Hannah Baxter
As much as I wanted to avoid him, I find Terrance on my walk back to campus.
I had taken a walk around campus in such for a good place to get something to eat, considering that Subway was completely off the table. But all I had seen was a sushi bar and something that looked like a knock-off Burger King. So - since my search for food had been a blast - I decided to just come back and go to the cafeteria, since they always had something.
I walk up the hill that leads towards campus, hands shoved in my jacket pockets. I had refused to think about how much of a dick Terrance had been, and had avoided Stiles most of the day. All my conversations with Amber had been pointless, and I was so annoyed by how off Terrance's actions had made me.
My phone rings in my pocket, but I don't bother reaching for it. I talked to my parents earlier today, so I know it's either, a) Amber asking where I am, or, b) Amber using Stiles' phone to call me and ask where I am. I don't bother checking.
I walk to the top of the hill and stop, seeing a hunched-over, blonde figure sitting under the tree. I bit my lip and hear sobs coming from them, making me widen my eyes slightly. The person looks so familiar; they're crouched over, but I can tell they're on the taller side. His hair is pushed up and away from his face, and when he looks at me with those piercing gray eyes, I know exactly who I've stumbled across.
"Terrance?" I ask, surprised that it's him sitting on the grass, eyes rimmed-red from crying. His eyes widened in shock and I just stare at him, "Um.. Terrance?"
He blinks at me, and I notice how wrecked he looked. His hair is sticking up, clearly from him having run his fingers through it. The first few buttons of his shirt are undone, and his fingers are clamped together so tightly that his knuckles are white. His eyes, though, are the worst thing because they just look shattered.
"Hannah?" he mutters, standing up and dusting off his jeans. Terrance runs a hand through his hair, but only succeeds in making it stick up worse. He pinches the bridge of his nose and awkwardly looks at me, "What're you doing here?"
And I'm angry with Terrance - truthfully, I'm furious with him for treating me as he did. But as he stares at me, I can't help but notice how broken and destroyed he looks. My anger slowly dissipates, and I find myself being more worried about Terrance than angry with him. It's hard to hold anger against him when there's still tears in the corner of his eyes.
Part of me contemplates shooting his own question back at him, though; asking what he's doing here. I'm curious as to why he's sitting at the top of the hill crying to himself, but my curiosity isn't my main priority right now. And - even though I'm definitely still angry - I can't help but stop myself from asking him the main question.
"Are you okay?' I say softly, taking a step forward, "Like, I mean.. Obviously you aren't okay but are you, um.. all right?"
I'm aware of how stupid I sound asking him if he's anywhere near all right. I prepare for Terrance to shoot something rude back (something I've sadly started anticipating from him after the fight), but instead he gives me a small smile, making his eyes crinkle.
"You're a psychology major, Hannah," Terrance points out lightly, but the obvious pain and sadness is still evident in his features, "do you really ask me if I'm all right?"
Terrance is right. He looks like a mess and asking him that question wasn't the smartest thing. But he doesn't look mad or upset with me; if anything, he looks almost happy to see that I was concerned for him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I offer, cocking an eyebrow.
Terrance shakes his head, gray eyes darkening, "No thanks. I think I'm gonna go back and crash, anyway."
I know that's a lie, considering it's only around nine at night. I also know that when someone's sad - even if they don't want to talk about it - they definitely don't want to be alone. Terrance might think he needs to be alone, or hell - he might even know that he wants company, but he's too stubborn to allow someone to stay with him.
So I shake my head, a small smile taking place on my lips at Terrance's confused facial expression, "You really want to go back and spend the rest of tonight with Stiles?"
Terrance's lips draw up into a small smile, "Well - "
"Exactly," I say, already leaning forward and hooking our arms together. Deep down, I know I should still be angry with him, but I'm finding any anger has now turned into worry, "so let's go bowling instead."
"Bowling?" Terrance asks, but reluctantly falls into step with me as I lead him down the hill.
I laugh, "Yeah, it's a great stress reliever. You get to chuck balls down a lane and knock down pins. We can even name the pins after our professors. Plus, I didn't do any of the English Lit work and this is a great distraction."
Terrance laughd quietly, and I know he isn't exactly happy. I know whatever made him cry is probably still tearing up at him inside, and I know that my own curiosity is still tearing up at me. But he stops and looks down at me, mumbling a quiet, 'thank you' and that's all he really has to say.
"Oh my God, Terrance," I snicker, watching the ball roll straight into the gutter, "do you need the kiddie bumpers?"
Terrance turns and glares at me, gray eyes narrowed into slits, "No I don't need the kiddie bumpers. I'm Terrance King, and I'll be damned if I use kiddie bumpers."
So far, the night had been going amazingly. Terrance had been quiet when he first started bowling, but soon he was the loudest out of both of us, yelling and saying how he was being cheated. I could tell Terrance was still upset, but I was glad I had been able to get his mind off of it for a bit.
I reach for the last piece of pizza and Terrance shakes his head, throwing himself into the seat across from me and grabbing my wirst. I snort and look up at him; the bowling alley is dark, lit mostly with black-lights and neon lights, and Terrance's whole face seems to be getting illuminated.
"I'll make you a deal, Hannah Baxter," Terrance says, and I snort but reluctantly nod my head, motioning for him to go on, "we each have three turns until the game's over. Whoever can get the most strikes gets the last piece of pizza."
"Or I can go up and buy myself a piece."
Terrance pouts, gray eyes going wide, "Are you really going to take the fun out of bowling? Be the fun-sucker of bowling? The party pooper? The - "
"Fine," I roll my eyes and stand up, walking towards where the balls were. Terrance flashes me a thumbs-up and I laugh, walking up and rolling it down, watching as it turned into a strike. Turning back to a wide-eyed Terrance, I smirk, "your turn."
"If my ball goes into the gutter, then I'm going up to the counter and telling them that every bowling ball I've gotten is defective."
"All right, Terrance."
"All right, Hannah," Terrance replies back in a ridiculously high-pitched voice. I snort and he smirks, walking down until he hit the black line.
In the end, I had scored a total of two strikes, and Terrance had gotten three gutter balls. And, like he said, Terrance went right up to the counter and told the elderly lady behind it that his balls were defective. She shot Terrance an-odd look and just gave him a coupon, making him roll his eyes and stomp back to our table.
I lean in my seat, shooting Terrance a satisfied look as I slowly ate the last piece of pizza. All the sadness seemed to have left Terrance, and I was glad that I had been able to get him mind off of whatever was bothering him for a few hours. Of course, I was still curious. But I didn't say anything.
"Hannah?" Terrance says softly, and I look up, meeting his gaze, "Thank you for today. And I'm really sorry about the other day. Bad days and such."
I shrug it off, because, really, it isn't bothering me so much anymore, "No big deal."
"Yes it is - I, just," Terrance cuts himself off and takes a deep breath, pinching the bridge off his nose. He shoots me a small smile, "it won't happen again, okay? Just accept my apology so I can go back to being mad at you for beating me at bowling."
"Apology accepted."
Honestly, though, any anger washed away the second I saw Terrance crying on that hill.
</ Hi! Sorry for taking so long to update lol, I just had a lot of stuff to do! but this story is up and back, and also on my main account (sydaaney) so make sure to check it out! love you guyss - syd