Re: Travis/Thomas
"Mm, yeah, contact sports weren't high on the list of approved activities for the President's son." Of course, TJ knew that had more to do with safety concerns because of his sexual orientation than because of who his father was. Having a star quarterback for a son wouldn't have been a bad thing to go with the grades and stellar extracurriculars TJ also didn't have. But, nobody was naive enough to believe 'accidents' wouldn't happen if they put TJ out on a field or a court somewhere and let people come at him.
Luckily, he'd been much more interested in watching the players than playing himself.
"I think we have very different definitions of the word friend." TJ would no more trust his 'friends' than he would the party leadership or anyone selling 'true love'. This idea that friends meant anything more than a potential ally or hook-up was...strange. "In my experience, friends are cultivated. You pick them because of who their families are, what business contacts they have, what votes they can get you, and what favors they can do for you. You pick them because they're the people you need to be seen with or who need to be seen with you and won't kill your reputation. Sometimes you sleep with them, but usually you don't even trust them that far because others can be paid for their silence and friends will expect favors in return." TJ didn't even have a no strings attached relationship with his family. "What you're describing sounds more like something out of Pinocchio. I got no strings and all that."