"Best Friends"

Good to be Back

"Hey, you're back!"

Dark was surprised to see the brown haired boy with sapphire blue eyes run up to Mark and hug him, Dark's cousin chuckling as he hugged him back.

"Hey Jack,  it's good to see you too." Mark smiled, Dark standing just a bit away awkwardly

"Dark! God it's been ages, you've changed so much." Jack gave him a happy smile, easing Dark slightly.

"Come meet the others!" Jack exclaimed, gesturing to the others.

"H-Hey..everyone ." Dark replied with a shy wave.

"High fives all around!" Jack declared as he proceeded to give everyone at the table a high five, including Mark, Anti, and Dark.

"Is h-he a fr-friend of yours now??" Dark asked Anti as they found places to sit at the table.

"Yeah, he's my cousin actually. He's really cool!" Anti gushed.

Dark felt a twinge of jealousy, but refused to let it show as he sat down by Anti and Mark.

"Hey, I'm Amy." A girl with long brown hair and brown eyes introduced herself with a small smile.

As the others went on introducing themselves, Dark noticed Mark's eyes constantly drifting to look at Amy.

"Dude!" Dark whispered sharply, nudging Mark's shoulder.

"W-what?" Mark stammered, his face blushing a light red hue in embarrassment.

"Yo-you w-were staring." Dark told him with a snicker, earning a light punch on the shoulder.

"What's up?" Signe prompted, noticing the two bickering.

"Nothing!" They replied simultaneously.

She shrugged and continued chatting with Jack and the others much to their relief.

Dark soon learned that the names of the people sitting at the table was Henrik, a kid constantly wearing a lab coat, Marvin, a kid with a cat mask, Robbie, and extremely pale dude with purple hair, Jackaboy-Man, a kid with a blue mask covering his eyes, and Chase, who constantly wore a snapback hat.

I'm never gonna remember all of these names, Dark thought as he struggled to keep up with the multiple conversations occurring at once.

Soon the bell rang, signaling for the group to go to their first class of the day.

"I'll see you guys later!" Chase told the others as he and the others stood up and left.

"We have the same class together!" Anti cheered excitedly to Dark as he stood up.

"What c-class is it?" Dark prompted.

"Math." Anti stated with a disappointed frown.

"D-don't worry, w-we can suffer t-together." Dark assured him teasingly as he followed him to their first class.

The hours went by in a blur as teachers droned on about rules Dark already knew and expectations that hadn't changed much since elementary school.

Soon the group of friends was gathered in the commons area for lunch, each talking eagerly about their classes and who they share them with.

Once again, Mark seemed more focused on Amy than anyone else, causing Dark to soon realize why.

"Y-you like her, d-don't you?" Dark taunted Mark in a whisper.

"Shut up!" Mark snapped, yelling louder than he intended to.

"You okay Mark?" Jack prompted him worriedly.

"I'm fine, I'll be back." Mark muttered as he stormed away to the bathroom, Dark following him.

"What the hell man?!" Mark exclaimed furiously at Dark.

"I-"

"Look, I like Amy. Is that what you wanted to hear?!" Mark shouted.

"I w-want to k-know why you're s-so mad at me!" Dark countered.

Mark sighed as he rubbed his face with his hands, clearly exasperated at his cousin.

"I...I don't know how to talk to girls I like, alright?" Mark sighed softly.

Dark opened his mouth to argue that he was wrong, until he realized that he had never seen Mark talk to girls before.

"I c-can b-be yo-you're wingman." Dark offered.

"What advice do you have?" Mark scoffed sourly.

"I know t-that you do-don't stare at th-them like a stalker." Dark countered, causing Mark to fall silent.

"I'll let you be my wingman on one condition." Mark decided.

"Th-that being?" Dark prompted.

"I get to be your wingman since I know you like Anti." Mark stated.

"I do-don't like Anti!" Dark protested, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment.

"Uh-huh, sure." Mark retorted, clearly not convinced.

"C'mon, let's go back out." Mark told Dark, walking back to the others with his cousin in tow.