Disclaimer: English is not my first language and I'm dyslexic so uhh disclaimer!
"I'm in."
The declaration was said with a firm resolve that relinquished every word that Y/n had on his tongue. The h/c boy stared at the steadfast girl with a feeling of puzzlement at her quick change of heart and wondered if her altered attitude was a spur of the moment.
But as he gazed at the girl's face, he swiftly abandoned his assumption as her silver eyes sparkled with a heated flame, holding an unyielding stance that could not be dimmed Y/n attempted to format his contribution to the conversation, but nothing appeared to be appropriate. The male stepped aside to allow the female entry.
"The others are upstairs." He informed. The girl nodded and began moving up. Y/n closed the front door before following Morgan to his chambers.
The five teenagers were now all present in the room. Morgan was staying withdrawn from making conversation, which was obvious by her closed posture. Clark cleared his throat, signalling that he was taking an intimation to speak.
"Let's get the chit-chat out of the way and get to the point. There is a serial killer running havoc in this town. The detective and sheriff have closed the case, meaning they will make no more active attempts at catching the killer. So, we are doing it instead. Is everyone on board with that?" The brown-haired male scanned the group, but no one voiced any form of objection to the statement, cementing their cooperation in stone.
"This most likely will be stupidly dangerous. Therefore, we must promise that none of us will do anything impulsive without others' knowledge. Is that clear?" Clark's eyes momentarily strayed between Y/n and Kiara, specifying their characteristics with admonition.
"If one of us gets hurt, or worse, there's no one we can turn to for assistance since we're doing this without any form of warranted protection."
Y/n raised his sights and supported his chin in his palm, leaning forward on his bedframe. "Simply put, if the serial killer finds out we're after them and decides to hunt us down, we are fucked." Alex put his hand to his mouth as a laugh formed in his chest at the boy's crude simplification.
Clark sent a quick scowl towards the h/c haired boy, who lightheartedly shrugged off the silent disapproval of his vocabulary.
e/c eyes shifted to Kiara, who was fidgeting in her seat, stroking down her shirt while tapping her feet against the floor in an awaiting manner. "Kia, you wanna say something?" At the sound of Y/n's question, Kiara raised her eyesight. "Oh, yes, sorry, I tend to become a bit restless when I sit still for too long..." Soothing down her attire one more time before continuing. "I think it's best if we start with analysing the latest acknowledged murders, Rachel and Wesley." The black-haired girl glanced towards Morgan, but the other teen gave no reaction to the suggestion. Kiara seized her restive habits to further express her opinion. "I think the first question to ask in this situation is, did Rachel or Wesley have anyone that would have motives to want them dead?"
Morgan straightened her lips into an expressionless look whilst her mind searched for any valuable information that would satisfy the inquiry.
"Wesley didn't have anyone... Rachel neither, although I don't know if it's worth mentioning, but..." The amaranth-haired recounted a fact she had been told by her deceased friend and faltered in her speech as she pondered telling the detail.
"Rachel dated Roy Whitelock." She revealed with a hesitant tone. The rest gaped at her, ushering her to elaborate. Morgan made a deduction expression, changing her position to lean against the wall for a more professional sitting.
"They dated around 10 months ago."
"They did? Isn't Roy known for not dating his...admirers?" Alex questioned, trying to conjure an accurate image of the scarlet-haired boy they were discussing.
"Yes, well, no. That's the thing, Rachel told me to not tell anyone they were dating because Roy had explicitly told her not to tell anyone about their relationship." Morgan trailed off. Y/n frowned as the information didn't fully wrap around his mind and slightly scooted closer to the silver-eyed girl who sat next to him.
"why?"
Morgan merely shrugged at the question, as she herself wasn't informed on the conditions of her friend's relationship with the heartthrob.
"Don't know. Roy didn't tell her why, so she didn't know either; they broke up two weeks later." She cleared her throat, removing the lump of slight anxiety building up as she attempted not to let her tone sound accusatory. "Rachel was devastated because she genuinely liked Roy, but it just didn't work out, so they broke things off. She was a bit mad, though, that he wanted to end it the day after they... well, you know..."
Clark made a disgusted expression as if he were about to gag from the indication and covered his mouth, angling his head away to subconsciously block out the news.
"I heard rumours about that." Alex pointed out, "What?" Y/n probed, switching his eyesight to the blond. Alex took a few moments to think over the things he had overheard in passing conversations with classmates to make sure he gave the most faultless explanation. "...that Rachel is not the only one Roy has allegedly dated and dumped after sleeping together-both girls and boys." With the new information given, Y/n began a thoughtful daze.
"But if Roy dated Rachel, wouldn't they have questioned him as her ex when she died?" Clark spoke out, slumping his body deeper into the chair.
"Not if no one knew they dated," Y/n mumbled, trying to assess the various reasonings that could have led to Roy concealing a relationship.
"Well, he did get questioned. I came clean about what Rachel told me after her murder. There didn't come anything out of it though, since Roy was in detention when the murders happened. And not to mention, he had Nova Pierce's alibi to confirm it." Morgan admitted, feeling the fruitless labour of her confession.
Alex folded his arms in critical suspicion. "But isn't it weird that they broke up after just 2 weeks, specifically after sleeping together? That sounds like murder motives to me." Clark scoffed over Alex's almost comical assumption, averting his gaze around the room they resided, glossing out the window. "That doesn't sound like murderer motives; that sounds like a fuckboy with way too much free time. and little consideration for who he hurts."
Y/n listened to the dispute while assertiveness heaved out his thoughts.
"Who else has he dated?" The question was blurted out listlessly, silencing the two male's discussion. The room was quiet for a split second, thickening a prolonged contemplation.
"...My siste- Avery, told me at some point that Roy had flirted with her, but she had made it clear that she had no interest in him, and he backed off," Alex explained before letting out an exasperated sigh at his lack of insight on the faceless teenagers that had gotten involved with the scarlet-haired male.
"But I don't know other people that have been with him, it's just rumours I've heard, I don't even know for certain if they're true. Gossip and false information spread like wildfire in this town, never sure if everything is true-" the rant was interrupted by a swift tone.
"I could ask him."
The teenagers moved their sights to stare at the h/c-haired male with bemused wonder as if questioning the boy's mental state, while Y/n kept a serious appearance. "What? I'm friends with him, and asking him if he dated someone doesn't seem too outrageous of a question." Clark's doubtful expression faltered with a short exhale.
"Okay, whatever, you can ask him. Make sure it doesn't lead back to Morgan." The brunette glanced out to the outdoors once more, analysing the weather and it's changing conditions.
"I think it is time for us to go home, it's getting evening and the wind is picking up. Alex, could you bring us home?" Clark asked, the blond male shook his head in compliance.
With the confirmation, the two girls also began preparing to leave the household of the h/c-haired. "Goodbye, Y/n!" Kiara eagerly bid, before they all progressed down the stairs, leaving Y/n to his thoughts.
The boy closed the door to his private environment and scanned the room in absentmindedness. His attention drew to the case folder that laid on his wooden desk. The boy's optimistic mood dithered at the knowledge of the stack of papers and it's contents.
Yet a morbid curiosity plunged his movements, and he found himself reaching for the folder and taking it in his hands.
Gliding his fingers over the rough texture of the paper. The boy staggered to his bed and sat down on the mattress. He stared at the front page for an unregistered time before coming to a conclusion.
The folder flipped over to the recently added entry, Y/n had to suck in an inhale as the crime scene photos were revealed to him. The two people written down were ones he recognised; he let his eyes dwell on one side of the page.
Rachel Garcia
Age: 18
time of death: 18 March 2013
Rachel was found dead by the public restroom; she had a streak wound from her abdomen to her neck, making the murder seem like gutting. Investigators concluded that she did not die from the wound itself but rather by choking on her own blood.
Y/n felt his stomach recoil from the obscure vision but forced himself to stabilise his body, looking towards the opposite side of the page.
Wesley Moore
Age: 17
time of death: 18 March 2013
There was a documented call from Wesley around 11:11 am. He said his friend (who investigators concluded was Rachel Garcia) was murdered. The call went quiet, a thud sound was heard, assumingly the sound of Wesley's phone falling, and then abruptly ended around 11:13 am. He was later found dead, his head bashed in.
Y/n scanned the information, forming a chronological timeline of the event described. There were notes scribbled down under the text, and the handwriting was recognisable; it was his mother's calligraphy.
- Rachel was stabbed, but Wesley was killed by a bat? Why would the killer use two weapons?
- It was evident that Wesley witnessed Rachel's body and then ran to the bus stop, which takes approximately 5 minutes.
Y/n furrowed his brows in confusion. 'Why would the killer change their weapon? Why not directly go after Wesley to make sure he doesn't talk? He ran away from the crime scene as well, which suggests that the killer was still there; otherwise, Wesley could've just called the police at the crime scene. Why would he run five minutes away from the scene to call the authorities? Wesley had thus seen the killer and then ran, but the killer didn't immediately chase him, which can be seen by the fact that they used another weapon, which means they would have to get the other weapon first before going after Wesley. But that would be an extended five minutes or even more, which then wouldn't add up to the timestamp that Wesley was murdered.'
The boy tried to make sense of the crime that had taken place, but he couldn't neglect the anomaly of timestamps between the murders, which would be practically impossible to achieve.
'The killer couldn't have caught up to Wesley in just mere moments if they weren't chasing him, which wasn't the case since Wesley wouldn't have halted by a bus stop to call 911 if the killer was right behind him, right?'
Y/n let out a dissatisfied groan; the situation was flawed and not adding up. He grabbed the side of the paper and turned the page to another crime scene photo.
A girl had been slashed in half; one side of her torso was separated from the other half, and her intestines covered the ground, smeared with deep red blood while exposing the inner side of her organs and spilling out of her anatomy.
Mia Che
Age: 27
Time of death: 31 December 2012
Mia was found hacked in half on New Year's Eve by a hiker on a trail leading to the forest. She had gone out that day to meet with her family to celebrate New Year's on the 30th of December but her family stated that she never showed up; she was found dead on the morning of the 31th of December.
Y/n flipped another page. The guy in the photo had his jaw dislocated from the rest of his bone structure, leaving his face mutilated and bloody.
Jasper Bay
age: 31
time of death: 16 October 2012
Jasper was found injured and dying by his girlfriend outside a gas station while they were returning from a night out on 16th of October. He had sustained a stab wound starting from his mandibular angle upwards, completely carving out his jaw. He died of blood loss a few seconds after his girlfriend found him.
Y/n surveyed the image of the dead male with intensity. Trying to deduce the scene. His impulses moved faster than his brain could register, and he skimmed over pages and pages of crime scene photos, seemingly engrossed in their atmosphere.
Until the male turned to the final page, a thin piece of A4 paper was clipped against the light brown cover. A blank, empty canvas behind, indicating the final, or rather, the first murder to have been annotated into the folder.
Time of death: 30 August 2009
Y/n ceased his rabid maneuvers. His expression turned into a skeptical and mistrustful scowl, etching his face. '30th August. That date sounds familiar...'
The boy tried to rattle his brain to find the resemblance of the date allied in his memories but to no avail. sourness over his muddled mind, and with no further desire to look at the sight presented before him any longer, he closed the folder. '25 murders in 3 years... that's not including all the murders framed as 'accidents' such as Harper, and god knows who else.'
The folder was put down on the mattress, the soft material slightly slumping from the added weight. Y/n looked towards Coco, who was sipping on the straw of her water source. Her round, glossy eyes met with e/c ones, and the male smiled lightly to transfer a more friendly output towards the animal. After a few seconds, Coco returned to her own unbothered routine once she lost interest in observing her owner and broke eye contact.
"Y/n! Dinner is ready!" His mother's voice reached his auditory range. "Coming!"
.
Timeskip
.
Y/n was standing by the sink, scrubbing off the leftovers of the meal they had consumed prior. The mechanical movements made his mind drift off to the following day.
'What am I even going to ask him?' The running faucet stopped, and the last remaining drops of water trickled down the contour of the boy's fingers, coming to a final stop at his fingertips before landing on the steel of the hallowed kitchen sink.
Y/n let out a huff as he stared at his limbs. 'My wounds seem to have started healing, but I still need to be careful.' The h/c haired exited the room he was in to tend to his bandages.
The disinfection step was still the most unpleasant, but he had grown to be able to tolerate it more than the first time he refreshed the bandages. After the procedure was done, he threw away the wet bandages before moving back to the second floor to make himself ready for a night's rest.
The sun had gone down, leaving behind the dark midnight colors to decorate the sky and merge with the light of bright stars. Despite this, Y/n couldn't fall asleep.
The boy glared at his blank ceiling with a heavy sense of annoyance. 'This is some bullshit.' The male rolled over to his other side to check the changing numbers on the clock.
12:47 pm
Y/n massaged the bridge of his nose in an upward motion to his forehead to encourage his body to sink into an unconscious state. After a few minutes of vain motions, he ceased his attempts and laid back on his back, gazing back into the upper confines of his room.
After a restless hour, Y/n felt his body eventually succumb to tiredness.
-
A young boy was leaning against the brick wall of his school building, knees tucked to his chest as his arms rested on his joints, his face tucked between resting limbs. A soft sobbing could be heard emerging from his throat as scarlet red hair covered his face.
"Roy! Are you okay?" A concerned voice echoed through the surroundings, and the distraught boy lifted his tear-filled eyes to see his h/c-haired friend standing over him with a worrisome expression. Roy solemnly shook his head. Y/n looked over at the boy with sympathy before patting down his pants to sit down on the concrete ground next to the scarlet-haired.
"What did those guys say? They appeared stupid-looking to me after you ran away," the boy commented, to which Roy slouched his posture, trying to shrink into a ball of melancholy."They said that...that my eyes are very weird and gross and that my mom must've disliked looking at me." He sniffed out, his eyes welling up at the reminisces of the hurtful words that hit close to his heavy heart.
Y/n's features twisted into a scornful look. "That's not true at all," he said, not grasping the concept of the bullies' logic. Roy merely shrugged vacantly, his tears seeming to have drained his mood up in a dark pit. "Hey, listen to me," Y/n grabbed Roy's face in his hands to focus the boy's attention on him.
The unexpected action caught the scarlet-haired off guard, and his eyes lightly expanded while keeping eye contact with the stern visage of his friend. "Don't pay attention to those idiots. Your eyes are beautiful, okay? They're different, yes, but different isn't bad." Roy felt his cheeks lightly light up in a red tone at the compliment.
Y/n let go of his face and took a few steps back in with a toothy grin. The dumbfounded boy rubbed his cheeks lightly to try and hide the blush that crept up. "You really think that?" He whispered in disbelief, leaning toward the h/c-haired boy to confirm the statement his brain couldn't comprehend as genuine.
Y/n nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, you're perfect just the way you are, and if they can't see that well, then they're blind!" The boy beamed, balling his fists and raising them to the sky to declare his intent to the world.
"Whoa..." Roy felt his chest swell up with an unrecognizable warmth that appeared to have an unknown source he didn't understand. Y/n stood up and dusted off his pants before offering the scarlet-haired boy his hand to pull himself off the ground.
"Come on, Elio, Ezra, and Lucia are probably trying their best to stop Nova from punching those kids in the jaw, so we gotta help them before they accidentally receive a few punches themselves." Y/n teased lowly before tugging the boy along with him back into the school building.
Roy let out a small chuckle, seeming to have cheered up from the interaction. "Okay, let's go, I don't want N to get in trouble again."
-
Y/n felt his senses adjust as he was forcefully pulled out of his slumber by his alarm.
He sluggishly reached out to stop the obnoxious audio, then lounged back on his mattress to think over the dream he just experienced while a wave of nostalgia washed over, allowing him to momentarily indulge in the memory before he needed to get dressed.
'Time for school, I guess.'
.
.
.
From the moment Y/n stepped under the gate, he noticed an obvious change in the atmosphere, and a grim shadow hung over each student.'I'm not surprised. It was 2 days ago that Avery died...if anything, I would be surprised everything went back to normal.'
The boy navigated himself to his locker and inserted his key into the mechanism to take out the needed books for the day.'I have classes with Nova and Elio... I think i heard someone say we get that pop quiz results today.' "L/n!"The sound of his surname made Y/n swirl around to face the rest of the corridor and see two boys walk toward him.
"Yes?..."
He addressed with perplexity at the boy's hostile demeanor. Soon enough, two males stood in front of him. One wore a spiteful expression that made Y/n feel more puzzled as to what he could have done to offend the guy. The other boy was more timid, standing quickly off the side. "You beat up Brandon a few days ago, remember?"
at the mention of the turquoise male, Y/n dropped his face to a blank stare, no longer feeling the shouldering pressure of condemnation he had a few seconds earlier. "Yes, why?"
"Well, you need to apologize." Y/n stared blankly at the boy whilst the request entered his perception."No." The other male hardened his vexing glare at the h/c haired.
"What?! You need to apologize. He can go to the sheriff for assault!" but despite the boy's information Y/n firmly shook his head to steady his feet in his belief, his eyes drifted to the nervous bystander who was becoming more anxious by the second, fidgeting with a watch attached to his wrist.
Y/n scanned the watch for a quick second, picking up on the expensive exterior of the object, as well as the carved details, an initial decorated the crystal inner casing. 'B' The h/c haired boy reverted his attention back to the angry male.
"No, I don't 'need' to do anything, Brandon is a disgusting person, and he deserves whatever happens to him." At this response, the boy visibly became more hostile and seemed to almost want to lunge at him, The quiet assessor reached out to his friend with means to de-escalate his temper. But a stern voice beat him to it. making him retract his limb at the startle. "Leave him alone, Jumon." The boy in question directed his scowl toward the person addressing him.
A girl with light brown hair stood a few meters away with crossed arms, having an equally stern frown on her face as the boy said, "Stay out of this Serene." He hissed. "No, leave Y/n alone, now." She demanded, stepping closer to the confrontation. Jumon faltered his angered glare to a frustrated grim as he considered the girl's warning and pondered whether getting in a fight with her would be worth the cause. "Fine, let's go, Felix." he huffed out before stomping off, his companion following behind.
The boy's footsteps disappeared out of range for hearing, and the brunet let out an exhale before turning to a confused Y/n with a polite smile to try and waver off the incident. "Sorry about them..." she apologized, but Y/n quickly shook his head to assure her "No it's fine... I'd take it they are friends of Brandon?" Serene scaled her hand up and down, giving the question a pliable answer, leaving Y/n to let his mind make his own judgments.
Serene was an old classmate. She had attended the same middle school as Y/n and the same class. They had been friends, not really close, but close enough to be able to get along on the playground. "It's good to see you again, Y/n." The girl smiled, stretching out her hand to shake Y/n's in a kind greeting, but the boy stared at the outstretched gesture in vague skepticism.
"You remember my name.." Serene retracted her limb in mild embarrassment, her face contorting at the left-out detail."You don't know...do you?" Y/n gave the brunette a confused expression at her rhetorical.
"Ever since you got into that fight with Brandon, people have been sort of talking about you...or more gossiping..." Y/n kept a calmness over his composure and shrugged his shoulders in answer to the predictive news."You don't seem that bothered by it Y/n..." She guessed. The boy rearranged the books in his grasp before pacing past the female.
"I beat the guy into a plop in the middle of the cafeteria. I expected as much as gossip." The girl furrowed her brows as she thought over his response before taking the initiative to trudge after the boy and accompany him to his first class. "I'll bring you to your homeroom in case Jumon comes back."
The two arrived in the boy's homeroom peacefully. "Thanks for walking with me." Serene gave an affirming grin at the gratitude given to her and reached out her hand to stroke the boy's arm to show her appreciation.
"No problem, Hey, do you perhaps want to exchange numbers?" Y/n nodded and pulled out his phone, offering it to the girl, who entered her personal information onto his device before returning it. "I have some extra credit assignments I have to finish after school, but when I am done, I'll text you. Bye, Y/n!" The girl waved a final goodbye to him and walked away. "See you later Serene."
Y/n swirled around, preparing to walk over the threshold of the classroom, but his body stopped mid-stride, and his feet corrected his posture.
An invasive sense came to him, tensing up his muscles. His eyes quickly scattered across the extended hall to try and pinpoint the unforeseen unease to a source.
To his dismay, there was no conspicuous person or thing that stood out among the passing students that could justify the male's daunt reaction. So, with a last lingering look across the corridor, he proceeded his entry into the occupied room.
.
.
The class of attendance ended, and Y/n coordinated his way to the next destination. Voices of chattering students and shifting footsteps accompanied the stale environment as ambient noise while he moved.
reaching the teaching space, the boy surveyed his classmates, who all were mopishly waiting on the teacher. Y/n's attention roamed to an empty space, the wooden chair neatly scooted under the desk implying the nonpresence of its usual occupant.
'Nova isn't here.' The absence of his ash-blond friend made Y/n's patience for the lecture deteriorate and he internally cursed the male, begrudgingly seating himself down when the teacher originated from the busy hall into the room with the intent to hastily start the educational hour.
.
Time skip
.
The interrupting sound of the bell finalized the class, and students began packing up their equipment. Y/n grabbed his belongings to move on to the next lecture.'He didn't show up at all. Is he sick?'
Wandering into the chemistry lab, the h/c haired felt a triumph crash at him as his sights landed on his black-haired friend who was skimming through the pages of chemistry material with an expected deadpan. Y/n took a seat near the male and glanced at the teacher to affirm her attention was preoccupied before leaning over to question the whereabouts of their friend.
"Psst," Elio kept his visage undisturbed.
"Elio!.."
"Psst, Elio!"
A ball of rough material hit the boy's temple, catching his piqued frustration as a displeased expression directed toward his distractor to acknowledge him.
"Is Nova sick today?" The black-haired male eyed Y/n with a varied making the boy feel irksome at the lack of response. "What? why are you looking at me like I have two heads? Is he sick? Or is he dead or something?" Elio stared at Y/n in astonishment."What? No." His tone was a slight mix of bewilderment and annoyance at the absurd supposition.
"No, he's dead? Or no, he's sick?"
"Neither, He's at school." The confirmation made Y/n reel back and shoot another quick glance at the older woman to ensure she was still off hearing radius to pick up on the conversation then switched his gaze back to the male. "Really? He wasn't present in the class I share with him." Elio felt confused at the description of the ash-blond, as it wasn't in his usual pattern of behaviour to skip the lecture hour. But soon his features flattened when a realization of discontented defeat overshadowed.
"He's probably skipping to pull one of his imbecile pranks."
Y/n opened his mouth to comment but had to collect his posture to detach himself from the discussion as the teacher's voice attracted the eyes of students. "Good morning. Today, we will discuss the pop quiz you took a few days ago." The woman began trudging around the space, dispensing tests to each student in progressive order. The front row concluded with the two males. Y/n received his sheet and checked his score, but his spirit sullied at the red circled F letter plastered at the corner of the paper.
'Are you kidding me...I failed.' His sulking got interrupted when nosiness over his seatmate's results rouse. His eyes peeked to inspect Elio's paper, and a red noted 'A+' was highlighted as a badge of success on his test.
"Whoa, good job Eli, you got the highest score." Y/n congratulated, slightly envious over the perfect grade the black-haired had managed to get. But the boy himself appeared indifferent to his performance and merely folded up the examination to put away.
Y/n's features downturned as his friend's mannerisms arose apathetic interest in the accomplishment. He bit the inside of his cheek before regarding the boy in a perplexed manner.
"Aren't you proud of your grade?" His tone remained leveled so as to not accidentally annoy the boy. Elio stayed quiet for a moment, reflecting on the question asked before voicing his reply, "It's what is expected of me." Y/n processed the words, not quite understanding the passiveness behind them.
'That doesn't mean you shouldn't be proud." The black-haired dismissively shrugged, the comment itself having worn out in his mind, not having real significance.
"Hey, I'm serious, it may be expected of you, but don't underestimate yourself, getting straight A's often requires a massive consistency and dedication to your studies, which not everyone can maintain." Elio glanced toward the encouraging male with inquiry.
"It's a great achievement to take pride in, a reflection of hard work, not being proud of yourself for it, is discarding all that. Your parents might have high expectations of you, but they shouldn't downplay your efforts just because they see it as a baseline requirement." Y/n's speech seeped into Elio's senses, the words formulated as a second opinion, bringing both comfort and frustration to his perspective.
"You haven't changed one bit, have you?" The black-haired grumbled out, his vocals dripping with more bitterness than intended. Y/n was taken aback by the frustration outed from the boy's lips and dwelled back to his seat in irritation, holding his eyes upfront to the chalkboard.
"Hmph-...If you're going to be like that, you can go find pity in yourself next time."
.
.
Their lecturer concluded her class and the h/c haired began gathering his stuff in mercurial speed, wishing the women wouldn't interfere with his leave. His movements transferred themselves from place to place, organizing his stuff into his bag. "Mister L/n." A string of crass curses went through his mind.
His jaw stiffened for a while, he nullified his expression then pivoted his heels to enter a verbal dispute with the teacher "Yes miss?" The teacher intertwined her fingers momentarily composing herself for the information she was about to give. "Since you unfortunately failed the test, you will have a retake next week." Y/n took in the response but didn't know whether to feel relief over the second chance provided or frustration over the extra hours of studying he would undeniably have to cram in his schedule.
The male had no time to show gratitude for the offer as the woman's voice once more spoke around the space "I think it's also for the best that you receive a tutor, now there's a program for-"
"I can tutor him, miss." The interruption cut through the statement before it was finished and the teacher glimpsed toward the student with a mild look "Ah, Mr, Levine. Well if you so kindly offer. Then sure." Y/n pursed his lips and pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth to restrain himself from releasing a complaint "You both are dismissed."
Y/n's feet progressed out of the lecture room, aiming to make a direct path to the cafeteria, stepping into to empty passage hall and peering around the expanse.
"The day after tomorrow, at 4 pm, I'll be waiting for you in the library"
The demand entered his perception and the boy spun around to vocalize his opinion to his tutor "You were rather quick with your offer to tutor me Eli, can't get enough of me?" He teased, skidding his body closer to the black-haired haired who grew significantly more tense at the close distance.
Y/n discerned Elio's uptight reaction as nervousness and playfully pulled the male closer by his shoulder "Or is it that you just can't stand to see me fail?" Elio felt his heart rate spike up and in an impulse, pushed the smug male away from his proximity "Shut...shut up." He muttered. The h/c haired male grinned at the jittery reaction his friend displayed while Elio rashly patted down his form, his motor functions slowing down from the sudden racing of his heart. When he was certain his body had calmed down, he let out an exhale of alleviation
"Dawg, you really like me that much, huh?" Elio scornfully gaped at the teaser before deciding to depart from the area and the boy "You're not denying it!" The male put his palms over his ears to tune out the taunting following his reach, Mumbling disjointed sentences under his breath.
"I don't mind it, you know!"
Y/n giggled as Elio vanished out of auditory range and decided to proceed to his previous destination.
The clanking of utensils, conversation between students, and the sizzling of cooking apparatus filled the cafeteria with lively sonance.
"I can't believe I failed that pop quiz, it was also announced unplanned so it means I know nothing!" Y/n exclaimed his repressed disgruntlement over the subject to his companions."I get that, balancing chemical equations is not my strong suit, I definitely lost points on those questions." Alex commented, prodding his food tactically with his fork to assemble pieces of different nutrients.
"Speaking of tests, how did that geography test go Kiara?" Clark asked. The girl in question piped up from her position to answer. "it went well. I got a B." She boastfully recounted the results.
Alex peered across Y/n's shoulder out to the vast majority of students in a slight daze, then turned back to the group, "You guys, could Roy really have killed his ex-girlfriend?" As the conversation stirred to an invidious topic. Clark forcefully lowered the blond's head to avoid prying eavesdroppers from meddling in the discussion.
"Shhh, unless you wanna find that out first-hand, I suggest you keep your voice down." The brunette harshly whispered through gritted teeth, stunned by Alex's oblivious lack of self-preservation. Kiara glanced around the nearby tables to confirm they had no onlookers before settling down a concern of her own. "Why would he kill his ex anyway?" The question remained in the air as an unanswered fable.
Y/n rotated his upper body to a degree so his eyes could observe the quartet across the cafeteria. To his surprise, just as Elio had said, Nova was indeed in the facility, but his appearance didn't seem to be its usual buoyant mood. The ash blond was quietly spectating, emanating a more nonpresent aura around the table than his 3 other friends. A frown coated his features as if something was bothering him yet being too tranced in his own thoughts to rectify the matter.
'I wonder what's up with him?' Y/n broke his staring by returning to the discussion between the group.
"Let's be honest. There's always some stupid reason to kill your ex." Y/n pitched in. The standpoint earned him looks of scrutiny. "Are you accusing Roy?" Kiara's hesitant voice asked. The h/c haired male glimpsed down to his tray of scattered food in weary thoughtfulness "No, I'm just saying, in general, there will always be dumb people, finding dumb reasons to do dumb things." Clark's brows sweep up, creating lines of surprise in his face. "Well, since when did you become such a cynic?" The verbal irony went disregarded with a light shrug.
Alex's visage sparked up reaching his hand into his blazer pocket and retrieving a slip of paper "Here, Morgan said to give this to you, her number is on there and if you have any questions you can text her" Y/n took the slip, and pocketed the information for later use.
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The final lectures concluded and Y/n took it on to locate Roy with a dedicated resolve, his mind had been tense with anticipation, analysing how he could best present the subject to the redhead without an outcome that would antagonize the male. His feet took fast steps over the floor, pushed by the motivation to find the scarlet-haired. Turning a corner, his movements stopped when his sights locked onto a flash of bright red, the distinctive asset narrowed the individual down to one person.
Roy was in a conversation with another student, his demeanor came across as coy, giving Y/n a proper guess what the amorous sphere meant 'He's flirting with someone, of course he is.' The h/c haired leisurely observed from a distance.
Soon the flustered student scurried. Allowing Y/n to approach the smug male. Roy realized the boy's presence and a smile formed on his lips "Hey pretty boy. How are you?" Y/n took a moment to gather his thoughts before replying with an honest tone "I'm good thanks for asking" There was a small pause in his speech before finalising his decision "I have a question..." The boy's voice came out meek, startling himself at his body's reluctant reaction.
"Okay, ask away." The scarlet-haired approved. "Did you date Rachel Garcia?"
Roy expression's fell for a quick second before converting into curiosity. "Where did you hear that?" Y/n flexed his fingers into the crook of his palm, massaging the skin with his thumb, his brain rummaging out the first thing it could think of.
"heard it from a few passing students." He dismissed, looking toward Roy with an awaiting gaze."I guess we were somewhat dating" The half-baked answer didn't bode well on the h/c haired's shoulders. "You call sleeping with her 'somewhat dating'?" The impulsive sentence was met with a skeptical glare from the redhead.
"You've heard a lot from 'passing students' haven't you?" Roy's voice held a layer of sarcasm, sighing out an exhale before engaging the discussion in a serious manner. "yes, we dated." There was silence between the duo. "does your father know you dated a murder victim?" Y/n questioned.
"What are you insinuating here?"
"I'm not insinuating anything, I'm simply asking. But it is weird that you're getting so defensive." Roy folded an arm over the other one and leaned against the structure of lockers "Well, I'm sorry that I don't like my sex life being thrown around as an interrogation subject."
"I'm not interrogating you-"
"I'm not stupid Y/n." There was a peculiar sense in the way his name sounded from Roy's mouth, making a shiver transfer through his spine.
"You're convicting me of something based on rumors and gossip. No, my father didn't know I dated Rachel, practically no one did, Rachel agreed to keep it between us since she knew that if other people found out there would be a chance she would get harassed by other students for dating me, Yes we eventually broke up, that isn't a crime. We mainly broke up because word got out that we dated anyway and Rachel started getting threats, it was for the best that we parted ways, for her own peace of mind and safety."
Y/n remained quiet, not having any valid points to be able to negate the explanation, each moment perpetuating the humiliating silence. The scarlet-haired surveyed the boy's abashed mood with vacanty. "You shouldn't go around accusing people of stuff you don't even know the full story of. I thought that was below you."
Roy whirled in an axis to leave the area, however, stopped his pace to utter the final opinion of the situation with a glance toward the speechless boy "But I suppose that's my bad for expecting better from you." Upon having said the sentence, Roy walked away. Leaving his words to engrave themselves into the h/c haired's mind.
The male remained in the leftover tension of the conversation. But he bit back his energy and began advancing out of the school building.
Once Y/n was out of the compound, he felt a strain ease from his conscience, Yet a frustration built up instead, not having any constructive aim, he was mad at himself, at the town, at everyone and everything.
The gust of afternoon wind touched his face, moving his eyes to glimpse up at the sky, the clouds formed like blankets over the vibrant colours, floating as different shapes in the horizon, far from human eyesight. 'What was I thinking?' The sun radiated through the cracks of white. Shining down on the landscape.
Y/n stared around vacuously, trying to find a distraction for his irritation. Yet nothing brought him the content he wished.
The boy's state was broken by a voice regarding him. "Are you alright?" Y/n looked in the direction of the adressor and steel blue eyes locked sights with e/c ones. His glum expression roamed back to the glowing sky, acknowledging Ezra's question with a hum.
The ash-blond inched closer to the reclusive male "You sure?" He inquisitively asked. The h/c haired boy shut his eyes to luxuriate in the sunlight. After indulging in the mild warmth, he reopened his eyes to regard Ezra's inquiry. "I don't want to sound...I just....Do you ever feel like you're being told a lot of things, from different people, and you just don't know who to believe?" Y/n's voice trailed off whilst the question became uncertain. Nearly instantly regretting the query "its very corny, I know but i-"
"No, I get it." Ezra confirmed, Y/n gazed at the ash blond boy with doubt over his honesty "Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better? You don't have to lie." He tried to assure, but the other male shook his head. "I'm not, I get it, you feel you're being pulled in entirely different all at once and don't know what to do." The boy imitated a tugging gesture with his hands to accentuate his point.
The questioning teen rubbed his forearm in an attempt to offer himself solace. "So what would you do?" Ezra glanced up at the sky with a self-sufficient smile before redirecting his attention to the boy next to him.
"Well, if you ask my opinion, I think, it is always, at the end of the day, your choice on who to believe. People can tell you all sorts of things, but it's up to you, to scrutinize and determine who is right and who is wrong and whose side you're willing to take." As the ash blond structured his statement Y/n thought over the words carefully.
"Learn the full story and then decide who you believe, I wouldn't believe everything anyone says, just because they heard it from someone else, that's the way rumours spread, you know." Ezra shrugged before materializing a smirk on his features, reaching out his palm to playfully mess up the boy's hair. "But, you're smart, so I am certain if you're bothered by something, you'll get through it." Y/n lightly chuckled, slapping away Ezra's hand and readjusting the strands of h/c that stuck out.
His chuckles simmered down and his gaze softened as the heat from Ezra's touch spread through his body. "Thanks, that means a lot," he mumbled the ash-blond brushed off the gratitude with a smile "No need to thank me, I really didn't do that much if I'm honest." Y/n didn't respond, his mind pondering on the next action to take.
Ezra didn't pick up on the contemplating condition his friend was in. "I'll see you tomorrow." He bid, turning around to be on his way.
But he suddenly halted his departure as his forearm was grabbed in a harsh hold that impeded the ash blond from furtherance.
His steel blue eyes strayed toward the opposed boy who held a dazed mien that portrayed indefinite intents.
The restricted male tried to stop the abounding voices in his mind, beckoning him with yearning fantasies. "...Y/n are you o-..." Ezra stopped his disinclined inquiry when his arm was tugged forward, causing his frame to careen forth.
Sudden pressure was laid on his lips, and the ash blond's eyes expanded as his brain failed to register the momentum as actuality.
Ezra felt his body dissolve in pleasant tingles that sent every nerve shivering with heat, whilst his sights became obscured with the brim of tears as each wish of enveloping the h/c haired boy in the loving care and affection that he rightfully deserved appeared to flash before him in that moment of intimacy.
Seconds that felt too short went by and Y/n separated from the kiss, allowing Ezra to recover from the experience, collecting his unbalanced deposition.
"I'll bring you home." He eventually managed to muster out.
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The transportation ride to Y/n's residence was peaceful, the h/c haired used the tranquility to loosen up his physique. A pleasant warmth erupted from the heater core.
Y/n took off his school blazer to savour the comforting temperature inside the vehicle. His irises peered to the driver. "So, how were your classes?" He inquired. Ezra considered his day's happenings and then came to a conclusive adjective "It went good, yours?" The question returned onto the h/c haired, who mirrored his friend's answer. "Went good, although I do need to retake a test next week since I failed the first one." He mopishly added.
"Ohh, that's sucks, but just as I said, you're smart you'll breeze through it like a bird." The compliment made Y/n roll his eyes in exaggeration "Well as much as I appreciate the flattery, I don't think I'll score higher."
"You never know until you try."
"I can't argue with that."
As the car ride went on, a concern established itself in the boy's gut, dwelling on whether mentioning the topic would bring any form of meaningfulness. He decided to test his luck. "Nova didn't look that pleased during lunch break today, is he okay?" Ezra's countenance moped into a look of boredom and he exhaled an annoyed sigh "Yeah he's fine, he just had a tantrum because he didn't get his way."
Y/n stared on in surprise "...Okay, not what I was expecting" Ezra gave a nonchalant mime toward the boy, not seeming that impressed or troubled by his sibling's outburst.
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The car arrived by the driveway of the house and Y/n glanced out to look at the multicolored greenery decorating the front lawn, serving as a unique trait among the rows of suburban buildings.
"Thanks for the ride, Ezra." The boy said gratefully before stepping out onto the cement lane and venturing up to the porch, giving the ash-blond driver one last wave of goodbye before closing the entry to the compound.
Ezra was left to his privacy, he took a deep inhale from his lungs to reason with his overflowing thoughts of euphoric bliss. He put the tip of his fingers against his lips, having to compose himself from squealing out of giddy excitement.
Tingles rushed across his body like chills. But his heart nearly stopped beating when his sights landed on a specific article of clothing, belonging to the previous passenger. 'He forgot his blazer.' Steel blue eyes moved from the entrance of the house to the unattended jacket. When he determined that the owner had indeed forgotten the article, he reached for it.
His fingertips grazed the fabric before clasping it in his hand and pulling it toward himself in disbelief. When his brain had wrapped around the fact that it was a tangible item belonging to the h/c haired male, he embraced it in a tender hold, inhaling the scent of the clothing.
his chin leaned against the soft texture as a revaluation set in and a groan dispensed from his lips. 'Of fucking course.' He laid the jacket down on his lap to retrieve his cellular device to contact the individual that had bitterly popped up in his mind.
The sound of the ringtone reverberated off the confines of the vehicle, until the confirming line from the other side pinged, indicating the person had answered the call.
"Fine." It was the only response Ezra presented, but the singular approval was all it took.
Author note: WHOOOA, finally a chapter, I'm not even gonna give any more context, this chapter is 8.4k words long, and I'm ready to take a 32 hour nap byee!