"See ya real soon guys!"

"Bye TJ!"

Just saying goodbye to each other felt like an eternity, even though they all knew they would be meeting up in about half an hour to play. When they weren't hanging out together during Recess, their favourite time of the day and not helping each other with school work (Gretchen mainly doing the helping) they were constantly together.

Back in the days when they couldn't think about being a part. Oh the good ole days.

Theodore Jasper, otherwise known as T.J. Detweiler blinked awake and slowly sat up in his small bed. He rubbed his firmly shut eyes with the back of his hand, swinging his short legs out of the bed. T.J was short for his age, at sixteen he was about half a head shorter than other dudes his owner age. Having stumpy short parents, he had always thought he wasn't to get the tall gene but to be fair, being short suited his character better.

He stood up, catching sight of his appearance in the floor length mirror on his wardrobe. TJ shrugged his shoulders uninterested, contempt that he looked the same as he did every day. His messy mop of a brown hair was, if anything getting more unruly. It was forming slight curls at the back and flicked outwards, just past his ears. He never cared about his hair however. He kept it neatly positioned under his traditional baseball cap. He smiled widely as his inner child came alive when he picked it up from the bedside table, throwing it into the air animatedly. He threw back his head and it expertly landed on top of his head, leaving only his sweeping fringe in view.

He then proceeded to exit his bedroom. He half expected to run into his older sister, Becky dashing in attempt to beat him to the bathroom to get ready. Despite only taking one second himself to splash some water around his face and brush his teeth (if he remembered), he would take pride in pushing her aside and running in just in front of her, locking the door. He would then take as long as he could get away with, before the two words that ended his fun instantly were shouted.

"MUUUUUUUUUUUM! DAAAAAAAD!"

However, there was no Becky today and had been no Becky for 7 years now. She had moved out just after graduating, to go to college at some place named Stanford which apparently was a big deal. Judging by the way my mother fainted and then got up and danced round the living room, Stanford was a college to be proud of going to. At the time, TJ simply blinked and naively piped up with "as long as you get enough time for recess, sounds good". The laughs in my face weren't exactly helpful for a 10 year old who didn't have a clue what was going on.

Her going away party they planned for her was one of the biggest shindigs he'd ever been and this includes "King Bob's" 13th birthday bash. But that was another story. He knew this party was a big deal when his father broke out the "no hat today TJ, I mean it!" He muttered rudely "this whomps" and let my mother comb my hair back, sulking until his friends arrived, all equally as disturbing looking in their best clothes.

The only one who looked remotely happy in their formal attire was Gus Griswald, who smiled proudly, straightening his suit tie. Coming from a military background, the boy loved getting dressed up in suit and tie. These days he was pretty much the same…well not entirely.

It wasn't surprising in the slightest when Gus dropped out after sitting his last set of exams last semester, going straight into the family business. No-one knew whether it was extra dosage of gym that he opted for instead of Calculus that had sent him over the edge but the guy had been seriously addicted to working out. Everyone was surprised, especially when he showed up for Yearbook photos, wearing a suit which was tightening around his bulging biceps. As soon as the yearbook was realised, TJ compared it to the small pocket sized copy of the photo hidden at the back of my wardrobe taken in elementary, running his finger across the small, frail wimpy kid he used to be.

Looking back, it was going to happen. He was bullied in elementary school and then middle school and therefore, by high school his level of tolerance had snapped. I began to see less and less of him, only seeing him either in the gym, flexing his muscles or jogging around the block like ten million times a day. The scary part was not even Vince, who was the star of the basketball team, football team AND cross-county squad didn't seem to do near enough exercise as him.

Gus had been an easy target and TJ couldn't blame the guy for having enough. It was actually him himself who got him a gym membership in the first place. Being small, he couldn't eat everything I wanted and still being a lean mean fighting machine. Something had to give. So in middle school, they went to the local gym and signed up, together. Vince already had a membership. He'd been going since Kindergarden. Yeah, in the juniors section.

Obviously.

TJ still spoke to Gus, though for the past 3 months they been on summer vacation so it's only been through Facebook. He seemed happy, though incredibly disciplined. His profile picture is of him in army uniform, with his parents beside him. Gus had mulled over something the last time we had spoke, about his mum being upset when he enlisted. No one couldn't blame her though. This meant that for most of the year, she would be alone at home, while her husband and son were on military duties.

"She looks so lost" TJ's mom had commented over dinner and he thought to myself: I know how that feels.

Splashing some icy water on his face, TJ shivered and fully awakened. He leaned his fairly muscular upper body over the sink for a minute, staring at his dripping wet teenage face. TJ wasn't vain, well not on the same scale as some of the other guys. He rarely shaved, choosing to let his chin grow a small bushy stuble until deciding to give it a quick shave a few months later.

His bathroom products consisted of soap and water, while he knew for a fact that Vince used three types of mouister, gel for his hair and even used to wax his legs when the annual swim meet came around. It was pretty shocking, consisting he had the reputation of being such a macho athletic type of guy. Still, TJ didn't care. Vince was a good guy and if he liked to be a bit feminine, so be it.

He had one slightly strange bathroom item however. He reached under the sink and withdrew his "Senior-Fusion" male aftershave. It was held in an ice like figurine of the Super-Hero, very childish. He had received it for a Christmas present one year and loved it, mainly for the Senior Fusion element. He had hated funny smells at the time and never used it, discovering it years later and thanked his mom for not letting him throw it out. TJ spritzed around himself, dabbing at his developed jaw line before pushing it to the back of the cabinet.

Lazily leaving the bathroom, he ran into his mom coming up the staircase.

"For once I don't need to wake you up. And it's the first day of school today. It's a miracle!" she sarcastically called.

"Ha ha, Very funny."

"Oh, Theodore?"

"Yes, mom?"

"She called again last night…"

"AND?!" he spun round, hovering in the doorway. Again?

His heart rate accelerated and his palms became strangely sweaty, side effect of his nervousness.

"Well?!"

"I told her the same thing that I do every-time dear: you're not home."

"Thank god"

"But TJ, must you ignore her? She must have a good reason to call you ten times a day. You used to be such good friends, can't you talk to…"

"No mom, I can't" he cut her off briskly and perhaps, in a bit tense tone of voice, something his mother picked up and mumbled "charming" before plodding off along the hall. He sighed and slammed his door shut. He banged his head against the door, over and over, every bump hitting his head a little harder. Stupid TJ.

Stupid, stupid.

What do you do when you make a mistake so huge that it seems to have a ripple effect on everything and everyone you know?

TJ knew it wouldn't seem so huge if she hadn't made such a big deal about it. Ideally, TJ would have hoped it would have disappeared, never to be talked about ever again. He knew that what he wanted wasn't going to happen when he had strolled into school the weekend after and met her gaze. Mixture of guilt and regret came flooding back instantly and now, he couldn't even bare to look at her. He was adamant that he hadn't done anything wrong anyway. It's not like they even going out.

She had acted so, out of character. Everything became awkward. TJ suddenly dreaded the majority of his classes, since she was in every single one. They didn't sit together, which was good but still uncomfortable when he knew and could feel her hot, angry gaze beading into the back of his neck. He wondered if this silly quarrel was what started the single thread the group had together to unwind but shook it off, reminding himself that it was due of everyone's commitments to different interests, not their somewhat strange relationship.

He shoved on his black jeans and a loose white t-shirt, finishing off his look with a scruffy pair of tennis shoes. He heard the familiar toot of the horn from outside and tossed a wave out the window before pushing his cap round the other way and speeding out the door.

"Not having breakfast son?" his father called from the kitchen, turning the page of the large newspaper and sipping his coffee.

"Nah, no time dad"

"Your mother won't be pleased"

"Say I had a bite of toast or something"

"Always do son" he winked and sipped from his mug, making TJ smirk and think his ole man had the easy life. He worked from home most days, with the use of the Internet, he could sit in bed, type some emails and be done for the day. AND he got paid a good bundle for doing it. TJ envied him.

"See ya!" he called, not waiting for a reply as he raced out the door. He jumped the front door steps, cursing as the front door which had only just slammed shut swung open and his plump mother ran outside and embraced him tightly. He heard sniggers from the car behind him and groaned, but accepted her motherly efforts.

She went to clean his mouth, muttering something about toothpaste but he swiped her hand away. She looked a little crest fallen to which he sighed and squeezed her hand reassuring. She smiled.

"Have a good day Theodore"

"Thanks mom."

Finally escaping her grasps, he dived out into the street, running over to the small convertible parked at the side of the road. He propelled himself into the air and landed into the back seat, stretching his legs out as the driver and the passenger turned round.

"What took you so long?" Vince, the driver said cocking an eyebrow.

"The mother. Woman won't stop with the questions."

"Looks like it's the cuddles that kept you overdue to me, mamma's boy!"

"Shut up Lawson!"

Next stop: 6th Street High.