𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙿𝙸𝙳𝙴𝚁𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴

Chapter 30*

Another week went by and M/n was woken up by his sister as she rushed back and forth around the apartment. She was running late, it seemed. Typical, even though she's supposed to be a responsible adult, M/n thought as he yawned and got out of bed.

He dragged himself over to his closet and grab some clothes to wear. Outside his room, he could hear his sister muttering curses as she dropped things.

"AAH!! Why?!"

He shook his head and quickly changed before heading out to the living room. Papers were scattered all over the floor. A panicked S/N was kneeling on the ground, hurriedly picking them up and stuffing them inside her folder.

She looked up to see him staring at her and narrowed her gaze. "You could at least help me!"

"Why are you always running late?" he asked as he bent down to help her. "You set your alarm early, don't you?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she kept muttering curses to herself. Once all the papers were gathered, she hopped to her feet and ran over to the kitchen counter, stuffing the folder inside her bag.

"Alright!" she shouted. "If one more thing goes wrong this morning, I'm going to tear up this whole apartment!"

M/n rolled his eyes and went to the fridge to grab a drink. "Sure. Though, you should get going now or you'll really be late for work."

S/N sent him a glare before she quickly slipped her shoes on and grabbed her bag. "Goodbye!" she shouted and stormed out of the apartment rather quickly.

That left M/n alone to get his stuff ready before he had to head off to school. He gathered his stuff, put on his shoes, and locked the apartment behind him as he left. Near the entrance, Betty and Isai were waiting for him.

"Hey," Isai said, greeting him with a handshake.

Betty herself seemed rather bright. "Good morning, M/n. Sleep well?"

M/n shrugged. "More or less."

The two fell into place beside the (h/c)-haired boy as they walked to the school. Betty and Isai were making decent conversation and, occasionally, M/n gave an answer or two. But he wasn't really engaged in it. He had his own thoughts on his mind, specifically about how boring everything felt now.

As they neared the entrance to their school, M/n heard a voice nearby that made him turn his head. "Yeah, I was thinkin' of joining, actually."

It was all too familiar. He turned his head in the direction he'd heard it. But there was no one there that looked even remotely similar. He supposed that he had not yet fully accepted not ever seeing Miles again, even though it was what he had been forcing himself to believe. 

Just as he was about to look away and mind his business again, a crowd of students in that direction moved, revealing another group of students. This one was smaller, yet they were a rather lively bunch. But... there was one person in particular who had caught his attention the most out of everyone else. 

"They're gettin' heavy on the after-school stuff, so... I pretty much gotta join something now."

When the boy turned their head, he could very clearly see his face now. He was smiling, laughing with the people around him. "Miles...?"

He felt like his heart had stopped. His gaze lingered on the boy for a while. His friends noticed how he'd stopped walking and turned back to him. "M/n?" they called out, but their voices faded into the background.

He couldn't believe it... For so long, he'd scolded himself for getting his own hopes up, thinking that he'd find a way to go back one day. But here he was... right in front of him. He couldn't help the happy feeling welling up inside.