On the large screen in front of them played some movie that probably came out in the last year or two, who knows? TJ couldn't remember what Colten said the name of it was, but that wasn't important. As much as he wanted to focus on the movie playing in front of him, his mind kept drifting back to what happened at the dance. It's been an hour since he was drenched in the nastiest of garbage, and thanks to Colten's shower, he didn't smell like a dumpster.
He sat next to CJ on a large beanbag, while the others sat on or around the couch in the living room. The night was going so well, too.
He really want to clock Austin in his stupid fucking face. It's not like he wouldn't deserve it.
Later. He'll think about it later. Right now, he was sitting with his girlfriend and friends, trying to make the most of the rest of the night. Explaining why he came home in different clothes was going to be interesting.
He took a handful of the popcorn from the bowl going around, while keeping an eye on the clock.
ZZZ
They had to head home at some point. Thankfully they didn't have to walk; Ashley called one of her family's drivers to pick them up. With his bag of soiled clothing in hand, he waved the others away as the limo drove off from his house once he was dropped off. Luckily, his parents car was still in the driveway, so they hadn't left to pick him up from the dance yet.
"Hey, mom. Hey dad."
When stepping into the house, his dad was already putting his jacket on to pick him up from the dance, but he saved them the trouble by coming home on his own.
"TJ? We were going to come pick you up," his father said.
"What happened to your clothes?" his mother asked.
"Austin dumped a bunch of rotten garbage on me as a prank," he said, holding up the bag with his clothes.
"He did WHAT?"
"I cleaned up the best I could in the school's bathroom. A friend lent me his clothes, then we all went over to his place and watched movies," he said, continuing on as if this fiasco was just another day. It was clear though his voice that he was exhausted, and wanted nothing to sleep and forget about what happened, even if it was only temporary. "I'm gonna throw these in the wash."
He stepped forward to get to the laundry room, but his fathers hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"We'll take care of this, TJ," his mom said, taking the bag from him.
"You just go take a shower and get to bed," his dad said. "Alright?"
TJ nodded, and started climbing up the stairs.
ZZZ
When morning came, all TJ could do was take Sasha out and deliver the newspaper. Once those were done, he crawled into bed, and didn't want to come out. Not after yesterday.
Everyone going over Colten's place was nice and he appreciated it, but now that he slept and things had calmed down, what had happened, and how it made him felt washed over him, and he just wanted to stay hidden under the covers. Sasha laid next to his bed, as loyal as ever.
His stomach ached for food, but that wasn't enough to get him out of bed. He just wanted to stay there, buried under the blanket and sheets. Buried like garbage. Like the trash Austin dumped on him, in front of everyone, everyone that pointed and laughed and probably thought the same thing.
Useless
Disgusting
Waste of Space
"TJ?" His mother was knocking on his door. "Are you awake?"
"Go away," he mumbled. "I wanna be alone."
"TJ, please come out. It's noon, you have to eat something," his mother said. TJ just curled up tighter at the sound of her trying to turn the locked door knob. He counted down until she finally stopped and walked away. He just want to sleep and forget about why he felt so terrible in the first place.
Some time must've passed before his mother returned back at his door.
"TJ, your friends have come over to see you," said his mother. "Will you come out for them?"
"Hey dude," CJ said, waving. "Were you sleeping?"
"Yeah. . ."
"That's no fun. You should get ready, we've got a surprise for you!"
"Can it wait?" He asked. The four of them shook his head. He sighed. "Okay. Give me, I dunno, 15 minutes. . ."
He heard them quietly cheer as he closed the door.
Fifteen minutes later, he was following them down the sidewalk. CJ asked him to bring his skateboard, but with him mind in a haze, TJ didn't think much of it. Bed was much better. Where ever they were taking him, after it was over, he was climbing back in bed for the rest of the weekend.
"Here we are!" CJ announced. He looked up, and saw that he followed them to the skate park, the same one that they spent so much time at over the summer. "When's the last time we've been here?"
"The day before school started," TJ said. "Isn't it a little chillly for skating?"
"A little bit. But not too chilly. C'mon, it's probably the last time we can skate before it gets too cold!"
The gate door creaked as they pushed it open. Like during summer, it was empty, aside from a few high schools scattered here and there. It had been a while since they skated. The feeling of the board moving beneath his feet was weird for the first few moments, but it didn't take long for TJ to get the hang of it again and drop down into one of the bowls.
Maybe coming outside wasn't such a bad thing.
Randell and Menlo were struggling to stay upright on their skates, while Ashley was doing her best to give them advice as she skated circles around them.
"Hey," CJ said, catching up to him. Like always, she wore her inline skates. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," said TJ. "It's just everything that happened yesterday is still bothering me. Austin is such an asshole."
"Randall said that one of the teachers took Austin and his group away afterwards," she said. "They're probably in a lot of trouble."
"I hope so," he said. "I don't even care about getting back at him, I just want him to leave me alone."
"Something like what he did would easily earn a suspension," said Menlo. He and Randall sat on the edge of the skate bowl, while Ashley stood behind them. "We won't know until Monday, however. That'll give you a week of relief, at least."
"That sounds great," said TJ. "We we're actually having fun for once."
It was almost surreal, enjoying himself at school. The moment he stepped into school everyday, what energy he had was sucked right out of him. And nowadays, he didn't wake up with much energy to begin with. He knew middle school was going to be rough, Robert told them it would be, but how was he supposed to know it was going to be like this? With him covered in garbage, being laughed and pointed at, and looking just like he felt.
Garbage
Disgusting
Waste of space
"Yeah, we we're. But spending the night bingeing movies wasn't half bad either," said CJ. "Austin is going to get what's coming to him. Assholes like him fall hard, one was or another."
TJ nodded, but didn't know if he agreed.
ZZZ
"Oh man, I can't get over how great that was!"
Even with a suspension, Austin still walked proudly down the street with his usual group around him, replaying what happened in the gym the night before. He knew it was going to be awesome, but it was much better than he could've imagined. The only regret he had was that he didn't have a camera to take pictures.
". . .So are you done now?" Austin stopped and turned to the one who spoke. It was Brandon, or Brendan. He didn't bother with remembering which one exactly.
"Done with what?" Austin asked.
"Picking on that guy," he said. "You dropped garbage on him, in the middle of the gym. In front of everyone. Isn't that enough?"
Austin shrugged, turned, and kept walking.
"For now, I guess. I can't do anything to him when I'm suspended," Austin said. He laughed. "If you think I'm not gonna keep reminding him of the hierarchy around here, you're crazy."
"No, you're crazy," Brandon snapped. Austin rolled his eyes. "Kevin was right, you don't know when to stop. I shouldn't bailed when he did."
"Fine, then go! Get the hell out of here!" Austin shouted. Brandon scoffed, gave them the finger, and turned and left. "Anyone else wanna go, too? I don't want weakling following me around."
None of them budged.
"Good."
ZZZ
After the skate park, TJ was dragged over to the paintball field. With an uneven number, they took turns, Menlo and Ashley opted to take turns standing out during rounds. Between the running, hiding, and strategizing, it was easy to let what happened the night before slip to the back of his mind.
It was almost like summer again. Except for the occasion chilly wind that would blow through. Still, he was thankful for his friends giving him a slice of the summer vacation he missed so much.
Returning home, though, TJ still intended to climb back into bed.