Fixing The Scatter [boyxboy]

Fixing The Scatter {11}

"Jude, really, why are we eating outside?" Landon asked me.

I kept my eyes closed, my hands folded behind my head. I was lying on one of the picnic tables outside. It was nice out and the sun was shining down on me, warming my exposed skin.

"Because it's nice out," I said.

"You sound like your dad," Nate said.

"Shut up." I heard birds in the nearby trees calling to each other and thought of Staz with his weird bird obsession.

"Really though, why are we outside?" Landon asked. "You're avoiding something."

"Not something. Someone," I said. "Toby, to be more specific. I don't want to deal with him."

"Hate to break your heart Jude, but here I am."

I opened my eyes, my gaze falling on Toby as he approached the picnic table. He stopped in front of me, grinning a little. Toby tended to act like a bubbly, thoughtless idiot. But he was incredibly sharp and cunning. It he didn't have such a good heart, he'd be even more ruthless and dangerous than I was.

"I'm not in the mood for you," I warned.

"I don't care." He leaned against the table. "Jude, I'm not stupid. I know you're the one who tore Staz's drawings. I talked to the art teacher, Mrs. Van, and she said she's come in twice now to find Staz hysterical because something threw off his schedule. She said he spends almost every lunch period in the art room drawing, and if something throws him off of that routine, he freaks out. So that means that not only have you been tearing his art, you've also been going in there. That explains where you three have been disappearing off to."

"Yea? And what are you going to do about it?" I challenged. "You can go ahead and tell on us, but I'm sure your father would love to know all the guys you've been fucking."

Toby gave me an easy smile. "All three of them, yes. Unlike you, I'm not afraid of my parents. And anyways, I'm not telling on you. But if you keep giving Staz problems, I will make sure you get caught. He's a good kid. He already gets bullied enough. I've let your bullying slide a lot, Jude. But not when it comes to Staz."

"Why do you care so much about Staz?" I asked in annoyance.

Toby shrugged. "I saw some guys picking on him a few years ago and chased them off. Staz and I got talking a little. He's a nice kid and people are assholes to him for no reason. He just wants to be left alone."

"You know who else wants to be left alone? Me," I said. "Goodbye, Tobias."

"I won't be happy if you keep messing with Staz," Toby said in the cheerful tone that I despised.

"And if you keep annoying us, we won't be happy," Nate said in irritation.

"I'm not afraid of the three of you. I could outsmart you in my sleep," Toby said, his voice pleasantly threatening. "I'll see you later."

He disappeared back into the school and I let out an annoyed sigh. "We're going to get him back for that."

"Jude, no," Nate said sternly. "Not Toby. He has connections we don't want to mess with. I know you can't stand him right now, but going after him is getting in over your head and you know it."