After a messy, family-dividing divorce with her now ex-husband, Lynne notices a change in her son's behavior. Outgoing and friendly as a child, Richard is now quieter, always anxious, and has buried himself deep within his books; befriending fiction...
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GIVE UP THE FANTASY ( a hsmtmts au) • chapter four || closed doors • word count: 2,277
"it was so nice - in the dark and quiet... and her eyes looking back, like there was something in me worth seeing"
[ john green ]
~⏳~
AS A FIRM believer in all things breakfast, it was safe to say that Ricky was thoroughly disappointed in what the EHPH mess hall had to offer.
Stirring his sludgy, gray oatmeal with a plastic spork, he sat across from Big Red, listening intently to his nonsensical chatter, partly because he was genuinely interested, partly because he noticed Nini wasn't at the table like she said she'd be. The friendly (and awkward...but in a good way!) redhead was the perfect distraction from Ricky's disappointment (and worry, whether he'd like to admit it or not.) That was so uncalled for.
"...And then milk shot from his ears," Big Red finished, gulping down his orange juice, head distorted through the glass like a funhouse mirror.
Ricky half-heartedly laughed. His body faced Big Red, but his eyes waltzed around the room, gliding smoothly across the dance floor until he paused to dip his partner, except his partner was MIA, and he paused to look for her.
"Dude, are you even listening?" Big Red waved his hand in front of Ricky's face.
"What?" Ricky snapped his head towards the redhead, legs bouncing, wiping his sweaty palms over his gray-ridden knees. "Oh..uh, no. Sor-sorry. What were you saying?"
Big Red shrugged. "Nah, you're fine. Don't hafta apologize. Everyone's always a little spacey in their first week. I just said it's time to go. We got class in five."
"Oh, yeah yeah. Of, of course," Ricky mumbled, standing up to toss his tray away, "Do we have the same classes?"
"Yup," Big Red replied, leading Ricky out of the mess hall, "But this isn't like regular high school. We stay in the same room for the next six hours. Bathroom breaks, of course. Just don't wander the halls too long. Miss Jenn hates that. In and out as quickly as you can. Everyone learns the same thing, has the same schedules, just in different classes with different teachers. There's not really any core subjects, though. No math or science or social studies. Nothing of the sort."
"So, what do we learn?"
"It changes every day, and even then it's hard to tell. A lot of the lessons are philosophical and open-ended. I don't know. Life stuff?" Big Red Shrugged. "We've got Mr. Roy. He's chill, I guess. Ash has him too. You can sit with us."
