After him being outed to the entire world, Garrett expected Simon's friends to stand by him and chew out whoever tried to fuck with him.
So of course he was a little curious when Simon emerged from his car alone, head cowered.
He started to think he was dreaming when he saw Nick, Leah, and Abby exiting Nick's car, and totally ignoring Simon sadly shuffling to the school.
Garrett walked over to them. "What the hell,guys?"
Nick raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"What's up with you and Simon? Didn't he just get fucking outed?"
Abby's eyes darkened. "What he did to us was worse."
Garrett couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How the fuck?"
"Simon lied to all of us. He prevented Nick and I from being in a relationship by telling him I was into Martin! Name something more disgusting than that!" Abby exclaimed.
"Oh, I can name a few. Being one, outed to the school, two, being forced to lie to his friends because he wasn't ready to come out, and three, his friends abandoning him after that! You guys disgust me right now." Garrett stalked away.
Leah bit her lip tentatively. "Guys, maybe we did take this a little overboard-"
Nick snorted. "Leah, he broke all of our hearts. Forgive us for needing a little space."
"Maybe Garrett's right. If it weren't for this, we'd be the only thing between him and that crowd of homophobic idiots. We're not even there, so there's nothing protecting him. Simon isn't going to be okay."
"Whatever, Leah." Nick and Abby left Leah standing there.
I can hold a grudge, but I also know Simon. Someone who I loved and who loved me back wouldn't do this unless he couldn't see any other way out.
Leah squared her shoulders and walked towards the school.
Garrett walked over to Simon, fuming. "I can't believe those bastards would do something like that to you!" He yelled, attracting more than a few eyes. Simon shrank into his jacket. "Sorry."
At that moment, Bram Greenfeld decided to enter the scene.
"Garrett- where the hell are Abby, Leah, and Nick?"
"Damn cowards abandoned their best friend," Garrett growled, quickly filling Bram in on what happened.
They then proceeded to glare at anyone who might look at Simon funny. When two girls approached them, he clenched his fists and they raise their hands in mock surrender.
"Whoa, whoa. My name's Vi, this is Danielle, and we just wanted to talk to Simon."
"Why the hell is that?"
Vi smiles. "I can remember the day I was outed. It was in middle school, and even though it really, really sucked-" she smacked her gum "-I got Danielle. And she's the best thing that ever happened to me." Her smile turns soft as Danielle kisses her cheek. "We just want to give him our numbers and let him know we support him."
"Oh," Garrett said, because he couldn't say anything else. He lets them through. They introduce themselves to Simon, and they talk for a while. After a minute, they separate. The last thing Garrett hears is "maybe you'll find the love of your life, like I found Vi. Good luck, Simon."
Simon looks absolutely flabbergasted. Garrett chuckles. "Could've been worse." Simon lets out a breathless laugh.
"Let's get you to homeroom, yeah?"