Sabrine + Dylan

Festering Feelings

Sabrine had thrown the handkerchief away.

The blood hadn't come out, so of course she had thrown it away.

But as sat on the cool forest ground and she stared at the back of Tobias's head, she really, really, wished she had kept it, if only to have a way to strike up a conversation. It had been two days since she had last seen him, and his wounds were looking much better.

Today, they sat in silence before school had even begun, and Sabrine watched as Tobias painted her walking down a city with old buildings and overgrown plants, a big, floppy hat on her head. Even though Sabrine had never been, she had a feeling the setting was Italy.

"Have you ever been? To Spain?" he asked suddenly, as if he was reading her mind.

"No," Sabrine answered, satisfied she hadn't stuttered herself into embarrassment. For a second, she thought about saying his name, but she quickly dropped the idea.

What would she attach to that, anyway?

She didn't have to sit in silence for much longer, anyway, because a third person joined them.

"Hey, Sabrine, having fun watching little Tibbey paint?"

"Dylan!" she chastised, but he only laughed and sat on the floor next to her.

Tobias had stopped painting, holding the brush still as it hovered over his canvas. When he resumed, his stroked were quick and sharp, often missing the mark.

"Oh, I almost forgot, how are things with your mom?"

Tobias paused again, but Sabrine was too busy with her own thoughts to notice. "Don't remind me. Mom hasn't been home since I yelled at her, but she did call me this morning to say she's not mad at me. Dad seems okay at day, but he cries at night. A lot. Margot thinks..." she couldn't bring herself to say it in front of Tobias. "She thinks the same thing I do. But I think I convinced her that that's not what's going on." 

Dylan bobbed his head, but Sabrine wasn't sure if he had listened because he immediately changed the subject. "So, are you going to karaoke tonight?"

"Uh," she answered, caught off guard by the sudden change. "No, I didn't know-"

"Oh, c'mon! You have to!" A sly grin overtook his face. "Tibbey here is a great singer."

Sabrine could see Tobias clenching and unclenching his jaw.

"Dylan!" she hissed, giving his arm a whack.

Again, Dylan remained unbothered. "Okay, fine. But say you'll go? It's a tradition; most of us go after every major test."

That stopped Sabrine. "Major test?"

"Yeah, we have the Placement test-"

Sabrine didn't let him finish; she was already bolting to the school library.

*

"How do you girls think you're doing?" Circe asked the group during lunchtime. It was much later in the day than they were used to, and they didn't even get the full hour. Just twenty minutes for everyone to pick up their meals and maybe eat in the cafeteria in silence if they thought they had enough time before testing started up again.

They hadn't seen each other all day; the entire grade was separated into different classrooms by alphabetical order and none of the girls' last names were near "Rodgers."

Romola was looking confident, while Perdita gave a half-shrug. "I think I got the science part down. I'm going to ask Vienna for her answers on the English part, though."

Vienna bit into her apple without looking at the girls. "I finished."

"You did not!" the twins and Circe said in unison.

Then Vienna did something that surprised Sabrine, more than anything had in a while 

She smiled.

"I finished in two hours. I'm going to hang around, though, in case anyone needs a ride home."

Even though Vienna had never been kind to Sabrine, and the latter had decided Vienna wasn't the type of friend she wanted around, Sabrine couldn't help herself.

"How?'"

Vienna surprised her even further by keeping the smile genuine after she turned to Sabrine. "It was easy, I guess. I studied."

Then a teacher came by and told the girls to be quiet, so Sabrine had no choice but to stare at Vienna in awed silence.

*

Sabrine finished the test with ten minutes left in the school day. Fortunately for her, once a student was done, they were allowed to go home, so not too many people were around when she turned in her test. Besides, a couple of other kids in the 'R' range were even slower than she was, so she didn't feel too embarrassed about it.

She left the class feeling confident she had failed at least one portion of the test, however, so when Dylan asked her how she thought she had done, Sabrine's answer was ready.

"If this is a test to see where I should be placed, they're definitely sending me back to the first grade."

"Oh, don't worry, if you really did that bad they'll put you in an after school program. Besides, karaoke will cheer you right up!"

Sabrine just hummed an answer, as she made her way to her car. Margot had texted her earlier to say she was staying the night with a friend, so she wasn't going to need a ride home. And did Sabrine really want to spend all day alone with her father, who would only ask for Sabrine's phone so he could yell at his wife some more?

She sighed. "Okay. What time is karaoke?"

Dylan punched the air. "All right! Be here," he said, pulling out a pen and paper and writing something down, "at six."

She took the paper and shoved it in her pocket as Dylan said something else, but she was too busy looking at Tobias to notice. He was at the other side of the parking lot, and he was walking with Vienna. Sabrine raised her brows; she didn't know they knew each other.

"And you said Tobias going to be there?" she interrupted. It was the first time she said his name out loud.

"What? Oh, yeah, he always goes, too. Don't know who invites him."

"Dylan, you know, you should try getting along with him. If I'm going to look at Daley in a different light, then you're going to have to do the same for Tobias."

Dylan just grumbled under his breath and then faked a smile. "Whatever you say, Mom," he answered sarcastically.

Sabrine sighed as she pulled her car door open. "You're insufferable."

"You're self-righteous."

"You- you're- Shut up."

"See you at six."

"See you."

*

Sabrine's father had waved her away when she crept into his room to ask him if she could go to karaoke.

"Do whatever you want," he had said, before closing the door in her face.

Sabrine left then, the directions gripped tightly in her hand. The place itself was a rectangular black building with a neon sign and tall windows that Sabrine couldn't see through. Inside was quiet, so much so that Sabrine's steps echoed. To her left were red, velvety curtains. To her right was a long hallway lit up by cold lights with doors on either side. At the end were two vending machines, and Sabrine couldn't help but think of a hospital waiting room. Ahead was a receptionist's desk, where a girl about her age was sitting. She was scrolling on her phone when Sabrine approached her.

"Hi- um, I'm here for-"

"You're here with the Daley kids?" she said, not looking up.

The way she said it, Sabrine almost denied it and asked to see what was behind the curtain. Instead, she nodded and the girl pointed her to the hallway. "Door seven. Tickets are covered this year," she said, handing Sabrine a key.

Sabrine nodded again, and took the key, hurrying to door seven.

The soundproof walls were incredible. In the small, cramped room, Sabrine could barely hear her own thoughts, but once she stepped outside and shut the door, the quiet resumed. She re-entered the room, taking it in all at once.. Girls in shiny jackets were lounging on stools and beanbags, clapping along to the music. One of Dylan's friends- the redhead- was singing in what sounded like Portuguese, though his pronunciation was definitely off. And in the corner by a table with drinks and finger food was a group of boys, all crowding around Dylan. He was laughing at someone's joke, but stopped when he saw Sabrine.

Dylan smiled, beckoning her over, but she was rooted to her spot by the door. Next to him was Tobias, who was flipping through a book of songs.

She was debating walking up to them when someone grabbed a hold of her arm, making her jump. She turned to see Circe giving her a toothy grin. "Sabrina! I'm so glad you came! The girls bailed on me at the last minute."

'Sabrina'?

Instead of correcting her, Sabrine returned the smile and let Circe lead her to an empty stool where she picked up a book like the one Tobias was reading and handed it to Sabrine.

"We should go next!'

"You think so? I'm not a very good singer," Sabrine laughed.

"Oh, that doesn't matter. Can't you hear Kurt?" she asked, pausing to allow the redhead's voice to fill the room.  "Now, c'mon, what song should we do?"

*

The applause they received after was unwarranted, but welcome. This was the most people had looked at her under a positive light since she'd left Hemington High and Sabrine couldn't help but beam. "Thank you!" she said into the microphone, before setting it back down on the stand.

Sabrine wove her way through the group of students that were standing in front of the stage to watch Circe go another round. She, like Sabrine, wasn't great, but they were definitely better than Kurt.

"Are you having fun?" a voice asked, as she flipped through the book of songs. Sabrine looked up and her heart skipped a beat.

It was Tobias.

"Hi! Yes, I'm having a great time. What about you?''

Tobias shrugged, though his smile seemed genuine.  "Me too."

"I see you and Dylan are getting along."

Tobias laughed, and the sound made Sabrine giddy. "You know, it's the strangest thing. He apologized for being..."

"So mean all the time?" She'd told Dylan to get along with Tobias, hadn't she? Would it be too much to hope that he actually took her advice?

"Yeah, exactly. And I'm not one to hold grudges, you know? Especially when I can see how hard he's trying to be friendly. He even paid for everyone's tickets this year."

Sabrine smiled, too satisfied with having had a positive impact on Dylan to realize he was walking over to them until he started talking to her.

"Hey, Sabrine."

"Oh, hi, Dylan," she said, wishing he had shown up just a minute later. Hardly ever did the chance to speak to Tobias present itself, so she wanted to take advantage of every opportunity she received. 

"What was that song you and uh, that girl-"

"Circe," Tobias suggested.

"Circe," Dylan took in stride. "Were singing?"

He wasn't being unpleasant toward Tobias but his jaw was clenched, his arms crossed. Sabrine could see what Tobias meant when he said being friendly took effort on Dylan's part. Still, not shoving Tobias around was a baby step in the right direction.

She could see it now. Her and Circe and Romola and Perdita having a good time with Tobias and Dylan and- why not?- Kurt, even. She smiled to herself.

Maybe, if they kept this up, Sabrine would have a reason to let go of Hemington.

Eventually, Circe gave the microphone to a plump girl with a neon-pink fringe that turned the screen off and did a couple of songs with just her tambourine. "See, I'm running late..." she started, and Sabrine tuned her out.

"How was that? Circe asked her, slapping Tobias on the back as she passed him.

"Good," Sabrine said between sips of her lemonade. "Better than Kurt."

Dylan, who had told the girl next to Sabrine to scram and then took her chair, took Sabrine's lemonade and popped an ice cube in his mouth. "She thinks you suck. But she thinks Kurt is even worse. And she hates this girl-,"

He motioned to the stage at the same time Tobias said, "Yvette"

"-even more."

"I don't think you suck!" Sabrine tried to defend, but Circe threw her head back in laughter.

"Hey, don't worry about it." She took a sip of lemonade, a smile forming on her lips. "Oh, by the way Tobias," she said, smiling... sweetly? That'd be the word Sabrine would use to describe it, except she knew it wasn't quite it. "Vienna asked me to give you something. It's in my car, can you walk me?"

The pair left, Sabrine's eyes on their retreating figures. Before she could stop herself, she turned to Dylan and asked, "How do Tobias and Vienna know each other?"

Dylan didn't respond. His eyes were just focused on Sabrine.

"Dylan?"

He jumped slightly, as if she had just woken him up. "Hm? Oh, them? I don't know. Wait, yes I do! Old friends. Uh, her dad and his mom went to school together. They had a business together for some time, then she met Tobias's dad and quit, but they stayed friends."

"Oh."

"Well, you don't have to sound so upset about it."

"I'm not upset!"

"Gee, okay. I definitely believe you. C'mon, let's go sing a song. Just you and me."

Sabrine chewed her lip in contemplation. "I don't know, Dylan... "

He sighed and put another ice cube in his mouth. "You'll sing with what's-her-name, but not with me? Your best friend?"

Sabrine couldn't tell if he as joking or not, but she laughed anyway. "You are not my best friend."

The lights had dimmed, and a boy and girl had taken the stage. Sabrine gave them a glance, debating whether she wanted to sing with Dylan. When the boy out his arm around the girl's waist, Sabrine shook her head. "You go up. I'll cheer you on."

He gave a little sigh and a nod. When the couple finished their song, Dylan made his way to the stage, parting the group like the Red Sea. Yvette had grabbed ahold of the microphone again, but released it when she saw Dylan approaching, her eyes wide.

"But-but, I wanted to go! You don't even sing!"

"Yeah? I do now."

Dylan chose a song. It was one Sabrine didn't recognize, and it wasn't very good, but she gave him a thumbs-up anyway.

"How lucky can we be? If I was tailor-made for you, and you tailor-made for me..." he started. Sabrine would've paid attention, too, but Tobias walked back in just then.

He was alone, a sweater in his hands that he hadn't been carrying before as he made his way to Sabrine.

"So, how'd you get Dylan to sing?"

"He doesn't usually?"

Tobias laughed. "Dylan comes to these things to laugh at the people that do sing. What's your secret?"

Sabrine shrugged, her eyes back on Dylan. He was stumbling with the words, even though they were on a screen behind him. Instead, his eyes were flying from Sabrine to Tobias, the smile on his face fading by the second. Sabrine frowned.

"What's wrong with him?"

He'd completely stopped singing now.

Tobias followed her eye sight, looking between her and Dylan with a frown. Dylan, still on stage, heaved a sigh before setting the microphone down. "Uh, Yvette, right? Give it a go."

At the same time, Tobias's mouth fell slightly open, then it slowly turned into a smile. "Oh," he said as Dylan approached, before chuckling. Sabrine had no idea why he was laughing, but she couldn't help smile, too. His laughter was just so contagious.

"What's funny?" Dylan and Sabrine asked at the same time.

Tobias looked at Dylan with a crooked smile. "You should know. Hey, I should go, then."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Sabrine tried, but neither boy was looking at her, and they weren't going to give her an answer,, either. Tobias walked out with a small wave to both parties, shaking his head as he left.

Sabrine turned to Dylan, who was staring after Tobias, his jaw clenched. "What did he mean?"

He didn't answer.

She tugged on his arm.

He sighed. "I don't know. That guy's an i***t, he has no idea what he's talking about."

Sabrine left soon after, realizing on her drive home with a pang of guilt that she hadn't said goodbye to Dylan before leaving.

***