5' 8"-5' 9"
Noah didn't look back when Ethan screamed something at his back, but not because he thought he was a tough guy from a thriller who was too cool to look at the explosion. However, if he did turn around, Thomson would simply tell by looking at his face that Morgan was just acting like a bold guy, when in reality he was an innocent flower that felt anxious just by saying 'jerk off' out loud. As soon as Noah left Ethan's car, he immediately regretted things he had said. The idea itself still seemed okay. If Morgan wanted Ethan to work to overcome his boundaries that he had built all by himself, he would need to motivate him well. Noah hoped that Ethan was interested in him so much he could actually become that motivation. But what would he do when (not if, no, when) Thomson does his part of the deal? Noah started to feel sick because of this thought, so he stopped half-way to the class, where the lecture was about to begin.
'Don't panic,' Morgan told himself. 'He wouldn't do it immediately, after all. You have time to prepare.'
However, were there any specific instructions on how to prepare for that kind of situation, mentally or physically? Especially mentally? Thomson had better asked for a blowj... No, it actually wasn't better. At least he could read something about it on gay forums online. There were probably hundreds of posts like, 'I know nothing about oral sex, and I don't want to screw it with my boyfriend! Help!' And, of course, there were probably no threads under the heading 'How can I masturbate attractively in front of my boyfriend?' There were none! Or maybe Noah just didn't look well? His gut kept telling him that there were not so many people who had ever faced that problem. Usually, people would request something like that from their partner after a while of being together, when classical ways of satisfying each other would start to become boring. By that time, people would know each other well enough to open up easily, not worrying about a funny face they might make or how awkward they might look. Noah and Ethan, apparently, decided to ignore the classics, getting straight to exotics. Thomson's choice was more than reasonable. It was unclear how Noah was supposed to do it and not die from embarrassment and not become a total fool. It was definitely a million-dollar question.
Noah was also ashamed of his inexperience. The virginity was pictured to be a treasure, which was happily and proudly accepted by a lover, only in romantic fairy tales. Things were a little different in reality. Matthew once mentioned in the middle of their relationship, "I knew I shouldn't have dealt with a virgin." He said it in a joke-like manner, so Noah decided that the guy was just mocking him a bit. Later, however, when he was browsing gay forums, Morgan found out the unpleasant truth. A lot of people, due to clear reasons, were trying to find a partner with experience, avoiding the virgins. Some of them didn't want to teach them; others worried that, whenever they would finally be able to get physical with a virgin partner, they would already turn old. There were also those who were simply afraid of inexperience and possible injuries they might occur (mostly, those fears were torturing those who were looking for an active partner). Experience was important all around, whether you were looking for a job or trying to build a relationship.
In spite of himself, Noah smiled at this analogy and decided to continue his way towards the class. Morgan could be happy, at least because he was a professional in theory. Man, he read about everything. He saw everything. If someone decided to wake him up in the middle of the night and ask some sex-related question, he would spill out tons of information. However, Thomson wouldn't probably examine Noah on the topic of sex. Morgan wouldn't have to be tested; he wouldn't have to go through a quiz or extra questions. The only perspective possible was practical tasks, which Noah was afraid to fail. No, Ethan wouldn't try to get into his pants the day after they'd started their relationship. He wouldn't do it not because of his issues but because Morgan had already told him about his previous unpleasant experience. However, sooner or later, Ethan would have to get into Noah's pants! So, by that time, Morgan had to be prepared.
Before meeting Thomson, Noah had once or twice thought about trying anal…well, solo. However, he had never managed to buy the toy for it, despite even trying twice. The first time Noah hadn't had the guts to even enter the sex shop. The second time, sadder but wiser, Noah had gotten onto the website to order it online, but then he wasn't man enough to write down his address for the delivery. Maybe he should've used some other available materials? No, thank you. He couldn't even use his finger. So how did he even agree on masturbating in front of Ethan when he couldn't even put his own finger up his own ass when he was alone? Speaking of which, whenever he would masturbate, he would do it in the bathroom with the door shut, since he was embarrassed of cats. He would also do it with his eyes closed because he was embarrassed of himself. What was he even thinking?! HUH???
"What's up with the face?" Scot asked, frowning and critically looking at Morgan from top to bottom as soon as he stepped into the classroom.
"The usual face," Noah mumbled, taking the chair next to his friend.
"Did Ethan suggest you do some sort of nasty stuff?"
Right at a point.
"No, of course not!"
"You know that you don't have to do anything you don't want to, do you?" Scott asked carefully.
"Sure," Noah said through his teeth.
"And if your rejection ruins your relationship, then it was some bullshit, not the actual relationship?"
"Scott, enough. Ethan doesn't make me do anything!"
"Then he suggested you do something you would like to, but feel too shy to do, am I right?"
'Who the fuck has the Devil's Eye? Me or you?!'
"Cut the crap! Ethan and I haven't even been dating for twenty-four hours! What the hell do you think of us?!"
"I think nothing bad about you, and I think nothing good about Thomson. Then how's it connected to your facial expression?"
"What's wrong with my face?"
"You look happy, confused and puzzled all at the same time."
"Because I am happy, confused and puzzled!"
"You're happy because you're dating. You're confused by Thomson's proposal. You're puzzled thinking about how to make his wish come true. Did I get everything right?"
"No!"
Yes…
"Why do you have to object to something so obvious?"
"Because it's not true! We haven't even kissed yet!" Noah rattled. Scott made a distrustful face.
"I hope you're joking."
"No."
"And Thomson is fine with you being such a touch-me-not?"
Noah wasn't the one to be the touch-me-not. But yes, Morgan did accept that. So what?
"We started dating yesterday. What do you want from us?" he mumbled, scratching his neck nervously.
"Oh, so you're telling me you just went home after deciding to start dating? Or maybe you were holding hands like back in preschool?"
Holding hands…
"If Andrea decided to date me, I would kiss her until she let me do so. I would grab her in my arms, make her sit in my lap, and I would hug and hug and hug her!" Scott suddenly shared his fantasy. "I would go crazy about her."
"No surprise, considering how long you have had a crush on her," Noah mumbled, feeling suddenly slightly jealous. He also wanted Ethan to dream about him the way Scott dreamt about Andrea. He also wanted to be sat in someone's lap and be forced to make out.
"Who cares about it? Love is love. If you're in love, you want to be together with that person; you want to touch them, kiss them, and, of course fu… Well, you know."
"But love isn't always about being physical," Morgan was desperately trying to defend their relationship together with Ethan, even though Scott was completely clueless. "Asexuals, for example, don't think physical contact is important," Noah noticed reasonably.
"Since when you became asexual?" Scott narrowed his eyes.
"I'm not talking about me."
"Then don't even try to persuade me you're talking about Thomson."
"No. I just gave an example. Besides, I don't get why you're being so judgmental towards Ethan. He's not asexual, but he could've been!"
"Then his eyes wouldn't speak how horny he was and how he would want to fuck you every time he looked at you," Scott grunted, crossing his arms and starting to rock on his chair.
"He's not!.." Noah felt confused, but he was also glad. There was indeed that sexual tension between him and Ethan after all, wasn't it? Not so obvious, like you could sometimes spot in the couples that could actually be physical, but still!
"You're making it all up," Noah said as carelessly as he could, while wanting to squeal happily.
"No, I'm not! Yesterday in the cafeteria, I felt like I watched some gay porn. I'm straight, by the way! Now you're responsible for the possible circumstances!"
"Don't over exaggerate it."
"I'm far from it! I thought that if Thomson had started drooling on the table, I would've had to knock him out with your buns."
"Scott!"
"I'm talking about cafeteria buns, not about your—
"Scott, for fuck's sake!"
The friend closed his mouth and sighed heavily.
"I'm actually so jealous of you," he said in a plain voice. "It was so easy back in high school. You date one girl, and you sleep with the other. Did you break up? Not a big deal. And then I fell in love with Andrea. And that was it... The end of my carefree teenage sexual life."
"Wait, did you date someone before Andrea?" Noah asked. Scott looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Is it really so difficult to believe in?"
"It's just… You've been friends since school, and I was sure that you had never...
"I had never; you're right. But it didn't just happen in one day. I don't know how it turned out the way it did."
"And you've had sex!" Morgan almost whispered.
"Obviously…"
"Have you ever masturbated in front of your girlfriend?"
Scott froze.
"What?"
"Oh, well. It doesn't matter!"
"Is it what Thomson had asked you to do?" Scott asked in surprise.
"No, not at all!"
"How wisely he got around your demureness."
"Shut up!"
"He's going to teach you bad things," Scott broke into a broad smile.
"Scott, stop it!"
"I wouldn't mind teaching Andrea a thing or two."
"She can teach anyone herself!"
"I wouldn't be so sure…" Scott tapped his finger against the table, deep in his thoughts.
"She's been hopping from one guy to another," Noah reminded carefully.
"That's true. However, it doesn't mean that she sleeps with every one of them."
"She's been telling me that she was."
"Yes, she has. However, once I heard one of her exes complaining in a locker room that as soon as things started heading towards sex, she refused and dumped him."
The more Scott was saying, the stronger the feeling that Morgan knew nothing about his friends was getting. It made him sad.
"When did it happen?"
Scott shrugged his shoulders in a 'who cares?' type of way.
"I doubt that Andrea has never slept with anyone," Noah mumbled, while getting less and less confident about what he was saying.
"Me too. But I just have no idea when I should believe in what she's saying. She's always lying or hiding something... Speaking of which," Scott opened his photo gallery and showed Noah one picture. Morgan recognized Andrea's house immediately. The light in her room upstairs was on. And you could also see the tip of someone's head there. However, he didn't know who that was.
"Maybe it's her mom?" Noah suggested.
"What's she doing in Andrea's room?"
"Whatever. For example, she might've been cleaning. When I lived with my parents, my mom used to always clean my room, even though I asked her several times not to do that."
"I'm scared to imagine what she could find," Scott chuckled.
"Don't even start it. Once she found an issue of DNA magazine [Australia's best-selling LGBTQIA+ magazine and one of the most popular gay-themed magazines in the world] that I bought online. As soon as I got home, my mom was yelling that the guy from page three was extremely hot. I went bright red with shame!"
"You mom has always been an open-minded person," Scott laughed.
"Open-minded? Way too curious, maybe!"
"That's also true."
"So, you think that Andrea lied to us and has been at home this whole time?" Noah got back to the original subject.
"Yes."
"But…why?"
"That's what we need to find out."
"So you didn't try to stop by her house the night you took a picture, did you?"
"It's not my photo," Scott said, shaking his head. "My younger brother took it," he meant his brother who studied in his school. "By the way, today's his birthday. The whole family's going to gather tonight," Scott said as if they were going on a funeral, not a birthday celebration. "Tomorrow evening, however, we shall visit Andrea; what do you think?"
Noah tapped his finger on his chin. On one hand, he was worried that he and Scott were violating Andrea's personal space. She probably had her reasons not to let them in. On the other hand, they were her closest friends! Obviously, they wanted to know what was going on. Besides, people just can't ask for help sometimes. What if Andrea was one of those people?
"Okay," Noah agreed after some time. "We'll go to Andrea's house tomorrow. I'm also busy today. Ethan found out the name of the person who created the chat," Morgan said in a low voice.
"Are you kidding?" Scott shook up and, just like Morgan, started almost whispering. "And you're telling me this only right now?! Who's the bastard?"
"Chad Foster."
Scott frowned.
"I don't know him."
"He's from engineering," Noah explained. As soon as he said that, Scott grabbed his phone and started looking for something. Half a minute later, he found a picture of a suspect owner of the chat. A chubby, tow-haired guy was looking at Morgan from the screen with a frown look.
"Have you ever seen him?"
"I haven't."
"Weird," Scott was staring at the picture. "Why would a complete stranger do such things? Something's not right here."
"So you…" Noah stuttered, "Do you also think that it must be someone I know personally?" Morgan didn't have the courage to say 'closely', or else Schott would've understood that Ethan was suspecting him as well.
"Also?" the friend narrowed his eyes. "Thomson, I presume?"
Noah nodded discreetly.
"Well… I don't want to admit it, but I think he's right. A stranger wouldn't want to make a random person's life into hell. Not for such a long time, for sure. There must be a motive. Let me guess, Ethan suspects me, doesn't he?"
There was no way to play coy.
"Ethan suspects everyone," Morgan tried to make it sound as neutral as he could.
"Don't worry. I know that I've never done anything similar in my entire life, so I don't have to be afraid of anything. If Ethan suspects me, that's fine. I'll be more than happy to prove him wrong," Scott smiled. "I wouldn't worry, neither about Andrea nor about Nicole. Andrea would never do something like that. And Nicole—she's an alien creature who's always somewhere in her thoughts. Girls are incapable of doing such things. Even if they were, why would they do so? They don't have any reasons to torture you this way. So I'd cross them out right now. Who else is left then? Someone who knows you, but they're not friends with you."
Noah understood, with surprise, that there were quite a few people. Andrea and Scott's band, for instance. There was Steve. Or Noah's exe, who doubtfully would've gotten an award for the boyfriend of the year. Moreover, Matthew had a lot of friends as well. And admirers. Why had Noah never thought about it before? Matthew's fans were always trying to mock Noah somehow, angry with the fact that Morgan had stolen their treasure that they were unable to touch themselves, but also didn't want to let anyone do that. What if one of those guys turned out to be such a freak that they decided to lay down their lives, but exact vengeance upon Morgan for making Matt notice him? He should definitely tell Ethan about these thoughts!
"You're right," Noah agreed with relief. "I'll think about it. I might even make a list of those people."
"That is actually a good idea," Scott agreed. "Though, I think we're overreacting at the moment. What if Chad's actually guilty of everything? You never know how crazy people can get. What if you didn't hold the door for him two years ago, which made him extremely offended?"
You couldn't ignore that option entirely.
"At what time you're going to see him?"
"Around three. I have to skip one class."
"I'll go with you," Scott suddenly said.
"What? Why?"
"What if he's actually a psycho?"
"Ethan's going to join me," Noah mentioned quietly.
"Are you going to use flame against another flame?" Scott chuckled.
"Very funny," Noah grunted. "Besides, I thought you needed to go to your brother's birthday party."
"I'll make it in time!" Scott said. "I would like to help if I don't bother you, of course," the friend said, grinning. "Admit it, before you grab Chad's balls, you want to do it with Eth—
"No, of course not!"
Noah wanted to tell Scott everything he had thought about it in every single detail, but, thankfully, the lecturer, who was late for fifteen minutes, finally showed up and started reading a lecture as soon as he entered the class. That was the only thing that saved Scott.
5' 3"
Again, Ethan arrived earlier than he was supposed to, so he had to wait. It didn't bother him; however, he felt slightly impatient because he wanted to see Morgan, which was kind of annoying. As soon as he noticed Noah in the distance, Ethan smiled unconsciously. However, when Scott showed up behind him, the smile disappeared.
"What's he doing here?" Ethan asked instead of a greeting, not even trying to hide the negative attitude towards Noah's friend.
"He volunteered to help," Morgan either didn't notice Thomson's tone of voice or simply decided to ignore it.
"We'll be fine on our own. You are free to go," Ethan pointed at the building, hinting that Scott should go back to his classes.
"I won't go anywhere," the guy wasn't confused. "I want to make sure that you won't cause any trouble for Noah due to your antisocial behavior.
"Morgan will do just fine without your supervision. He has done it somehow so far," Ethan noticed coldly.
"You weren't in his life before."
"Sure, however, there was some jerk, who has been cyberbullying him for three years straight. He's a tiny player, of course, not even close to me, though I don't remember you've done anything about him."
"I've always done everything I could. Today's not going to be an exception," Scott snapped.
"Well, too bad," Ethan snapped back.
"Are you ready? Done with the exchanging of niceties? Can we go now?" Noah interrupted their conversation. "Or should I go to Chad alone, while you guys take your time competing who has bigger balls?"
Ethan cluttered his teeth and got into the car. Noah sat in the front passenger seat, while Scott made himself comfortable in the back seat.
"Nice ride! How great it is to have a rich daddy!" he stated.
"Scott!" Noah shouted indignantly. Ethan just gave him a scathing look.
"Have you ever thought that Andrea might be rejecting you because you're an annoying asshole?"
"Ethan!"
Scott frowned. So did Thomson. They were glancing at each other for more than a minute and then turned around from each other, making the best decision possible. They decided to ignore each other. Ethan didn't want to fight against anyone from Noah's personal circle. However, he didn't want to hide his attitude, either. Now, together with annoyance, there was regret. Thomson wanted to spend time with Noah alone. Not in a vulgar way, trying to hit on him or making cheap jokes, no. He just wanted to sit down with him. Alone. Without a sketchy audience behind their backs.
"Scott, let's have a deal: you'll behave like a civilized citizen at the meeting, okay?" Noah asked when the building they were going to showed up in the distance.
"Are you really telling me that?!" Scott sounded truly offended. "You better keep your mad dog close instead."
Ethan should've gotten angry; however, this comparison amused him for some reason. Maybe it was because, by saying this phrase, Scott acknowledged Ethan to be Noah's boyfriend. Not that Thomson needed anyone's approval. However, it still felt nice.
"Don't worry, Noah's holding his leash well," Ethan mumbled with a smile.
"What?!"
Ethan got the exact reaction he hoped for.
"What the hell did you promise him?" Scott attacked Noah with questions.
'Thank you sooo much,' Morgan said with his eyes.
'Just a little innocent revenge,' Ethan winked at him.
"I didn't promise him anything," Noah mumbled, turning red.
"He's right," Thomson nodded eagerly. "He didn't promise anything AT ALL," he said, clearly showing that there actually was some sort of promise.
"O-o-oh!" they heard from the backseat. "That was why you asked that question in the first place!"
That question?
"Scott, shut up!"
"You've got some weird preferences, Thomson!"
"SHUT UP!"
"Morgan knew what he was going into," Ethan snapped back.
"Both of you, shut up!"
Scott gave a dirty laugh, while Ethan acted as a complete innocent, making Noah grunt helplessly through his teeth.
"Is it that Chad we're looking for?" Scott asked when they pulled over by the building and got out of the car. He also demonstrated the picture of the guy on his phone. This guy is quick when it comes to searching people.
"Yes, that's him," Ethan said. The class had just ended, so there were not many people outside.
"Are we going to wait for him here?" Noah asked to make sure.
"Yes. It's the only exit from the building. He won't be able to escape us here. Inside, however, we can miss him," Ethan explained.
"Is he around campus today, though? He could skip. Or he could be sick. Or maybe there was something else that could happen," Scott muttered. "How long do we need to wait for him here?"
"You don't have to wait. Nobody's making you stay," Ethan noticed.
"You won't get rid of me so easily!"
It was sometimes amusing how such a kind and pure creature like Noah could always be surrounded by sketchy people like Scott… Or Ethan. The answer was right there. Morgan had such a loyal personality, he could accept everyone's imperfections without wanting to kill them. Ethan wasn't so patient, unfortunately, so for the past twenty minutes he had been trying to calm himself with a fantasy where he was burying Scott alive. He was one of a kind.
Noah stepped away from Ethan and Scott and fetched the pack of cigarettes out of the pocket. Usually Morgan tried not to smoke in front of Ethan because he didn't want it to bother him (even though Thomson had told him several times that he didn't care). The presence of the cigarette showed clearly how nervous Noah was. What was he afraid of? Was he afraid to hear the reason why he had to go through all the bullying? Or maybe he was afraid to find out that there was no reason at all.
Chad Foster had gone out of the building even before Morgan had a chance to finish smoking. He went stately towards one of the benches and started looking for something in his giant backpack. Considering the quizzical glances the people around were looking at him with, Chad was far from being popular. What was the deal? Was he bullying Noah because he was also bullied? Or did he make Noah the main victim on purpose so that people like Foster could hide behind Morgan's back?
Or maybe because it wasn't him.
"Let's go," Ethan called and went towards Chad. Scott and Noah followed him. However, they had to stop half-way. Some random brunette bumped into Morgan so hard he fell to the ground. The girl didn't change her way, didn't help Noah to stand up, and didn't even say a simple 'sorry'.
"Hey you, bitch!" Ethan growled furiously.
"S-stop," Noah mumbled, stuttering, "It was an accident. It happens to anyone, doesn't it?"
"It wasn't a fucking accident!" Ethan hissed, trying to walk around Noah, who got up from the ground and was blocking his way. "She did it on purpose!"
"Even if she did, we have more important stuff to do," Morgan mentioned calmly. He acted like he wasn't offended at all. However, you could see the opposite emotions in his eyes, which made Thomson want to rip and tear. Besides, when he called that girl, she turned around to look at him. Just for a moment. Ethan could swear she smiled at him. Was it so funny for her to offend the person? What a bitch!
Noah's right, right now it's way more important to find out who's spreading rumors about him. You need to treat the illness, not the symptoms," Scott said and started dusting off Noah's from the back.
"Hands off," Ethan said, still furious after what had happened. Scott froze and then took his hands away behind his back.
"Oh my God, you're a jealous type!" he clicked his tongue in disapproval.
"I am," Thomson didn't even try to prove him wrong.
"Do you know that jealousy shows how insecure the person is about themselves?"
"I don't give a fuck," Ethan snapped back.
"Don't start it again, will you?" Noah sighed, dusting his back off himself. "Do I bother you? Should I go and leave you guys alone? You have some interesting relationships going on. I've read a book once where such fightings between the characters turned into sex—
"I don't even want to hear about that!" Scott screamed.
"I'd rather put my dick into a freaking blender," Ethan agreed and frowned. Of course, Noah said it on purpose to make them stop. And he succeeded.
While they were arguing, Foster changed his original location. He preferred one of the farther pavilions in the shadow of the building to the bench in a crowded place. Ethan noticed that movement, but he didn't start chasing Chad, knowing that he wouldn't go far away. Judging from his schedule, he had one more lecture left for today. The isolated place Foster had chosen suited a lot better for the upcoming conversation.
Chad was slowly taking off the foil from the sandwiches he got from the vending machine when Ethan came closer than a couple of feet away from him, not giving a damn about his personal space.
"This seat's already taken," Chad said, not even looking at him. His attention was completely taken by the sandwiches. Ethan decided to fix it, knocking the sandwiches out with a single slap. They fell on the ground. Chad sat frozen for a couple of seconds, then he jumped up and lifted his hand up against Ethan. It was a clumsy move. It seemed that he had never punched anyone before but really wanted to act like a fighter.
"You promised me," Noah hissed.
"I promised you I wouldn't touch him, and I didn't," Ethan mentioned. "You can't go to jail for touching food," he added, looking completely unbothered in front of Chad, whose hand remained frozen in the air. Foster turned out to be a chubby guy—at least a head taller than Thomson. He was clumsy. He was shy. And he definitely suffered from the negative attention coming from more popular guys.
"You…" Foster narrowed his eyes, as if he was trying to understand why Ethan's look seemed so familiar. Look, not face, since half of his face was covered with a mask, as usual.
"Me," Ethan affirmed. "One of the stars of your damn chat. Can't you really recognize people who entertain the rest of the followers?"
"Oh…" Foster sat down slowly on the bench and finally put his hand down, which made him look as if he shrank a bit. "I…I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Of course you do have an idea," Ethan leaned forward towards him. "Now tell me, what has Morgan done to you?"
That was the moment when Chad took a closer look at Noah, who was standing behind Ethan's back. For some reason, Morgan's presence made him feel somehow more confident. Apparently, he thought Noah was weaker than him.
"I don't have any chats whatsoever. Besides, you have no proof," he grunted, folding his arms on his chest. Ethan was about to open his mouth to say that they actually did have the proof. However, it was found kind of illegally, which meant that they couldn't use it later in court, but Foster didn't know that. Ethan didn't have time to say the threat out loud because Scott suddenly appeared in front of Chad. He gave Foster a hard slap on the back of his head. Ethan and Noah stared at Scott. Ethan stared at him with respect. Noah, on the other hand, was terrified. Chad tried protecting himself with his hands and started breathing hard through his nose, definitely ready to be beaten. Judging by his reaction, he knew how it was usually done.
"Please, don't beat me! I don't know anything! I have nothing to do with it!"
"So what, are you happy now, idiots?!" Noah hissed, pushing both Scott and Ethan away from Foster. "I'm sorry. We weren't going to beat you. However, we need to know who has been spreading rumors about me and Ethan. Can you help us with that?"
Foster, still busy by trying to protect himself from the possible punches, put his hands away.
"I'm telling you I know nothing!" Foster groaned piteously. "I did create the chat three and a half years ago! I was being bullied by a group of guys back then, so I decided to teach them a lesson by spreading rumors about them!"
"Three and a half years ago?" Noah perked up. "I wasn't a student here at that time."
"Well, now pretty much all the posts you can see in this chat are about me or Morgan," Ethan smirked. "How can you explain that?"
"Easily. I sold it!" the guy snapped.
"You sold it? How?" Scott didn't get it.
"In the beginning of my second year, I got an anonymous message. They said they would give me money if I gave them my SIM card."
Foster was a year older than Noah, so the chat was bought around the time rumors about Morgan started being spread.
"They said I could delete everything linked to this number, but a chat. They never explained to me why they needed it. I didn't care! They offered three hundred bucks for a stupid chat. Who would've refused?!" Foster rattled.
"Just as I thought, the idiot wasn't an issue," Ethan said sadly.
"What?" Chad perked up. "If you knew I was innocent, then what the fuck?"
Scott and Ethan looked at each other and left the place. It was a dead end.
"I… I'm going to tell everyone you threatened me and—
"And I'll turn your life into a nightmare," Ethan said through his teeth and then started going towards his car. Scott followed him, satisfied with his answer. Morgan was the only one who stayed. He took the untouched bun from his backpack and put it into Foster's hands. It was a payback for ruined sandwiches.
"Again, I'm sorry. We didn't want all of that," he said.
"You shouldn't have said you were sorry. It wasn't for you to say," Ethan mentioned when they left Chad at a reasonable distance. Even if Foster was affected by what had happened, it didn't offend him much because he was already eating the bun Noah gave him with a great appetite.
"You shouldn't have pushed him so hard," Noah disagreed.
"Then he wouldn't have told us everything," Scott made a helpless gesture.
"How do you know? If we had asked politely..."
"Stop protecting everyone. Especially that jerk, who created the chat exactly for what it's being used for now. For spreading rumors about people. Okay, it wasn't created to bully you, so what? Stop protecting the girl that bumped into you so hard you fell. Stop protecting all the shit that's been sticking on to you! Start protecting yourself!"
"He's right," Scott added, and then he was gifted with a glance that spoke daggers. "Well, the plan to find the chat's owner is ruined now. What are we going to do?"
"Nothing," Noah said coldly. "If you are going to continue attacking everyone without figuring out the situation first, I'm out. You can think whatever you want. You can call me spineless, dumb, or whatever. I'm done with all of it!" Morgan said, walking past the car towards the campus park with a furious look.
"Is he always so disgustingly nice and stubborn?" Ethan asked Scott.
"Oh, yes, he is."
"How's he planning to survive in this world while being so adhering to principles?"
"Definitely not well. The past two years have proven it," Scott mumbled. "You should probably go after him."
"It's a manipulation."
"It is. So what? You won't go?"
Ethan glanced at Scott with a frowny look.
"I won't go. I'll drive. And you're going to stay here."
"I didn't even want to join you that much," Scott shrugged his shoulders. "Good luck doing a handjob to each other, pervert," he said and waved goodbye to Ethan.
"Good like jerking off alone," Thomson answered.
"I still don't like you!"
"Ditto."
Scott laughed like an idiot (to Ethan's mind) and headed towards the exit from the territory. Thomson sighed and went towards his car, thinking about what he should tell Noah.