Lemon boy

The Sour Boy

This is my first story so please don't be mean.

TW: swearing, homophobia

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I always liked the sound of crunching leaves as your shoe landed softly on their dead, crumbled surfaces. Some leaves were left on the sidewalk for weeks, and some had just fallen from their tree a couple seconds ago. Some were colorful, and some were just plain brown. Some were fully intact and still looked somewhat alive, others where broken and dead. Even though they were so different from one another, they all made that same satisfying crunching sound.

My thoughts jumble when I hear the sound of the footsteps approaching behind me. I turn my head stealthily to check who's there. A few feet behind me walks a guy dressed in all black: black hoodie, baggy black pants, dark curly hair. Even his nails are painted like a starless night sky. He looks about the same age is me, so maybe he's a senior too though, I've never seen him before. His head is hung down looking at the leaves, perhaps admiring their serenity like I was.

I open my mouth to introduce myself but get cut off before I can even get out a peep. A voice from across the street calls out my name, capturing my attention. I look over and my friend Noah is gesturing me over. I take one last glance at the melancholy boy walking behind me, before crossing the street.

"Hey. Were you walking with that kid?" he asks as I reach him.

"Uh, no not really. Why, who is he?"

He shrugs his shoulders and starts walking again, "Don't know, never seen him before."

Maybe he's new? If he is I bet he doesn't have many friends. Maybe I can be his friend? Although, I've never met anyone who looked like that before. If I painted my nails, I would get seriously made fun of.

"...So what do you think, pretty genius right?" Noah asks pulling me from my analyzing thoughts.

"What?"

"My boys trip idea. Weren't you listening?"

I don't want him to know I wasn't listening so I just decide to agree and hope it isn't too dangerous.
"Oh yeah, sounds great!"

We walk the rest of the way to school and meet up with the rest of my friends: Jake and Ryan.
I search my surroundings for that black-haired mystery boy, but I can't seem to spot him. Class is gonna start soon I hope he gets here in time. He was walking pretty slow so he might be late. Does he even know what time school starts? Wait- why do I care so much?

The first bell rings signaling five minutes to class. My friends start walking to class but I still feel a little worried. I hope he's okay. What if something happened?

"You coming?" Jake asks looking back at me.

"In a sec, I have uh.. have to go to the bathroom"

My friends continue to walk to class thinking nothing of it. I'm usually pretty honest with my friends about a lot but, I'm not this time. They wouldn't understand.

I run outside the school looking around but I still don't see him. Finally after what feels like an eternity, I spot a short dark figure out of the corner of my eye. It's him! Good he's okay and not la-