Page 100 of When Ben Loved Tim

“Hey, you came to my rescue too,” I say easily.

I’m relieved when class starts. Keeping up the cheerful act is too much right now. The bell rings an hour later. I pretend there’s someone I’m supposed to meet and leave in a hurry. Although it makes me feel a little better when I see Danny put on the hat again.

I meet my best friend in the parking lot. Allison takes one look at me and can tell something is wrong. We drive around while I rant and rave about how fucked up the whole mess is. I refuse to go home. I don’t want Tim to be able to find me. When I’m in my bedroom later that night, I turn my phone’s ringer off and toss it into the closet, so I won’t be tempted to call, even if it’s just to yell at him for being such a jerk.

I should probably throw the painting he gave me in there too. I’m looking at it when I hear something hit my bedroom window. I scowl and roll into bed despite still being fully dressed. Even covering my head with a pillow doesn’t help. I can still hear him pelting my window, trying to get my attention. I clench my jaw a few times before my anger gets the best of me. I shove the pillow away and march outside.

“What do you want?” I demand when turning the corner of my house.

Tim winces at the volume of my voice. “Can we go up to your room or something?” he whispers.

“No!” I shout. “Are you kidding me?”

“Are your parents awake?” he asks, glancing at the house with apprehension.

I huff at his concerned expression. He sure does care… about himself. But he’s right. I’m angry at him, not my parents, who don’t deserve to get woken up. “Fine,” I say before returning to the front of the house, where they’re less likely to hear us. I don’t bother checking to see if he follows me. I couldn’t care less. But he’s there when I spin around again, so I cross my arms over my chest. “Well?”

“I’m sorry,” Tim says.

“For what?” I demand. “Getting caught? Letting me see your true colors?”

“That’snotwho I am,” Tim says, sounding defensive.

“Then why’d you do it?” I spit. “How come you felt the need to gang up on someone who has never done anything to you?”

“I didn’t want to.”

“And yet you did.”

“It’s not like we were pushing him around or anything,” Tim grumbles.

“That’s true,” I say sarcastically. “Danny was obviously having a blast. Did you know that his estranged father gave him that hat? Which seems like a pretty hokey gift to me, but it obviously means something to him, or he wouldn’t take it to school just so he can wear it between classes. But hey, that’s not okay with you and your friends, so it’s a good thing you made him feel like shit.”

“I sure as hell didn’t feel good about it!” Tim snarls.

“Then why didn’t you do something?”

“Because I don’t need my fucking friends turning on me!”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You can’t blame everything on the lies your ex-girlfriend spread about you. And itdefinitelydoesn’t give you the right to torment other people!”

“You don’t get it,” Tim says, rolling his eyes. “Why do you think we moved here?”

I shake my head, not understanding.

Tim takes a deep breath. “My dad was talking about hiring someone to sort out the office down here. My parents didn’t say a damn thing about us moving. Not until Carla went around telling people that I raped her. That’s when the plan changed. All of a sudden we were moving. When I asked my dad why…” Tim scowls off into the distance. Then he swallows. “He just said, ‘Why do you think?’ You should have seen the look he gave me, like it was all my fault.”

“Okay,” I say, wrapping my arms around myself to stay warm. “But you refusing to pick on someone is completely different than getting falsely accused of rape.”

Tim notices me shivering. “How come you’re not wearing the coat I gave you?”

“Why do you think?” I say snidely.

Tim glowers at me, but his anger doesn’t last long. “You should put something on.” He reaches for my hands. “You look cold.”

“I’m fine.” I pull away from him with a glare. “I’m about to go back inside. Without you.”

“Wait!” Tim takes a step toward me. “Have you ever heard of that popular kid who used to go to our school? Fuck! What’s his name? It was something old-fashioned, like Theodore.”