3rd Person POV
It'd been a month or so since he had gone to his father's funeral. The pain was still there. Well, more like numbness. He knew he was never going to fully get over it. Hanging out with his friends really helped him get things off his mind.
"Hey, Teej." He wrote on his white board. He held it up when he got TJ's attention.
"Hey. What's up?" He replied.
"Nothing much. You?"
"I've just been talking to my friends. They want to meet you."
"Me? They want to meet me? Can't imagine that."
"Well, they do. And I can."
"What are their names?"
"Reed, Lester, and Marty. They've been my friends ever since I was a little kid. We met at kindergarten."
"That's cool. I met my friends, Andi and Buffy, in second grade."
"Can I meet your friends one day?"
"One day." Cyrus said.
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They walked to the basketball court and Cyrus saw three boys which he could only assume to be TJ's friends. "Hey, Reed! Lester! Marty! I want you to meet Cyrus. My friend."
"Hey, dude, we've heard so much about you! I'm Reed." The blonde boy said.
"I'm Marty." The brown headed boy said.
"And you must be Lester." Cyrus said as he looked at the other boy. He only nodded.
"You play basketball?" Reed asked him.
"Nah. I'd rather stay away from all sports. It's not really my thing."
"Well maybe it could be your thing. Never really know unless you try." Reed said.
"We could teach you if you want." Marty said.
"Yeah, it'll be fun." TJ said.
"Um, ok. Let's shoot some hoops!" Cyrus smiled. He grabbed the basketball from Reed's hands and tried to shoot it towards the basket. He failed and made it into a trash can.
"Well at least you made it into something!" TJ exclaimed.
"Yeah, congrats dude!" Marty said.
Cyrus chuckled, "Thanks!"
TJ went to get the basketball from the ground and walked back to them. For the next hour, they tried to teach him how to play basketball and every time TJ put his hand on top of his, Cyrus couldn't help but blush. His heart was racing like he'd just ran a marathon! He only felt that way when he used to have a crush on Jonah.......
Oh no! I can NOT have a crush on TJ! He thought. Great! He only thinks of me as a friend! And we've only been friends for about 2 months!
Cyrus's phone buzzed. It was his mom telling him it was getting late and that he should walk back home. He frowned and said ok.
"I have to go home." Cyrus told them as they were taking a break.
TJ's smile instantly fell into a frown. "Oh. Why?"
"My mom just texted me that it was getting late." He said
"Oh. Well, I'll walk with you." He said.
"No, it's ok. You don't have to. Just have fun with your friends."
"Nah, I've gotta bounce. My mom just texted me and if I don't get home soon, she'll ground me......again." Reed said. He looked at Cyrus and said, "It was nice hanging out with you, bro."
"Yeah, we should do this again." Marty said.
Cyrus was surprised that they were actually saying that. Never in a million years did he think that anyobody would actually enjoy hanging out with him! "Yeah, we should." He told them as he smiled. "See you later."
"See ya!" They said.
TJ and Cyrus walked back home. "Thanks for bringing me along. I actually had fun." Cyrus told him.
TJ smiled. "Me too. I really enjoyed it."
"Your friends seem really nice."
"They are.....most of the times." TJ chuckled and for some reason it was like music to Cyrus's ears.
They had arrived at their houses and they'd said their goodbyes even though they'd still talk while in their rooms.
As Cyrus walked to the front door, he looked back at TJ. Then he noticed TJ looking back at him with a smile on his face. Cyrus returned that smile. Somehow, TJ once again made his heart flutter. And that's when it actually hit him that he had once again fallen for his best friend who is never going to return the feelings.