The Basketball Atrocities

Fifty Three - Trouble In Paradise

Tyler and Marissa never really talked that often, but they still smiled at each other in the halls and exchanged a word or two about classes. Tyler looked over at Marissa who had her headphones plugged into an MP3 player, jamming out to some songs while she looked at the exhibits. She was a quite girl, but she definitely carried herself confidently. She seemed so out of place, yet blended in perfectly.

Meanwhile, Jenna, Debby, and Stephanie all looked like the epitome of cheerleaders and basic high school girls.

"Well," Tyler said, thinking allowed and looking at Jenna. "we have a lot of time on this trip. Maybe we can find some alone time."

"Yeah, we definitely can." she nodded with a smile.

Tyler shrugged. "Tonight? Maybe that restaurant you've been talking about?" he suggested hopefully.

"That's a great idea, babe." Jenna answered.

Tyler looked behind Stephanie and Debby and found Hayden looking at him with a cold, tense glare that sent shivers down Tyler's spine. He didn't know why the boy always looked so tense around him nor why he had become so cold towards Tyler in the past few months. It was all pretty odd and Tyler decided not to pay any attention to it. Lots of guys had held a grudge against him because he was dating Jenna.

They'll just have to move on, I guess.

WED 2/11/2004 6:17pm

"Ryan, I swear to fucking god, if you do not stop elbowing me on 'accident', I am going to destroy you when we get back to the hotel." Brendon said threateningly, slapping Ryan's arm.

"That a threat or a promise, big boy?" the boy simply joked, laughing.

Brendon clutched his chin and pulled him into a kiss. "Definitely a promise."

"Then, I would hate to see you break a promise." Ryan challenged.

Jenna raised her eyebrows at Tyler. "Guys, get a room if you're gonna be doing that shit." he scolded, holding Jenna's hand.

"He started it." Ryan said.

Tyler and Jenna were currently on a double date with Brendon and Ryan. She insisted on it weirdly enough, but he was fine with it because it meant spending time with his two childhood best friends and his girlfriend at the same time. It was a relatively calm evening in Hiroshima with a beautiful sunset over the mountains in the background. He couldn't have asked for a better scene to spend with his girlfriend and bet friends. Tyler continued to eat his food.

Suddenly, Brendon slammed the table twice with both hands. Tyler, Jenna, and Ryan all looked at him and he looked panicked for a second before laughing hysterically. Other people were looking around at him with confusion and mild annoyance at his disturbances. "Just messing around with you. Shoulda seen your face just now." he laughed.

Tyler could still catch a glimpse of nervousness in the boy's face. "Whatever you say, Beebo." Tyler chuckled.

"Why do you guys call him Beebo?" Jenna asked with a hint of judgment in her voice.

"Old nickname. Long backstory." Ryan simply said with a subtle eye roll. "You wouldn't understand."

Jenna shrugged. "You might be right."

Suddenly, Tyler watched Ryan's brows furrow and then grab Brendon's phone. He looked at it angrily. "Why do you have that guy's number?" he demanded.

"What do you mean?" Brendon asked, raising his eyebrows. "He's just a friend."

Brendon watched as his boyfriend scrolled through his phone. Jenna and Tyler looked at each other with concerned looks and they ate in awkward silence as Ryan and Brendon fought yet again. They couldn't even go an entire week without arguing over something else. Ryan continued aggressively scrolling and looking through Brendon's phone while the other boy just sat back in his chair with frustration. This was not going to be a peaceful night at all for the guys nor Tyler's date with Jenna.

"What should we do?" Jenna whispered. "I don't wanna like, get into their business."

Tyler sighed. "Just... try to ignore it. It'll blow over." he whispered back.

"This doesn't seem like it'll just blow over." his girlfriend pointed out.

She's right. "I'm sure it will." he said.

"If you say so."

Suddenly, they were all interrupted out of their thoughts by a loud, high-pitched voice from across the restaurant, earning more annoyed looks from the rest of the restaurant. "Ryan! Ryan, Ryan, hey! Ryan!" Nevaeh squealed, bounding up to the table.

"Hey, Nevaeh." Ryan said. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good. I was actually thinking about you when I saw this place." she giggled flirtatiously.

Ryan looked at Brendon and raised his eyebrows. "Really?" he asked curiously.

"How could I not? It's just so nice in here. Just like you." she said, playing with Ryan's hair.

Brendon's phone suddenly rang. He snatched it out of Ryan's hands and answered it. "Hey, Jacob. What's up?" he asked. "Oh, yeah, I'll be there shortly." "You bet. See ya later."

Brendon shoved his phone in his pocket, left his share of the bill on the table, and stormed out of the restaurant. Nevaeh promptly sat down in Brendon's spot, which not only pissed Tyler off, but it also suddenly gave a whole new light to why Ryan and Brendon had been fighting so much lately. Ryan had been getting way too close to Nevaeh because she was actively trying to replace Brendon, who got jealous due to previous experiences and decided to start talking to Jacob as a form of revenge on Ryan for betraying his trust and returning Nevaeh's advances.

This is gonna get bad. Tyler finally realized. Seriously, they couldn't have waited until after the trip?

WED 2/11/2004 9:32pm

Tyler and Jenna sat at the edge of the pool. "Sorry about that whole thing tonight." he apologized shyly.

Jenna laughed. "Trust me, I've seen worse fights, babe. I just hope they'll be fine."

"Me, too. I've known them both since Kindergarten. I hate seeing them like that." Tyler sighed with a depressed hint in his voice.

They sat with their feet in the water for a while. They were back at the hotel, which had a pool. Tyler looked over to where he could hear laughing, seeing Josh and Brendon hanging out and laughing. Josh was shirtless in only his swimming trunks. His gorgeous body gleamed in the tranquil lights of the hotel and the moonlight shining over Hiroshima. Tyler also caught a glimpse of something else in Josh's swimming trunks that he didn't dare put into words nor images. But there was something else that caught his attention more.

It was the way Brendon and Josh were laughing and having a great time with each other. He felt a sense of longing slowly washing over him. He looked down at the blue waters of the pool. There was also the sour taste of jealousy in his mouth, though that was probably from swimming in the pool nearly an hour ago and accidentally intaking some of the water, which had chlorine in it. Sipping on straight chlorine wasn't exactly appetizing.

He didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the fact that he wanted someone he could laugh and joke around like that with. Maybe it was the fact the Josh was with Tyler's best friend. Maybe it was the fact that all of them were happy with their lives. It could even be the fact that he'd rather be hanging around them, telling stupid jokes and embarrassing stories than have to soak in the fact that his date with Jenna was a complete disaster, be it the last one they have for a pretty long while.

Or maybe I just wanna be the one with Josh. Tyler's mind admitted briefly. No, no, no, NO, I did NOT just think that.

There was no way he could be happy with Josh. Tyler was never happy around Josh. He loved Jenna with his whole life, he enjoyed being with her.