There Is No Point

Chapter Two

The day is new. The events are not.

Greg awoke from his deep slumber, hair askew and body covered in sweat. His stuffed animal now on the floor rather than in his arms. Greg stared at the animal, unable to comprehend what he sees. He still needs time to wake up.

As he heads downstairs he is greeted by his brother.

"Sup," Max says.

"Sup," Greg replied. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good, and you?"

"Good as well," Greg said as he reached for a bowl up on the top shelf. "Are mom and dad still asleep?"

"Yeah. But apparently they got us some more cereal, and it's this new kind called 'Cheery Spheres'. It's like fruit flavored cereal balls," Max took a bite of his bowl of Cheery Spheres. "Nothing new."

"They any good?"

"Eh. They're edible. Better than most things, but not the best."

"Figured," Greg said as he poured himself a bowl of Cheery Spheres.

The outside air was cold. The brothers could see their breath as they walked towards their bus stop. There were the group of kids in their neighborhood who also attended their school. They organized into 2 groups while they waited, each on one side of the stop.

On the left consisted of most of Greg's friends. There was Dylan, the Nerd. He always had some new information about computers or whatever videogame he was obsessed with at the time. Next to him was his twin sister, Alexis. She was close with her brother, but shared practically no interest in his interests. Instead she talked to Austin about quite literally everything. From makeup to philosophy to moral hypotheticals. They were very smart and very best friends. Austin was also Greg's ex, but they both agree that was a weird point in their lives, agreeing to never bring it back up. Lastly was Moss, they usually listen to whatever Dylan has to say, but rarely pays attention to it. They usually wait for Greg so they can actually have an interesting conversation; despite Greg enjoying some of the stuff Dylan says.

"Hey, man," Greg said to Moss.

"Sup, dude," Moss said as they reached out to greet Greg. The two did a small handshake of sorts. "Did you do your homework for Mr. Price?"

"Oh god I forgot."

"Don't worry," Moss swung their backpack around and reached inside, pulling out a couple pieces of paper with tons of math written all over it. "I did mine."

"No way."

"Yes way."

Greg took the homework gratefully and stuffed it into his backpack. "Thanks a ton, I can do this during first period and get it back to you before lunch."

"You better. I gotta pass my class, too."

Greg chuckled. "No promises."

"Oh shut up," Moss said while gently punching Greg in the shoulder.

Laughter began to erupt from the group opposite of Greg's. Him and Moss turned their heads in attention to see what the commotion was.

The group consisted of Greg's brother, Max, and his friends. Max's best friend was Charlie. She was practically inseparable from Max. They've known each other since they were babies, their mothers becoming good friends since before Greg was born. Coincidentally, they share a birthday. They use this fact to talk about how they are practically twins. Greg teases them, saying they really were twins, conjoined at the hip. But "obviously, the separation surgery didn't work." Next was Moss' younger sister Holly. She was a year or two younger than Max but on par with his attitude. She knew what to say and how to say it in every situation she was in in order to come out on top. Everyone is at least a little but scared of Holly. Lastly was Darius, he was practically the group's third wheel. He was always there just never really present. Greg could only imagine what goes on with him, as all anyone knew was he was simply there. Darius passes classes, plays an instrument, and provides social interaction. No one is bothered by him. He is always a pleasant sight and experience. But other than that he is unremarkable...

"Bro, that was hilarious! How in the hell did you come up with that?!" Exclaimed Max through tears of joy.

... Unremarkable, besides his incredible sense of humor. Darius can make even the most dire situation into a perfect joke fitting of the audience's sense od humor. He is a comedic genius.

"It just comes naturally. I've known you guys for a while, I know what'll makes all of you weak in the knees," Darius said, confidently.

"You need to give me a lesson in comedy sometime, Darius," Charlie said, "I need to be able to make Max piss himself at least once before I didn't happy." Darius laughed as a response and the group followed suit.

"Just kids being annoying little kids," Dylan said.

"Eh, not annoying," Moss said, "Have you ever heard Darius' jokes? Kills me, every time. I don't even know how he does it! I've talked with him maybe three times and each time he got me crying!"

"I hear that," Greg added, "When I met the kid I think I blacked out from a lack of oxygen and woke up with the sorest chest I've ever had."

"What're y'all blabbering on about?" Austin interrupted.

"You talking about Darius?" Alexis asked.

"Yes, they were goggling at the kids over there and their 'hilarious' friend," Dylan answered, snottily.

"Dylan, shut the fuck up," His sister snapped, "You're just jealous cause the only bit of humor you have is from retelling jokes you hear or read."

"At least I can make people laugh," Dylan retorted.

"At least I can keep someone's attention in a conversation."

"At least my crotch isn't rated E for everyone."

"Woah!" Greg blurted. "Woah now! Calm down! Stop this!"

Alexis looked genuinely hurt and impressed. Dylan was red in the cheeks with a smug look on his face. Alexis slugged Dylan in the arm, causing him to yelp in pain. "You didn't have to bring that up, you goof." She said.

"I couldn't think of anything else," Dylan laughed back. The rest of the group joined in the laughter.

As he was distracted, Greg felt a tapping on his shoulder.

"Hey," Austin whispered in his ear, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Greg, confused, responded, "Um, yeah. Sure." And he followed Austin a ways away from the group. They definitely noticed but gave the two their moment, passing the time with a new conversation.

Once they were out of earshot of the others, Austin took a deep breath. "Look, Greg," he began, hesitantly, "I don't know how to say this to you but..." He paused.

"You okay, bud?" Greg inquired, noticing his friend getting redder in the face.

"Yes, I'm fine," Austin said, coldly. "Sorry, just... This is hard for me."

"Well take your time, I'll wait."

"Okay..." Austin took another deep breath. "Greg," he looked up at his friend, cheeks red as a tomato, "I still like you."

Greg's eyes widened and his heart dropped. The world became silent. The school bus pulled up and his friend called out to them to board. Austin immediately ran off to board the bus, leaving Greg a frozen statue.

This wasn't suppose to happen.
This isn't how it goes.
This isn't the same.
This is new.
Stop it.
How do we stop it?
Restart!
Continue.
Try again!
We can't!
There's no use!
What is happening?!
Let it happen.
End it now!
We can't!
Keep going.