Smiley and Sunshine

30.

Glen was slouched precariously on the bleachers, completely zoned out from the basketball practice that was going on before his very eyes. Contrary to what it may look like in that moment, during most of the practice he behaved like the high-achieving student he was. There was a novel assigned for his English class that he wanted to get a head start on, but after two hours, his eyes and his brain were capooped.

A sudden buzzing sound startled him out of his daze. The cause of the ruckus being his cell phone that lay on the metal bleachers. He used the heel of his palms to rub his eyes, trying to erase the grogginess. He couldn't afford to actually nap because his sleep would be completely screwed that night. Since he was operating on minimum sleep already, it wasn't something he could risk.

His phone vibrated again. Glen barely picked it up in time, saving himself from watching it crash all the way to the gym floor. That would of been a disaster. With his luck, he probably would of completely shattered the screen. Then Austin would have shattered his freedom.

2 new messages from Frannosaurus

Glen snickered, just like every time the stupid name popped up on his phone. The two brothers had a Jurassic Park movie marathon one Saturday and Francis, being Francis, decided to change his name in Glen's phone.

Unlocking his phone, the message convo popped up.

Yo

We're here early.

Glen rolled his eyes, hearing the satisfying click of locking his phone. He flopped the phone back and forth between his hands before shrugging. It's not like he had anything better to do than to chill in the car. He had to end up there eventually. He quickly packed up, shoving the book into his backpack and zipping it up.

Glancing up at the game clock on the wall, he saw there was only 10 minutes left of practice. Eh, Hayes would be fine without him. He just needed to catch her attention real quick to let her know he was leaving.

Glen caught a break when the basketball went out of bounds. He moved down to the bleacher row in front of him, scooting to the edge. Technically he wasn't suppose to be sitting up here since the bleachers weren't pulled out and it was a safety hazard.

Yada yada yada... he was a daredevil.

Backpack on his shoulders, Glen then dropped down to the floor, landing effortlessly on his feet.

Like a bee attracted to honey, Hayes' head immediately turned in his direction. With a grin, Glen hooked his thumb over his shoulder indicating he'd be outside. Message received, she nodded and shot him a thumbs up before returning her attention back to the game. That was easy.

Glen let out a loud yawn as the gym doors slammed shut behind him. The sun was still shining so he kept his head down as he walked.

🎵Shine so bright that it hurts🎵

Accurate.

He followed the sidewalk alongside the school buildings, heading to the parking lot. He wasn't really surprised that no one else was hanging around. It was late Friday afternoon after all. Only crazies would want to still be at school.

Okay, so maybe he was crazy. But this week was an exception. He just wanted to be anywhere but home.

Glen held a hand up to his eyes to block out the sun as he took a look around the lot for Austin's car. Spotting it amongst the scattered cars, he dropped his hand and strolled over there.

When retelling the story that night at dinner, Glen blamed the sun being in his eyes, otherwise he for sure would have noticed the special VIP standing next to Austin and Francis.