𝕊𝕦𝕘𝕒𝕣 ℍ𝕚𝕘𝕙 • 𝕂𝕒𝕣𝕝ℕ𝕒𝕡

Chapter 4: M&Ms + Monday Mornings

Monday mornings were Karl's mortal enemy. Mornings in general were Karl's mortal enemy. He hated having to wake up at certain times, especially early times. His alarm wailed from the other side of his room, telling him to get up and get ready. Karl angrily kicked his blankets off, only to be more aggravated by the cold that quickly clung to his body, sucking away all of his sleepy warmth. He swung open his closet doors, grabbing a striped polo and a clean white dress shirt with some baggy acid washed jeans. He changed quickly, hoping his body would start to warm up the clothes and him in turn.

He dragged himself to the mini fridge and cracked open a classic green Monster, sipping at his life source before walking over to his stash of candy. He carefully picked up a watermelon sucker and grabbed a bag of caramel M&M's shoving them in his bag. He bounded down the stairs, socks sliding against the sleek wood. He kicked on his checkered vans just in time as there was a honk from the front of the house.

Alex sat in his car in Karl's driveway. His head was bopping to what Karl could only assume was the radio. Karl climbed in to the passenger seat.

"I honestly can't believe you're legally allowed to drive, shorty." Karl joked as he wrapped his seat buckle around his body locking it in place with a satisfying click.

"Alright listen here-" Alex started as he put the car in reverse.

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Nick wrestled slightly with Dream at the cafeteria table as George ignored their antics while he ate his cereal and scrolled through his instagram. He only looked up when Dreams elbow got too close for comfort to his plastic bowl of milk.

"Hey, watch it," George gave the boys a little frown.

"Sorry Georgie," Clay pressed a gentle kiss to his boyfriends head getting a gagging sound from Nick.

"Guys I'm right here," Nick rolled his eyes.

George's attention was brought back to his phone when it buzzed in his hand. He stood up throwing away his tray.

"Karl's here, so I'm gonna go meet up with him and Alex," George smiled.

"What if we come with?" Clay asked as he stood up, not wanting to leave his boyfriend just yet.

Nicks breathing stopped. He was not prepared to see Karl again, not after his thoughts from yesterday.

"I'm sure Nick wants to come with too," Dream teased in a sing-song voice.

"Yeah sure, sounds like fun. I haven't seen Alex in a bit," Nick said trying to sound cool and nonchalant about it all.

The three boys got up and started heading towards the main doors where they found George's two friends. Nicks breath hitched when he saw Karl who was slumped against Alex, monster can held up to his lips with his eyes half lidded. Nick subconsciously smiled, getting a giggle from Clay which put him in check.

George sat down on the bench, shaking Karl.

"George, you're absolute trash, please, 5 more minutes," Karl complained getting a laugh from Alex, who started dogging on George for no real reason.

The bell rang, demanding that the students end their conversations and head to their classes to start a day that was supposed to be full of learning.

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Nick was suddenly always aware of Karl all the time. He only ever really noticed him in maths class, but today he would see Karl walk by through the small groups of people he would be talking with in the hallways. He learned that he also had English with Karl who was sat two seats to his left. He noticed that Karl sat 5 tables away from him at lunch with his friends Chris, Chandler, and Jimmy. He noticed the cute way Karl would fiddle with the cuffs of his shirt as he rocked back and forth on his feet while he waited in line for his lunch. He was brought back to reality by his lunch table. Said table he sat at consisted of most of the football team with a few cheerleaders scattered here and there and the occasional random who would sit down for a few minutes to chat with someone before hopping to a different table.