Smile

"You need a girlfriend." Johnny sat beside Tom, slumping down onto the couch. They had been playing XBOX Live all day, and honestly had no intentions to stop anytime soon. Tom sighed, rubbing his eye. The weekend had come a little bit too quickly; he had not been prepared for it at all. Friday nights were normally filled with booze, weed, and sex for the two of them, but for some reason, neither Tom nor Johnny felt up for it. So there they were, in Tom's living room playing Halo 3.

"Why?"

"'Cause you're depressing, dude. When was the last time you showered?" Johnny took a swig of his soda and set it down in front of him on the floor.

"God, Johnny, you're such a fucking hypocrite. You never shower." Tom rolled his eyes, and pounded on the X button of the controller. "Besides, I don't want a girlfriend."

"Yeah," Johnny scoffed. "Right."

"Fuck you." Tom made a face.

"No thanks. I'm straight." Johnny picked up a slice of pizza and took a bite. They had had the house to themselves all day - Tom's parents were never home. Ever. His father was a doctor and his mom worked for a top ranking company. The last time he had seen them was on Wednesday - two days ago.

"I'm serious, John. I don't want a fucking girlfriend. I'm going to college soon, anyway." Tom finished off the level and threw the controller in front of him. "Besides, there aren't any hot girls around here anyway... at least, not any single hot girls."

"Laura's pretty hot..." Johnny commented, popping a chip into his mouth. It crunched loudly. "You should get with her. She's probably really sexually frustrated."

"God, will you shut up?" Tom whacked his friend in the arm, not as playfully as it might've appeared. "Dude, ever since last weekend you've been so fucking weird about her."

"I'll give you fifty bucks to sleep with her."

Tom glared at Johnny, clenching his jaw and trying not to believe that his friend had not just said that. "You can't be serious."

"Completely. She's hot."

"Laura's not stupid, you fucking retard." Tom sat back against the couch and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

"And you're a woman. Get in her pants before the end of the summer and you'll be fifty dollars richer."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" He stared at Johnny.

"You'll figure it out."

"Dude," Tom sighed, "it's not even worth it. She'd figure it out." He paused his game and went into the kitchen, looking for something good to eat, seeing as Johnny ate everything else. Fucking pig. As he scratched the back of his neck, Tom tried to think of different ways in which having sex with Laura might work. He's always been quite the ladies' man, so the task couldn't be too difficult. But maybe his conscious couldn't handle that. Although he wouldn't know unless he tried.

Stepping back into the living room (and without finding any good food), Tom exhaled, and sat down next to his best friend. "You know what? Make it seventy-five and we'll have a deal."

*

The weekend flew by, just like the previous week had. Tom rolled over and smacked his alarm clock with his fist. "Fuck, Tom. Get your ass out of bed!" A small girl with blonde curls poked her head around his door. "You're going to make me late to school!"

"Fuck you, Tabatha," he growled, throwing a plastic cup at her. He hadn't realized that it was still holding some water in it until it splashed against his wall. "God, get out of my room!" He kicked his blankets off, and rolled out of bed. Tabatha was his younger sister, and even though she was almost sixteen, she acted like she was three. Tom had never had a good relationship with her - she was always closest to their older sister, Theresa. Which didn't bother him much. Tom liked to be by himself when family was around.

With a grunt, he pulled on the first pair of jeans he could find, and ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to straighten it out. Tom just didn't care, especially today. With more apathy than even the most apathetic person, he stumbled out of his bedroom while trying to shove on his shoes. Tabatha was downstairs already, shoving a Quaker Chewy Bar into her mouth. "You're such a lazy ass, Tom," she whined, and went through the front door. Tom wrinkled his nose, and mimicked her. He dug into his jean pockets for his keys, and followed her outside.

"And you're a whiny little bitch. God, all you do is complain," he said, slamming his car down. In his rearview mirror, he saw Laura come outside with her younger brother. Why was she leaving this late? Not that he knew that she left at approximately seven o'clock each morning.

"Fuck you, Thomas," Tabatha countered. "You're such an ass."

"Maybe if you stop being a whore, I'll stop being an ass." Tom sped down the street, leaving Laura behind. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was excited to see her in class today. He had six out of eight classes with her. Asheville High was a tiny school, probably only around five hundred kids total - there were only one hundred fifty students in his class.

"You're such a stupid prick."

"And you're adopted." He smirked as his younger sister, letting the mischievous sparkle in his eyes catch hers.

"Fuck you."