Andrew’s concerned expression falls into a wince at her harsh words, and then shuts down completely a second later as he looks away from his friend. Honestly, he’s not all that surprised Taylor brushed him off; after all, they both have a bad habit of doing that. Shutting people out, avoiding the tough stuff. He just hadn’t expected her dismissal to be so cutting.
Other people say shit like that all the time — and although it still stings, Andrew’s starting to get used to it by now. The mocking and the whispers, both based in rumors of what he told the police that night, don’t mean as much coming from a stranger; hearing it from Taylor, however, is something else entirely because she was there. She knows what followed them through Little Hope that night, knows how terrifying and confusing it all was, and still is. Even more than that, she’s his friend, so he actually cares about what she thinks of him.
Despite his hurt feelings, however, Andrew doesn’t move to get up from the bench they’re sitting on. If anything, her biting comment just proves him right to be concerned; obviously, Taylor’s upset about something. Whether it be the case of a general bad day or something more specific, he can’t be sure— but he isn’t going to leave her alone to deal with it.
So they sit in awkward silence for a moment or two while Andrew tries to come up with a way to move past it.
She beats him to the punch, thankfully, or they might’ve been waiting around forever; Andrew’s never been very good at social stuff, having spent most of his life home-schooled and sheltered. Detached. He’s getting a little better at it now that he actually has friends, though, and at the very least, he’s making an effort.
“I mean, I could definitely go for some caffeine right now. Pretty sure I just flunked that exam,” he mutters. He shakes his head forlornly, and tries his best to shrug off the hurt that still lingers— but he finds himself cautiously tacking on a disclaimer anyway, even though it sort of ruins the whole normalcy vibe he’s going for. He just hopes it doesn’t scare her off. “It’s fine if you don’t want to, y’know… hang out, though. It was just a suggestion.”
the silence is nearly killing her. fuck, now she really should go, shouldn’t she ? bury her head in her blanket until she can FORGET the day even happened, let andrew forget about her, too. teeth prick the inside of her lip, hopefully concealing the anxious lump that festers in her throat. her tongue has always been too quick for her own good, ( god knows everyone’s told her, ) but times like this, she thinks she can feel it rotting inside of her. right about now, she wishes it would.
it doesn’t help much to hear him brush it off, but she supposes it’s better than what she might not want to hear. ❝ yeah, tell me about it. ❞ her answer is much more solemn. now that she thinks about it, she barely even remembers the last hour. at this point, her grade must be LEFT UP TO FATE, or at least a generous curve.
taylor tries to catch a glimpse of her friend out of her peripheral. hopefully she hasn’t totally screwed things up for them, but the offer to take a rain check sounds an alarm in her ribs, and she answers maybe a little too quickly.
❝ no, i do. it’s just — ❞ but she doesn’t know what to say. something about the look on his face tells her she’ll never convince him that nothing is wrong — BECAUSE HE KNOWS. probably better than anyone else, and all she can do is look at him and hope he catches on. taylor shakes her head somewhat defeatedly, looking back to her phone’s blank screen. ❝ sorry. i’ve just been . . . shit. ❞ some way with words, something mocks.
it’s just as shitty an apology as an explanation and it takes an effort not to let her face fall straight into her hands. as long as she’s not alone, she supposes. not yet, anyway.