Underneath The Surface

Nothing matters...

A/N: Italics will depict an event that is going on at the same time but at another place with another person.

The sound of the sharp bell echoed in the classroom signalling the end of the last period. Wynter stood up with the rest of the students, grabbing at his notebook with his left hand he walked outside the room, nodding at the teacher in goodbye.

An arm came around his shoulders immediately. Julian. He grinned at Wynter "Sup Wynter?"

"Get off me" was his reply. Wynter placed a hand on Julian's chest and shoved him away gently.

"Wynter I ditched my date to hangout with you. You should be happy to see me" Julian pouted sadly, throwing his arm around Wynter again. The dark haired boy glared at him but didn't make any move to shove him off again knowing that Julian would keep repeating his actions as long as Wynter reacted to them.

"A date with your laptop?" Wynter asked, checking his phone for messages from Hayden's class teacher. He knew about Wynter's....condition. So he sent Wynter updates about Hayden. If she was improving in her lessons, if she was alright at school, if she was making friends and so on. When Wynter didn't find any messages he smiled to himself, Hayden was getting better. The messages were less frequent now.

"Yeah. She's high maintenance so I'm thinking of ending things. What do you think? Should I give this a second chance?" Julian asked, pretending to be serious about it although he knew he would never end things with his laptop. The laptop was one of the most important things in his life. He had Netflix on there, his favourite pictures with his favourite people were on it and all the graphics he had made including the fan art for some of his favourite shows and books.

"Are you always this high?" Wynter asked, glancing at the boy walking next to him. Wynter's eyes lingered on a thin scar just above Julian's cheekbone. He hadn't noticed it before and he wasn't surprised about it. It was barely visible unless you see it from up close.

"No I decided to do a little extra today" Julian joked, stuffing a hand into the pockets of his jeans. He returned people's nods with a slight smile, an arm still hanging over Wynter's shoulder. It didn't look like he was going to move it anytime soon.

"Anyway," Julian continued, "When does Hayden get home? I was thinking we could hit the diner down the street"

"Do you want to spoil my sister with food? Anyway I'll have to pick her up at four in the evening. She's in a school play so she's staying back for practice. She's really excited about it"

Julian's lips lifted up in a smile "That's great. Can I come along to watch it?"

"Sure" Wynter shrugged, in the process successfully making Julian's arm fall off his shoulders.

"You up for the diner? I wanna check out their chicken burger. Apparently it's the best" Julian mused, tongue poking the inside of his cheek as he tried to remember Ren's exact words.

It's heaven. Best burger in the whole continent.

Ren would know. He's been all over the continent. Every time there were holidays, Ren would pack up his duffle bag and set out with his dad to visit a random place. Julian would tag along sometimes.

"Not today...I have to go somewhere" Wynter answered, looking at Julian with a slight smile to convey apology.

"Rain check?" Julian pouted, eyes hopeful and begging.

"Sure. I'll text you later" Wynter nodded at the green eyed boy before turning and walking off towards his bicycle.

The lake was where he was going. Wynter didn't know if the lake had a name. He just knew that people never came to swim in it because it was too deep. One step into the water and then the land dropped down steeply. Occasionally people came to just sit at the edge or spend picnic time with their families. Wynter personally thought that the reason the lake was avoided by most was because of the water ghoul rumours which he was to blame for. It wasn't that he made the rumours about the water ghouls but rather the fact that he himself was the supposed water ghoul. The rumours had started about an year ago when a small group of high-school friends had gone to the lake in the middle of the night to fool around and smoke.