Beneath / Small Town

3

"Mic, get up. You’re going to school.” Dom demanded, dragging the sheets off of him. He simply looked at him, opening his mouth to speak, yet nothing came out. It hurt and hurt until Valk could feel the throbbing pain in the back of his throat, light tears falling down his face. 
 
Why can’t I speak?
 
  ----
 
20/03/20XX
 
Back to school I go. My attendance must be shit, and I only just started, which is something I guess. During break, I was kind of hoping that the chances of me running into that green demon were high, but he never showed up today. Coil came up to me today, a concerned look on his face. “Have you seen Boombox?” He asked, and I stared at him weirdly. “Boombox?” He repeated. “That green demon who was talking to you? My and the other guys’ friend?”
 
So that’s his name! Apparently they hadn’t seen him for almost a fortnight, and he wasn’t even home. They assume that Boombox must’ve moved without telling them or something, but this early into the year? If he did move, I’d be upset, but he hadn’t. I saw him earlier, whilst under the bridge. He was sitting on the ground, visor off and phone out. He seemed really exhausted, and didn’t notice me at first. My face flushed when he saw that I was just standing there, waiting for something to happen. No words were spoken, he just smiled and waved, before looking down at his phone again. I left at that, way too much interaction for one day, and with Coil approaching me? Hell no. 
 
Maybe I should’ve realized something was wrong if he was up at seven in the morning, resting under a bridge alone. What if he was in trouble? Not like I’d be any help, but I would have listened to him talk about it and see if Dom could find a solution or something. Was it something that happened at home, or maybe just an escape from reality? Was he going to kill himself, but I caused some delay in it? I hope he didn’t kill himself. I think I’d be pissed at myself if he did, because I could’ve stopped him if I was aware of it. I’m sure he’s okay, though.
 
Today was alright. I’m crawling out of my shell a bit. I helped Dom with cooking dinner today by marinating the chicken. He was following some sort of curry and rice recipe.
 
21/03/20XX
 
I know what happened to Boombox. I’m writing this whilst under the bridge I saw him at, I’m hoping he shows up. I know what happened and I don’t know if I can tell anyone about it, not even Dom. No idea how I didn’t make the connection, but people were assuming I was dating HIM due to the way that he’d try to talk to me and give me things. What the fuck is wrong with people sometimes. That’s gross as fuck. Gosh, I don’t know how I didn’t realize it before that it was him and not some random dipshit.
 
So my assumptions are that he either got kicked out of home because the rumors catched up to him, or is pretending to leave the house for school, only to skip because of them. So yes, dumb shits whom I call ‘classmates’ and ‘random fuckers in grades below and above me’, I am going to go find my ‘boyfriend’ and knock some fucking sense into him because his dumb-for-shit friends are worried about him, and I guess I’m worried too. That’s not exactly normal, but it totally is because I’m trying to help him out. 
 
It’s currently 7:22, around 20 minutes since I wrote the last paragraph. He isn’t exactly here yet, but I can see a greenish figure on the coast of the beach, staring out into the water. Taking a wild guess, it’s probably Boombox and his stupid avoidant behavior, so I’m just going to take a risk and try to approach him. Try to figure him out without my words, and comfort him without them too. If not that, maybe I’ll punch him, some shit about some people enjoying that. I’d assume he’d probably be one of those guys who like to be punched or something. 
 
This is what friends do, I think. I’ve never had anyone other than Dom for most of my life, and I guess he’s like a best friend of mine, but that already came pre-packaged and confirmed since he’s my brother. This is a guy, completely unrelated to me and whom I met in a public place, and fuck if I know how to comprehend people like that. I can hope for the best and just roll with it. 

22/03/20XX
 
I am the world's biggest asshole. So, to clarify what the fuck happened yesterday, I pretty much fucked up. Despite my assumption being somewhat correct, I didn't expect to almost ruin shit further. When I went up to Boombox on the beach, I was kind of hoping  that it was some random demon that looked exactly  like him, but luck apparently isn't on my side. He freaked out the moment I saw him, and tried running until I grabbed the back of his hood, pulling him toward me. My body apparently had a mind of its own, because my first fucking thought was to slap the fuck out of him! I was so pissed at him and I had no clue why!
Maybe it was the fact he was also a part of this stupid shit and just left me to deal with it myself. For some reason, he immediately got the message, and was on the verge of breaking down. Boombox kept apologizing and apologizing until my ears were about to fall off, then looked around as if someone was watching us, then proceeded to ask if I wanted to go back to his place to discuss it the next day.
 
And now here I am, sitting in a corner with this damn journal open, waiting for this bitch to open up. The first thing I realized when I entered the house was how quiet it was. Apparently he was an only child, and his guardian doesn’t..Gosh, I don’t know.
His guardian looks nothing like him, and I could tell that from a half-assed look at the back of their head. I wonder what happened to his parents? Was it the same thing that happened to me? No idea, couldn’t tell you.
 
Currently, I’m watching Boombox pace around the room, violently tearing at a bunch of sour strips. I watch as he picks one up from the packet on the table, offers me one silently, and proceeds to continue his literal enraged charade of walking up and down the living room whilst ruthlessly chewing on the candy. It seems like a good stress reliever, I might try it sometime, I just don’t think it’s for Boombox. If anything, he probably needs something more calming than just candy. His living room’s rather minimal, mint walls with a white couch that has these cool lime pillows in the shape of squares, and this huge glass table in the middle. Everytime he walks past the table, I always get a bit afraid he’s going to smash it into a billion pieces, but I don’t think he’s the kind of guy to do that.

I am, though. If this wasn’t not my house, I think it’d be up in flames by now. 
 
His guardian walked past and made eye contact with me. It felt weird. They squinted when they saw me writing in this journal, which is definitely frightening to say the least. I’m pretty sure they’re a Blackrockian or something, they got the intimidating eyes of one, but they look nice. It’s this simple wine-red color, which compliments their twisted horns well. It’s like a stair design, I wonder if they carved it themself or were just born like that? If it’s natural, that’d be fucking crazy. The color of them definitely aren’t though, nobody has horns which are the fucking colour of cartoon vomit. Maybe it was to look at least a bit like Boombox. I don’t blame them for it. 
 
Over the course of the last hour or two, Boombox has opened up only once, and even that wasn’t the truth. He just said “Didn’t feel too good to go to school, so I kinda just took some time off.” And decided to leave it at that.
 
YOU WERE ABSENT FOR ALMOST TWO FUCKING WEEKS. WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘SOME’ TIME OFF. But I can’t yell that at him, I don’t know what’s going on, or why he’s acting that way, but I guess I’m not in the place to ask.
 
He calmed down a bit, just sitting beside me. The only problem now will be if he turns over and starts reading this, in which I will vomit on this page on command and proceed to toss it into a bin after dousing it in gasoline in order to set it on fire. I don’t think he will, anyway. I’m pretty sure Boombox might be a bit blind without his visor, he’s a lot more careful about his surroundings in a ‘I may be blind’ way, not a ‘I don’t want people to see my eyes’ way.  
I’ve been trying to call Dom for the last few minutes. It keeps going to voicemail, I wonder what he’s doing.
 
Ring once. “Hey, it’s Dom, leave a message.”
Ring again. “Hey it’s Dom, leave a message.”
Ring again again. “Hey it’s-” Just fucking pick up the phone.
 
I did leave a message. I texted him “I am going to disappear for either the night or for a few more hours. I’m not dead, and you can call me to prove it.” 
 
I am a good older brother. I respect my younger brother’s request of wanting to know where I am, even if it means he can easily access my location. I am a stupid people pleaser. 
 
Boombox’s dad guardian offered us some snacks. They gave me a can of cola and some chips. Some random show is currently blasting on the TV, and I think my head might be spinning. I have no idea if Boombox is still next to me, or I’m hallucinating some sort of shadow casting over my journal’s pages now. It’s around 10 at night though, so I guess that makes sense as to why I feel this way. 

FUCK, HE READ THE FUCKING PAGES. WHY THE FUCK WASN’T I PAYING ATTENTION.