Third POV
Grayson had friends in elementary school, many actually, had a group, would go to sleepovers, always had people to play with during recess, sat with them at lunch, talked to in class
Middle school came around and he had lost some friends, some just created distance but were still close enough to call friends, or maybe just acquaintances, but he made some new ones too, so it evens out, kinda
He still sat with them at lunch, no more sleepovers, there wasn't recess anymore so that's out, they talked in class, one of the new ones would even play video games with him when they got home
It was time for high school, most of his clique had transferred to another school, and when it came to go to school he had almost none of the classes with the people from before, he still had that friend who'd play video games with him, they'd talk on Skype and play on the computer for hours
He didn't have the same lunch as his main friend so he sat with some people he didn't really know. Without having any of the classes with the friends from before when walking down the halls and they saw each other they'd wave, smile a bit
Sophomore year he still had that one close friend, he had other people he talked to, not much, beside that one friend everyone else was kind of really just an acquaintance, not his friend but would sometimes still have a small little conversation here and there
He wished to skip lunch, but he didn't know where to go during the break from classes, he sat with people he didn't know, still, looking down at his binder with nothing to do, he didn't like the food the school served, would wait till he got home to eat lunch, although whenever he had homework he would finish it in the mere 23 minutes given to eat, so that was good
His mother would always ask why he doesn't bring anyone over anymore, or go out with his friends, he'd just say they were busy or shrug it off
He would go days without talking to anyone, all day just keep to himself, silent for hours on end, he heard one time someone say how they couldn't keep quiet for a whole day and laugh it off with their friend, he chuckled at that, he was on his fourth day at the time
Junior year, he didn't have any classes with his only friend, a couple weeks passes and they stopped talking, Grayson would walk the halls, sit in classes, at lunch, alone
When he got home he'd say hi to his mom, eat whatever she made for him or make his own food, go to his room and finish homework if already hadn't in school, lay in bed and watch YouTube or Netflix, laugh and smile like he hadn't for a long time, it felt nice, to feel like those people on screen were his friends, he kept up with their lives through videos and would get so excited for a new episode or video
Senior year, his last year of high school, he'd still say hi if his old friend saw him walk pass him in the halls, that's it, that's all he ever talked, his parents started to work more, he'd have to walk home, eat lunch, watch something on his tv, spend the day on his own, his parents came late, he would be in his room in the dark watching the screen on his tablet for hours, didn't get much sleep going to bed so late and waking up very early, bags started to indent his face and color them a light purple
He was used to not talking to anyone, to restraining his voice for the one encounter he got once or twice a week, if he was lucky
Graduation, he was sat next to his friends from elementary, an awkward smile was exchanged, they used to be so close he thought, thinking back to the times he'd come over and play with them outside, run around in the backyard, eat while watching tv, text each other when they first got phones, he missed it all with them, they were his first friends
