him from under the table “Are you done?”

“What did I do?” Henry asked kicking me back.

“You make me sound like such an ass” I spit “I’m a fighter, not a killer”.

“You really gotta learn to own that shit” Henry defiantly answered. “Who cares what people think of you?” I let out a deep sigh and tried to leave it be “Wait you seriously think new kid thinks you’re like dangerous or something?” He starting laughing, but realized he had once more hit the real answer, “Jayden, I promise Aidan is as gentle as a butterfly, just don’t find yourself locked in a cage with him.”

Jayden looked over at me, and our eyes met. I know he was searching to find what truly lied within, and I let him. I have nothing to hide; I’ve always left my cards on the table…always. The bell rang before he could speak, and we all left in silence. My next few classes were good distractions…well from my original distraction. As I walked into my last class I caught Jayden giving me the same stare as at lunch.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer” I teased taking my seat.

Jayden shrugged his shoulders “Sorry…I didn’t mean to stare or anything…I’m just…”.

“Looking to see if I’d ever turn on you” I finished.

“No …not at all…I just…just…” he stuttered.

“Its fine, I get it. I’m like a German Shepard, if you’re not careful one day I might bite you” I sighed “Except that’s not me”.

Jayden took a breath a little taken back by my words “I didn’t think that. I’m just trying to figure out what kinda person you are. I mean one night you’re getting stitches, the other you’re getting a manicure” he sheepishly admitted. My face immediately turned a bright shade of red and I found myself at a loss for words. “It’s cool okay?” he forced out “I think it’s sweet”.

“Mr. Taylor, what’s with the new stitching? I assumed it would be gone by now.” Mr. Jones asked walking in, and breaking up our conversation “I thought the green looked nice”.

“Well” I began “I got the green stitching out yesterday but Jayden punched me across the face and split the cut back open.”

“Aidan, what did I tell you about dragging people into stories” Mr. Jones reprimanded giving me a stern look.

“No, it’s true” a red faced Jayden spoke up. “I was …ughh… helping him train…and I guess it got a little out of hand.”

“It was an accident” I shrugged. “It happens; besides, I get them out today anyway.”

Mr. Jones nodded his head “Well look at that, unexpected friendships are the best ones”.

Jayden looked over at me as a smile crept across his face “They are”.

I bit back a smile and looked forward trying to play it off cool. For the last period on a Friday, class seemed to go by a lot faster than I could’ve hoped. Every now and then I would glance over at Jayden and catch a friendly smile. I can’t put into words what I was feeling. It was euphoric and light, for whatever reason whenever I looked over at that scrawny freckle faced nerd I just felt happy. When the last bell rang I saw Jayden’s hand swipe over to try and knock my notebook off my desk.

I quickly caught it before it could hit the floor “You’re obnoxious” I let out with a laugh.

“You should come over this weekend” he said with energy I didn’t think he had in him.

I gave him a smile and tilted my head “What?”

The energy seemed to spread to his eyes as they filled with life “Like come hang out at my house”.

The same energy filled me as if it were a virus but quickly left as reality swept back into my mind. “Oh I don’t know” I sighed. “I have practice all weekend, plus my parents get super weird about me going out”.

“Oh” he let out trying to hide his disappointment. “Then I guess I’ll see you Monday”. I fell back into my seat and looked up at him. “What?” he asked shooting me a confused look.

“No, I’ll come over”. I took a breath and thought over the consequences “What do I have to lose?”

I saw relief over take the disappointment in his face. “You sure? I mean I’ve gotten you into enough trouble already”.

I matched his smile with one of my own. “That’s what friends do right? Besides I can’t live my whole life in my parents basement”.

“If you say so” he replied handing me a small piece of paper with a phone number on it. “Text me later so I have your number, then I’ll just text you my address and when to come over.”

“Okay” I nodded. “I probably wouldn’t be able to hangout until like late afternoon though. On Saturdays and Sundays I practice until like 5”.

He threw his bag over his shoulder, and I did the same. “Sounds like a plan” he replied starting to head towards the door.

I quickly moved to catch up to him “Should I let Ivy and Henry know?”

A quick chill raced through him as he gathered the strength to reply “I was thinking it would just be me and you”. I went to respond, but didn’t know how. With timid eyes he looked over at me “We could just listen to music and hangout, that is if that’s okay with you. I don’t want to like make it weird or awkward or anything like that”.

I couldn’t help but laugh as he started to get jittery “Chill out, you turn into such a spaz when you get nervous” I teased “but okay that sounds nice, besides maybe you could figure out a new walkout song for me”.

“Happy song” he excitedly let out “I’ll show you it when you come over”.

“Happy song?” I repeated beginning to walk the other way.

“Happy song!” he shouted down the hall with a laugh.

I don’t know what’s gotten into him since lunch, but it’s nice to see him so full of life. It’s as though that car ride to his house broke something in him …something that made him comfortable around me, something that put him on the verge of opening up to me. Like I told him last night, it’s amazing how stitches can bring things together.