/ 𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 /

/ 𝘖𝘯𝘦 /

the first day of a new school year always made people nervous, and that was definitely the case for bruce yamada.

even though he was a senior this year, he always felt anxious on the important day. thank goodness this was his last.

the hallways of the fairly large high school buzzed with action. kids were seen laughing, crying, or just there wishing they were dead.

bruce was determined to end up like them.

even as a shy kid, he always had tons of friends and was very popular among girls. he gained more fame as a "baseball prodigy". bruce always referred to the name as an over exaggeration from his talents.

looking over his paper with all the classes on it, bruce eventually found his locker through a sea of students. sighing deeply, he pressed his lips into a thin line and set out on the journey to find his new classes.

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"ahhhhh, if it isn't my favorite student; bruce." the english teacher welcomed with open arms. bruce smiled at the sight of the stocky woman. "hello to you too, mrs. brewer." the two had developed a nice friendship after the brunette hiding in her classroom all last year. senior bullies were scary.

"okay bruce let's see here-" she scanned her seating chart. "-you'll be sitting next to vance hopper, he got held back last year but maybe you'll help him pass this year." bruce froze at the mention of his name.

vance's group of friends used to bully him, but he doesn't remember vance actually being mean to bruce. "-all his friends were sent to a juvenile prison for the year, so you won't have to worry bruce i promise. vance isn't that bad."

for what seemed like the millionth time in just a few hours, bruce sighed and nervously made his way over to the table.

vance was already sitting there, fumbling with a pencil unaware of his surroundings. bruce carefully sat down next to him, avoiding eye contact. he didn't want vance to think he was trying to pick a fight.

his efforts went noticed though, vance looking up for a second then back down. bruce let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and got out his pencil.

"hey." bruce slightly jumped at the simple word, turning to the speaker. he kept his eyes on the desk, too afraid to move his head. "jeez kid i'm not gonna beat you up calm down i just need a paper."

"o-oh..." bruce stuttered, internally smacking himself for that. 'great now he thinks i'm a loser nerd' he thought. vance looked at him with an eyebrow raised, clearly annoyed. "any day now yamada." i

bruce's eyes widened. 'he knows my name?!' escaping his thoughts before he got socked in the face, the brunette took out two pieces of paper.

he handed the extra to vance, who immediately snatched it. 'rude.' bruce began to write his name and the date on his paper.

august 28, 1989

"alright class, i want you to write a paper about yourself-" the class erupted with snickers, mrs.brewer sighed. "-and then  trade papers with your table neighbor, it's time you kids branch out."

bruce excitedly wrote his paper in his best handwriting. he loved to write, especially about himself.

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE HOBBIES ARE DANCING BALLET, WRITING, AND HANGING OUT WITH MY FRIENDS.

did it have to be so big? bruce decided that didn't matter. he continued to add things, like his interests, his family, and what he dislikes.

he kept looking through the corner of his eye at vance. the blondes eyebrows furrowed in concentration, writing things down sloppily. bruce just lightly smiled at his actions, finding it cute.

"okay kids trade papers!!" the teacher announced. bruce gently scooted his paper to vance, who took his paper and gave it to bruce. well, more like threw it.

bruce smile became wider as he read the paper further. vance may seem like a horrible writer and bad student, but his work was actually pretty good.

the brunette learned that vance was an only child, his parents don't care about where he is or who he's with, and that he's a god at pinball. man was he ever right on that last one.

"hey vance.... your writing is actually pretty good." bruce let's a small confident grin paint his face. vance looks up at him and smiles a little. "yeah you too..... you dance ballet?"

small talk. okay, bruce could handle that. "yeah i used to want to be a professional ballet dancer, but my parents thought i'd get bullied for it and they put me in baseball. turns out i'm really good at baseball too, but i still miss ballet." he tilts his head to look out the window.

"sometimes i wish i still did it."

vance's eyes widened. ballet is for girls only right? well that's what he was taught at least. is bruce one of those little gay boys? he sure did look it.

"hey don't worry, i'm sure you can one day." bruce faced him and gave a timid smile. vance looked at him with reassurance, different than last time.

'at least he doesn't judge me,' thought bruce. kids sure were judges these days. maybe vance was different from all of them. unique.

"thanks vance, i needed that." vance snickered, "are you nervous about today?" bruce narrowed his eyes and stifled a laugh. "and what if i was?"

vance chuckled, "baby."

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the rest of the day was uneventful, other than vance being in pretty much ever class bruce was. they didn't have the same PE though, since the brunette played baseball. that didn't stop vance from secretly admiring him practicing bat.

on the walk home, vance was all bruce could think about.

'he was so nice today, but why? all last year when i was getting picked on he just looked at me with a blank stare. but now that their gone, he's actually talking?'

bruce's train of thoughts made his head hurt. slapping his hand onto his forehead, he looked up to see he was at the grab and go. he would have just gone about his way, since he had no quarters on himself, but something caught his eye.

vance was inside playing pinball, totally immersed in his own world. bruce smiled and continued on his way, not noticing the blonde watching him through the window when he walked past.

maybe this year wouldn't be so bad....