Cipher [A Gravity Falls Tale] #Wattys2016

Eighteen

As the semester faded into obscurity, Will spiraled deeper and deeper into what could only be depression. He cut himself off from everyone, doing little outside of secondary. He even cut out of most family meals, keeping to himself in his room for long stretches of time.

His friends worried about him, or at least, that was what Willie told him. Will just ignored him, though. His friends couldn't understand what he was going through. To have come so far, only to be shown the truth. He had been blinded by his illusions of success and his naive hope. Not like Kryptos, who had been accepted into his own dream school and had already started attending for the rest of the semester.

That was the real kicker. Even though the semester was drawing to a close, the amount left in secondary school was almost equal to the time he had gone through already. Another heap of miserable semesters awaited him, filled with impossibly challenging classes. And now, he knew taking them was all for nothing. He had wasted all of his time by pouring it into this impossible dream. He had thrown away an important portion of his life by failing to recognize reality.

And so, the semester came to an end, giving the students a sizeable break before school started back up again. Will hardly noticed. He spent his time still holed up in his room, determined to avoid everyone.

One day, he lay in his bed in darkness, as usual. Willie had gone off to see a picture with Layla and some of her other friends. Will had been invited, but, as always, he had declined. He lay there in the dark, lazily drawing in a sketch pad of his. Fire had always been something that calmed Will down. He liked sitting around the family hearth at night, and as a result, he had gotten good at drawing it. Now, though, he looked down at his latest sketch, recoiling as he realized he had drawn a city on fire. It wasn't even that good of a drawing, just looking like scribbles.

Will groaned and hurled something at the wall. It made a startling noise, and he looked up to see a crack on the wall. He flopped back down on his bed and closed his eye, not even caring anymore. Suddenly, there was a light tap on the door.

"Uh, William?" came the voice of his mother, Mary.

"Yes?" he mumbled.

"There's someone down in the shop to see you," she reported. Will sighed and got to his feet.

"If it's someone who wants to go do something 'fun', you can tell them to go away," he grumbled.

"No, I think you'll want to talk to them," she replied. He sighed again and pushed open his door. His mother looked slightly alarmed at the sight of him. After all, he was disheveled, depressed, and hadn't cleaned himself or his room in several days. Will walked past her and down the stairs into his parents shop. Someone was talking with his father. Will walked towards them, and the familiar figure turned around.

"Kryptos?" questioned Will, shocked to see his friend. Academy life must have already begun to ready him for adulthood. He still wore glasses, though these were much more stylish, and he was very well dressed. Even though they were the same age, he now looked much older than Will.

"Yeah," replied the square. Markus nodded and left the two of them alone. "I, ah, heard about what happened with you. I'm not gonna try and comfort you or anything. I know you don't want that. After all, that's why you've been hiding out from everyone m, right?"

Will nodded, narrowing his eye. "Then why are you here?"

"Well, I haven't been much better. I haven't seen anyone in a while, thanks to my all-consuming classes at the Academy. In fact, the break hasn't really been much help, because I'm working as a research assistant at the, ah, University. My instructors recommended me, and sure enough, I got the position. But, um, long story short, I haven't heard from many people lately, but I was able to talk with Layla not too long ago. She told me you were still like... this."