Anathema

three - i want to say hello

The ball bounced off the rim of the hoop, and Tyler sighed in frustration. He couldn't stop thinking about what Nico had said earlier, and the distraction messed with his abilities. He caught the ball as it bounced back toward him and then threw it at the house with a frustrated growl. It bounced off the sidewalk only a foot from where Clancy was sitting picking the grass, and the other boy shrieked and scrambled up to his feet.

"Sorry," Tyler said absentmindedly, retrieving it without looking at him.

"Do you really want me gone?" he asked softly, sensing his thoughts.

"No," Tyler said, dribbling the basketball for a moment to try and clear his head. The steady rhythm calmed his nerves enough to shoot again. This time, it rolled around the edge before dropping in.

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure."

Clancy shifted his weight again and then sat down cross-legged in the grass. "It's just that...sometimes it feels like you don't like me very much."

Sometimes, he didn't, but that's what it was like to have friends, right? "I still like you, even if you sometimes do things I don't like," he said carefully. "You don't need to worry about it." But he knew it was pointless to try to keep Clancy from worrying. He worried about everything, even if there was nothing to worry about.

The other boy didn't answer, and Tyler just shrugged and hoped to get a few good baskets in before he distracted him again. He got seven in almost perfectly before Nico came out and stood beside Clancy, watching him with his arms crossed. Tyler felt a squeeze of pressure in his chest just knowing he was there. He never felt good enough when Nico was watching.

Surprisingly, he didn't say anything, even when Tyler missed a shot. That gave him a little burst of encouragement, but that quickly faded as he glanced over and saw someone he didn't recognize, watching him.

Instantly, both he and the stranger froze, and the other two boys turned to look as well. As expected, Clancy panicked.

"Shut up," Nico grumbled, kicking him before he could get any words out. "You'll make him feel stupid. Remember what I said, Tyler. Be what he wants you to be."

Tyler opened his mouth to say something, but the words refused to come out. The stranger looked about his age, and he wore a grey jacket and a black beanie, and Tyler thought he could see a bit of pink hair sticking out from under the hat like dandelion fluff. He looked just as surprised as he was.

"Hey," Tyler said awkwardly.

"H-hey," the kid responded, ducking his head slightly. "Um...you're - you're really good."

"Thanks."

The stranger shifted his weight, and Tyler glanced at Nico for reassurance.

"You have to say something," Clancy said, chewing on his thumbnail.

"Let him think for a second," Nico muttered.

"This is so uncomfortable." Clancy hid his face in his hands and tried to make himself look smaller.

Tyler noticed his hands were shaking, even as he held the basketball. The stranger's hands were stuffed in his jacket pockets, but he was sure they were shaking, too.

"Ask him a question or something," Clancy suggested, his voice muffled by his hands. "I can't take this anymore."

"Do you..." Tyler said, pausing to swallow nervously. "Do you want to try?"

The stranger looked surprised and confused for a second. "Oh, uh...sure."

"Not that question! Now he's coming over and you'll have to keep talking!" Clancy climbed to his feet, his arms wrapped around his waist protectively. "I have to pace or something. I can't watch this."

"Shut up and hold still," Nico ordered, keeping his eyes locked on the exchange. "This is perfect. Just what we were talking about."

"This is anything but perfect!" Clancy shrieked.

Tyler tried his best to ignore them as he handed the stranger the basketball. The other took it hesitantly, and held it for a moment as if he didn't know what to do with it.

"What's your name?" Tyler asked.

The stranger glanced at him and dropped his eyes again. "Josh," he mumbled.

"I'm Tyler."

"I know."

What was that supposed to mean?

Josh cringed slightly. "Sorry, that was probably the wrong thing to say. Hey, Tyler. Nice to meet you."

"Hey," he said slowly. He glanced at Nico again and then at the hoop. "Are you going to take the shot?"

"What? Oh, yeah." Josh adjusted his grip on the basketball and shifted a little, as if he wasn't sure what he was doing. "I'm not very good, though."

"That's alright."

He hesitated again, and then threw the basketball with no technique at all. It fell short, both in height and distance, and he ducked his head and mumbled something about how he wasn't very good at sports.

Tyler retrieved the ball and bounced it a couple times. "That's okay. Nobody's good the first couple times they play."

"I should probably go," Josh said, turning and starting back to the street.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

Tyler thought he saw him wince as he said it. "Okay. You can come back sometime. If you want. I could teach you how to shoot hoops. Only if you want."

Josh turned back and flashed a small smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "Yeah, okay."

And then he rounded the corner and disappeared from view.

"Well, you messed that up," Nico said casually.

"No, I didn't," Tyler protested.

"You totally messed it up!" Clancy shrieked. "You asked him to come back! You don't even know him!"

"Oh, you're on his side now?"

"That was so embarrassing," he moaned, sinking to the ground again.

"I was just doing what Nico told me to," Tyler said, trying to defend himself. He had a feeling they were both right. Now that he thought about it, he had sounded a little desperate. "He said he'd come back."

"He said, yeah, okay," Nico said, crossing his arms again. "He probably pitied you. He said it to make you feel better."

"He looked completely embarrassed," Clancy said.

Tyler felt his face flush red, and dropped his eyes to the ground. He knew they were right. He'd tried to make a friend, he'd tried to be a normal person, and he'd only managed to embarrass both of them. He had no doubt that Josh would laugh about it when he got home, and probably tell his siblings or his parents about the desperate freak he'd met that day. Suddenly, he wished he could rewind like a tape and start the day over, and decide to stay inside and never come out.

"Well, I mean at least I know what not to do," he grumbled, tossing the basketball carelessly at the hoop. It went in the basket, but he hardly noticed.

"But do you really?" Nico said, giving him a disapproving look, as if Tyler had done something he'd specifically told him not to do.

Instead of answering, Tyler let out a frustrated growl and stormed back into the house, leaving his only two friends outside, staring after him.

"I told you he was hopeless," he thought he heard Nico say.