Pretty girl is suffering while he confesses everything
Pretty soon she'll figure out what his intentions were about
And that's what you get for falling again
You can never get 'em out of your head
And that's what you get for falling again
You can never get 'em out of your head
Tristan walked slowly into his room. He looked around, swallowing the lump in his throat before tossing his bag onto the unoccupied bed. There were two day-bed size mattresses raised two feet off the hard floor, and he didn't have to look twice to know that he would likely feel that he was sleeping on springs. The room was small, and the only things in it were the beds, two sets of dressers, two desks, two lamps, a mirror, and a window. Oh, and the dark skinned sixteen year old boy lounging in a red bean bag chair.
He looked up when Tristan entered. "Hey, I'm Rick."
He nodded, "Tristan."
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen. You?"
He nodded, "Same." Tristan looked around the room, breathing in deeply and sighing, it was gonna drag on and on. "Where you from?" Rick asked, removing the headphones that had previously been resting around his neck.
"Connecticut." Rick snorted, scratching the back of his head. Tristan turned to face him,
"What?"
"Nothing. I figured you were a trust fund baby."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He held his hands up quickly, "No offense intended. It's just that a lot of guys are here because of court order, some are here cause their family is in the military, and some are here as an alternative to boarding school." he crossed his arms, "Most of them don't make it through hell week. They call home to mommy and daddy who just ship them off to another continent so someone else can deal with them."
Tristan nodded, this guy actually seemed surprisingly likeable, "Is that so?"
"Yeah. See, I figured you were money cause for one, you don't strike me as the criminal type. Two: if your family were in the military then you would've been here way before now, and three: your shoes are a little nicer than your average petty criminal."
Tristan leaned against the wall, watching Rick look him up and down, "You don't think I'll make it here."
He shrugged, "Money. This isn't boarding school, blondie. Money doesn't mean shit here."
"No shit. And I didn't come here as an alternative for boarding school."
He looked surprised, "No?"
"No."
"So then your family's in the military?"
Tristan's laugh was light and humorless as he turned to face his roommate, "No."
"Then you're a criminal?"
"That's not it either."
Rick looked surprised, and maybe a little confused, "What, were you getting into trouble and your parents decided to send you here or something?"
Tristan looked out the window, "Not really. More of I went off on my dad and I ended up here."he looked down, trying not to think of Rory. It wouldn't do him any good.
Rick nodded as if he understood, and he let the first subject go for the moment "What's her name?"
Tristan looked back up at him, "Whose name?"
He hitched his jaw towards the blonde, "Your girl. The one you left behind."
He sat on the bed, his back against the wall, "No girl."
Rick smiled knowingly, "Yeah there is. Look, I've gone to this school for roughly five years. Now, in five years, you're probably my eighth roommate. Fifth greenie. I can tell when a guy leaves a girl behind. You've got that look."
"That look?" he asked, smirking.
"Yeah, that look. The look of missing someone. The look of having had someone. The look of loss and pain. The look of love, of leaving behind your one true love and dear god, how will you ever live without her?" he finished dramatically, smiling at himself. The sarcasm was thick in his little speech.
"And I have that look?" Tristan asked.
Rick shrugged, "Well, you have a look similar to that. So what's the story, morning glory?"
Tristan scratched the back of his head, "No story. I lost her."
"You lost her?"
"I broke it off with her."
"Why's that?"
"She doesn't need a boyfriend all the way in North Carolina."
Rick nodded, "Just thinking of her on that one, eh?"
"You don't understand. It's not like I wanted to end it."
"So why did you?"
He shook his head, "She's the reason I'm here."
Rick's eyebrows shot up, "Huh?"
"My mom hates her mother, and instead of hating them as much as she does, I wind up dating her and becoming friends with her brother. Needless to say my parents weren't thrilled. And then I shot off at my dad when he said something about her and here I am."
"So you're here because your parents don't like your girlfriend?"
"Pretty much."
"Man, that's harsh. And I thought I had it bad."
Tristan looked over at him, "What are you in here for?"
He shook his head, "I don't usually tell new roommates this, but I like you for some reason." he shrugged, "I've been here since sixth grade. But see, when I was in fifth grade my mom died and my pop didn't wanna deal with me, so he just ignored me. You know I'm just like, fine. Whatever, fuck you. I don't need this. So I start hanging out with these older guys, and before you know it they've got me as their little delivery boy. Now, keep in mind this was before I knew what coke was."
Tristan started laughing, "I can see where this is going."
Rick grinned, laughing lightly, "Shutup. But like, whatever, I thought it was sugar. So one day I'm at one of the guys' houses and I wanna make Kool-Aid-" Tristan started laughing again and Rick leaned back in his chair, "-the cops busted their house that night and took me away from my grandpa. They had no clue who my biological father was, so I went to a foster home. Then they found my dad through my mom's sister who'd known him growing up. So I go to live with him and it's all great, but get this, he's a coke head. Just my luck, right? So I start getting in trouble once I move in with him cause he just doesn't give a shit. In sixth grade I got me a car-"
Tristan cut him off, "Wait, you mean you got a car as in..."
Rick shrugged, "I'm from Atlanta. I love parking lots." Tristan laughed, but didn't say anything else. "So anyway, I get a car and the bastard reports it and gives a description of me cause apparently I wasn't as stealthy as I thought I was. And since the drug thing the year before I have a record. So they check my dad's house, find his stash, he's in the penitentiary, and it's either here or juvi for me."
Tristan nodded, wide eyed, "Wow. I can see why you wouldn't tell that to someone you'd just met."
Rick smirked, "Yeah. It's great, right?"
He laughed, "Yeah."
CONNECTICUT
Rory opened the door to her classroom and closed it quietly, hoping that the teacher wouldn't notice. She slid into a chair at the last lab table, next to a girl that she didn't really talk to, but knew as Rebecca. The girl smiled at Rory, and she smiled back, tucking her hair behind her ear. She was pulling her notebook out when the teacher called, "Miss Hayden, how nice of you to join us."
"Sorry, I slept in."
"Yes well, let's try to be a little more punctual from now on, yes?"
She nodded, "Yes ma'am." the teacher finished explaining what she wanted them to do, and Rory pulled out her text book, opening it up to the right page. She was half way through the section when Rebecca tapped her on the shoulder. Rory turned to look at her, "Yeah?"
"I like your necklace."
Rory touched the diamond heart lightly, "Oh, thanks."
"Where did you get it?"
She looked down at her paper, "Tristan got it for me."
The girl smiled, "You two are so adorable. I've always wished I had a guy that treated me the way Tristan treats you."
Rory turned to look at her, taken aback, "What?"
Rebecca got a far off look, grinning, "I mean, like, in the halls. He always puts his arm around you...really protective. And then at parties he doesn't go off and act like an asshole, but he stays with you. And it's weird because he's protective to where he could kill somebody, but he's not possessive enough that he freaks out if you talk to another guy. Like at David's party, I was right there when that fight started. Nathan said something about you...I can't remember exactly what. But when he did, Tristan turned around and you could just see him go into protective mode. It was really sweet. I've just always wished I had a guy like that. It was obvious when you first started here that he was crazy about you. And now, well, you can just see that he loves you" Rebecca smiled, "And you aren't so good at hiding it either."
Rory nodded, fighting back the tears that were pushing against the back of her eyes. She felt as if she'd just been punched in the stomach. "Wow."she said quietly, she swallowed the lump in her throat, "Um, I have to go to the bathroom. So I'll be right back." she slid off of the stool and onto shaking legs. She made her way slowly to the teacher's desk, "Can I use the restroom?" she asked quietly. The teacher nodded, going back to her work. Rory left the classroom, closing the door behind her quietly. She walked down the hall, and walked slowly into the bathroom,leaning against the tiled wall. Her head dropped and she inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. She crossed her arms and slid to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest as silent tears slid down her cheeks and onto the floor.
Pretty girl is suffering while he confesses everything
Pretty soon she'll figure out
You can never get 'em out of your head
It's the way
That he makes you cry
It's the way
That he's in your mind
It's the way
That he makes you fall in love