𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 || 𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐨

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞.

it was quiet. almost too quiet. at least, that's what any normal person would say. but not zak. he preferred the silence. it was... comforting. there was something about the lack of activity that just seemed to put him at ease. all of the commotion... it was unnecessary and, quite frankly, violent. he despised it.

zak had never really been to fond of the thought of socializing with other people. for as long as he could remember he's tried to avoid it as best as he could. he had a single friend. only one. vincent, a boy with mousy hair and thin rimmed glasses and such a thick accent that anyone would do a double take if they heard it. and even then, he didn't go out of his way to be friends with the boy. vincent was just kind of... there. he met the french boy two years previously, when his family had first moved to america. vincent was desperate. anyone could tell. he was in a country he'd never even been to before, and he now went to a school full of people he couldn't even hardly understand. zak felt some level of sympathy for the boy, which is probably why he didn't really mind that he had stuck around for this long.

but zak was honestly curious as to why he did. he hardly spoke to vincent, and it's been two whole years since they first met. they never really hung out, per se. most of their interactions with each other were just zak letting vincent rant about different things he's experienced while living in america. he didn't mind. vincent seemed like he needed it.

but that was the closest zak had ever been to having a best friend. he had no one to do normal best friend things with. he never went out for food or to the movies. he had certainly never been to a party. and he didn't exactly count playing video games with his older sister as a kid as "hanging out with friends." he most often spent his time alone, and he couldn't be happier with that.

every single morning, zak wished there was some way that he didn't have to go to school. or at least in person. he hated having to go to school and be around all those...people. maybe he wouldn't hate school so much if he could take online classes. that wouldn't be so bad. he could just hide behind a computer screen all day. he'd love that.

yet he was too scared to bring it up to his parents, ironically enough, so he settled with suffering in silence. ever so reluctantly, he got up every morning and prepared to go to a place that he wished he never had to see again. and he dealt with it.

and that was exactly what he was doing now. cursing his stupid high school all while struggling to get into an unnecessarily tight pair of skinny jeans. black, like usual, in some half-hearted way to look skinnier. not that it really mattered much to him. honestly, it was probably only because he loathed baggy jeans with every ounce of his being. yeah, that sounded more reasonable.

skinny jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt. what else? oh! he couldn't forget his oversized light blue hoodie. it was a perfect hoodie. comfortable, warm, and great at hiding his insecurities. so..that's it? is he forgetting anything? he goes down the hall to the bathroom so he can brush his teeth. he stared into the mirror, taking in his reflection. he raked his fingers through his dark hair. he could probably go for a haircut. maybe he could ask his parents about that. maybe.

zak checked his phone. it was almost time for him to leave. he returned to his bedroom and grabbed his school bag, making sure he didn't leave any loose assignments laying around. and then he shuts his light off and gently shuts the door behind him. he was the only person home at the moment, but it was just a force of habit. he didn't exactly like calling attention to himself.

as if on cue, zak's stomach let out a low rumble. he didn't usually need to eat that much in the morning in order to fill himself up. so, with that in mind, he grabbed a granola bar out of a box shoved in the back of one of the kitchen cupboards. that should be enough to tide him over until lunch.

was he ready to go? he made sure he had his house key. that should be everything. he ripped open the small package in his hands as he left the house, making sure to lock the door on his way out.

it didn't take him long to finish his breakfast, and he shoved both the wrapper and his hands into his pockets. he continued on with his walk, enjoying the chilly morning air and the peaceful silence that enveloped the neighbourhood. it wasn't a long walk, only about twenty-five minutes, but he tried to enjoy it as much as possible.

yet, this time was different. zak could feel that unsettling pit growing in his stomach. and as the school building came into view, and he saw clusters of students blocking the walkway to the entrance, that feeling grew ever worse. he couldn't do this. he should have known, anticipated this more. it's the first day. of course it wouldn't go smoothly.

god, he was so stupid.

he could already feel the beads of sweat forming on his palms and the heat creeping up from his neck to his cheekbones. with shaky hands, he pulled the sleeves of his hoodie down over his fingertips. for some reason, that was almost comforting. but he still couldn't get rid of the sinking feeling of dread.

his eyes were fixed on the ground and the ground only, just far ahead of him to where he could see where he was walking but had no chance of making eye contact with anyone.

at least he already had a digital copy of his schedule. if he had to request one in person right then, he very well would have exploded.

zak didn't speak to anyone. he didn't even look at anyone. he wanted to make this as quick and painless as possible. he located his locker, opened it with ease, and shoved his backpack into the small space. he took out only what he would need for his history class, as stated on the syllabus. even though students rarely ever need every item on those lists. either way, he wanted to be prepared just in case.

at least the classroom was fairly empty. probably because school didn't officially start for fifteen more minutes. that wasn't the point. it was relieving, to some degree. and after he had been instructed to "sit wherever" and had chosen to sit in one of the desks at the very back of the room, some of his dreadful feelings began to fade away.

this was good. the desks were set up in pairs of two, and the pair of desks he chose to sit at was in the back left corner of the room. no one would choose to sit all the way back here. he was almost proud of himself for making such a sound decision.

more students began to file into the classroom, but he didn't seem to notice. instead, he sat quietly, absentmindedly fiddling with the pen he brought to class with him. the bell rang, and the teacher - ms. hobbs or ms. hills, or something of that nature - stood at the very front of the classroom, with a boy almost as tall as she was by her side. zak assumed the boy was new.

he tried to listen, but did so only half-heartedly, as the teacher introduced the boy to the class (a tradition zak never did or would understand very much). he did notice, however, that the boy seemed mildly uncomfortable with the attention his new classmates were paying to him. oh, to be only mildly uncomfortable with such a thing.

the teacher gave the boy the same instruction to choose his own seat, and zak made the stupid, stupid mistake of glancing up right as she did so. for only an instant, zak locked eyes with the boy, who then glanced at the empty desk to his right. oh no. he gave zak the smallest of smiles and took a step in his direction.

what has he done?

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word count: 1428

oh gosh wow publishing stories is scary how do people do this

go easy on me pleamse