“He said he thinks I’m a liar and he’s going to find out tomorrow,” I said miserably as I sat in Molly’s dining room with her.
Molly pat me on the back sympathetically. “He’s probably catching onto the fact that you’re not actually a mean person. You need to step it up Nicky,” she said.
“I can’t step it up Molly! I’m not a mean person,” I said in frustration. “I feel bad when I’m mean to Phil!”
“Nick, come on. Everyone takes advantage of you and I’m sick of watching it happen. You need to learn to stand up to people,” Molly said with a deep frown.
“But Phil’s different! He’s like a little kid. He gets, I don’t know, confused I guess. Like me being mean to him confuses him. I don’t get it, and I don’t like it. He’s like Derek Hale from Teen Wolf. I can’t decide if he’s a good guy, or a bad guy,” I said with a helpless shrug.
“And there’s your fag swag again Nicky. Stop watching Teen Wolf! That show is for teen girls!” she said and sighed impatiently. “Anyways, Angel said it confuses him too. He said Phil gets like that sometimes, but he does it a lot more around you.”
“Great,” I groaned, burying my face in my hands.
Molly pat my back again before jumping up. “Come on Nicky; let’s grab some snacks and go outside,” she said, dragging me to the kitchen.
We grabbed some chips and soda before going into her backyard. We crawled onto her trampoline and laid together, eating and drinking in comfortable silence.
“Well, I’ll keep an eye out for him tomorrow and see if Angel can figure out what he’s up to,” Molly said after a few minutes.
“Don’t let him kill me. This is your fault. We’re not friends anymore,” I said, frowning deeply.
“Shut up Nick. We’d be friends even if I chopped off your arms and beat you with them,” Molly said, rolling her eyes.
I pouted, knowing it was true.
“Can we please just do something to get my mind off of this?” I begged.
Molly nodded. We ended up riding bikes around her neighborhood and playing Sims in her room before getting tired.
“Spend the night,” she said, pulling me over to her bed and laying down. I nodded and let out a yawn.
We got comfortable on her bed and I stared at her ceiling as she fell asleep. I cleared my thoughts and let myself drift off to sleep as well.
***
I bit into the pizza I had bought for lunch as I waited patiently for Molly. She had gone to get her Spanish stuff out of her locker.
I had managed to successfully avoid Phil today, with Molly’s help. She had kept a lookout for him and steered me clear of him.
“Hi Nick,” Molly said brightly, sitting next to me.
“Hi Mol-” I started but cut off and gulped as Angel and Phil dropped next to her with their lunches.
Phil gave me a dangerous look. “Hi Nick,” he said, his voice emotionless.
“Hi Ph-Phil,” I said and cleared my throat, taking a swing of my milk.
My eyes snapped to Molly’s face and she shrugged and smiled innocently. D-E-V-I-L. Excuse me Molly, your right horn is showing.
“Hi Nick,” Angel greeted with a nod and a knowing smirk. The Devil’s assistant. Evil. Every Villain Is Lemons. EVIL, I TELL YOU.
“Hi,” I grumbled.
I went back to eating, praying that the period was almost over or that a security guard would come out here or something. Or maybe that it would rain and Molly and Angel would melt. Psh. Stupid Angel. It had to be the accent over the A that made him evil. I blame his parents.
I heard a noise and looked up, only to see Phil’s fist flying at me. “Hey!” I cried, stumbling back to avoid it and nearly falling.
Phil shot up and grabbed my shirt, dragging me to my feet. “I think you’re a liar,” he hissed. “You’re all talk. You’re not tough at all. You’re just another too-nice bitch.”
“Phil stop!” Molly and Angel said in alarm, standing up.
“Phillip Brooks you put him down right now or I will shove this table up your fucking ass!” Molly snapped.
Phil gave me a dangerous smirk. “Her? She’s not all talk. She’s not a liar. She would really shove that table up my ass. You? You wouldn’t do shit to me. You just talk big, kid.”
I looked at Molly in terror. “Do something,” she hissed and elbowed Angel.
Angel shrugged helplessly. Molly sighed impatiently. “Hit him Nick!” she snapped.
Phil’s smirk got wider. “He won’t hit m-”
I let my fist swing out and connect with Phil’s face. He stumbled back in shock, releasing his hold on me.
I stared at him, feeling sick with myself. I had just hit someone. Holy son of a flying cow. I, Nicholas Bradley, had just hit someone.
Phil looked confused as he rubbed his face where I had punched him. He stepped up to me and grabbed my shirt again, searching my face.
“Maybe you’re not all talk,” he said slowly. “I was wrong. My bad. Sorry.”
“Don’t let it happen again,” I snapped, adrenaline pumping through me now.
Phil slowly released his hold on my shirt. Molly and Angel were watching us nervously, Molly looking ready to rip Phil’s head off if he decided to threaten me again.
“You’re cute,” Phil said.
“Yea and don’t you forge- Wait, what?” I stared at him in confusion. Had he just called me cu-
“You. Are. Cute,” he repeated, looking thoughtful. “And you’re interesting. I like you Nick. I want to know more about you.”
He shoved me, almost playfully, before starting to walk away. He paused and turned. “Angel, come on. The period is almost over,” he said, motioning Angel over.
Angel snapped out of his trance and nodded. He gave me a confused look before hurrying over to Phil.
Molly and I watched them leave before Molly hurried over to me. She hugged me tightly and bit her lip.
“Are you okay?” she asked in concern.
“Molly, I hit him. And now he thinks I’m cute,” I said, feeling as if my brain was leaking out of my ears. What in the hell had just happened?
“Yea…that’s a bit odd. Normal, considering the fact that you are cute, but odd for Phillip,” Molly said.
Phil…I was interested in him too. I wanted to know why he got so childlike when I stood up to him. Hell, I wanted to figure that boy out.
There was something about him that caught my attention, too. Other than his looks and behavior, of course. There was a look in his eyes. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but I would.
I could let Phil toughen me up and figure him out at the same time. If he was interested in me, then fine. I was okay with that.
As long as I was careful about keeping up a tough act around me, what could be the harm of this? Phil didn’t have to know I wanted to piss my pants each time I saw him because he terrified the hell out of me. He didn’t have to know I felt bad being mean to him. He didn’t have to know I was actually a nice human being.
As long as he didn’t find out any of that, I would be fine. It would be dangerous, yes, but I had a feeling it would be worth it.
And who knows, maybe he really would toughen me up a bit. I didn’t want to be constantly mean to people, but maybe enough so that no one would take advantage of me anymore.
Maybe it would become the real me. A tougher Nick Bradley. Then Phil would never have to know that this whole thing started out as a plot of my evil best friend’s messed up mind.
So fine, Phil Brooks could have an interest in me. He could try to figure me out. I’d just be more careful around him. But I would sure as hell figure out what was up with him.