Desolation Row [MxM]

“So, um, a couple of my friends from Lakeview wanted to come visit.”

Charlie looked across the table at me Saturday morning, raising an eyebrow. “Friends, from..?”

“Lakeview. My friends from my old school. Uh, Sophie, and Alex. And Jake. They wanted to know if they could come visit, sometime soon.” I explained. Part of me was hoping for Charlie to say no, oddly enough, but after a few seconds he got a thoughtful look, nodding a little.

“I think that's a good idea,” he said. “You've got a uh, a football game coming up, right? Like, one of the last ones of the season? Why don't you meet them over there, spend some time out for a little bit?”

I didn't want to tell Charlie that the idea of going to a football team, surrounded by people who hate me, seemed horrible. I hadn't told him anything of what went on in school, beyond the instance of me getting beat up, so me suddenly saying I didn't want to go and possibly see my friends was suspicious. “Uh, yeah, sure. That—that sounds good, yeah. I'll let Sophie know.”

The football game wasn't until Friday, so I had an entire week to make it through first beforehand. The closer it got to the end of the week though, the more I found myself dreading it, even as I was awkwardly wandering through the crowded bleachers near the football field. My black eye had mostly cleared, so hopefully they wouldn't notice it. I'd asked Sophie to meet me at the school, and after that we'd find something else to do, if they wanted.

People kept bumping into me as I walked, and eventually I was forced to sit down on the bleachers, fidgeting as I kept checking my phone.

“Didn't expect to see you here.”

I jumped and jerked my head up to see Joel, who stood by and stared down at me as I almost dropped my phone again. “You know, being the plague of the school, and all,” he added with a shrug. “Also, you might wanna consider getting that jumping thing under control.”

I tightened my grip on my phone, ducking my head to look down at my feet. He was quiet for a few seconds, and I silently wished that he'd just walk away and leave me alone, but instead he spoke again. “So what are you doing here, anyway?”

I debated on answering, figuring I could probably get away with silence. But then again, he might leave sooner if I just give him a response. “I'm meeting some friends.” I mumbled in response.

Joel snorted. “You? You have friends, really?”

“They're from a different school.”

“Oh, they'd have to be, to be friends with you.”

I glared at that, starting to get up to just leave on my own, but Joel chuckled and reached out to put a hand on my shoulder, pushing me back down into my seat. I tried not to flinch at the contact, and he didn't seem to notice thankfully, shaking his head as he walked away. I didn't understand what I'd done to make it seem okay for him to be such a jerk toward me. He wasn't violent like some other people were, but he very clearly wasn't nice, either.

Sighing quietly, I settled back into my seat, fidgeting again as I waited for a text from Sophie. I was already tired of being at the game, and I couldn't have been there for more than ten or so minutes. More than anything I just wanted to go home and go to bed. I'd been sleeping a lot lately, and that probably wasn't healthy.

My phone buzzed with a text from Sophie, saying they were down the road from the school, so I got up again and moved to leave the field, heading for the parking lot. I couldn't've gotten more than five feet away though when an arm was slung around my shoulders, making me stumble slightly at the force of it. “And where are we going, short stack?”