Seth tapped at the steering wheel in his little car. He huffed and watched his breath, trying to find the confidence in him to walk outside into the cold. He peered at his phone as it dinged with a text from his best friend, Luke.
"meet me in the lounge in ten"
Finally pulling the key out of the ignition, he grabbed his backpack and stepped out into the school parking lot. His head was down, giving no one permission to speak to him. Seth slipped his way through the crowded high school lot, and made his way to the upperclassmen's lounge inside the school ahead of him. As he stepped into the swarming room, he skimmed and targeted Luke. Luke waved with his dorky smile plastered on, and waved.
"Hey," Seth spoke cautiously, "I texted you this weekend..."
"I know, Seth, I didn't have time."
Seth looked up at him, waiting for a better explanation, but Luke wasn't paying attention.
"Guess who was up all night trying to get into Outland," Luke paused, looking up from his phone, "aaannndd...guess who made it??" He jumped a little bit, but remembered that he was in public, and played it off.
"Finally, Luke. Seriously, I was beginning to think you'd never make it," Seth said, smirking.
"Oh yeah, like it didn't take you this long to get there. You haven't fooled me, Seth," he sneered, narrowing his eyes. He watched as Seth pulled up his sleeves, revealing his forearms.
"Wanna go, Miller? Let's go, fists out."
Luke threw his head up, laughing hard.
"Come on, Seth. Just because you're ahead in World of Warcraft, doesn't mean you'd win in a fight, buddy. I'd squash you, you bug."
Seth had a determined look on his face, reaching high to playfully hit Luke's shoulder several times. He followed Luke on his tail, pulling on his backpack as the bell rang for class.
•
F period came around, and Seth had set his personal record of falling asleep in 3 out of four classes in one morning. He caught sight of Luke on his way to Chem and yelled his name, quickly ducking behind a pillar. He watched Luke roll his eyes.
"Seth, I can literally see you. I'm not blind."
Seth chuckled and jumped to catch up to him.
"Miller!!! How's it going buddy?" Someone yelled from behind them. They both turned.
"Oh, hey, Seth. Didn't see you there. How've you guys been."
Xander Torrez walked up beside them as they lapped through the halls. He pulled his hands outside of his letterman jacket to pat Seth's back.
"So you're coming to the movie this Saturday, right? I've got snacks and Luke's taking care of our costumes."
Seth looked eagerly towards Xander, but there was no response.
"Dude, we've been planning this for weeks. I already bought the tickets and everything. Premiere tickets are expensive."
"Seth, listen. It's my first year on varsity. I can't just skip games whenever I feel like it. It's a commitment..." Xander trailed off as Seth looked away from his friends.
"Yeah, it's whatever. Don't worry about it."
"Look, I'll make it up to you, okay? I've got a lot on my plate right now." He said as he high-fived some guys in varsity jackets walking by.
"Ive gotta get to class. Catch you guys later?" Xander said, not waiting for a response as he walked into a classroom.
"Guess it's just you and me this weekend." Seth grumbled at Luke.
