3. Room 204

"Will, get up!"

Will groaned and rolled over, shoving his head under the pillow. "No," he moaned into the mattress, even as Jessica yanked off the blanket and grabbed his pillow.

Will kept a firm hold on it and tugged back. "What do you want from me?"

"Today is the first day of school," Jessica said, letting go of the pillow and putting her hands on her hips. "You gotta get up!"

"Too late," Will grumbled, rolling over again and covering his head with the pillow again. "Already asleep."

"No, you aren't. we already registered you! Come on, it won't be that bad."

Will held out his hand. "Fifty?"

Jessica hesitated. "William...it's against the law not to go."

"Mmm...then I've broken the law more times than I thought."

Jess choked. "What?"

But Will had already sat up with a sigh, dragging his hand through his dark hair streaked with blue. "Fine. Whatever. Not like I have anything better to do."

Jess slumped in relief. "Oh, thank God..."

"But I drive."

Jess eyed him suspiciously. "No. I don't trust you. Just for today, I drive you. Who knows? Maybe you'll get a girlfriend."

"Ha." Will snorted. "As if."

He was never getting a girlfriend, for more than one reason. One, girls were weird, with their strange hair flips and obsession over what their hair looked like, and two...

Will was gay.

He'd known it for a long time, since middle school, when he had caught himself peeking at the boys in the locker room. At first, he was disgusted with himself, and then he realized that boys were way better than girls in so many ways.

"I'm just saying," Jessica continued. "If you do get a girlfriend, she's always welcome around here."

"Great," Will drawled, stretching and grabbing his leather jacket from the back o his desk chair. "Still never gonna happen."

Jess sighed, but let the topic drop as Will disappeared into the bathroom.

~ ~ ~

"Where're you goin', Ash?"

Ash cringed. "S-school. It starts today."

His father laughed. Great, Ash thought. He's drunk, and it's not even eight in the morning.

"Don'tchu gotta do something first?" his father slurred, stumbling over to him.

"I already took out the trash," Ash said hurriedly, taking a cautious step back. "And did the dishes, and cleaned your room..."

"Tha's not errything," Daniel said, stumbling over his words. "You gotta...give yer ol' man a hug."

Ash swallowed hard. "Ah. Right." Hesitantly, he stepped forward and gave his dad a quick hug, then back away, but not before his father got a grip on his brown hair and yanked Ash's head back, his rancid breath hot in Ash's nose. He gasped, his eyes watering.

"Not long enough," his father growled.

Ash shuddered at the malice in Daniel's words and hugged his dad again, waiting until Daniel shoved him away and staggered over to the couch, collapsing onto it and falling asleep.

Ash took a few deeps breaths and glanced in the cracked mirror above the mantel, trying to smile at his reflection.

"Smile," his mother used to say. "If you smile, then you can let your demons know that they don't scare you."

My demons scare me, Mom, Ash thought, his weak smile fading. He tried to get his hair to look normal again and slipped out the door. They scare me more than what happened to you.

Ash swallowed hard, closing his eyes, and then opened them and smiled at a passing woman smoking a cigarette.

His neighborhood was terrible, but it was his neighborhood. His home, where he'd grown up.

And it was close to the school, so there was that.

When he finally reached the campus, he caught sight of a black leather jacket and dark hair streaked with blue.

Will...from the tour.

"Hey!" Ash called, and will glanced at him before sighing and turning away again. Ash caught up with him, smiling.

"Hey, Will," he said. "How're you?"

"Awful," Will grunted. "What do you want."

"Well," Ash said, grinning, "I know you're new here, so--"

"Don't want a friend."

Ash's smile faltered, and then he smiled with renewed vigor. "Then...I can be your best friend. There's a difference."

Will only sighed, rolling his eyes and yanking his hood over his head, sticking an earbud in his ear. The other hung out the collar of his shirt.

"Whatcha listening to?" Ash asked, stepping in front of him as they walked and walking backwards.

"Music."

"What kind of music?"

"The kind I like."

"Hmm. I like the band Twenty-one Pilots. Not sure if you've ever--"

"Hold on." Will stopped in his tracks. "What?"

"Twenty-one Pilots," Ash repeated, smiling. "Their music has meaning."

Will regarded him silently, then held out his other earbud. Ash blinked, then took it from him and stuck it in his ear.

"Oh-woh-woh-woh, oh-woh-woh, I'm falling so I'm taking my time on my riiiiiiiiide..."

"No way," Ash said, pulling the earbud out of his ear and grinning. "That's my favorite song."

Will smirked. "You ever heard Leave the City?" When Ash nodded, Will arched a brow. "That one's my favorite."

"Hmm...it's okay, I guess..." Ash grinned when Will made a face. "Kidding. I like that one too." His eyes flicked up to Will's hood, and he reached up and yanked it off. "I like your hair. Think you can do mine?"

Will blinked, pulling his hood back up. "I didn't do this. My friend back in New York did."

"You're from New York?" Ash gasped. "Oh my god, I've always wanted to go there! Is it really as bright and loud as everyone says it is? Do people actually mug each other in alleyways?"

Will snorted at his last comment. "Yes."

The bell rang, and Ash looked down at his sheet. "I'm in room 204. What about you?"

Will glanced down at his. "Same." He looked back up, looking bored. "I didn't listen at all during the tour, so you're gonna have to help me."

Ash grinned. "It'd be my pleasure."

Will rolled his eyes. "Why do you smile so much?"

"Because it's proven that you use less muscles in your face when you smile than when you frown," Ash said with another grin, hefting his backpack higher on his shoulder. "And I like to smile. It...makes things easier."

It makes it easier to forget what I have to go home to--broken beer bottles and dirty floors.

"Hmm. Can you do it less around me?" Will asked.

"Nope," Ash said brightly, starting to his class. "Come on."

~ ~ ~

Will peered at the small boy with the brown hair. He'd entirely forgotten what his name was, and didn't bother to ask. He'd scare him off sooner rather than later--plus, he didn't want to get attached to anyone. He was going to get out of here before the summer.

The boy glanced at him, another of his grins lighting up his face. "We're here. Hey, we can sit together if you want. I'm pretty sure Mrs. Sukiyaki is okay. She emigrated from Asia."

"Mmhm," Will mumbled, not caring as he followed the boy into the room and went straight to the back. The boy, surprisingly, beat him there, and was already sitting in the spot right next to the window. He was already getting his stuff out, and Will could tell that he was a bit of a neat freak.

Just to annoy him, Will sat down and yanked out his stuff, stuffing them haphazardly into his desk, no order to anything.

The boy blinked. "You need help organizing anything?"

"Nope," Will said, leaning back and kicking his booted feet up onto his desk and blasting his music.

- - - - - -

And so it begins...

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