[TAC] THREE'S A CROWD

Chapter 06

"You don't know him," Tay replies, trying and failing at not sounding offended. He bites his tongue as steady eyes move back to his screen, preparing to text New back.

Tay: the earth rotates on its axis, Hin

His phone gets tossed in his bag before he swings it over his shoulder and begins filing into the gym with the rest of his teammates.

"Ever since he's been getting Off to tutor him, this has been happening," Tay explains to Singto as they walk alongside one another. "Like, they do it together, or something. I dunno."

Singto punches Tay lightly on the arm. "Guess New's not such a square after all."

Tay shoots him a look as the fresh feeling of air conditioning hits him when he enters the gym.

"You guys talking about how New's turning into a pothead?" Arm asks playfully.

"He's not a pothead," Tay hisses as he puts his bag down. "He knows his limits."

"Look at you," Singto teases, poking Tay in the side. "Talking like you're his mom. So protective."

Tay ignores Singto and Arm's giggles as he begins stretching his limbs out. He knows that there's no way New's mom could know about his adventures of getting high with Off, because she'd almost flipped her shit the first time Tay had slept over in the same bed as New. She's a very nice woman, honestly, but she's just very cautious and sometimes smothers New with how closely she keeps her eye on him.

So, since New's mom is very alert of everything that goes on in her house and checks on New frequently, there's no way New could be smoking weed under her roof. Which could only mean he's at Off's house, which is okay. Tay had told him it was okay, not that it's even Tay's place to tell New what's okay and what's not. New had asked him if it was okay, alright?

One of his teammates tosses him a basketball as they start lining up to practice their free throws, and he tries to let all those worrisome thoughts fade away.

He hopes Off isn't stoned as well, and that he's supervising New as a responsible, sober human being. Two high people don't make a right, Tay thinks. He doesn't really know how being high works.

When he shoots the ball, his shot has a little too much power behind it, and it hits the backboard with a loud thump before falling to the ground, each bounce echoing throughout the gymnasium. The entire team groans.

"Sorry," Tay mumbles as he looks down at his feet.

After practice he goes straight over to New's, just like he'd promised him earlier. He's not even sure if the boy's home, but New knows Tay's coming over, so it would make sense for him to be home.

His muscles are still fatigued from practice as he drags his sore body up the front steps of New's home. He doesn't see his mom's car in the driveway, so he figures she must be at work. That means New wouldn't have a reason to go to Off's and smoke weed, right?

He's proven wrong when he rings the doorbell and Alice's the one who opens the door.

Her eyes brighten once she looks up at him. "New's still out tutoring, but you can come in if you want."

"Tutoring," Tay mutters as he moves past Alice to enter. "So, what ya up to?"

"Just doing some homework. Bored as shit," she replies.

"Language," Tay says as he throws himself on the couch.

Alice ignores him as she comes over and sits on one of the arm chairs near Tay. He ignores her steady eyes on him as he sets his jaw and tries to keep his composure, scratching at his chin.