Todd nods, shoving another cone-shaped snack chip into his mouth. “I think he does.”
I glare at them both, a fact neither bothers to notice.
Lumi applies another expert swipe of her liner. “We’re here for moral support.”
“Moral support,” I repeat slowly, looking between the two of them. Lumi is wearing her casual clothes still, although she brought a bag with her I assume has her clubbing attire inside. As she does her makeup, Todd is staring at his phone, one hand repeatedly submerging into his bag of snacks. “You realize neither of you has said more than two words to me since you barged into my room ten minutes ago?”
Lumi’s eyes meet mine before she sighs and glances Todd’s way. “You got this?”
Todd nods, wiping his fingers on his shirt as I cringe. “We’re giving you time to open up on your own because you don’t like being forced into a corner. By occupying the same space as you without trapping you in conversation, it gives you the mental and literal room to meet us on your own terms.”
I stare at Todd, mouth open. “I don’t understand how you exist.”
Lumi tsks. “Try again.”
Sighing, I admit, “That was really fucking insightful, Todd.”
Fucking Todd.
He grins at me.
I groan before dropping my book to the side, abandoning the pretense that I’m actually paying any attention to the words on the page. “Trevor might get kicked out. Because his professor thinks he cheated. Hedidn’t.”
Lumi frowns. “Do they have any proof?”
“Not really? I don’t know. Trevor showed all his work, and now he’s just waiting for judgment. Which is bullshit. His professor is just biased against him because of all the…you know.”
I wave a hand over myself in explanation, trying to encompass Trevor’s outward appearance.
Todd’s brows pinch. “Has he considered bribery?”
“What thefuck, Todd?”
His eyes widen at my outburst. “Just asking!”
“He’d probably get further with blackmail,” Lumi puts in.
It’s at this point I decide I have the worst friends. “He’s not going tobribeorblackmailanyone. What the actual hell?”
“I hate to say it,” Lumi says, opening an eye color palette, “because you know I’m a fan of Trevor. But I’m not surprised he gets shit. He’s kinda scary at first glance.”
I gape ather. “Lumi.”
“I said at first glance,” she stresses. “If you bother to spend longer than two seconds in his proximity, which I’m guessing his professor never has, you realize he wouldn’t hurt a fly. But come on, Isaac, you know most people don’t look past their initial split-second decisions of a person.”
“It shouldn’t be like that,” I get out, my throat tight.
A soft hand clamps around my ankle, and I look over to find Todd’s expression far more solemn than normal. “No,” he agrees. “It shouldn’t. We’re made up of more than what people can see. But how someone views us isn’tonus. It exists only in their own head. It doesn’t define us. It doesn’t mean shit.”
I heave out a breath. “Goddamn it, Todd.”
Lumi steps in front of me, knocking my chin up with her knuckle. “Fuck ’em. All of them. Trevor has us, right? And if we need to raise some hell, we will.”
I wipe below my eye, embarrassed at the heat I can feel behind my eyelids. “You’re not blackmailing anyone.”
Lumi hums before stepping away. “We’ll see.”
“Lumi…”
