Boys Will Be Boys (v.2)

chapter twenty-one - hug

chapter twenty-one — hug

FRESHMEN WERE AFRAID OF US. They milled around the hallways in tight packs, new backpacks barely broken in. There was almost always one at the center, the control tower giving off the formation signals, who looked smug and far too comfortable. Marco loved attacking them first, looming over them with his own smug grin of seniority until they cracked and the sardine school was dispersed.

I hadn't missed school at all. Not one bit. Not even a little. School could go fuck itself with a rusty corkscrew and then bury itself in a mound of burning shit. Fuck school. Fuck all this bullshit.

"Keke!"

I whipped around quick, feet stuttering when Lukas threw an arm around my shoulder. He looked far too happy, a wide grin plastered on his face and his backpack half-hitched onto his shoulder. Mine matched his, slouching over my arm sadly and gaping at the top where I'd been too lazy to zip it.

"Your backpack is unzipped," He fumbled with my straps, pulling at the zipper until it shut, "Got it"

"Thanks"

He smiled, the ugly fluorescent lights of the halls casting weird shadows across his face. Lukas stood out like a giant in the swarm of underclassmen and they paused to absorb the vibes he gave off as we went through the hallway. He was the one the lost newbies went to for directions, the one they weren't afraid to cry to when he found them alone in bathrooms during lunch. Fucking saint.

"Move"

A sophomore gazed up at me, looking more like an elementary school kid than a high schooler. He was on one of the sports teams, a varsity jacket engulfing him like he was a kid wearing his dad's suit. It didn't fit him and he would probably never fill it up until he was forty with a beer gut and watching television sports thinking of the mistakes he made.

I didn't have a jacket, couldn't afford it, but I had way more mistakes to mull over.

"Think you and your buddies could move over there? Thanks!" Lukas descended like an all-to-cheery guardian angel, coming in between the sophomore and me slowly.

The kid nodded, an unnatural flush building up his neck as he dragged his cronies to a corner. Lukas smiled at me so hard his eyes squinted shut and I rolled my eyes, unable to match his happiness to even a minute percentage.

"C'mon," I sighed, tugging at his belt loop gently.

He nodded, trailing behind me. A few people tried to talk to us, mainly seniors who thought I didn't have better things to do. Some of them went right over my head, asking Lukas about his summer and stuff. I probably know what Lukas did this summer better than he does. Lukas brushed them off easily, his smile dropping a bit whenever they'd prod at me.

"Elisabeth's in your first class, right?"

The hallways finally emptied, most people rushing off to find where their classes were. The cocky few that stayed would remain where they were until the last bell, insistent on seeming cool or some shit. I wasn't really sure what they got out of almost being late to class. I'd either go late, on time or not at all. Almost-late literally achieved nothing.

Idiots.

"I dunno," I shrugged loosely in Lukas' direction and he chuckled.

"Sports medicine, yeah? I think she's in it too"

I hummed, disinterested. My hands started to fidget with my straps, sliding the adjusting belt back and forth so the bag slid up and down my back like a faulty elevator.