Jake hit the ground hard, his right shoulder taking the brunt of the impact. His mind still subconsciously expected his arm to be there to help block a fall, resulting in him off balance and even more hurt. 

He’d narrowly escaped cracking his head on the concrete and he gritted his teeth, hoping that if he stayed down, the group that had tripped him would leave him alone. 

No such luck. 

Blinking away the water in his eyes, he found a pair of legs approaching. He tensed up, knowing what was coming next. The familiar jolt of pain spread from his ribs – at least it was the other side this time. Small favors and all that jazz. 

Miraculously, he made it to his class on time, wincing at every ragged breath he dragged into his burning lungs. Half the class glared while the rest ignored him, but Jake really didn’t care at the moment. This was hell. 

————————

Staring at the first paragraph of his essay, Jake struggled to focus on his task. Being careful of his nose, he gently rubbed his face. He desperately needed a pick-me-up, but he had too much homework to go anywhere at the moment. 

He scrolled aimlessly on his phone until it hit him that he hadn’t texted Damien yet. Which meant that Damien didn’t have his number. 

Despite the surge of excitement at the idea, Jake still hesitated. It seems like a risky move – on so many fronts – but Damien hadn’t seemed to mind that Jake kept pushing him away. And he seemed to be holding his own against anyone that might have tried to target him, too. 

Typing out a quick message, Jake held his breath as he hit send.

     [Hey, Damien. This is Jake. From State Farm.]

As soon as it was delivered, he set his phone down, but a reply came through immediately. 

[Hi! Lol! Btw I’m in class rn]

Warmth bloomed in his chest and he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. 

     [Here lies punctuation, brutally murdered by the invention of text messages.]

There was silence after this one and Jake ruefully went back to his essay. “That’s what you get for trying to be funny, Jake,” he mumbled to himself. He started to get worried when he realized a full half hour had passed with no reply. 

The buzz of his phone against his desk made Jake jump, cringing as all of his injuries made themselves known. 

[You’re hilarious. I almost got in trouble for laughing in class]

Sweet relief. He shouldn’t be smiling this much as he typed out an apology. 

     [I’m sorry!]

[That’s what I get for texting in class]

Jake laughed under his breath, his amusement shattering like ice as the next message came in.

[I had to read your last text out loud to the class since I disrupted it and everyone thought it was hilarious]

Forcing himself to breathe in deeply despite the pain, Jake held it for a second before letting it out in a rush. He hated how his heart was hammering in his chest, the fear clawing up his throat at those words.  

     [You didn’t say who it was from, right?]

The wait for the next message was agonizing. 

[Course not]

Jake let out a shaky breath, dropping his phone to press his fingers over his mouth.

     [Thank you.] 

[Umm for what?]

     [Nothing. What class were you in?]

[That was my history class. Deadly boring. Sucky teacher. What classes are you taking this semester?]

His smile returned, along with relief and appreciation for this unexpected friend. They didn’t know each other that well, but he figured Damien could tell when he tried to change a subject. Subtly wasn’t really his game. But having Damien just roll with it was quite... sweet.