Tom approached Derek's house, noting how crappy it was. The lawn was filled with dead trees and brown grass and the house itself looked like it hadn't been maintained in years, with cracking here and there and paint peeling off the wood siding. Really, it looked more like an abandoned cabin than a house. Derek and his family obviously didn't care about their image.
He reached out with one of his fingerless-gloved hands (which now didn't bother him as much as it did earlier, for some reason) and pressed the doorbell.
A moment later, the door opened and Tom saw Derek.
"What are you doing here?" Derek asked, confused, but maybe a little intrigued as well.
"I needed to see you," Tom said. "I ..."
"You don't need to explain," Derek said. "Come in."
Tom stepped into Derek's house and moved down a short narrow hallway and into the small living room. "Who's that?" he asked, pointing at the emo boy sitting in the chair and staring at the TV.
"That's my mom," Derek said.
Tom turned towards him with wide eyes, which could barely be seen. "She changed into an emo too? How?"
"I don't know. But ... I think I have something to do with it. I mean, I'm sort of the common factor, you know?"
"Yeah," Tom said. "Why is he staring at the TV?"
"My mom likes to do that. I think he's trying to cope with what happened." Derek moved on through another narrow hallway, then turned and went into one of the small bedrooms. Tom followed him.
"This is your bedroom?" Tom asked, looking around at the room that was nearly in shambles.
"Yeah," Derek said, sitting down on his bed. "My family is kind of poor."
Tom sat down next to him. The impact of what was happening to him finally hit him. He sniffled, catching Derek's attention.
"What's wrong?" Derek asked, unsure of what to say, really. Tom was one of the last people he thought would ever cry, and especially in front of him.
"It's just too overwhelming. My life is a disaster now. I can never go back," he said, through his blubbering. "All my friends hate me. They all think I'm a freak." He grabbed Derek's hand, causing Derek to flinch, then pull away. What was Tom doing?
But then he put his arm around Tom, to try and comfort him. It was obvious that Tom needed a friend to lean on. But Derek never imagined that it would be him. Tom may have looked like an emo now, but Derek still remembered him as the jock bully that liked to tease and beat him up. This situation was becoming very disturbing for Derek. But he wouldn't be lying if he said part of him enjoyed seeing Tom this way.
