𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦

[𝐈. 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮]

chapter one !
word count: 1460

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VANCE ROAMED THE HALLS of Denver high, hand dragging along the school lockers. The halls were empty, besides one or two students. He was bored, but didn't want to go to class. He soon got tired of walking through the halls, and left the school. He walked to a nearby park, and sat against a tree. He took off his bag, and looked through it for something to do. He found a sketchbook and pen, and started doodling. That was, until he heard multiple footsteps coming towards him, and talking. He looked up, seeing five boys standing in front of him.

"Vance hopper? What are you doing out here?" Robin Arellano spoke. Robin was the second toughest boy in school, other than Vance himself. But Vance never though of himself as tough. It was all just an act. An act to push people away. "Robin Arellano? What are you doing here?" Vance mocked, closing his sketch book and putting it back in his bag. "I'm skipping with my friends. I'm assuming you're doing the same?" Robin asked. "Wouldn't you like to know." Vance got up, grabbing his bag and swinging it over his shoulder.

"Well these are my friends, Finney, Bruce, Billy and Griffin." Robin introduced the boys behind him, each smiling at Vance.

"Nice to fucking meet you." Vance grabbed the strap of his bag, walking past them. They all sighed, until they heard Vance calling out without turning back. "See you around!" Robin smiled, and they walked away from the tree. Vance walked to the Grab 'n Go, thinking about the boys. 'I kind of expected Robin Arellano to be a little more mean.' He thought, opening the door of the Grab 'n Go. He walked straight over to the pinball machine, and grabbed the courters from his bag. He inserted one, and pressed play.

It had been a couple hours when he realized he had spent all of his money on pinball, and didn't even beat his high score. He scoffed, hitting the machine before picking up his bag and walking out. He assumed school was over already, as the sun slowly came down and the blue sky turning to hues of orange and pink. Walking to his home, he dreaded the moment he walked through the door. But he did it anyway. His nose was hit with the putrid smell of beer and cigarettes, beer bottles littered across the house. But something made its way through the strong scent of alcohol, and it was coming from the kitchen. He walked over, tossing his bag. He was greeted by his mother, stirring a pot on the stove.

"Hello, dear. How was school?" A genuine smile placed on her face, made Vance instantly feel better. "It was alright." Vance simply said, leaning on the marble counter. "Liar." The two of them heard Vance's brother, jeramy enter the kitchen, sipping on a Coca Cola. Vance turned to him in annoyance. His step brother always tried his best to ruin Vance's life, as if it were his fault their parents were together. Jeramy was unhappy, and he always made sure to make it Vance's problem. Vance scoffed, walking away to his room, making sure to grab his bag on the way out. Though, the devil known as jj followed him, walking into Vance's room, picking up his magazines and dropping them on the floor.

"Get out of my room, you little shit." Vance placed his bag by his bed. "Dad knows you skipped today. He told me so, before he left for work." Jeramy snickered. Vance acted as though he didn't care, glaring at the younger boy, who was messing with the stuff on his shelves. In all honesty, Vance was terrified of Jeramy. Though, he wouldn't dare to tell him that. Jeramy held all power against Vance, and there was nothing he could do about it. He'd always snitch on Vance, whenever he got the chance. He enjoyed watching him suffer.

Because of that, Vance thought— no, knew Jeramy was a sociopath. He had watched Vance get beaten before. And he could've sworn he'd seen a smirk crack in the corner of his lips. Vance hated everything about him. "I dont give a shit about your daddy, shit stain. Get out of my room!" Vance pushed him out, slamming the door behind him. He huffed out, picking up all the shit that his younger stepbrother had thrown around. He knew Jeramy would tell his dad about what he had done, but he couldn't care less at the moment. He was already gonna get hit, so why not add fuel to the fire. Once he was done cleaning, he laid flat on his bed, staring up at the popcorn ceiling in his room. The sky had now darkened, leaving only the luminosity of his lava lamp lighting up his room. Waiting for his stepdad to come home, he could only hum to himself for entertainment. He would turn on his record player, but he needed to hear the mans car pulling into the driveway, so he could prepare. So he tapped on the sides of his legs lightly as he hummed the tune of his favourite song, continuing to stare at the ceiling. Minutes had passed, and he finally heard the car pulling into the driveway. Now remembering he forgot to clean the house, he was now in for so much bigger than he had hoped.

Vance could only cover his face as his stepdads fist struck him. His body hurt everywhere, and there were no one to comfort him. His mother was kept in her room, hiding from the manic man she called her husband. Jeramy kept a smug smile on his face, arms crossed as he watched from afar. "God if your mother weren't so goddamn attached to you, id have you gone!" His words sunk into him, but Vance couldn't care less. There was a chance that he would actually get rid of him, but Vance didn't have hope for that. He finally stopped hitting him, and went to the kitchen to wash off his stained red fists. Vance headed straight for the door as soon as he got up, going to his go-to spot after this happened. Walking to the Grab-'n go as soon as he could while in pain, the chime of the bell ringing as he entered the soft lighted store. There were no one there, besides the boy running the shop behind the counter. But he couldn't care less for him, as he made his way to the pinball machine. he now realized someone were in front of the machine, tapping the buttons roughly. He wore a blue-green bandana, bell bottoms, and a grey muscle shirt. The boy known as Robin Arellano, was playing his game. But he didn't really care, as he walked to robins side, watching him as he played. 'Not bad.' Vance thought, watching the games score adding up to 96,000. "Vance?" He looked up to see Robins eyes meeting his.

"Sup." Vance had simply said, confusing the boy. Robins head shook subtly, though Vance had noticed. The boy wearing a bandana turned back to the pinball machine, starting up a new game. The two boys stood there in a comforting silence, only the nostalgic sound of the machine playing throughout the store. They stayed until the Grab 'n Go closed, and the boy behind the counter kicked them out. Vance had just now noticed he didn't even have any coins to play pinball with. He didn't even need to play, for him to calm himself down after his stepdad. He was content. Usually he would've blown up over someone playing "his" game, but this time was different. This wasn't just someone. It was Robin Arellano. The boy who Vance had thought would be mean, and obnoxious. And apparently, Robin had thought the same. Thinking Vance would kill him for playing Vance's so called pinball machine. The one thing that every kid in Denver knew not to touch. The two walked away from the store in separate ways. 'Maybe Vance Hopper isn't so bad.' Robin thought, walking back to his uncles house. Vance couldn't keep the smile off of his face walking back home, and he didn't quite know why. Maybe it was the thought of someone sort of becoming his friend, and not just for 'protection' from bullies, or to be cool.

But he made sure to cut off all happiness, stepping through the door of his house. All the lights were off, and he assumed everyone was asleep already. He walked to his room, collapsing on his bed immediately after closing his door. He sighed in content, before his eyes closed, sending him into a deep sleep.