the boy who was afraid of the dark

friday 15:45, eliott

i was at first a little suspicious that lucas wasn't at school today. usually i'm the one who skips, not him. but eventually i brushed it off because while i was upset i didn't get to see him, i acknowledged the fact that i'm not his father.

but then, yann, basile, and arthur weren't there either. this got me pretty worried, so i texted him and asked him what was going on.

and then i noticed manon and emma, his roommates, were also not fucking there.
so then i was pissed, scared, and worried all at the same time.

what happened? what's going on? why isn't he here? why didn't he tell me? and why the fuck isn't anyone answering my texts?!

i literally texted him in the morning and now school was over. this was very out of character for lucas, who loved getting texts from me and often responded the very next second.

  so you can only imagine how much more insanely worried that made me.

  so as soon as the bell rang, making me aware of my new freedom, i made up my mind to walk to the colloc and find out what was going on myself.

  the elevator of that stupid building has been broken for years, so i had to drag myself up the six million flights of stairs as lucas does everyday.

  normally, i wouldn't mind. but i was really sore from practice last night.

  once at the top, i walked down the hallways to lucas' door. i gently rapped the wood with my knuckles.

  no response.

  "lucas?" the rapping became a little heavier.

  no response.

  instead, my phone started ringing.

  i didn't even look at the caller ID, "lucas?"

  silence.

  "um, no dude. chris. where are you?"

  i cant explain how ridiculously let down i felt. my shoulders just completely dropped.
  "oh," i said. "i don't really feel like partying tonight, man. maybe another time."

  "well- we don't have to party. i'm here at william's, and we haven't hung out in a long time. just come over, we can watch movies and kick it."

  i felt like shit. days without lucas fucking suck. and not even yann, arthur, or basile were there, the only people in the world who know my secret. it's nice to not have to hide.
  today was a shitty day and i wanted it to end.

  "nah, i'm just gonna go home. i'll see you guys later." i sighed.

  unfortunately, william grabbed the phone, "well that fucking sucks cause you don't have a choice. get your ass over here or i'll track you down and pick you up."

  then, as william does, he hung up.

  i groaned. guess i gotta walk.

      -         friday 16:47, eliott    -

i arrived at william's house, and i'll just say that my not-so-great mood was showing.
i didn't knock. i just walked in and marched to the living room, where i know chris and william already were. because all we ever do is hang out in william's living room.

  sure enough, they sat on the couch and armchair, drinking beers.

  i plopped down on the couch on the opposite side of william, and buried my face in the cushion.

  "love the enthusiasm." chris scoffed from the armchair.

"i told you guys i'm tired." i mumbled.