And I was.
Damn it.
Of course he would be naturally smart too, so he probably didn’t need to take notes like I did. Or maybe it was just that he was so spoiled, he didn’t have to care. No matter what, he would have a job with Daddy.
“You just huffed like you do when I annoy you, but I didn’t even do anything,” Ty whispered.
“You don’t have to,” I replied, a little surprised that he could read me so well.
We finished taking notes, then worked on a lab that made it obvious Ty had no idea what the fuck he was doing. “Not like that,” I whispered, unsure why I was helping him. “You’re building the program all wrong.”
“I fucking hate this.” He ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated, and I frowned in his direction.
“Maybe you picked the wrong field to go into, then?”
“No shit.” His reply was soft, but with a sharp edge of painful truth to it.
Before I could respond, class was over and we were packing our shit up. I followed behind Ty, wondering what the hell I was doing, but doing it anyway. “Why are you spending all this money on a degree you don’t want?”
“I’m not spending money. Spoiled, remember?”
My insides froze up. “Must be nice. I’m working my fucking ass off and will start my life in debt, while you don’t care enough to try and don’t have to pay for shit.”
“Fuck,” I heard Ty grit out as I walked away and around the back of the building, heading I didn’t even know where. He caught up to me and grabbed my arm. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
“But it’s true. You’re so fucking lucky, and you don’t even realize it. I need my job, you don’t. I wouldn’t have time to play a fucking sport even if I wanted. I don’t have a built-in position with Daddy. Hell, my dad is a prick who is in prison. You have everything handed to you on a silver fucking platter, and you don’t even see it!”
I didn’t know why I was doing this, why I cared how he lived his life or if he knew how good he had it. We weren’t friends. We had nothing in common besides the fact that we liked to suck each other’s dicks.
“You don’t think I know that?” he said too loudly, then looked around. We were in a pretty secluded place, people in the distance but no one close enough to hear us. “You don’t think I see it, but I do, Brax. Just because I don’t walk around wearing a sign stating my privilege doesn’t mean I don’t know I have it.”
“Then why don’t you at least try to do something good with it?”
“Because I can’t! I spent my whole life idolizing my father, doing everything I could to follow in his footsteps, even when it couldn’t be further from what I wanted, only to find out he’s nothing but a fraud.”
He ran his hand through his hair again, pacing back and forth in front of me. We were both breathing heavily. I wanted to walk away, not to care about what he had to say, but my feet were rooted in the dirt.
“My dad always told me I had to be a good man, responsible and respectable. I was going to be just like him. I’d work with him, and then one day Langley Enterprises would be mine. My mom and I did everything for him, and now we find out their whole fucking marriage he hasn’t been able to keep it in his pants. I have a brother who’s one year younger than me that I never knew about, never met. He kept him a fucking secret, paying his mom through a private account we knew nothing about. And he’s not the only one either. He left Mom recently so he can be with his new girlfriend, who has a toddler he also fathered. And that’s why I don’t give a shit about this class and why I need that job. I know I’ll never make enough money to do it on my own, but I sure as shit don’t want to be dependent on a liar forever.”
He leaned against the wall, eyes closed, pulling heavy breaths in and out. I couldn’t do anything but watch him, trying to find words that were nowhere to be found.
Ty said, “Wanna know something stupid? I’ve always wanted to be a nurse, and no one knows…well, no one but you now. I didn’t even let myself seriously consider it because all I cared about was being exactly who my dad wanted me to be.”
I thought about the photo on his Instagram, the one hashtagged heroes. How he’d been so insistent on taking care of me when I was sick. That was Ty’s dream, hidden away inside the manufactured version of himself he showed the world. “What are you going to do about it?” I asked.