•͟U͟N͟D͟E͟R͟S͟T͟A͟N͟D͟ ͟c͟a͟r͟t͟i͟u͟z͟i͟•͟

XXI

He pulled my hands off of his head, and said, "Nah Jordan, but real talk." I looked towards him, waiting for him to say something, and gathering not only Montero's attention, but everyone else we were sitting with's attention.

"On god, I don't know what would've happened earlier today if you and Sheyaa, and Robin hadn't stood up for and defended me in hallway, and I really appreciate bro." Symere told me. I was flustered.

"Awwwww of course I'd stand up for you Symere," I said, wrapping my arms around him, "you're my, uh, friend, so I had to." Symere smiled at my response, and Montero scooted closer to him on the bench.

Halftime came and went, and little to no progress was made. Goddamn Montero wouldn't let Symere leave his sight, and it's not like Symere was protesting it or anything. In the end, Lithia Springs was victorious, 35-14, continuing our undefeated season. All the students began to disperse, most of them headed towards the exact same party in Marietta. I kept considering how big this thing would be if all these people were going. "Goddamn Project X-type beat or something on god." I thought to myself.

Our small group left the stands together, and I waved goodbye to Nayvadius, Montero, and Summer, and then gave Symere a tight hug before he joined them in Nayvadius' Jeep Grand Cherokee.

"So you're going tonight?" Symere asked me.

"Of course I am," I exclaimed, "not like I would be doin' anything else interesting."

"Welllllll you could play Minecraft?" Symere suggested.

"Alone?"

"Nahhhh, go play Bed Wars with some random strangers from British Columbia or something."

"I'm getting the sense that you don't want me to go tonight or something." I joked.

"Mhm, not at all; I'm tired of you, get out of here." Symere responded sarcastically.

I laughed and gave him another tight hug, "I'll see you there."

Symere ran off to everyone else who was waiting for him. I called Caleb just after he left, and it went something like this:

"Hey"

"What's good"

"I'm ready to go, what about you?"

"Yeah, Travis and I are on our way out to the Cadillac right now. How'd things go with Sy tonight?"

"Long story short, I think we're friends, but he wants to be with Montero, which as I stated earlier, is his choice, and I'm completely willing to accept that."

"Damn, cuh, I'm really sorry to hear that, but I'm really glad you're taking it maturely."

"Yuh, I guess you could say I'm doin' that."

"Anything Travis or I could do to help you out?"

"Nah, y'all some good enough homies. Besides, we goin' to a party wit weed and alcohol tonight anyways; that's prolly all I need right now."

"Ight bro, jus meet us at the car."

"Bet."

I started the walk back, beginning to consider what my options for love could be now. During these thoughts, I was joined by both Nicki and Billie, who wanted someone to walk with on the way back to Billie's Honda due to discomfort of walking alone at night.

I gladly accepted, because I just felt like doing good for others at the time would take my mind off of some not-so-good things in my head currently. I won't lie, neither Billie nor Nicki was terrible looking, and I wasn't opposed to dating either of them. Like, don't get me wrong, neither of them were a Symere to me, but they were both really nice people, and seemed to kind of like me to an extent.

We talked about school, the fight earlier today, and small things about my life back in North Carolina. No words or thoughts were exchanged about Symere.

After about 5-10 minutes of walking, we reached Billie's Civic, and both Nicki and Billie hugged and thanked me, screaming goodbyes at me as they sped away, blasting some Clairo song I'd never heard before. After my encounter with them, I had at least some hope that I may be able to find someone, but I was still REALLY upset about Symere.

"Goddamnit," I thought to myself, still walking to the Cadillac, "if only I had taken my chance that one night, instead of being an absolute asshole and taking advantage of him. I had SUCH a great opportunity to tell him, but instead I was being a closeted little pussy. What a motherfucking pisser I am."

I finally made it to the Cadillac not too long after dropping Billie and Nicki off, where Travis and Caleb were waiting outside.

"Hey man," Travis told me, giving me a big hug, "I can't talk too much on dudes, but I know for a fact that there's SOOOOOOOOO much more fish in the sea than Symere." I nodded my head, letting him go.

"Besides, you still think y'all will be friends, right?" he asked, to which I nodded my head again.

"See, bro, it's not entirely damaged." Travis reasoned. Travis managed to be a "glass-half-full" type of person even in the lowest of lows, which was always something I, a natural-born pessimist, found inspirational for some reason.

"Aye, as you said to me on the phone earlier, cuh," Caleb told me, "there finna be hella weed and alcohol there tonight; we boutta party like the rich, I promise." I somewhat perked up at that statement, and hugged him, wiping the small amount of tears I shed away.

"C'mon, y'all," Caleb announced, "let's go get some shit tonight."

We all hopped into the front bench seat that sat three people at a time. We peeled out of the Lithia Springs parking lot, and watched as not only ASAP pulled away, but also Nayvadius' Grand Cherokee, with all of the passengers seeming to party it up inside.

"Damn," I once again thought, "I REALLYYYYY wish that was me."