Resistance Is Useless

22.
Jack

I walked for about 10 minutes before I saw Andy. She was sitting on a bench with her knees pulled up to her chest.
"Hey," I said once I was within earshot of her. She spun around to see who was approaching her, but her face softened as soon as she saw me. She smiled as I sat down next to her.
"Alex didn't mean any of that you know,"
"Yeah I know," she murmured, "he can just really be an asshole when he wants to,"
"Believe me, I know," I agreed. "You still mad?"
"I dunno. I'm not angry anymore, but still not happy," she explained. I nodded.
"Well, Alex definitely regrets what he said to you, but you don't have to forgive him just yet if you don't want to," I said. She grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. "...but you are gonna have to get back on the bus sometime," I finished. She sighed.
"I don't wanna. That was somewhat embarrassing..." Andy said quietly while looking down at her feet.
"Why? Barely anyone was even there," I said, even though it wasn't true. I was just trying to make her feel better. You're supposed to tell girls what they want to hear, right?
"Jack, I'm not stupid. Almost everyone was in there watching Alex and I almost kill each other,"
"It was like four people," I tried.
"Yeah right. The whole band was there, and everyone else except Danny, Greico, Jeff and Evan," I didn't really know what to say after that. She was totally right.
"Well, Alex started it, so no one blames you for getting mad or anything," I began rubbing the back of her hand with my thumb. She sighed and smiled up at me. We held each other's gazes for a moment before she spoke.
"You know Jack, you don't take too many things seriously," I laughed quietly at this, "but you're a really good person. You would do anything for your friends, and you're caring and sweet. Don't ever let anyone convince you otherwise, okay?" she held out her pinky, so I could link mine with hers. I pinky-promised her, and then pulled her into a hug, and we just sat there for a moment together.
"So, are you ready to go back to the bus?" I asked once we had pulled out of our hug. She sighed.
"Yeah I guess. I just don't wanna see Alex right now. And I don’t wanna hear whatever he has to say to me,”
"You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to, but I think you should forgive him, cause he was pretty upset about it when I left," I explained. She nodded.
"Alright, well... let’s get this over with," she said as she stood from the bench, leaving her hand in mine. I then stood and we walked slowly back to the bus, swinging our clasped hands as we walked.