Only The Brave

Unprepared

It was the weekend that followed, and it rolled on through regularly. Monday morning, Jace awoke with his alarm clock, and got ready for the day. He had a feeling that day wasn't going to be a great one, on account of how tired he was. He hated days like this. Everything felt slow, and it didn't help that the sky was still grey with the rain clouds from Friday. He must have been standing on the porch for about five minutes, watching the sky, and thinking about his fight with Darren. He'd sincerely not meant to leave a scar. It had just hurt him such a great deal when when the dear friend from his childhood was the one to break the present he'd given to him; one of his two precious bracelets. His uncle had given him the other... Darren was the only one he'd talk to about those kinds of things, and that was possibly what hurt the most about their violent reunion, the fact that he no long had a friend like he used to. That child had grown up, and the light was gone from his eyes.

He wanted to be there for him, especially because his mom had just died, but he didn't know where to start. How do you come back to someone after years of neglect, accidental or otherwise? Jace had allowed himself to become absorbed in his title of 'hero' from that night, while Darren was left, shunned by the other kids... He was blinded. He was sorry, and he didn't know how to say it. When you grow up spoiled, you're taught that nothing's your fault...even if you both built the blanket fort.

Finally, Jace stepped away from the porch, and walked down to his car. After jumping inside, he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, and popped it between his lips. Not until he was a little down the road did he finally light it, and roll down the window. His parents had no idea he smoked, if that much wasn't obvious by his actions. Like Alex, and a few of the others, Jace had a fake I.D. It aged him about six years, but he hadn't looked his age since the growth spurt. Cigarettes weren't the hard buy, it was alcohol, and he certainly couldn't buy either in the neighbor. He was too much of a social butterfly to get away with it; too many people knew him.

The last drag of the cigarette burned, as he hadn't been paying attention to how close it was to the filter, and he flicked it out the window before pulling up in the school parking lot– a spot he'd earned by passing each of his classes with a B or higher. Killing the engine, Jace slowly stepped out. Usually, as he walked in the side door, he'd see Darren's dad dropping him off. This time he waited, so they could talk before the others tried to shove him in lockers like he egged them on to do. He waited, and lit another cigarette, checking the time on his phone. In the sea of faces, he could pick out a friend or two, making their way to the group, but he couldn't see Dare, and when the first bell rang, he sighed and stepped out his smoke. Maybe he'd come too late, or maybe Darren was running late.. He'd just have to catch him later.

On his way to class, he bumped into Jason; a man of about 5'11” with short brown hair, and green eyes. He was one of the friends who also had a fake I.D., and even went out of his way to make himself look older by growing out whatever facial hair he could manage to grow. If you needed alcohol, this was the guy you sought out. Jace wouldn't go as far as to do that, because the last thing he needed was to get caught.

“Hey,” He said, looking up to Jace, “Alex was looking for you earlier. He says he has something to give to you?”

The blond scrunched up his face, furrowing his brow in confusion, “What are you talking about?”

“I don't know, man,” Jason shrugged, continuing on his way to class, “Catch you later.”

When he jogged away, Jace stood there stupidly for a moment, then shook his head a little and made his way to first period. He shared third period with Alex, but didn't see him in there, and began to get curious. Obviously, he was at school, but for some reason, avoiding class? The blond glanced to the back row when the class emptied, looking to the desk he'd seen Darren sitting at the other day. He was still nervous to speak to him..