[TAC] THREE'S A CROWD

Chapter 15

He's spent many of his lunch periods in the library since he's gotten back, because exams are around the corner, and who needs to actually eat during lunch anyway? He doesn't want to see Tay any more than he has to, so he's choosing to do something productive with his time that doesn't involve sitting in the same vicinity as the boy and being mocked by the sound of him and all his obnoxious friends as they try to make a spectacle of themselves at the lunch table.

Of course, New inevitably has to come head to head with the breakup, and this happens on the first day he doesn't skip the class he has with Tay, and actually walks into the room. Thankfully, he's not late to the class, so he hasn't attracted the attention of all the eyes; probably just about ten of them. Students are still filing into the class and having animated conversations with each other, so New tries not to make his entrance too dramatic.

There Tay is, staring blankly at his notebook as he flips the pages of it, which are also blank, and for the first time, he looks different. New doesn't know why them simply not being together causes him to look different, but it does. He almost seems...unapproachable, which is ridiculous because New knows that boy all too well for the adorable dork he is.

He reminds himself not to get sappy about his ex boyfriend as he drags his feet toward the back of the room.

Now's the time to make a decision. Either he's going to be publicly bitter and sit somewhere else, or he's going to man up and sit next to Tay, which will result in a horribly awkward situation. He chooses the latter.

Tay doesn't even glance at him once as New slips into his seat, and once New has set his backpack down and gotten out his notes for the class, he immediately brings his fingers to his mouth and starts chewing on his pinky nail. It's a thing he does when he's nervous that he's not too proud of, and at the moment, he's not even aware he's doing it.

They receive a few curious or amused looks from classmates as everyone finally gets settled in their seats, but New ignores it as best he can.

New's extremely lucky that this isn't one of those days where Mr. Niti tells them to work with people around them; all he does is lecture for the entire period, which would usually make New annoyed and sleepy.

Still, the fact that Tay doesn't spare him attention even once hurts a little. New even risked a few millisecond side glances his way from time to time, because who wouldn't? That's his fucking Te that he's loved since freshman year.

It's obvious it's not the same for Tay, because he seems like he couldn't be more unbothered. It's just like old times, when New used to watch him from afar, and Tay didn't even know he existed. New would love to go back to those parts of their lives, so he wouldn't have to feel this much pain from everything that's happened since then, and all he could feel was a tiny crush for a cute jock.

When there are two more minutes left in class and Mr. Niti has stopped talking, New busies himself by putting his things back into his backpack and maybe hoping that Tay would at least say one thing to him instead of looking so unaffected. It fucking sucks, the fact that Tay appears so indifferent right now. As the irritability builds up inside of New, he soon finds himself biting down on his bottom lip increasingly hard, trying his best to hold back tears. He won't cry right in the middle of class. He won't.

He rubs at his suddenly itchy eye as one boy skips over to ask Tay about something that has to do with stats for famous basketball players, or whatever the fuck. His eyes start to sting at the mere sound of Tay's voice, the silky, deep flow of words from between his pink, soft lips that he used to kiss New with.

As soon as the bell rings, New is out of his seat just a little too fast, and makes for the door. Instead of going to his next class, he finds the bathroom, because he knows there's no way he can go and sit in front of people for another second without bursting into tears. He swings the restroom door open and immediately stalks toward the row of mirrors.