Sophomore Year (Smopkins #2)

The Aftermath of Gary's Mom's Temper Tantrum

 Jimmy was sick of the silence. The police came and got Gary's mother to leave. They were away from the scene now, but things still felt unresolved. Why did Gary shove his mom into the car, and why did she not care? Did she hit him? If she did, Gary never mentioned it. Just the other thing that Jimmy didn't like thinking about.

"Gary."

Gary stopped walking, turning to look at him. "What?"

"Uh, you okay?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Gary muttered. Jimmy didn't blame him for being in a bad mood- if his mother threw a fit like that in the parking lot, he wouldn't be very happy either.

Jimmy nodded. Neither of them were in a rush, and Jimmy was considering asking if he wanted to sneak off somewhere. He wasn't sure that was a good idea though. As he considered what to do next, he looked Gary up and down. He didn't gain any weight, but he did grow taller... by a lot. Jimmy groaned in frustration, knowing he would never catch up to Gary. Being short didn't bother him too much, but... if he could change his height, he would.

"You know..." Jimmy said, eyeing Gary once again. "You won't have to deal with them again until summer. It's not all bad."

Gary stopped and rolled his eyes, turning around to look at Jimmy. "I have to deal with them every Saturday. What about that, then? They want me out of Bullworth on the weekends."

He could vaguely remember Gary being absent on the weekends last year. "Just tell them you're in town on Saturdays then... or something. I don't know. Say you're with me and my mom."

"Jimmy, it doesn't work that way. They'll want a phone number, and then they'll want to talk to her, and then they'll want to come along. It sucks."

Chewing the inside of his cheek, he climbed the stairs to the dorm. At least he tried, right? He tried to find a way out for Gary. "Um... well, it's nice to see you again. I missed you." The words felt foreign when they came out of his mouth, and even stranger when it hung in the air around them. It was true, but...

"You missed me?"

"Yeah. Of course I did."

"Oh." Gary opened the door and stepped into the entrance without another word. Jimmy cringed, remembering how he offered to help Gary unpack. He would have to live through the awkwardness until they were finished.

All of the other boys in the dorm had finished their own unpacking, and they were lounging around the main room, watching TV and chatting happily. Gary and Jimmy slipped by without any notice.

Once they got inside his dorm, Gary spoke again. "Sorry. I was just thinking." Gary set his bag down on the bed and opened it, pulling a few shirts out. Uniforms. He didn't say anything else, and Jimmy wondered what he was thinking about. The fact that Jimmy missed him?

Did Gary miss him too?

As Gary moved away from the bag and opened his closet, Jimmy shuffled around and pulled out shampoo bottles and a pack of unopened toothbrushes. He grabbed more things and headed to the bathroom to put them away, focusing on Gary from the corner of his eye.

-

"Thanks, Jimmy," Gary muttered as he sat down on the bed and threw his now empty bag onto the floor. Jimmy knew he didn't mean it in a rude or sarcastic way. He knew that Gary was still upset, and needed to take it out on someone. Him.

He sat down next to Gary on his bed- not too close- and frowned. The entire dorm was eerily silent now that everyone left for dinner a few minutes ago. "Hey," Jimmy said gently. "I hope you feel better soon. Are you hungry?" He tries to think of a way to coax Gary into eating, but nothing comes to mind.

Gary turns to look at him. "I'm not a toddler."

"Gary, I didn't.. I didn't say that."

"Just shut up."

Even though Jimmy expected a remark like that, it still hurt. Gary was dangerously skinny, and he did need to eat. "Come on, please? Just come to dinner with me. We don't even have to talk to each other."

Shaking his head, Gary stands up. "It's not a date, Jimmy!" he says through gritted teeth. "You're not my therapist, you're not my caretaker, you're not..." he paused, clenching his fists tighter. "...get out."

Jimmy stood up and stepped towards the door, knowing he can't do anything to fix it. The longer he stays, the worse it'll get between them. "Fine. See you tomorrow," he mumbles, looking at Gary one last time before pulling the door shut.

He stood in the hallway, staring at the white plaster on the door in front of him. Gary would apologize to him later- or maybe not. Apologizing wasn't a "Gary" thing, but he would start acting like they were friends again soon, like nothing happened between them. That was his version of an apology.

Turning around, he opened the door to his own dorm and sat down on the bed. He wasn't angry at Gary, just frustrated. Jimmy was trying to help, and if Gary wasn't in such a shitty mood because of his stupid whore mom, everything would be going fine by now. Jimmy laid down on top of his blankets and pillows, not bothering to kick his shoes off or put pajamas on. He sunk into the bed, knowing that it wasn't Gary's fault, either. He didn't control what his mom did, and he probably had a hard time controlling his emotions. Gary was mentally ill. Jimmy just had to keep reminding himself of that.

There were a million questions he could ask. Was Gary taking his pills? What happened between him and his mom to make a prefect intervene? Had Gary missed him over the summer? When did Gary's eating problems start?

Jimmy pushed all of them out of his mind. He didn't want to worry about Gary any more than he had to. He just wanted to sleep.