Drunk Without Cause

Fourteen.

The sun was smiling down upon the earth today, the air a bit warmer than usual and the sky as clear as can be. Nessa liked today, he liked the heat and the relentless sunshine. It reminded him of his childhood home, where it was always just a bit too hot, and the sun was always shining just a bit too much.

However, he would take those negative thoughts back now if he could. Because he found that missed the way things had been before it all happened. There were a few things though that he knew would return if he did go back in time, things that he didn't mind living without. Like the way he treated others, those constant dares he was given. They only did it because they knew that he would pull them off. He always did.

It turned out that he had been a few minutes early to his third period class, waiting patiently for the teacher to show up. He tugged at his loose sweater sleeves, finding that even though the material was a lot thinner than it usually was, it was still a bit suffocating in the stuffy classroom.

To Nessa's left sat a grinning Kiwi, turned around in his seat to speak to Ilya. Venice sat behind Nessa, silent as ever. As Nessa was gazing around the room, taking in the various English related posters, scraps of old drawings done by students pinned to cork boards, curious stains forever glued to the old tile flooring, and unknown faces peering at one another as they spoke animatedly, he caught sight of a specific someone entering the room.

It was Ian, hair as freshly cropped as ever, a beige t-shirt sweater vest over a white button up, and his usual plaid pants ending in dress shoes. A smile tugged at Nessa's lips when he saw a familiar book in Ian's hands. It was not Ninth House like he had expected it to be, instead the title read Alice in Wonderland. If they hadn't been in a room full of other people, Nessa would have teased him about it.

Ian briefly made eye contact with him, nodding his head as though to say, hey, I see you too. Then he sat down across the room in the front row. Nessa looked down to the book on his desk. It was the same one that Ian had recommended to him, and Nessa was nearly reaching the end. He could speed read books if he wanted to, but this was one that he liked too much to want to end.

The taste of peppermint burned his tongue, it being one his favorite flavors out of pretty much anything. He had a whole stash of peppermints in his bag, always waiting to be consumed. When his mom found out about his love for it, she insisted on buying him as many as possible. She was weird like that, but he didn't mind it too much.

"Wait, don't we have a sub today?" Nessa listened in just enough to hear Ilya speaking behind him. He turned around, facing Ilya who was diagonal from where he sat. "Didn't Mrs. Penis say something about that?"

"Mrs. Pensi," Kiwi rolled his eyes, "Said that we did. I think she said we were having one for a whole month or something."

"Damn." Ilya frowned. He had the long sleeves of his black button down rolled up at the elbows. Pink eyeshadow was coated underneath his eyes, framing them gently and yet making his features more sharp all at once. Nessa thought that the look suited him. "It better not be Dr. V, she is one crazy bitch."

"Dr. V?" Nessa asked curiously, titling his head.

"Dr. V is this old lady who, after she retired from the hospital, decided to become a substitute teacher." Kiwi elaborated.

"Which is fine, but she is a total bitch. I've seen her make children cry, and she will literally send you to the office if you call her Mrs. V instead of Dr. V." Ilya grimaced, as though plagued by a memory. "Not even satan's incarnate could live up to the legacy that is Dr. V."

"She once grabbed my shoulder and I bit her hand." Venice's muffled voice carried over, causing them all to look his way. He had a Milkyway in his mouth, in the middle of chewing it. Nessa was convinced that he had yet to see Venice eat anything other than sweets.