The halls of the school were empty and dull, not much different to how the small town of willowsville always felt to the locals.
Highschool was ruthless. ripping apart friendships like shredded paper and ruining confidence like a plague.
In the bustling halls of the school there were friend groups all around, already knowing each other from over the summer and middle school but there were the occasional losers like corey and ethan.
The pair were friends since their childhoods and were inseparable- that was until freshman year came and they both came out as gay. The news made their friendship much more awkward than intended and it fell out faster than it started. They both secretly wanted to be friends again but the fact they had no other friends and a rough past stopped them.
On the first day of junior year Corey walks into the building, keeping her gaze low to the ground and her head down not looking forward to the first day or the rest of the school year.
She walks into the classroom next to the darkroom looking around the sea of students- some new some old but she only noticed one person- ethan.
She immediately freezes, seeing there's no other seats in the room and the teacher tells her to take the seat
she hesitantly walks over to the seat, sitting down without saying a word not caring that he was looking at her.
"uh hi....can i help you?" she finally says, getting weirded out by his staring.
"yeah- no sorry i just barely recognized you-" Ethan says quickly averting his gaze to the floor instead of her face.
"really?" she says, not expecting him to say that "i don't even look that different.." she says, the whole interaction still awkward with the memories of their old friendship in the back of their minds.
"no i mean i can still recognize you it's just- your hair it's so....short" he says, not used to seeing her without her long hair.
"yeah...i guess i just needed a change.." she says, setting her bag down as the teacher starts to talk- not paying attention to him anymore.
The teacher says that the person sitting next to them is their assigned partner for photography this year and she immediately sighs.
He frowns a little hurt by her reaction "hey it's better than a freshman right?" he says, waiting for her to say something else but she doesn't. She just gets up grabbing their camera for their first assignment.
He catches up with her as she goes into the hallway already starting their assignment, he trails behind her awkwardly as she takes charge of most of the pictures.
"did you hear about that stalker shit over the summer?" he says, trying to break the ice but realizing that probably wasn't the best topic to bring up after not talking for two years.
"I mean not that it's me i just- it was really freaky that's it..." he says, shutting himself up.
She looks at him rolling her eyes, she continues to take the pictures until class is over.
"I'll let you do them next time" she says, being fair and genuine for a moment.
He hesitantly follows her after class, knowing they both have no one to sit with at lunch.
"hey uh...do you want to sit with me at lunch?" he asks "I mean there has to be something interesting that's happened since we've last talked..." he says.
She turns around, looking at him
She sighs, "do you even want to be my friend of do you just not want to have no friends?" she says causing him to go silent.
"...well I guess both?" he says with a shrug causing her expression to soften a little.
"fine. whatever this doesn't mean we're best friends again though" she says, walking into the cafeteria with the camera bag over her shoulder.
He smiles slightly, unaware in the moment that his decision to become friends either her again would start a series of events that neither of them would have ever thought could happen to anyone in their small town-
let alone them.
YOU ARE READING
Behind closed doors
Mystery / Thriller"In love, there's a thin line between adoration and possession."
