Page 50 of The Friend Scheme
“Well, um. I wasn’t good enough.”
“But you’ve won so much! I saw all your trophies.”
“Yeah, but that’s minor leagues. I tried to play at nationals and got spanked. It was bad, dude. You have no idea.”
Tears fill his eyes, but he blinks them away.
“Oh man, I’m sorry. That really sucks.”
He runs a hand though his hair. “You know, nobody has ever said that before? Normally people just get mad that I messed up. Like if I’d just been better, I would’ve won. They didn’t know I gave it everything I had, and even though I did, I wasn’t good enough. People seem to have a hard time wrapping their head around that. Sometimes, people just aren’t good enough. I lost a few friends over it, actually. They only liked me because they thought I was going to be a big deal.”
“They sound like assholes.”
“I mean, I don’t disagree.”
He clearly is pretty torn up about it.
“And for the record, I don’t care if you win or lose,” I say. “If you become a big deal, I’ll be happy for you. But you don’t need to for me to be friends with you.”
“Thanks, Matt. That means a lot; you have no idea.”
Now I feel like I know Jason a little better. What I felt on the rooftop feels so distant. I can trust him. He’s just a guy, and we have a lot in common. It makes sense that he’d want to be friends with me.
He doesn’t have an ulterior motive. That’s just my stupid paranoid brain talking.
Still, I can keep my wits about me. We can get close without me talking about my family. I already feel like I know so much about him, and I hope he feels the same way about me.
So what if I don’t know his last name?
It’s just a word, right?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
We end up playingSmash Bros.for about an hour. Again, it takes me a while to get over the nerves, but now I feel like I’ve settled into a comfortable groove with him. I just feel like we mesh really well. I can be myself around him, and he seems to like it.
I haven’t mentioned my sexuality again, but I know that he knows.
This is so new. And so freaking awesome.
After Jason wins yet again, he turns to me.
“Hey, do you wanna go for a swim?”
It’s pretty hot out. Even in the AC, my shirt is stuck to my back.
Plus, if we go swimming, I’d get to see him shirtless.
There’s one small problem, though.
“Yeah, but I didn’t bring any trunks,” I say. “Sorry, I didn’t think.”
“Dude, I’ve already seen you in your underwear, it’s fine. Or you could borrow some of mine, if you want?”
“I…”
He pushes my leg. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to. We can keep playing.”
“No, I want to. Is it weird to borrow your clothes, though?”
