The Ball is in Your Court

The word 'awkward' wasn't one that Vince LaSalle would use to describe himself very often, if at all. It was completely uncharacteristic for the school's ace athlete, who carried himself with unwavering confidence and pride, to succumb to awkwardness or nervousness. And why should he, in all honestly? Anyone in his position would always hold their head high, or at least he assumed they would. He couldn't speak for everybody, just himself.

But right now, he was becoming very acquainted with the feeling of awkwardness and nervousness, as he sat in the office of his coach after informing him of the worrisome actions of another member of the team. He debated telling anyone at all, first going into a sense of denial when he came in the locker room and saw what he did. He wasn't the guy's parents and couldn't tell him what to do with his life. It wearing on his mind though.

Roy, the guy he saw, wasn't calm on his own. He was kind of loose cannon, and Vince would rather not be on the court with him at the same time. It was a miracle that he wasn't kicked of the team by now. He barely followed the strategies that they spent hour after hour, day after day getting down perfectly. The guy wasn't worth whatever benefit the coach saw in having him on the team, in his opinion.

But adding steroids on top of person who was already a ball of rage didn't bode well. Any day now he was going to rage out, if he hadn't already that is, and, as the team captain, he had to take responsibility for the other members of his team. Which led him to his current situation.

He sat in the office, alone, waiting for Coach Johnson to come back with Roy in toe. He heard the intercom requesting Roy to come out of class a few moments ago. Now he was just waiting for the two of them to come in. Should've brought some sort of protection. The dude had a nasty punch, he'd admit.

He heard footsteps getting closer before the doorknob turned, and the coach and Roy stepped in. Roy sat in the seat next to his, while Couch Johnson sat at his desk. Did he really have to be here for this?

"So what's the issue, Coach?" Roy asked, slouching in his chair. It made him look even stockier than he already was. "What'd you call me out of class for? I'm not complaining, I'm just curious."

"Something important has been brought to my attention," Coach Johnson said. "Is there something you want to tell me, Roy?"

"Uh, no. Everything fine," Roy said. He readjusted his position in his seat, a well-known give away that he was lying and/or hiding something.

"You sure about that? I don't want to have to pull this out of you," the coach warned him. Roy glanced over at Vince, clearly suspecting something what going on.

"Yeah? I'm sure," Roy said. "What's going on?"

"Alright, I get right to it since its Friday and I want to get home," said the coach. "Have you been using steroids?"

"W-What?! No, no! I'm not using steroids!" Roy said. He shifted in his seat and avoid eye contact with the coach.

"I was hoping you wouldn't lie to me," said the coach. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a tiny glass bottle. He placed it on the table. Anyone who glanced at it couldn't mistake what it was. "I found this in your locker."

"It's not mine!" Roy denied. "Someone put it in my locker to frame me!"

"Roy—"

"No! Who told you that was mine? Him?" Roy's voice rose as his movements became more violent. He pointed and Vince, who leaned away from him as he began to go on a rage. "He's probably the one who put in my locker! Of course he would; I carry this team! He just wants me out of the way!"

"Calm down—"

"No, no! This is such bullshit! I didn't do anything!" Roy said. His voice continued to rise as he leaned forward, then stood up. "And the only reason I'm in here is because you're listening to some bullshit captain over me!"

As he continued is rant, coach Johnson signaled Vince that he could leave. Wanting nothing more to do with this, he took the opportunity and left. The second coach, coach McKol, entered as he left the office.

. . .

Walking past the gym, it was hard to ignore the repeated cheers of the cheerleaders as they practiced one of their many routines for probably to twentieth time. Usually he would stop by and wait for Ashley B. to finish and they'd go somewhere after together, usually to hang out with the other jocks and cheerleaders, but that came to an abrupt halt as of late.

He didn't care much to get the specifics, or even talk about what happened, but rumors were spread, believed, spread some more, and their relationship was left in tatters. It hurt, yeah, since they had dated for over a year, but it was getting better, for the most part. They were still young, right? High school dating wasn't that serious.

It felt like it sometimes, though.

. . .

Despite the hell Roy and his goons where sure to give him for outing his steroid use, Vince left the school knowing that he ultimately did the right thing, though it didn't quite felt like it. He had to do it, being the team captain and everything, but he was thinking he should've left an anonymous note or something to avoid having to directly deal with Roy.

But it was Friday, and the whole incident left him tired. Rather than hangout with the guys on his teams, like usual, he opted for relaxing at home for once, maybe even going to bed early. Sleep wasn't something that he had much time for these days. Arriving home, he dropped his book bag and gym bag near the front door. He had to do laundry anyways, no use bringing it upstairs if he was just going to bring it back down in a couple of hours. After shutting the door, he heard talking coming from the kitchen.

It wasn't unusual for his mother to have the neighbors over, though he never bothered to listen to whatever conversation they were having. This time, though, the voice sounded somewhat familiar. He stepped into the kitchen to find something to eat, when he was greeted with the sight of his mother and cousin, Sharron, sitting at the kitchen table, happily chatting away. On the table, Sharron's baby girl, Amber, who he remembered his mother gushing about on a regular basis, rested in a car seat.

"Hey, mom. Hey, Sharron," Vince said as he passed them for the refrigerator. As much as his parents half joked about him eating them out of house and home, if it took him eating three apples to keep him until dinner then so be it.

"Hey, Vince! Get over here and give me a hug!" Sharron said. After grabbing the apples, her closed the fridge and was grabbed up in a hug by his cousin. "You got so big!"

"Thanks, I guess? What's going on with you?" He asked.

"I'm just visiting, you know. Getting out of the house for once after Gabrielle was born," Sharron said. "Speaking of which, I have a favor to ask."

"Yeah?" He asked. They pulled out their hug. Seeing as how the conversation wasn't going to end soon, he leaned against the nearby counter. "What is it?"

"Since this is the first time I was able to get out of the house for a while, your mother invited me out to dinner tonight, but that leaves me strapped to find a babysitter. At that's where you come in," Sharron said. "Do you mind watching Amber tonight?"

"Tonight? But I'm trying to relax tonigh—" He whining was cut short by his mother's warning glare. "Sure, I'd be happy to."

"Thanks! Don't worry, I'll give you a little money for helping me out," Sharron said.

"Oh, you don't have to do that. Vince is happy to do it for free," his mother said. He held his tongue from saying something to protest and barely held himself back from rolling his eyes. Babysitting definitely wasn't on his plan of things to do tonight, but getting paid would have made the intrusion worth it. But he could exactly say no, especially with his mother in the room. Hell, his father would've been just as strict about it.

It couldn't be so bad, right?

"We won't be leaving until 6:30, so if you need to do anything before then, you better get it done now," his mother warned. Right. He could take a nap between now and then. He nodded, and tossed the core of one of the apples away as he left the kitchen.

His room wasn't that messy, compared to what he's seen of others on his team. Yeah, there were a few things on the floor here and there, but none of it was trash or dishes, so it wasn't as bad as his parents made it out to be. Stepping over a small pile of clothes, he made his way over to his bed, next to the small shelf holding a number of trophies that he had won over the years.

He could get a good few hours of sleep before having to babysit. He kicked of his shoes and tossed his jacket across the chair at his desk. He finished off the rest of the apples before tossing the cores in the trash can and dozing off.

. . .

"Now I've fed her a few hours ago, so when she wakes up, she'll probably be hungry. There's a few bottles in the fridge, and all you have to do it warm them up and make sure it's not too hot. And there's plenty of diapers in the bag, and extra clothes, just in case."

"I got it, I got it," Vince said, reassuring his cousin. Amber slept peacefully in her carrier, the opposite of her fussing mother. "It can't be that hard, right?"

". . .Right," Sharron said. "Look, just call me if anything bad happens, alright?"

"Alright," he said.

"We should be back a couple of hours. Don't get into any trouble," his father said, giving him a stern look.

"I'm not," he said, putting his hands up in mock defense. "Mess up once and suddenly I can't do anything."

"That's what happens when you try to throw a party when we're gone, sweetheart," said his mother. "Be good."

After the door shut when they left, Vince settled on the couch, and slouched. For a moment, he considered turning on the TV, but he decided that the risk of waking up Amber and her crying wasn't worth the risk. He settled for unlocking his phone and scrolling through his various social media accounts to see what everyone else was up to tonight.

Parties, as per usual. He groan. He enjoyed going to them as much as the next person, but recently they've all been sort of meshing together, indistinguishable from one week to another. Were they having and going to them because they enjoyed them or because they felt that it was just what high schoolers did? Either way, he didn't feel like going and doing the same old, same old. Talk a little, drink a lot, and maybe or maybe not sleep with some girl. It was getting old fast.

Cringing at a picture someone posted of Ashley B. with her new boyfriend. It sure as hell didn't take her a long time to get over things, did it? He rolled his eyes and continued.

Getting wrapped up in his phones, Vince didn't notice how much time had passed when he heard the faint sound of a baby cooing. He looked down, and Amber was fighting her way to wakefulness as all babies do. He watched her ball her tiny fists and curl her toes as she peeked open one eye and closed it just as she looked at him.

"Oh, so you'd rather be asleep than see my face, huh?" Vince joked. He watched her until she was able to open her eyes and stay awake. "Nice to see you, too."

Amber promptly responded by frowning and beginning to whimper.

"No. . .no, no, no. Don't do that," he said, cringing and hoping that she would stop. She didn't, and soon enough, she was crying. "Of course."

He picked her up out of her carrier while trying to figure out what was the matter. Sharron did say that she might be hungry, so he headed right for the fridge. While he waited for the bottle to warm up in the boiling water, he tried is best to calm and soothe her, but it only seem to make her cry harder and grasp onto his shirt.

On the off chance that Amber wasn't crying because she was hungry, he searched through the diaper bag Sharron left with him. First thing her found was a binky, amongst many. He picked on and stuck it in her mouth, and at first it seemed to work. Her crying stopped and his ears was given a break. But that only last for a moment before she spat it out and continued.

"You must really be hungry," he said, checking the temperature of the milk. Deciding it was fine, he stuck the bottle in her mouth expecting it to work. He settled back on the couch, diaper bag and all.

He impressed how fast she downed the bottle. A baby's stomach couldn't have been too big, so to watch the milk go down at a fast and steady pace somewhat concerned him, but she wasn't reacting in any sort of pain, so it was safe to say that nothing was wrong. He hoped. He wasn't an expert on babies, only knowing enough to be qualified to babysit, apparently. And he doubted that.

He positioned Amber to burp her, but she was more settled on squirming and fussing the whole time. Her crying picked back up, even louder this time, and he considered calling Sharron for help. But he, Vince LaSalle, wasn't one to give up so easily, even with a baby screaming in his ears.

. . .

Approximately 30 minutes later, Vince found that throwing in the towel wasn't always a bad idea.

"Okay, but have you tried not crying?" He halfheartedly asked the baby as he bounced her on knee. For a moment, he thought about calling Sharron for help, but decided not to. When he saw her earlier, the bags under her eyes were clear as day, and she needed a break. Especially now that he had a taste of what she had dealt with. But with that in mind, he still needed some help. So who to call?

That was actually kind of an easy question to ask. He picked up his phone.

"Hello?" he heard TJ ask on the other end.

"Hey, Teej! You doing anything tonight?" Vince asked. He stepped in the kitchen, leaving Amber in her car seat in the living room.

". . . Depends. Right now I'm not—"

"Great! So can you come over?"

"Why. . .?"

"Just c'mon over. It's been a whole since we hung out, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't see why you're calling me all of a sudden. . . Is something the matter, Vince?"

"What? No, no! I just wanna hangout with one of my oldest friends, that's all."

He listened for a response, half expecting to be brushed off. Instead, he heard a tired sigh.

"Alright, fine. Fine. I'll be over in like. . .ten minutes. Okay?"

"Good! See you then."

Ending the call, he felt relieved enough to plop down on the couch and slouch back into the seat. He picked Amber back up again and continued his attempted at soothing the baby, but to no avail. The best he could do was get her down to whimpering for a few moments before picking right back up.

Ten minutes didn't pass fast enough, and when the doorbell rang, he carried Amber to the door and opened. TJ outside the door, his backpack slung over his shoulder, looking a little too tired to be there. But he was, and Vince highly appreciated it.

"Okay, so what—" TJ started at the sight of the crying baby. Vince cut him off.

"You babysit sometimes, so you're good with babies right? I need your help," said Vince. "I've tried everything and nothings worked!"

He watched TJ looked back and forth between him and Amber before closing his eyes for a second, and taking a deep breath.

"Gimme," he said, reaching out for Amber. Vince handed her over as he came in the house. "Where's the diaper bag?"

"On the couch," said Vince. "Thanks for coming over, dude."

"Mm-hmm," TJ said. Sitting on the couch, he searched through the bag while balancing Amber on his leg. "When'd you feed her?"

"About 45 minutes ago. It stopped her crying for a minute, but after she ate, she just started crying again," Vince said.

"Did you change her?" he asked. TJ didn't wait for an answer, undoing the button to her onesie. He looked in the back of her diaper. "She's clean. For now anyways. . .is she teething? Can you look in the fridge for a teething ring?"

Nodding, Vince went to the kitchen and looking the freezer. Two teething rings were sitting inside, and he starting to feel like an idiot. But how was he supposed to know she was teething? He returned to the couch with one and handed it over to TJ, who promptly stuck it in her mouth, stopping her crying almost instantly.

"Was that it? If they'd told me she was teething I could've done that myself," Vince said, joining him on the couch. "You weren't sleeping when I called, were you?"

"Ha, I haven't slept since last night. Had to pull an all-nighter for a test, then I got a message to come help set up for some kids bat mitzvah after school. . .I was on my way home when you called," said TJ. "It's fine, though. So what's her name and how'd you get stuck babysitting?"

"Her names Amber, and she's my cousins baby. My parents took her out for dinner, so here I am," said Vince. "I don't mind doing it, but I didn't expect her to cry so much."

"Oh. Well, it's not that bad. Look at her; she's adorable," he said. Poking her cheek, Amber smiled and let out a small giggle. "Look at those cheeks. She looks like a cabbage patch doll. You got any food? I'm starving."

"There's not much, but there's enough to make a pretty big sandwich," he said.

"Can you make me one? I'd do it myself but I'm entertaining a baby," said TJ. "And you wouldn't want her to start crying again, would you?"

With little room to argue, Vince found himself putting together a sandwich for the both of them, but any remanence of frustration went away with the sound of Amber's cooing and not crying.

"No, nope. This is my food," TJ said as Amber reached for his sandwich. "You can't even eat this yet. One day, but not today."

"I owe you one for this," said Vince.

"You sure do. I'll probably forget about it by tomorrow, though," he said. "So what's going on with you? You looked kind of off during your last game."

"Shit, you noticed?"

"Everyone noticed. It was kind of hard not to. The best player on the court who always makes at least half the score barely making one is hard to not notice," said TJ.

"It's this one asshole on the team. I found out he was doing steroids, so I had to tell the coach about it," Vince said. He finished his sandwich and placed the plate on the coffee table. "Looking back on it, it explains a lot."

"Geez, steroids?"

"Yep. The guy always looked like he was gonna blow, so now I know why," he said. "Now he's off the team. I dunno what'll happen after that. But this comes with being a captain. It'd help if I had a friend I was comfortable with on the team."

"I'm not joining the basketball team, Vince."

"C'mon, why not? There's no one on that team that I trust, and you're not doing anything else!"

"Trust me. I'm really busy," TJ said, readjusting Amber in his lap. "Why don't you trust anyone on your team? You're around them every day, aren't you?"

"That doesn't mean I like them. There's so full of themselves. I'll hang out with them, but I don't trust them at all," said Vince. "You'd think there be a few I could trust. At least I'm not on the football team. It's worse."

Amber's soft cooing grabbed their attention, as her head leaned against TJ's chest. She blinked slowly, and the teething ring fell out to her grasp.

"She's finally going to sleep," Vince said.

"Nope. She's not sleepy at all," said TJ. As if on cue, she blinked, determined to stay awake. Her expression changed from tired, to mad, as she started to whine.

"Please don't cry again," Vince groaned. Amber continued, balling her tiny fists. She never made it to the point of crying, just grunts that someone would associate with pain. Or being fussy. But Vince didn't like either one.

"Relax. She's just pooping," said TJ. "I've babysat enough to know this face. You know how to change a diaper, right?"

". . . Sure."

"You don't."

"I do! In theory."

"This sounds like something you should've told your cousin before they left for a few hours," he said. "You're helping."

#

The whole event in changing Amber's diaper was longer than it needed to be, in both boys opinion. Trying to keep a squirmy 5 month still enough to clean her proved to be a challenge. A challenge, but not one either of them had to the option to back out of.

"She's small. How-?"

"Babies are mysterious creatures, Vince."

"Right."

"Vince."

"Huh?"

"She's a girl. You wipe front to back."

"Got it."

"Don't forget the butt paste."

". . .What?"

"I found it in the diaper bag. You use it when you see a diaper rash coming on. Her butts kinda red. Use it."

"O-okay."

"More than that."

"Why aren't you doing this, then? You know a lot more than I do!"

"I got her to stop crying, alright? You can do this."

"Apparently you don't think so."

"Yes I do. I'm just here for moral support."

"Uh-huh."

"Don't forget the baby powder."

"I know that much, geez."

Once it was over, Amber was a happy baby, crawling on the floor with a nice clean diaper on her butt. While she crawled and played with a number of toys pulled out of the diaper bag while they settled back on the couch. There wasn't much conversation taking place, with Vince on his phone, occasionally looking to check on Amber, and TJ, who decided to get a head start on his homework, since he wasn't going to get any sleep any time soon.

The only sound that interrupted their silence was Ambers cooing or the notifications on their phones.

"Hey Vince?" TJ asked. He looked up from his phone that had been going off multiple times a minute.

"Huh?"

"What's going on with you and Ashley Q.?" He asked.

"Oh my God. You've been listening to that, too?" Vince groaned.

"At school, no. Over one of the Ashley's houses, yeah," said TJ. He closed his textbook and placed it back in his bag. "And now. They're texting me."

". . .Why are you over their houses?"

"They ask me to be," he said.

"Why?"

"Usually for sleepovers."

". . .Why?"

"I dunno. I don't really stay for longer than an hour. And their moms don't mind. I think Ashley A.'s mom wants us to get married," he said. "But don't change the subject. What's with you and Ashley Q.?"

"The hell if I know," said Vince. He tossed his phone aside, and leaned against the arm of the couch. "I was out sick the week everything happened, so I have no idea. When I came back I was out of a girlfriend."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. The way she's saying sounds like you did something on purpose," TJ said. "She said that you said to somebody that all the more popular kids were stuck up and full of themselves and I guess that that got spun around to you thinking you were better than everyone else? I dunno. I don't get involved in stuff like that."

"Then why even bother listening?" Vince moaned. He huffed, and if he didn't feel tired before, he felt like he could sleep for a couple of days. School drama; something he didn't want to get sucked into. Life was just fine without all of that mess. Why did people have to make things so complicated?

"They like rambling to me about stuff like this. So is that why you two broke up?" TJ asked. Amber tugging at his pant leg caught his attention and he scooped her up into his arms.

"Uh-huh. I think she took at as me thinking I was better than her. Based on what you've just told me," said Vince. "I don't feel like talking about this, Teej. It gives me a headache after five minutes just thinking about it."

"Okay. I was just curious. Anybody who paid attention could tell you really liked her," he said.

". . .Yeah. But we're in high school. It wasn't like we were going to get married or anything," Vince said. The phone ringing cut into their conversation. He left the two of them on the couch to answer the phone in the kitchen. "Hello?"

"Hey, Vince. I'm just calling in to check on things," Sharron said on the other end. "Is everything going okay?"

"Yep. Everything just fine," he said. "Nothing to worry about."

"That's good. I know Amber can be a handful sometimes," she said. "If everything's going fine, then I'll get back to your parents. The almost didn't want me to check up on you two. See you in a few hours."

Returning to the living room, he grabbed the TV remote and started looking for something to watch.

"Who was that?"

"My cousin, Amber's mom," Vince said. "Just calling in to check up on her. I feel like watching a movie. I dunno what's on though. Probably nothing good."

"Look for something colorful. It'll get her attention," said TJ. "Maybe Toy Story or something."

"Shit, we have that on DVD."

. . . .

Somewhere between scenes, Vince had dozed off, complete with the line of drool down his chin as he slouched on the couch. Wiping her chin, he cleared his throat and looked around him. The movie had returned to the menu screen, repeating the same animations and music until someone came along and either selected something or turned the DVD player off. When feeling around for the remote, he noticed that he was alone in the living room. Turning off the DVD player and TV, he stood up and looked in the kitchen, nothing.

"Where'd he go?" He asked himself. He turned, and headed upstairs and towards his room, the only other place he thought TJ would go to. As he reached his door, he heard Amber's whimpering along with what sounded like some sort of lullaby? He wasn't sure but it definitely sounded like some sort of light sing-song-y voice. Curious, he avoided the creaky parts of the floorboards to reach the door to his room and listened closely.

"Ich fange für dich die Wolken,
dass die Sonne immer strahlt.

Ich werde sie überreden,
sie soll es in den Himmel malen.

Für dich stehle ich die Uhren,
halt die Zeiger alle fest.

Die Zeit soll nie vergehen,
damit du immer bei mir bist."

He covered his mouth as he held back a snicker. Hearing TJ sing some sort of German lullaby wasn't something he expected to encounter tonight. Or ever, really.

It was. . .weird to say the least.

The door to his room creaked as he opened it. He was met with the sight of TJ sitting on his bed, holding Amber as he tried to get her to fall asleep, though she was fighting it with all the stubbornness and determination of a five month old. It was just only beginning to work by the looks of it. TJ looked up as he entered.

"Hey, whats up?" He asked, entering.

"Just trying to get her to fall asleep," said TJ. "She really doesn't want to. I mean I've babysat more stubborn babies, but still."

"So you thought a lullaby would help?" Vince asked jokingly. TJ responded by looking away and blushing from embarrassment.

"You heard that, huh?" He asked. "It was all I could think of to help her sleep. It usually works."

"It's fine. I'd do the same if I knew any lullabies," said Vince. He couldn't help but let out a smirk that time.

"Stop laughing at me."

"I'm not laughing. I'm really not," he said, calming himself down. He sat on the floor next to his bed, leaning against it. "Go ahead. Keep singing it, if it'll get her to sleep."

". . .Why, so you can make jokes?"

"I'm serious. I'm not gonna laugh,' said Vince. He grabbed the charger to his phone and plugged it. "Go ahead. Keep singing her to sleep."

There was pause as TJ judged whether or not to continue. But given how tired they both were, he was going to do anything to get Amber to sleep.

"Ich hab dich lieb, bin so froh dass es dich gibt,

in der großen weiten Welt gibt's nur dich für mich.

Ich hab dich lieb, bin so froh dass es dich gibt,

ich bin immer für dich da, du bist mein Star."

All jokes aside it wasn't a bad sounding song at all. The laughing came more from surprise that the actual song itself. Sure Vince didn't know what the fuck he was saying or anything (though he could ask), but he could see how a baby or little kid could fall asleep to it. Hell, he was starting to doze off again. Ha.

. . .

. . .Was it weird to enjoy the sound of another guys voice?

Hearing the learned sound of the front door being the unlocked and opened, definitely knocked the sleep out of him. He stood up and stretched, ready to hand Amber back over to her mother. The two headed downstairs where his parents and cousin were taking their jackets off.

"Hey, how was dinner?" Vince asked as he came down.

"It was good. But the food could've been better," his mother said. After his father took her jacket, she looked at him, then behind him. "TJ, what are you doing here?"

"Vince asked me to come over, ma'am. He needed some help with Amber so I came over," said TJ.

"Oh no. She wasn't much trouble was she?" Sharron asked.

"No. I babysit a lot so I was used to it."

"Still, I should pay you something."

"How come he gets paid and I don't?" Vince asked.

"Because he wasn't the one that we asked to babysit," his father said as he closed the front closet. "You were."

"I needed a little help and TJ babysits a lot so I asked him to come over," he said. "It wasn't just anybody."

"Hey, Vince. I'm going out to get a burger. You wanna come?" TJ asked when he came back into the front hall, without Amber in hand. Vince looked to his parents for an answer. They were already sort of upset at him, and he didn't want to push it. A burger did sound good though. Yeah he should be trying to stay away from junk food to stay on top of him game but what harm could one greasy burger do?

"Alright, go. But don't stay out late," his mother said.

"Thanks, mom."

. . .

"So how much did she pay you?"

They walked down to one of the more popular fast food places, not too far down the street from Kelso's. Not too far to walk or call for a bus ride, but not too close to make the walk not worth it in favor of staying and cooking something at home.

"50 dollars," TJ said.

"Oh, so you're paying then?" Vince asked.

"Yeah? I thought it was implied. I asked," he said.

"Good, 'cause I can eat right now," said Vince as they arrived.

The place wasn't empty but it wasn't brimming with people like it usually did after school either. With the classic diner layout, it was old appealing to both those who liked the feel of nostalgia or the aesthetic. They recognized a few people from their school eating and minding their own business. Unfortunately that included the Ashley's in one of the booths sipping on milkshakes.

"Really didn't feel like seeing them today," Vince said as they sat at the counter.

"Huh? Oh the Ashley's?" TJ asked. "You wanna go somewhere else?"

"Nah. We're already here, and I don't feel like going to the next place," he said.

"Hey, what can I get for the two of you?" The waitress, her name tag read Erica, asked.

"I'll just have a deluxe burger with everything on it," Vince asked.

"I'll have the same," TJ said, not bothering to look at the menu. "Hey, Vince?"

"Huh?"

"I know you and Ashley Q. broke up on a bad note and everything, and the chances of you two getting back together are almost nothing, but if you could say something to clear things up, would you?"

"I guess so. Why?"

"Just curious. You seem like the kind of guy who'd be bothered by something like that," said TJ. "I think you should go talk to her."

"Why now?" Vince groaned. "I'm just trying to eat, Teej."

"No time like the present," he said. "I'll be right back."

Vince huffed and put his elbow on the counter, resting his head in his hand as TJ stood up and walked to the booth where the Ashley's sat. Him clearing things up with Ashley Q. wasn't on his list of things to do tonight, or anytime soon. But definitely not tonight. But what the hell, right? He was doing a lot of things he didn't expect to do tonight, anyways. Oh well. It couldn't end too bad, right? Besides, TJ was the only person her trusted with this sort of thing. Or much at all.

. . .Huh.

"Alright, she says she'll talk to you," TJ said when he came back over. Ashley Q. came with him, with her arms folded and pouting a bit.

"Right. Okay," Vince said. "Um, outside? I don't want things to escalate in here."

"Fine," Ashley Q. said. She followed him outside and out of sight of anyone who might watch through the front window. "So? What is it?"

"I need to talk about these rumors that's been going around," he said.

"Oh, so now you want to talk? You didn't want to talk a month ago!" She said.

"You wouldn't let me get a word in!" He said. "Listen, I don't know who started those rumors but it wasn't me! I never said I was better than anyone, and I don't think I am! I never said anything like that."

She folded her arms again and adjusted her weight onto her other foot as she looked at him, judging whether or not to believe him.

"Look, the closest thing I could have possibility said that even comes close to that it that is that I have trouble trusting people," he said.

"So you didn't trust me?!"

"Yes! I trusted you! You're one of the few people at school that I trust. Or trusted at all," he said. "I don't care enough to start this kind of drama, alright? I just wanted you to know that I never said what everyone else is saying I said."

"Alright," she said with a huff. "Fine, whatever. Are we done now?"

Without waiting for an answer, she turned on her heels and went back inside. It almost felt like talking to her wasn't worth it at all. Still, he felt a little better afterwards, now that he added his own words, and there wasn't much more he could do about what others were going to think. They were going to think whatever they wanted to. Whether or not they believed him was their problem.

"How'd it go?" TJ asked when he returned.

"It went," said Vince. He tossed a fry in his mouth before sitting down. "It went just as well as I thought it would go."

"Are you two back together?"

"No, but I didn't expect us to be," he said in between bites. He paused. "But it's okay. Besides, I think I found someone else I'm interested in."

. . .

Arriving home, all of those hours of missed sleep finally fell on his shoulders, and he couldn't get to bed quick enough. The lack of conversation in the house told him that his parents had gone to bed and Sharron had gone home. He kicked his shoes off and changed into pajamas (honestly a shower could wait until the morning), and landed on his bed. Sleep followed soon after.