Winners and Losers

thirty one

"hmm."

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"Tanner. What are you doing right now?"

"Tanner, I can't hear you. Are you there?"

"Tanner. I swear, if you lay one finger on her, I'll snap you in half."

"Tanner? TANNER. YOU BETTER ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW. OR ELSE!"

"wow. somebody's pretty angry and nervous right now. i thought you told me that it was fine, that i could do whatever i wanted with her, that you don't care."

"......."

"haha, are you scared i might actually do something to her?"

"Tanner, I swear-"

"huh? you swear you'll do what to me? sorry to break it to you, but right now, you really can't do anything for her. cause, you know since you two aren't even friends with each other anymore."

"Tanner, quit it right now. Wake her up, right now."

"hmm? what was that? sorry, i can't hear you over her soft snores. oh man, you're missing out right now, she's realllyyyy cute."

"Tanner. I'm telling you one last time. Quit it."

"oh, oops. i might have accidentally just touched her cheek. man, her cheek is soo soft. maybe, i should kiss it."

"TANNER."

"carson, you know, why are you so angry? this doesn't involve you anymore. right?"

"No-"

"no? does that mean that you still care about her, then?"

"No. Yes? Maybe? I DON'T KNOW!"

"hm. sorry carson, but i don't think i can allow you to care about her anymore."

"What?"

"you see, you hurt her pretty badly dude."

"What do you mean I hurt her? She's been the one whose been hurting me!"

"pfffft! she hurt you? bullcrap! she hasn't done anything that hurt you. you've been the one whose been hurting her. you're the one responsible for her breakdown that lasted for two hours."

"but seriously, carson, you know what sort of sucks the most out of this whole thing."

"What?"

"it's how no matter how much i comfort her, no matter how much time i spend with her, no matter how many chances i get to win her over. she's always choosing you, in the end."

"Huh?"

"when she was crying, you know what she did? she was calling out your name. she was hugging me, thinking i was you. it sucked."

"I'm sorry?"

"huh? don't pity me, man. i'm already losing, it'll suck now if my competition is pitying me."

"Does this mean that you like her, then?"

"hm? no. i'm just jealous that she's caring about you, her old friend, rather than me, her new friend. it makes me sort of upset, to be truthful. how about you?"

"I don't know."

"you know, you're sort of slow carson, for a smart guy."

"What?"

"she really wants to be your friend again. she never wanted to quit being your friend, stupid."

".....It doesn't involve me anymore...I don't care...."

"are you kidding me? you're such a damn fool!"

"So? Yeah, I am a fool. But, I'm not going to allow myself to go through all of that crap all over again!"

"damn it, carson! why are you being like this? what did she ever do to you?!"

"What did she do to me? Are you an idiot or something? Do you seriously don't understand why I'm like this Tanner? You wanna know why, do you seriously wanna know why?"

"yes, just tell me carson."

"SHE. GAVE. UP. She just quit trying at everything. She gave up with everything. She never tried to make an attempt at anything. She just gave up, the moment it got too hard or too much for her. She just quit! Just like that! With a snap of finger, she quit!"

"But, do you know what sucks the most when we were friends? It was the everyday fear, that maybe she might decide to give up on her life. That she might attempt to just flat out end herself! But, you know that wouldn't happen, because she would quit even trying to do that!"

"HA! She couldn't do anything for herself! I always was the one who had to do everything for her. I was the one who had to try to make her smile or laugh. I had to force her to tell me stuff. I had to do so many stupid things for her, that she never even thanked me for. She never said thank you to me. She never listened to me. She never talked to me when I was upset. She never ran after me, when I walked away from her. She never tried anything."

"I'm just so sick and tired of trying to do anything for her! I'm tired of not being appreciated by her! I'm sick of how much she never even took the time to get to know me."

"I wanted her to care about me. I wanted her to talk to me about her feelings. I wanted her to be a friend. AHAHA! BUT SHE NEVER EVEN DID THAT FOR ME! I WAS ALWAYS THE ONE WHO HAD TO FORCE HER TO DO STUFF! I'M TIRED OF IT. I'M TIRED OF ALL THIS CRAP! I DON'T WANT TO TRY ANYMORE! I GIVE UP!"

"I GIVE UP WITH HER. I DON'T CARE ANYMORE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO HER. I DON'T CARE IF SHE'S HURT OR IF SHE'S CRYING. SHE'S NOT MY PROBLEM ANYMORE. AHAHAHAHA! She's not my problem. She's now your problem!!"

"SHE'S YOUR PROBLEM NOW! I'M SO HAPPY THAT I FINALLY GOT RID OF HER! I CAN LIVE MY LIFE NOW! I CAN DO THINGS NOW. I CAN MAKE FRIENDS NOW! I'M FINALLY FREE!"

"so, you're telling me that you never truly cared about brooke?"

"Cared? I'M DONE WITH THAT IDIOT! YOU CAN HAVE HER. YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH HER! JUST LET HER STAY FAR AWAY FROM ME!"

"Oh, crap! I seriously have to go now. It's time for my annual Star War's marathon. Bye, Tanner. It was nice talking to you again."

"yeah, you too..."

"Oh, yeah, Tanner?"

"yeah?"

"Please tell Brooke that I never want to see her ever again, for me. Alright, bye!"

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"so, he was like that, all along....? what a jerk."