No One Really Understands

Betrayal.

On our way to school, we almost got hit by a car. Dirk, like an idiot, decided to back directly into oncoming traffic. He cringed when he was met with a wave of discordant, angry honking.

Dirk cursed softly under his breath. "Sometimes I forget how large cars are."

"Yeah... why are we using the car?"

"The, um, Yamaha's in the shop."

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"Scratched it on the side of a building. It happens. I'm allowed to make mistakes."

I rolled my eyes, amused. "Sure," I said under my breath.

At school, I had been hoping to talk to Karkat, maybe talk about Tuesday, but when I got to Homeroom, he was nowhere to be found. I waited for around 20 minutes, but he never came. John noticed me watching the door for him, and he was less than pleased.

"Who, uh, are you waiting for?" he asked softly.

"Oh. Um... no one." I looked around again, craning my head around to see if maybe he was sitting somewhere near the front, but I just couldn't see him. He was a pretty small kid.

"Really?"

"Um... yeah."

John was silent for a moment. "...Okay." A couple of minutes later, he asked to go to the bathroom. As he passed, he glared at me suspiciously, and he didn't come back until the period was nearly over. When he sat down, he seemed upset.

"You didn't tell me that... Karkat... came over to your house yesterday," he said slowly. He sounded like he was struggling to keep his voice steady. I knew what was coming.

"John..." I sighed.

"No, no, i-it's fine, it's just... why was he over there? Why didn't..." he looked away and laughed shortly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd get upset, like you are now."

"No, it's-- I'm not-- look, I don't care about that right now. It's not important. It's just... why did you lie to me? You told me you had something to do."

"Technically, this was something I needed to do. I needed to study."

"Yeah, but I mean, with Karkat? Of all people? Is he really more important than spending time with your boyfriend?"

"What?" I looked at him in confusion. "No. Of course not. No. Look, I invited him over to study because we're friends. Ok? He's one of my friends. I like to hang out with my friends. Am I not allowed to do that anymore since we're dating?"

John sat back and rolled his eyes. "Don't make this about me, Dave." He looked away, as if he was mulling something over. He cut his eyes towards me. "Is that... all you did? Study?"

"Yes. I promise."

John held my gaze for a few moments before he looked down and sighed softly. "...Okay," he mumbled. But something in his voice made me think that he didn't believe me. The bell rang just as I opened my mouth to say something, and by the time I'd gotten all my stuff together, John was already gone. Throughout the rest of the day, he seemed subdued and reserved. Every time I saw him in the halls, his face would harden and he'd look away quickly. I put up with it until lunch, when I confronted him.

"Is something wrong?" I said suddenly. We were outside and John was picking at his food, disinterested, and he wouldn't look at me directly. "You haven't talked to me all day. Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm... fine," John said tightly. "It's just..." He set down his fork and looked at me, his face hard. "I don't want you hanging out with Karkat anymore."