On Fire

Broken hearted

Tom sat on a bench at some park he didn't care to know the name of. He was too sad to car about anything. Star broke his heart. Then when he tried to move on, ten other girls rejected him. Was he too weird? Too pushy? Did his anger problems get in the way? Tom's mind raced on and on. He wanted to cry, but no tears came out. So he sat there. He stared at the stars and ignored the fact that he was cold. Soon he was asleep.

Tom was shaken awake. He blinked, gathering his surroundings. He was still on the park bench. He looked up to see, Marco, Star's friend standing over him. He had concern in his brown eyes. He sat down the grocery bags he was holding. He took a seat beside Tom.
"What are you doing sleeping out here?" Marco asked, pulling a chocolate bar out of one of the bags.
"I didn't mean to fall asleep..." Tom mumbled.
"Oh, I passed you this morning. I thought you were just resting your eyes. You look pretty stressed," Marco pointed out. Tom just shrugged.
"If you're stressed I know a great way to make you unstressed," Marco smiled. Tom shrugged again. Marco got up. He picked up his bags and pulled Tom up. He started walking, pulling the demon boy along with him.

Marco entered his house. It was a complete mess. Star drunk a Monster that night. So she was super overly hyperactive. She got out of hand and so did her wand.
"What happened?" Tom asked with a shocked face.
"Star," Marco replied. He sat the grocery bags on the couch. He headed to his room with Tom behind him. Marco closed his door. Tom took a seat on the bed.
"So what's my stress reliever?" He asked. Marco punched the air.
"Ka-ra-Taeeee!" He sang.
"Huh?" Tom responded. Marco rolled his eyes.
"Karate," he answered in a monotone voice.
"What's kerahtee?"
"An ancient fighting style that involves mind, body, and soul."
"Kerahtee sounds weird."
"But it's fun! I promise!" Marco stacked up some bricks and placed a plank over them. He motioned for Tom to stand beside him. Tom groaned. He got up and walked like a zombie over to Marco.
"Ok, break this piece of wood into two. Use only your hand and one hand," he said. He did a demonstration to show Tom what he meant. He stepped back to let Tom do his thing. Tom raised his hand then slammed it against the wood. Surprisingly, the wood split in two and Tom was uninjured. Marco clapped.
"Wow," he whispered.
"That was kinda fun. Hand me another one," Tom said.
"Oh, I don't have anymore," Marco said. "I thought that one would do the trick." Tom groaned. He face planted into Marco's bed. Marco moved beside him. He poked at the demon boy who just groaned in response.
"I'll go get more wood," Marco suggested. Tom groaned again. Marco sighed. He probably needed to know Tom's problem before helping him.
"Tell me what's eating you," Marco said. Tom raised his head with a disturbed look on his face.
"Nothing's eating me. Why would something eat me?" He gasped. Marco facepalmed.
"It's a metaphor," he corrected. "I'm basically saying "what has you stressed?"."
"Why don't girls like me?" Tom whined.
"You're pushy, weird, you have anger issues," Marco listed.
"Thanks," Tom fumed.
"Sorry, man...listen, forget about those girls! They don't know what they're missing! C'mon, let's go see what's Star up to," Marco suggested. He hopped up. Tom slowly followed him.

Star was gone. She apparently left on some type of adventure.
"It's not like her to leave without me," Marco pointed out. He twisted his lips.
"So what now?" Tom asked.
"I dunno...hmmm...Oh! Let's go for Tacos!" Marco decided. He left Star's room dragging Tom by the shirt.

Marco and Tom ate their tacos at the park. Marco was telling horrible jokes, while Tom couldn't help thinking it felt like they were on a date.
"We should do this more often," Tom said.
"Sure," Marco agreed, oblivious. Tom smiled a little. Did he like Marco? If he did, would Marco like him back? Tom shook his head. He couldn't have those types of feelings towards a guy.
"So are you going home?" Marco asked Tom.
"No," Tom replied.
"Well you can spend the night at my place," Marco said. Tom smiled wider.
"Alright," he agreed.

Marco and Tom stayed up watching horror films, breaking things, and practicing karate. Marco felt like he had a younger brother or something. He always did these things with Star, but it wasn't as fun as it is with Tom. Marco had to admit it. He hated Tom at first. It turns out Tom is a cool guy. He can't believe girls rejected him. Did they not see how awesome he was? Marco plopped down on his bed. He was exhausted.
"I'm sleepy," he yawned. Tom laid down on his pallet.
"Me too," he said, stretching. Marco flicked the light switch off. He crawled under his blankets and went to sleep. He had a fun day.

Tom couldn't sleep. He just watched Marco's sleeping face. He argued with himself wether or not it was okay to like a guy. Even when he decided on yes, the argument just started back over. Tom got up. He couldn't stay. If he did he might do something to Marco. He pulled on his shoes and jumped out the window. He felt it would be better if he and Marco kept their distance. They hated each other in the beginning. So they can hate each other in the end. Marco had just been being a nice person anyway. He was probably searching for an adventure. With his shiny, soft, brown hair. His goofy smile and caring attitude--Tom shook his head vigorously. He slammed himself. He couldn't like a guy and that was final.