A small step, is still a step
Find it on AO3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/66174166
“Seriously?” Sal whispered to Todd, “Ash’s sick too?” His shoulders fell, he was worried about his friends — still disappointed — but worried.
Todd nodded his head, “yes, I think that they caught the flu from one another.” His pencil glided across the handout, making a sharp scribbling noise that snapped Sal out of his trance.
“Shit… me and Ash were supposed to go out for lunch..” he muttered to himself. Trying to remember if he saw Travis today was tough… math wasn’t until next period.
Todd noticed Sal’s bouncy knee and muttering and offered for Sal to join him and Neil for lunch. It was sweet of him, but he hated third wheeling. “Thanks Todd, but I think I’ll just hang with Travis. I don’t wanna bother you two.”
The sound of Todd’s pencil stopped which made Sal turn his head. He had both his eyebrows raised as he stared blankly at him, “Travis?” He said as if he didn’t hear him correctly.
Sal just nodded his head — he knew Todd is very logical, but that doesn’t change the fact that Travis was a massive dick to him. “Yeah, um, we’ve been hanging out a bit…” Sal spat out nervously.
Todd’s brows furrowed and a few seconds later, without missing a beat, something clicked within him, “so that’s why Travis has been rather quiet recently.”
Sal pursed his lips underneath his prosthetic and nodded his head. He was still nervous about what Todd thought about his new friendship.
“Well, not that my opinion should affect how or who you spend your time with,” he picked up his pencil and continued working through the science questions, “but I think Travis having a good friend, such as yourself, is very good for him. I theorize that he is simply taking his anger out on us. I’m sure you have also picked up on that though.”
A relieved sigh filled the silence between them. He was over the moon with joy that Todd understood; he thought he would, but hearing his exact thoughts washed an unbelievably large wave of reassurance over him. “I’m glad you think that, he’s really fun once you get past the…” his voice trails off, trying to find the right words, “cliche bully.”
Todd flashed an understanding smile and they both put their focus back onto their science handout that was due at the end of the period… in 7 minutes!? Ugh! These nightmares are really hindering his ability to focus. Not too long after Todd finished, he helped Sal finish just in time for their next class. They parted their ways, and Sal headed straight for — what was Ms. Pakerton’s class. It’s still crazy that the cult killed her in a ‘car accident’.
The bell rang, signifying classes started, but the sub still wasn’t there. He continued into the classroom and his eyes lit up when he spotted Travis heading to his seat. “Hey Travis,” he cooed as he sat on the still warm seat next to Travis. He always hated when the seat was still warm from the previous class.
Travis turned his head to look at Sal, and almost immediately, his scowl was wiped away, “hey Sally face, how’s your mornin’ been?” His fingers were discretely fidgeting with his pencil under the desk… was he nervous?
“Um, my morning was okay. How was yours?” He asked with a hopeful smile that Travis’ morning was better. That hopeful smile disappeared when Travis just raised both his eyebrows, pursed his lips, and tilted his head. Sal just nodded his head in response, “sorry man.”
Travis shrugged his shoulders, “it’s okay, at least our sub isn’t too harsh.” As if on queue, the long term sub, a geography teacher who’s been working at the school since before Sal was born, walked in, and set his bag on the front desk. Travis and Sal both looked to the front of the room to pay attention to today’s lesson.
“Okay class, I know it’s not the best time, but you still have to do your unit test tomorrow. This period will be used as a study period,” the sub walked over to the chalk board and started writing, “everything you need to know will be written up front. If you have questions, feel free to ask. Please keep the talking to a minimum. You may work.”
The sound of kids flipping through their papers filled the room, telling Sal to get out his own binder. He started looking through familiar material they’d been learning all month. It was all easy stuff to him, but he’d understand if someone had troubles with it. A grumble coming from where Travis is made him look over, and he’s glad he did. Travis looked confused and overwhelmed.
Most of his papers were a little crinkled and he was getting more and more frustrated by the second. “Do you want some help?” Sal offered, hoping he’d take him up on it.
Travis’ head snapped to Sal, “why would-!” he said harshly before taking a deep breath, “sorry… I’d like a little help.” He corrected himself, Sal was proud of him, he didn’t have an outburst. “Thank you Sal.”
A big smile appeared on his face when he said his name instead of ‘Sally face’. He scooted his chair a little closer and started to explain the material in an easier to understand way. They spent the entire period studying together but they had only covered a little more than half of what they needed to know.
The bell rang for lunch and before Sal could try and invite him out to lunch, Travis spoke up, “would you wanna… um… eat lunch with me and continue studying?” He had a nervous smile plastered across his face and a bead of sweat trickling down his face.
Sal was happy to see him reaching out instead of it being the other way around. “I’d love that Trav. C’mon I gotta get my lunch money from my locker,” Sal gestured to the hall with his head. He led the way to his locker and followed Travis to his.
They silently walked to the cafeteria with enough space between them for another person. Sal didn’t mind though, if that was what he was comfortable with then it was okay. They arrived in the cafeteria and they were serving sloppy joes — Chug must be very happy. “Do you like sloppy joes? They’re not… terrible” Sal said the last comment more like a question than a statement.
Travis shrugged and made a so-so face, “they’re definitely not my favourite, but they’re okay.” Kim handed them both their lunch trays, and they found an open table, “I prefer sandwiches.” They both set their books down in between the two of them and Sal started explaining the material between bites of the room temperature sloppy Joe.
Travis seemed to be understanding it a lot better. When Sal quizzed him on a couple topics he was struggling with, he got the majority of the questions right! “Do you think you’re ready for tomorrow?” Sal asked.
“Yeah I do!” Travis nodded his head, “Thank you Sally,” he said with a sincere smile.
“Of course Travis,” Sal said with a small chuckle. He could feel Travis’ eyes glued to him, which made him look over at the boy. Heat rose to his face as it gained a dark red hue. He quickly looked away the second their eyes met. It made Sal raise a brow, but he decided not to push it. Seeing Travis blush so hard made him blush a little too. They both just looked at the brown table and continued to eat their mediocre lunch.
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