the boy who was afraid of the dark

monday 9:10 am, lucas

  hey if you've read this far i'm really glad you're enjoying the story that actually makes me really happy. but if you are reading this and this is the most recently published chapter: i, unfortunately, have fucking writer's block and i'm struggling so just bear with me cause i'm trying and even if the next couple chapters seems random idk i'm trying to get one out each day...
  ok merci mofos enjoy((:

  i walked to school with my earbuds in, looking down. i know i left eliott's last night pretty casually, but i walked all the way home with tears in my eyes. and down my face. i was pretty hysterical.

  mika was sitting there with his arms crossed, then went on a rant about how worried he was and i never contacted him and he thought i was dead. he never once asked me where i was, so i just ignored his speech and went to bed.

  waking up this morning was one of the harder things i've had to do. i missed eliott, i missed his warmth. i missed his eyes, and the way the darkness around them made him look a bit like a raccoon.

  "yo! bitch boy!" yann yelled from across the courtyard.
  i sighed, then lazily walked over, only to be greeted by a heavy smack upside the head.

  "what the fuck, man? you dropped off the face of the earth in the damn middle of the party, then didn't answer any texts, calls, nada! i even went to your flat share, and mika had no idea! neither manon nor lisa. or emma, for that matter. i was seriously considering calling the police."

  "pfft," i whacked his arm. "dramatic."
  "where were you, then?" he pressed.
  i thought about it for a sec, "now that i think about it, i'm not really sure." i laughed. "i got so fucked up, man."

  i heard a snort from behind me, where basile and arthur approached.
  "see, yann?" basile patted his back. "i told you he was probably just on a bender."
  "that best not become a habit." arthur narrowed his eyes at me.
  i threw my hands up innocently.
  yann just rolled his eyes.

  then basile perked up and nodded behind me, "look, boys, it's your favorite tools."

  i turned around, to see william, chris, and eliott walking up past us. i caught my breath, as panic spread throughout my body.
  when eliott and i got each other's glare, i could feel my heart stop. his nonchalant swagger failed as his body stiffened and he suddenly walked like a robot.
  when he realized he was still craning his head to stare at me, he snapped out of it and swaggered away. i let my breath go, and turned back to the conversation.

  however, all three of my friends were staring at me.
  "what?" i asked.
  yann looked me up and down, raising an eyebrow. arthur looked at eliott, then back to me suspiciously. basile crossed his arms.
  "what?" i asked again, nervously chuckling this time.
  "no, nothing." basile said, uncrossing said arms.
  "nothing at all." arthur flashed a devilish smile.

  just then my phone buzzed, so i chose to ignore my friends. i unlocked my phone to check my messages:

eliott demaury:
(;

  my face flushed bright red. did eliott just send me a single winking face? i looked up to where he was standing with his friends, but then my heart sank. i felt my shoulders droop and my expression drop as he held his girlfriend, lucille, making out with her.

what is he playing?

i sighed, "alright. i'm out." i fist bumped the boys, then turned around toward that same building i hate so much.

—— monday 19:58, lucas

i sat on my bed, writing up my physics report for the lab we did today, when my phone buzzed.

eliott demaury:
so no response? okay...

i scoffed and rolled my eyes, then typed "i thought we were gonna pretend last weekend never happened?"
delivered, then read, then a typing bubble popped up. the disappeared. then popped up again, only to disappear a second later.

just then, my bedroom door burst open and in walked mika, who was carrying....a yoga mat?
"lucas. i figured i should make you aware, since no one else will, that you are a grumpy bitch." he said, concerningly seriously.

i stared at him, for a second. why thank you, captain obvious.
finally, i opened my mouth, staring incredulously at him, "alright, mika. i was really in the dark, and i'm so glad i know now. thank you, from the bottom of my heart, truly. desde el fondo de mi corazón."

he cocked his head at me, frowning, "i thought you spoke french?"
"i do," i rolled my eyes. "that was just in a song or something."
"no it wasn't." his expression didn't budge.
"oh my god," i threw my hands up. "then i'm just albert fucking einstein. what do you want?"

he crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes at me.
"as previously stated," he continued. "you are a grumpy bitch. therefore, emma, manon, and i have taken it upon ourselves to buy yoga mats and force you and lisa to participate in our yoga session in which we will be following this class-at-home CD from like the 70's or something."

i gave him the same, dumbfounded expression.
what? yoga? he approaches me with something new and different every fucking day, something i'm never prepared for. one time, he asked me if he could pluck my eyebrows. eventually, i let him, but maybe it's time to find new flat mates.

"mika," i sighed. "i'm not doing that."
he glared at me, "do you even know how much i hate you?"

i smiled, giggling, "you love me."
he crossed his arms tighter, shaking his head firmly, "no."
i slowly stood up, creeping towards him, "yes you do."
he cracked a smile, dropping his yoga mat to put his hands up in defense, "no."
"yes." i raised my hands and pointed my index fingers at him, reaching over to tickle him.
"no!" he screeched, and ran and i chased him through the apartment.

he jumped on top of manon on the couch, laughing and squealing. once emma and manon caught up to what was happening, they jumped up and started running around too.
i threw my head back, cackling.
suddenly, lisa appeared behind me, "what's going on?"

i whipped around, and got her sides.
she screeched and fell to the floor, laughing, "i'm gonna get you!"
"NO NO!!" i giggled, running away through the kitchen.
she passed me, pursuing mika down the hall. i took this as an opportunity to crawl back to my bedroom for safety.

i closed the door and locked it, turning around to see emma and manon huddled up and ready to pounce.
i raised my hands innocently, "chill! lisa's it."

we shared another serious look, then burst out laughing.
suddenly, the door knob rattled. it was mika, trying to get in.
"i hear you in there! i'm coming!" he yelled through the door.

emma, manon, and i quickly dove behind my bed, trying to hide from him. his footsteps quickly patted away, but were back a second later.
the doorknob rattled again.
"he's trying to pick it!" i half gasped, half wheezed laughing.

my phone buzzed loudly from its place on my pillow. all three of our heads whipped to look at the screen.
you couldn't see the message from this angle, but the name "eliott demaury" was clear.
i quickly grabbed it and threw it under my pillow, burying it deep.
there was a bit of an uncomfortable silence as the girls took in that i receive a text from the person they thought i hated most in the world.
"w-why is eliott texting you?" manon finally stuttered.
i caught my breath, "just...trig homework, you know."
i mentally slapped myself when i remembered that manon is in my trig class, and emma is in eliott's geometry II class. fuck.
thankfully, though, the two girls just shared a curious kind of look instead of pressing it further. i decided it was better, but it was probably not.

as if on cue, mika burst the door open, cackling maniacally, "HAHA! I FINALLY GOT IT!"
he held his bobby pin up, and kissed it triumphantly.
the three of us screamed, and i jumped over my bed, dodging around mika then sprinting down the hall to escape.