teacher's pet

nowadays

𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳

≛

karl makes his way briskly down the stairs, humming the tune to dark red as he goes and basking in the blissful emptiness of his mind.

his day has been entirely uneventful and, other than seeing mister mcallister in last-period english, nothing of interest has occurred. even then, karl didn't speak to his teacher once, not even to ask a question.

still, lucas smiled at him a few times, and even that has left him feeling wired tight and buzzing with nervous energy.

the brunette steps into the kitchen, lagging slightly when he sees his moms are home before continuing his journey to the cabinet to get himself a glass.

he can feel their eyes on him as he moves, taking his glass to the sink and filling it with cool water before turning to find them both facing him.

"how's school?"

the question catches him off-guard, and he leans back against the counter with a short shrug as he faces delilah and answers, "fine."

nothing more, nothing less.

there's been good things (lucas) and bad things (basically everything else), and he doesn't want to give them too many details.

he never wants to give them details anymore.

"have you made any new friends?" cynthia asks him, her voice so artificially sweet that karl almost grimaces back at her. it's not unusual for his mother to be kind, not at all, but she has never been one of those soft-spoken doting types that will squeeze your cheeks and play with your hair. she usually leaves that to delilah, so it's strange when she participates in the weird affection.

"why would i be making friends halfway through the school year?" he questions. his parents might've left school ages ago but they can't have forgotten how it works. you make friends and you stick with them (unless something big happens) and that's the end of it. you don't just constantly go around seeking fresh and budding friendships.

not to mention she knows full well that karl spends school hours exclusively with sapnap and that they've always just been a pair of best friends – except for the short period when alex joined their group. what could've possibly led her to believe it'll suddenly be different now?

"we just want to know more about your life, karl," his mother tells him, which has him immediately squinting back, suspicious. "you hardly tell us things nowadays."

"i have nothing to tell you," he easily responds, the phrase he's had on hand for the last year or so now. karl doesn't want his moms to know things about his life, and he thinks it's his right to make that decision.

they don't deserve to know things, not after how they've reacted in the past.

"well, how have your studies been?" his mom asks next. she has a mug in her hand, presumably coffee, and karl feels as though he's in some sort of interview with both of them looking at him with such intrigue, waiting for him to say something like sharks searching for blood.