Once Upon A Moonlight✅ {BOYXBOY}

Chapter 5: Party Panic

Word Count: 2157.

SAM'S POV:

Hours had ticked by as I sat at my Mom's old desk in my bedroom, mindlessly completing the homework assignments. It was the night of the party and I had spent my afternoon after school catching up on homework.

Yes, I am that lame.

Doing work also helped me cope with my anxiety. I would put all my energy and worries into the formulaic handouts, finding order and safety in the ruled lines I wrote on. It was one of the only positives about school for me. I didn't follow the rules necessarily because I was a 'teacher's pet' but because the regulations and timetables school provided brought me some comfort.

I pushed my glasses down my nose slightly and rubbed my eyes wearily after finishing the last of the homework. I rarely wore my glasses outside my own home because I figured I was already the epitome of the stereotypical nerd - bullying and all - without bringing my glasses into the picture. Plus I had contact lenses and given my current situation at school, I deemed it wise not to wear my glasses for my own safety - in more ways than one. 

Scanning my walls I sighed. Pretty much everything was old and from when I was little, even the now thin beige carpet. A dark oak bookcase sat filled to the brim with various books and more were stacked in the corner of my room. Various photographs I had once taken over the years were either framed on the cream walls or pinned up on a cluttered corkboard. Over my dresser was a small mirror with a slight crack in it. With a sigh, I opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out an ice-cold, silver-framed photo that hid inside it.

It was the photo I treasured the most, yet it was also the one I despised the most. It was taken just before ninth grade with my old camera on a timer and it was the last time our whole family was happy. There wasn't even a hint of depression or sadness in my mother's eyes in the picture but I know it was still there, she was just better at hiding it back then. Her blonde locks flowed elegantly, with no sign of stress in the strands. Beside her was him. I couldn't look at the figure for too long without feeling sick so instead, I looked at the boy next to me in the photo: my brother, Pierce. 

I chuckled at his ridiculous pose and felt myself missing him. My brother left for a college in Norway just as I had started ninth grade and we hadn't really heard from him since - other than the occasional letter saying he was doing fine. I couldn't blame him, our family was a mess. I was just glad that he was happy and free. 

I put the picture away in the drawer and my eyes lingered on my camera given by him sitting forgotten on the bookshelf. I unconsciously traced my wrists with my figures before shaking my head and standing up from my seat.

In the words of Dumbledore: "it doesn't do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." 

I caught my own reflection in the mirror and stepped closer, checking over my appearance. I'd gotten dressed in an outfit for the party hours before it actually started, in case I changed my mind about what I would wear. I wore a plain, white long-sleeved t-shirt, some blue skinny jeans and my only pair of trainers. It was a simple look but it was all I could settle on after tearing my closet apart.

How do people do this so often?

I pulled out my phone and checked the time.

20:37

I gasped in shock.

I was supposed to be collecting Emily and Frederick at 20:45!

I threw open my bedroom door and hurried down the stairs, past my mother who had a shortbread biscuit in hand.