Spectrum- a Jared Kleinman Angst fic

Chapter One

Minor cursing, small small mention of abuse, mentions of self harm, and uh some pushing down feelings I guess. Be careful :3

Sorry there's no picture, tho idk if you care lol. Is anyone even reading this? I guess as long as I'm here it's fine

Jared groans loudly, rolling over in his bed.

It's too bright outside, especially for eight in the morning. And on a Saturday, at that.

He shoves his face into his pillow, but it's too late, he's already awake. No matter how much he wants to forget the world for a little while longer, he won't be able to.

Plus, he has to meet with his friends today.

He'd actually forgotten about that, if he's being honest.

Anyway, he sighs and forces himself out of bed- not an easy feat by any means, but he somehow accomplishes it.

Afterwards, he throws some basic clothes on: a sweatshirt, a shirt, and some jeans. It is just his friends, after all. They won't judge his fashion. Plus, it's winter, so warm clothes make sense.

Nobody will take notice of how often he's wearing long sleeves.

He shakes his head and grabs his glasses. He walks to the kitchen and pours himself a generous amount of Cinnamon Toast Crunch before shoveling the sugary cereal into his mouth.

It's a miracle that his dad isn't home, because then he wouldn't be able to enjoy the food so much.

When he's finished, he washes his bowl and puts the box of cereal away. He finds his shoes and slips them on. He pockets his phone and gives himself a once over in a stray mirror.

He looks all right. Not great, but all right. Decent enough that his friends won't say anything to him, at least.

He nods and steps outside, shivering. It's cold.

He power walks to his car, in a hurry to get out of the chilly morning air. He hops in and starts the medium length drive to their meeting place. He turns the radio on and hums along, smiling.

When he pulls up to the place, his friends are already there- he can tell because Connor's car is parked.

He gets out and locks up his car before walking. When he gets to the doors, he pushes them open and looks around for his friends. He sees them waiting at a table and heads over.

"Hey guys," he greets, pulling a chair over for himself. He sits and studies his friends. Alana's hair is bright pink, and she's blushing. "What happened?"

"Hey," Zoe greets, grinning widely. Evan and Connor are busy debating whether corn is a fruit or a vegetable. Jared doesn't honestly care. Alana is calming down, hair slowly turning to its normal shade.

He waits a minute, but since the argument is going nowhere, Jared coughs to get his friends' attention.

"I want my ice cream," he states.

"Okay, Jared, we'll get the ice cream," Connor says, sounding slightly annoyed. Jared gets to his feet along with his other friends.

They get their ice cream and sit back down at their table. Jared's eating birthday cake ice cream, but Connor gets chocolate, Alana gets Strawberry, Zoe, for some ungodly reason, orders mango, and Evan orders vanilla.

Jared finds himself zoning out. Was he really that annoying?

Probably. When is he not annoying?

Before he can stop it, he deflates, disappointment settling in his gut. He sets his ice cream down and tries to listen in on the conversation.

"Jared?"

His head snaps up. "What?"

"Your... your hair is.. it's blue?" Evan says. It comes out like a question, but the meaning is the same: Jared is failing. 

Shit.