Like To Be You ✓

thirty one

The weather forecaster on the news tells him that it's going to be chillier that day, so Neil's mother wraps a crocheted woolen scarf around his neck and pulls it up so it covers his mouth too. When he tries resisting, she tuts and glares at him. He scowls.

She puts his lunchbox in his bag and zips it up, then presses a kiss to his head and ushers him out the door, following closely behind. They get inside his father's car, and he claims shotgun before his mother can. Robin smiles at the two.

First, they drop his mother off at the elementary school where she teaches, and then drive to Rochester High.

Neil makes a face when the car comes to a stop in front of the school's iron gates, and his father chuckles.

"Go on." He says. "It's just another day of school. Nothing special about it."

"Can't I just skip?" Neil whines. "Take me to the office with you! Please!"

"No can do." Robin shakes his head. "I've got meetings throughout the day. I might be late for dinner too."

"Excuse me?" Neil puts his hand to his chest and gapes. "Late for dinner? But it's the Masterchef final tonight!"

"Which we've already watched before. Emma wins, we know. Now go in." Robin leans to press a kiss to Neil's forehead. "And don't get into any trouble."

Neil sighs. "Maybe if I get into trouble they'll send me home."

"And you want to leave Tyler all alone on his first day back?"

His father's words propel him to trudge into the school building without another complaint. He rubs his eyes and blinks a few too many times as he comes to a stop in front of his grey locker.

He blinks at the schedule stuck on the inside of his door. His first period is US History. Boring.

He places his books in the locker, leaving his water bottle, pouch, a notebook, and his textbook in his bag. Then, after a lazy inspection around the hallway, he begins his way to Tyler's locker at the opposite side of his. 

He waits, and waits and waits and waits 'til the second bell rings and the hallway is nearly empty. His lips turn down, and just as he takes a step forward, a boy rushes past him, his bag heavily flopping against his back, and disappears into a classroom.

Tyler.

It's odd for him to be late, and especially to be ignoring Neil, so with a worried heart, Neil hurries up the stairs and to his classroom and takes a seat at the very end of a corner row.

It's easy pretending to understand everything, with occasional nods and eye-contact with the teacher, but he just doesn't feel like it today. Everything's been weird since 29 December, and he can't help but feel wronged by everything around him. The central heater isn't adjusted to his want(so he burrows his hands deep inside his coat pockets), his chair is rickety and constantly sways(so he sits so stiffly his tailbone screams in protest), and when the bell finally rings, Mr Newton lets them free (but only after assigning a mountain of reading). 

He runs out of the room, wanting to get away from the wretched classroom, before he slows down and drags himself over to his locker. He has Algebra II, a class he shares with Tyler, so he rushes to get to class to find two empty seats. When he finally spots them in the middle row, he sits in one and keeps his bag on the other. He waits for Tyler, staring intently at the door, until the boy himself enters, sullen and sad, and Neil's bright smile immediately diminishes when he goes and sits next to Ryan Webber instead. 

"Ty!" Neil calls out. "Tyler!" 

His head turns halfway before he stops, then he begins rummaging through his bag, removing pencils and half-complete note pads. 

So he's ignoring me. 

Neil's hope falters, and anger replaces it. Fine. He can be petty too, but anxiety niggles at his concentration and fills his notebook with cut-out equations and scribbles on his fingers. 

After the bell rings, he follows Tyler, who looks like he's trying to escape him, but Neil traps him by the water fountain and firmly holds him by the shoulders.  

"Why aren't you talking to me?" All the thought-out insults and frustration fly out the window as soon as he looks at Tyler. He looks pale, completely void of any sleep, and the worst of all, he's shivering. 

Tyler doesn't meet his gaze. His mouth remains shut, and he nibbles on his lower lip. 

"Ty," Neil tries again. "Is this about what happened during the sleepover? Because it's okay, I won't tell anybody." When Tyler doesn't respond, Neil continues. "Ty, it's okay. You can talk to me." 

"No." His best friend grits out the word. "No, I can't talk to you. Ever. I'm sorry."

His words are a shove to his chest, a blow to his stomach. "Wh-What do you mean?" 

"Hey, guys." A heavy hand settles on his right shoulder, and Neil yanks it away the moment he realises it's Bruce McAllister's. "Tyler." Bruce raises an eyebrow at Ty, a revolting grin on his face. Tyler squirms.

"What do you want, Bruce?" Neil says, furious beyond reason. "Came here to infest us with your presence? Because I'm already feeling sick." 

They've never liked Bruce. He's beefy, walks like he owns the place,  and likes commenting on girls. It disgusts them. They've spent hours dissing him and complaining about him to their parents, so it's a massive---and heartbreaking--- surprise, when Ty, his very own Ty, says, "Let's go, Bruce." 

"Ty..." Neil watches Tyler pull on the sleeve of his hoodie with his eyes cast down. He murmurs I'm sorry again, and when he turns away, Neil feels as though he's all alone in this great big universe. 

❄-❄-❄

a/n 

Happy Pride Month lovelies! :D

Sad chappie, I know :(

But the next one is a happy one, so it'll balance it out :)))