26. Friendships

Sure thing, Tom kissing  me out of nowhere like that was a strange phenomenon, but why was Billy  mad about it? He stormed out of there like a toddler throwing a tantrum  because somebody had stolen his toy.

Was  he being protective of me? No, because he ran away and didn't come to  'protect' me. Was he being... jealous? Maybe... he caught feelings for  Tom now that he knew the truth? I can't find a reasonable explanation  for this.

"Billy, wait," I called out to him, but it was no use. You can't reason with a child.

"Let him," Tom grabbed me by the arm. "he can be mad as much as he likes. You're free to kiss whoever you want to."

"Look,  Tom, I don't know what got into you back there," I said, "and as hot as  you are, I'm gonna need to leave your blonde ass here so that I can  talk to Billy."

"Why  do you care so much about him anyway?" asked Tom angrily. "Why, do you  like him more than me or something? He isn't even gay. Save yourself the  trouble of the heartbreak I had to go through~"

"I  don't like him," it's true. Apart from friendship, I feel no other  intimate connection to Billy whatsoever. "But he is my friend, and I  don't want to lose him. I need to find out why he did whatever he did  back there."

"Fine.  Do whatever you want. Go and dump the person that actually wants you,"  there was a hint of sadness in his words. I do like him, but I really  have to salvage my friendship.

"We'll talk about this."

"Yeah,  right," now he was the one being immature. Why do these people have to  always act like that? You're all over 18, legally an adult. What is  wrong with you people?

I  saw Billy leaving through the back doors of the school. I guess he was  gonna ditch school since he couldn't stand being in the same school  where he saw me kissing Tom.

"Billy!", I called out to him. "Billy! Wait up!"

He  ignored me. Of course, he was giving me the silent treatment. He didn't  know how to communicate his feelings and emotions, so it was no  surprise he was doing something like that. "Billy, stop acting like a  child and talk to me!"

"What?", Bully turned to face me swiftly, "What do you want, Nate?"

"What's the problem?", I asked. I really didn't know what I did wrong.

"'What's the problem?', seriously? That's all you have to say?", his words were as hot as magma.

"Yeah.  I don't get why you're acting this way. I didn't do anything wrong, did  I? I just kissed somebody. And for the record, he kissed me first. I  just acted reflexively."

"I...I'm  sorry, but after what he did to me...", oh. I never thought about it  that way. "It was unreasonable of me to act this way," Billy apologized,  "B-but... when I was you with him... I thought he'd taken you. I... I  thought that I lost you. I thought that I lost my only friend. I mean  because of him I lost my girlfriend and I couldn't bear the thought of  losing you...", he continued with a pinch of sadness in his voice.