Complicated

Carson

School's almost out for the week. One more to go. Carson sighed. Finally. The one day where after school he could waste his time away on the interwebs. "Now, remember class." His silver-haired Texas history teacher, Mrs. Francis announced to the class. "It's the weekend, so-""Don't do anything stupid!" The whole of the classroom chanted in unison. It was their Friday ritual; personally, Carson didn't find if all that hilarious anymore, but his teacher's eccentric sense of humor never failed to bring up a smile. A series of tense silence followed, broken by the chiming of the bell. Carson's paisley backpack felt extra heavy as he lifted it onto his back, and waited by his desk to let the traffic come through. His friends, Matthew and Eli, have christened the backpack the Pack Of Gaylords. In a way, it was true. He was a gaylord, the raging pansexual Carson thought proudly."Oh...haha, s'cuse me...bye, Mrs. Francis!" Finally. He could leave. Only a few people lingered in the room, scurrying to collect their things or just being lazy. Almost tripping over his converse-clad feet, the blond raced out of the plain room. "Dear fucking god..." He muttered, clutching his sketchbook under his arm. Eli and Matthew has probably already bolted; he rarely spent his after-school time with the two rambunctious boys. No, his time waiting for his 5th grade brothers, Jamie and Beck, was wasted away with his other friends, Kaden and occasionally Greg. He weaved between the river of anxious students to the other set of classrooms across the hall. A familiar towering figure was fiddling at his locker. "Hey, Kay!" "Don't call me that, Curly Fries."Why, oh why did he insist calling him that. Carson didn't have the foggiest idea where the stupid nickname developed. All he knew is that it wasn't going anywhere. Kaden glanced his deep brown eyes to his artistic friend. "Ready?" Carson inquired, shifting on one hip. With a slam of his tan locker, the brunett blinked. "Yep." Kaden Struthers was what Carson would call his serious friend. You know, the one you talk about writing, characters, serious stuff with. Eli and Matthew were his insane friends. The ones you jump off cliffs and brew crystal meth with while high off of Coca-Cola. Kay was his mature friend, and almost like a senpai, despite being three months younger than him. But with his 5'7.5 stature, his lack of soul, and composed nature, he was sure that his friend could pass for 15 any day. "Okay, so, I was thinking" Carson started off, adjusting his backpack straps on his round shoulders. "What would Austria's reaction be to the burning piano at the Eurovision finals?" Kay let out a bout of his signature cackle. It was fun being Hetalia trash with someone."She would go on a murder spree, to be honest." "Yeaahh....." Shaking his head, the boy brushed a strand of curly blond hair from his green eyes. Friday was always a cool day for Carson. Really, it was a cool day for anyone, but the relaxed day always stood out to him. It was the end of responsibility, and also the day he was born. He let out an inaudible sigh, that somehow Kaden picked up. He sighed back in unison, and paddle down the stairs, hastily clicking on his phone to check Tumblr. Hm....I wonder who we would be if we were all social media sites.....Kay would be Tumblr, he looks good in blue and has that sense of humor....Eli would be...damn. Who would he be? Maybe Wattpad. Yeah. Definitely Wattpad. Matthew would be Pinterest, hands down. The egotistical blond was always scrolling through the app, and had a massive camera roll. Taylor, Carson's Hufflepuff-loving mutual, would be YouTube, no question there. Kasey, Carson's 8th grade friend, would be Fanfiction.net, considering the almost daily updates he received about his 30 Yu-Gi-OH! Arc Five Challenge. He never bothered to read them; it's not like he would understand them. Sidney, the oldest of the seventh grade group of friends (but only by two and a half months) would be.....Amazon, maybe? Sid never really used the Internet anyway, Carson deduced with a roll of his green eyes. And Greg, Car's athletic and energetic superhero fanatic friend, would probably be Hulu or Netflix. Considering the amount of times he had bragged about binge-watching the latest Marvel tv show. He really didn't care or understand, but he didn't feel the need to tell Greg. "Car...Carson...Carson Joel...CONSTANTINE JOEL!" Kay's amused and annoyed bark shot through his train of thought, and he snapped back into reality. "It's just Carson..." He muttered, trying to hide a smile. Ever since he has let his ridiculous name slip to his good friend, he never heard simply 'Carson' anymore. Maybe it was funny to torture him, or.....? Whatever. It really didn't bother him much now. "Huh?""I said" Kaden was trying to sound as ticked as possible. "Do you have money?""Yeah..." He had stashed around five dollars in his pack for the Trading Post after school. Essentially, it was a place to get snacks and candy after school. The duo always ended up drifting there on autopilot every time, and always realized they had no money to actually buy some food. It was an old habit Carson didn't really want to get rid of. Kaden might be your typical antisocial, witty, sassy Aquarius, but he was sure as hell fun to talk with. "I have like, five dollars.""Can I have it?""Fuck no! Do you have cash?" Car asked, rounding the corner. "Yeah, I have three bucks." "Lets go to the Trading Post, shall we?"Kaden pursed his lips, and nodded. "Yeah, lets go."A haunting feeling filled the back of his mind; what if Willow Jackman was there? Ah, never mind that. She wouldn't raise hell on a Friday. The pair walked in silence on their voyage to the trading post, except for the occasional 'sorry', 'hi!' and 'move it, peasant.' The 'sweet; smell of sweat filled his nostrils; they were getting closer. Carson took this time to swing his backpack around so that it rested on his chest, and zipped open his front pocket, revealing a crumpled $5 bill. That should be enough. And since Kay paid for him last time, he was set on treating the brunette. He had five bucks to blow, why the hell not? "Whew, we're here. Whatddya want?" He asked, scanning the clusters of students. A few familiar faces stuck out to him; he sighted Harry Trillo, one of the few people who understood his band and anime obsessions, Quinn Jester, who was in his Boy Scout troop at one point of time. Robbi Whats-her-face, who sat next to him in Texas History, and-Carson's green eyes hardened. There she was. Willow Jackman. Every flip of her light nutmeg hair, every smirk, it made Car's insides boil to an extent. Many people doted on her, though she was so sweet and funny. It was funny, he thought, that he was one of the few souls who saw her actually being a colossal bitch. "I'll have an Airhead Bites." Kaden decided with a smirk.  He nodded, and stepped forward in line. Kay shouted after him "And no soda for me!"He could already feel her footsteps slinking uo to him. Hastily, the blond whipped out his phone, and began blasting House Of Wolves in his like green headphones. Maybe that would send the appropriate message to back off. "Hey, Carson!" A slightly raspy and mature voice broke into the music. Guess not. He gritted his teeth, and forced himself to look her dead in the eye. She was around 5'9; Carson was 5'4. What a spectacle they must look like. "Whatcha playing, friend?" Ugh, There she goes again, all with the 'friend; business. Willow had been a complete ass to him in the past, and he had told her to please, leave him alone. But the tall as hell actress apparently has lost the ability to take no for an answer at birth. "House of Wolves, from Welcome To the Black Parade, by My Chemical Romance." He muttered, turning up the volume up to the maximum. His ears felt like they were going to blow off."How....interesting..." Cool hands lifted his chin up to stare the offender right in the face. "I'm so glad to have you as my best friend..." The plethora of basic assholes that flocked her wherever she went grinned at Carson, with hardly positive intentions. Looking for an escape, he  glanced over to the line, which was empty. He sped away from the group, and slammed his money on the counter. "One Airhead bites, and two original Skittles, please." He figured that he could share with Ky. "That'd be three bucks, sport, oh, here we are." The slightly elderly man working the Trading Post nimbly cashed in the $5 bill and handed him 2 back, along with the candy. "Danke..." The blonde muttered, and practically ran from the area. Kyle was leaning on a wall, scrolling through some app. Nonchalant and serious. As usual. "Yo, let's roll." Carson snapped, handing him his pack of candy. The other was certainly taken aback by the slightly rude remark, but when a familiar voice floated over, his eyes shone deviously. "Did you talk to your girlfriend yet, Constantine?" "For one, it's just Carson. And she isn't my girlfriend, I have one, remember?" Well, kind of, Carson was in a long-distance relationship with Isabelle, an aspiring voice actor from North Carolina. And, despite scoring a date, his friends wouldn't stop shipping Carillow (Carson x Willow) for some reason. Why did they do it? He hated and was admittedly a bit scared of her. Romance couldn't work out. Not with her."I ship it like heeelllll!" He sing-songed, popping a blue airhead in his mouth while simultaneously offering him one. With a grateful and slightly infuriated smile, he took the offering, and shook some Skittles in Ky's hand. Maybe they would learn how much she had hurt him, and how he wanted away. Someday.