Falling Out of Line

My plan was to avoid Lewis for a few days. I wasn't really mad at him. I just don't know what's going on with me lately and it seems like whenever I'm with Lewis, things just get more confusing for me. I needed to sort things out. I needed time to myself to think things through.

Unfortunately, things didn't happen that way.

I had, or rather, my guidance counselor, had signed me up for a college tour. It was a three hour ride on the school bus, and guess who I had to sit next to.

Lewis had come rushing into the bus at the last minute, and the only spot open was next to me. Even though I'm popular now, nobody would sit next to me - the guys were afraid to sit next to a "gay" guy, and the girls either were too afraid of Kaitlyn, who told them that Lewis just had to sit by me. He plopped down next to me with his backpack and immediately took out a book to read. I occupied myself by staring out the window, but you can only watch so many cornfields go by before you feel yourself begin to go insane.

I faced forward in my seat. Lewis still had his book open. The bus hit a bump and it knocked the book out of his hands. He reached down to pick it up and he brushed against my leg coming back up. I tried to ignore the cold shiver that ran through my body. He sat back up and flipped back to the page he was on.

I decided to break the ice. "What are you reading?"

He looked up at me, then back down at his book. "A manga."

"A... a what?"

"Manga. It's a Japanese comic book."

"Oh, you speak Japanese?"

"Not really. This is in English."

"Oh, okay." This was going to be one of those things that Lewis loved but I was completely clueless about, like Doctor Who or collecting expensive shoes. "What's it about?"

"A girl accidentally buys a sex robot boyfriend online and she can't afford to pay for it, so she has to work to pay it off and slowly falls in love... you're giving me the Doctor Who look."

"Huh?"

"You're listening, but you're completely lost and probably weirded out. It's okay. Anime and manga don't always make sense. It's more shoujo manga, anyway."

"I'm only confused because you keep using weird words. What's shoujo?"

"It's manga that's targeted towards girls. You know, like romance and stuff."

"Okay. I won't ask you why you're reading that."

"I'm a sucker for romance."

"With robots?"

He sighed and went back to reading. I was about to leave him alone when I realized...

"You're reading your book backwards."

"That's how you read it in Japan. You read it from right to left. That's how it's printed."

"You sure like some strange stuff."

"I like to think that it makes me special."

"Sure. Whatever makes you happy."

I went back to staring out the window, this time watching highway signs and sketchy trees. I wished I hadn't left my MP3 player at home.

I think an hour had passed and we were still on the bus. The chatter in the back hadn't stopped at all, and I was actually starting to care about what color jeans Brianne had bought at the mall. God, I needed stimulation.

"Lew-" I started, but he was asleep now. His head was tilted down toward his book still, but his eyes were shut and his body kept swaying with the bus. His book was clinging on for dear life to his limp fingers. The bus went over another bump, and Lewis slouched onto my shoulder, his book dropping to the floor somewhere. I sighed. I couldn't just shove him off of me, but I wasn't exactly enjoying the closeness right now. I tried shifting my arm, but he just slid off my shoulder onto my lap. I froze. His head was not in a good place right now. I was getting more uncomfortable by the second.

Gently, I lifted him off of my legs and tried to sit him back up in his seat, but a sudden swerve of the bus sent him rolling out of my grip onto the floor between the aisle. His head banged against the seat next to us and his eyes shot open. The bus erupted with laughter as he rubbed his head. I held out a hand to pull him back up into the seat. He was still rubbing his head and wincing.

"What happened?" He asked groggily.

"You fell asleep." I muttered, avoiding his gaze. He kept touching the back of his head. "Are you okay? You only hit your head on the seat. It shouldn't hurt that much."

"I think I hit my head against the seat belt or something. It really hurts. I don't feel so good."

"What do you-" I looked at him. He kept swaying, holding his head. He looked pale and his other hand was gripping onto the seat. He looked sick. "Are you oka-"

He gagged and immediately covered his mouth. My eyes widened. "He's gonna puke! Stop the bus!"

The bus stopped while Lewis emptied his stomach in the grass on the side of the road. I heard people talking about Lewis as he climbed onto the bus, still looking a bit sick but not as bad as before. He slowly sat down and hit his head against the back of the seat, but the look on his face said he regretted that decision. He lightly touched his head.

"Feeling any better?"

"Not really. But I don't think I'm gonna throw up anymore."

"That's good. These are my favorite jeans."

He glared at me, but a smile still crept onto his face. "You're an ass sometimes."

"Whoa. Since when do you swear like that?"

"Since my head feels like it's being attacked by Thor."

"I'm sorry. It's... kinda my fault. And the bus driver's fault. And gravity's fault."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you fell asleep, you sort of... fell on me. I was trying to get you off-"

"That's what she said!" I heard a call from behind us. I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore the blush that crept onto Lewis's cheeks.

"No, that's what he said. Tyler does dudes."

"I bet you're his type, Mike!"

Laughter, then "Shut up, man. Everybody knows you've been checking him out!"

I banged my head against the back of the seat. I did not need to hear this. Sure, I've heard the jokes, and they aren't that bad - they don't really insult me. They're just being guys. Still, they're acting like idiots and I'm tired of being the butt of every joke.

But the worse part is how they treat Lewis. They aren't stupid enough to harass him in front of me, but sometimes I see how they make fun of him and knock him around. It pisses me off. Whenever I confront them about it, they just play it off and say "We were just playing around. Lewis is one of the boys now, so we treat him like one of us." I wish I could say they were nicer to each other, but they really aren't.

"Can you all shut up and leave them alone?" I saw a guy stand up at the front of the bus and shout to the back. I recognized him as Jacob, the guy who was nice to me when I first came here. We hadn't really talked since then, but he was still on my side.

Nobody made fun of him or yelled anything back. Everyone got quiet. Jacob smiled at me and Lewis. I mouthed the word 'Thanks' to him. He nodded in our direction before sitting back in his seat. I didn't realize Jacob commanded so much respect around here. I'm really glad he's on our side.

***

The bus ride didn't stay quiet for long, people resumed chatting about whatever. Lewis and I went back to not talking. I leaned my head against the seat again. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Lewis searching through his backpack but clearly not finding what he was looking for.

"Who's chick book is this?" Someone said behind us. "Why is it backwards?"

Lewis froze. His book. There was no way he could get it back without subjecting himself to the embarrassment that was sure to come from those guys.

I could hear the book being thrown around, the guys laughing at how "gay" it was.

"This shit is weird."

"Chuck it out the window!"

There was laughter again and I heard a window opening. I turned around in my seat and spotted (who else but) evil Jordan dangling the book out the window, the wind threatening to blow it out of his hands.

"What are you looking at, Tyler? Is this your fag rag?"

I glared at him, but before I could figure out how to get the book back from him (or at least think of a decent comeback), Ms. Ferriwether stood next to me.

"If you boys can't contain yourselves back here, maybe you should come sit at the front."

Jordan pulled his hand and the book back inside the bus. "No, Ms. Ferriwether. We're good."

She narrowed her eyes at him. Her gaze turned to me and I slunk back down into my seat. I heard the window close and Ms. Ferriwether walked back to the front with the book in her hand.

I looked over to Lewis. "Sorry."

"It's okay. It wasn't that great."

"Maybe you can get it back from her."

"It's Ferriwether. She's still holding onto confiscated beepers. I'll never get that back. But thanks for trying anyway." He smiled at me before closing his eyes.

A few minutes later, I saw he was starting to go back to sleep. I nudged him with my elbow and he looked at me.

"What?"

"You shouldn't sleep. You might have a concussion."

He looked at me, then understood. "Oh yeah. Hitting my head earlier." He sighed. "But I'm so tired. I don't think I can keep my head up."

"Don't fall asleep. Sing or something."

He sighed, but started humming a song I didn't recognize. Later, his head fell onto my shoulder. It took me a minute to realize the humming had stopped. I shook him off of me and woke him up.

"Lewis-"

"I know, I know. I might be concussed. I just can't stay awake." He yawned and leaned his head back on my shoulder. "Keep me awake, Tyler."

"H-How?"

"I don't know." He yawned again.

"You wanna play a game or something?"

"Okay. What kind of game?"

I thought for minute, then grinned. "Ring ring."

He stared at me. "Huh?"

"Ring ring."

He thought for a minute before smiling. "Hello?"

"Ring ring."

"H-hello?"

This carried on for a while, us stupidly quoting 'Charlie the Unicorn' and any other internet videos we had committed to memory.

Just as we had finished singing 'Shoes' and started on 'No Booty Calls', we pulled into the university parking lot. Everyone started filing out of the bus. We made our way to the admissions office, where a tall guy wearing a soccer jersey greeted us. His name was Kenneth The Tour Guide - that's how he addressed himself, so I'm gonna keep calling him that.

Kenneth The Tour Guide led us to the meeting we had with the chancellor, who just gave a long-winded speech about how going to college is the only way to ensure a bright future. Then the chancellor gave us all phone book-sized brochures about the college before sending us off with Kenneth The Tour Guide again, who took us to another meeting in another building where classes were held to talk to another person about choosing a major, and then another person in another building told us about careers, and another told us about financial aid and costs, and then I couldn't even keep up with all the brochures I had afterward. Finally we were done talking to people and got to actually take a tour of the campus.

Kenneth the Tour Guide showed us the dorms and just about every inch of campus. I was bored and my feet were hurting. I wanted to talk to somebody to get rid of my boredom, but the only person I really knew was Lewis, and he was too wound up in what Kenneth the Tour Guide was talking about. Why was he so interested in hearing him talk about soccer? It's not like Lewis is an athlete.

Lewis said something to make Kenneth the Tour Guide laugh. Kenneth's arm snaked around Lewis's shoulders, and I can't even explain why my stomach clenched at the sight of it.

When we got to the cafeteria, we received meal cards and we were allowed to get our own food.

I stood in line behind Lewis. We both reached for the same slice of pineapple and pepperoni pizza. I pulled back and let him have it, then grabbed my own slice.

There was no designated seating for us. Some of the high school seniors were sitting with the college students. I turned to look for Lewis, but he was already sitting down at a table with two other girls. I sat down with them. Lewis looked up at me, and for a second I thought he was going to tell me to move, but his eyes just dropped back down to his food.

"Kono yōna oniai no kappuruda."

I looked up at the brunette who had spoken. She was smiling and bouncing in her seat, staring at us.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked.

"She said you two make a cute couple," her blonde friend translated.

I just stared at her. It's not like this is new - every day, we're either cooed at or ridiculed. I've learned to accept the former when it happens.

"You speak Japanese really well." Lewis told the brunette.

She smiled shyly and nodded her head. "A-arigato." She reached into her backpack and pulled out a book, then handed it to Lewis.

"My manga!" He took it and looked at her. "But how did you-"

"Ms. Ferriwether always catches me reading those in her class. She just gives them back to me because she doesn't want weird stuff like that cluttering up her drawer."

"Okay, but how did you know it was mine?"

"I overheard you and Tyler talking. I hope you don't think I'm a weirdo."

"No way. Thanks."

She smiled and went back to eating her food.

"Mind if I sit here?" Kenneth The Tour Guide came out of nowhere and stood in front of our table.

"Yes." I glared at him.

"No." Lewis said, a little too enthusiastically.

He sat down anyway, next to Lewis. Lewis scooted over to give him more room to sit, bumping my chair further away from the table. I glared at Lewis, but he didn't seem to notice or care.

"So, Kenneth, are you a sophomore?" Lewis asked.

"Junior. But I might get to graduate early if I can take all the classes I need next semester."

"What are you majoring in?"

"Communications. Not sure what I'm gonna do with it though. Maybe look into sports journalism."

"Cool."

"How about you? What are you looking at?"

"Oh, I don't really know yet. I kind of like writing."

"So, be a writer."

"O-Okay." Lewis agreed. How can he just follow whatever this guy says?

"Of course, I didn't know what I wanted to do my senior year of high school. I thought I was gonna be a doctor."

"Really?"

"Well, my dad thought I was going to be a doctor. I didn't want any part of it, but I didn't have any other ideas yet, so I went along with it for about two months before I changed majors."

"Only two months?" Lewis laughed.

"That's pathetic." I muttered. They both turned to look at me. "What?"

Kenneth smirked. "What about you... um..."

"Tyler." I said.

"Tyler. What are you thinking about majoring in?"

"Communications." I lied. I hadn't even thought about majors yet.

"Oh yeah? What career are you looking at?"

"I dunno. Maybe become a TV broadcaster."

"Really?"

"Maybe." I took a bite of my sandwich.

"You know, I could get you into a real news station. You could get a feel of it for yourself, see what it's like being in front of the camera."

"No thanks. I really think we should stick with our tour schedule."

"It's alright. I promise you won't get in any trouble. Look, everybody else is still eating. We'll go, we'll come back and finish the tour - nobody will even notice."

"I don't-"

"Come on, Tyler. It sounds fun." Lewis tugged on my arm. I bit my lip. For some reason, it was a lot harder saying no to Lewis. "I... okay. We can go."

Lewis grinned and hopped up from the table. Kenneth rose from his seat and led the way.

The campus had a media building, and in the basement was were the broadcasting center was.

Kenneth held the door open and held out his arm. "After you."

Lewis blushed before walking in. I just brushed by Kenneth.

He showed us the different cameras and equipment. Everything looked really sleek and high-tech. Kenneth brought us over to the newsroom setup and told me to have a seat in the anchor's chair.

"Well," he said, turning a camera on me. "Show us what you got."

"I'm just supposed to talk to you two?"

"No, talk to the camera."

"About what?"

"I don't know." He thought for a second. "Talk about your life."

"Why the hell would I tell that to a television audience?"

"Come on, it's just pretend. Use your imagination. Lewis, you like writing stories, right?"

Lewis nodded. "Y-Yeah, sometimes."

"Make up a news story for Tyler to talk about."

"Um... Maybe, there's a robbery." Kenneth looked unimpressed. "A carjacking, leading to a high-speed chase on the freeway. And there's a hostage."

Kenneth nodded. "That's interesting. Alright, Tyler. You ready?" He aimed the camera at me.

"I guess. I still think this is stupid."

"Just pretend. It's like practice."

I rolled my eyes. "Today, a high speed car chases has-"

"No, no, no. You've got to be more enthusiastic. You're reporting a dramatic news story, not reading off your shopping list."

"This is so stupid."

"Come on, Tyler. We all know it's fake, but it's fun. Here," Lewis sat down next to me. "Aw, that cute little puppy just can't stop dancing. I bet he's on his way to fame, huh, Tyler?"

"What?" I stared at him.

"I'm your bubbly co-anchor. I coo at the happy stories, you tell the hard-hitting ones."

"Oh, okay. Uh, yeah, that puppy... sure is cute."

"Have you ever seen a cuter animal?" Lewis smiled, lightly touching my arm.

"I-I can honestly say I haven't." I cleared my throat. Kenneth nodded and signaled for me talk about something else. "Oh, breaking news: I've just got word that a high speed car chase is heading down the Stevenson Expressway. What started as a random carjacking has led to a hostage situation - a woman is being held at gunpoint in the passenger seat. The criminal is being identified as a Caucasian man in his late 40s. He is armed and dangerous. Drivers are warned to stay clear of the expressway."

Kenneth grinned. He motioned for me to keep going.

"And in other news, a librarian is being charged for identity theft and grand larceny. Sources say that her coworkers were asked to speak on her defense, but they have refused to talk."

"Boy, sounds like those librarians have taken a vow of silence!" Lewis quipped.

I laughed, but Kenneth told me to stay in character. "Ah, and this just in, pop diva Britney Britney has just given birth to octuplets. No wait, I'm sorry, to an octopus. Britney Britney has just given birth to an octopus. Well, I know what I'm not having for dinner"

"Something's fishy down under!"

"Speaking of seafood, how would you like to join me for dinner, Diane?"

"Oh, Kent! But what about your wife?"

"Don't worry. She doesn't watch the news. She'll never find out."

Lewis and grabbed each other and pulled in for a fake make-out. We heard Kenneth clapping and laughing, making us crack up with laughter.

"Oh man, that was amazing. I couldn't have asked for anything better." Kenneth sighed.

"We were good, huh?" I grinned.

"The camera loves you, babe."

***

We went back to the cafeteria to get the rest of our class and continue the tour. Everybody looked at us as we walked in, and they started laughing and whispering to each other. I looked at Lewis in confusion but he didn't know what was going on either. Our group came to surround Kenneth. Right as we started to leave the cafeteria, some guy patted me on the back and said "Hey, Tyler, great broadcast."

I froze.

"What?"

"Yeah. And your co-host - smoking hot."

I stared at him as he went to high-five his buddies. The cafeteria busted out into laughter.

"We... we were live?"

"I guess I must have turned on camera by mistake. Sorry, guys." Kenneth whispered to us before running back to the head of our group.

Lewis and I just stood there, letting our classmates distance themselves from us.

"Uh, Lew-"

I heard him sniff. I turned to look at him. His cheeks were bright red, shining with tears.

"Lewis..."

He sniffed again, wiped his eyes on his sleeve, then went to catch up with the group. I followed behind him.