The rest of lunch went dreadfully slow. Y/n could practically feel the heat of the group's gaze burning in his direction, he gritted his teeth. He almost felt tempted to turn around and shout 'WHAT?!'. But he dismissed the idea. Not wanting to cause a scene. 'Damn it, how long are those morons gonna stare at me?!'. Y/n of course expected some type of reaction when his childhood friends first saw him after six years, he left without saying a word, and now, he's back without any warning.
The male didn't dare to glance back at the boys. It appeared they still kept to themselves. He and his sister had been the only people those four could be considered close to, except for each other. they were the 'holy' group of Runswick due to their parents' occupations, he guessed their smarts and looks also had a part in their popularity, especially the latter. When they were younger, Y/n and Lucia would always tease them about the number of girls that had a crush on them, and it looked like Father Time had only enhanced their beauty as they grew older. Y/n let out a shaky breath 'I mean, Kiara isn't wrong, they are beautiful. they sure aged like fine wine.' Y/n glanced around the cafeteria, he noticed that quite a lot of people were staring in their direction, most just stared in awe, others in envy. But there was one thing they all had in common, their eyes all held an underlying layer of...fear? caution? something akin to that.
Y/n narrowed his eyes in confusion, the quartet was allegedly the golden four of the school with a lot of admirers, so why did it look like people were afraid of even breathing the wrong way around them? Suddenly he thought back to Clark's words. ' they look down at everyone who isn't on their level?' Y/n against his better judgment looked back and met eyes with a pair of black eyes framed behind glasses. both boys kept prolonged eye contact with each other before the black-eyed male turned his head away and mouthed something to his companions and they to looked away. 'I mean they were pretty distant towards everyone, but they were never rude, or thought of themselves as better. did something change?' he pondered tilting his head, staring at the group trying to catch on to some type of indication that their personalities had changed, but found none. The boy turned back around and took a bite of his food. 'what did I expect them to do? wave?' the boy frowned 'I left without saying goodbye to any of them, and now I pop up in their school cafeteria unexpectedly, I can't blame them for giving me that reaction.'
''Y/n, you okay?"' the concerned voice of Kiara reached his ears and he looked at the source. Huh? Oh... yea I just was thinking about...something," he answered. Clark looked at him perplexed before his face went blank. "Oh, sh*t. I forget you used to be friends with the two-faced freaks," he mumbled. Kiara jabbed him in the side and shot him a glare. "have some manners Clark." she hissed. Clark pouted and crossed his arms. Kiara turned her attention to Y/n. "you used to be friends with them, when?'' she curiously inquired "About six years ago, I moved away and we lost contact." he shrugged, it wasn't a total lie. "Wow. I would've never guessed you were friends with them..." she trailed off surprised. "That's because you moved here two years ago, Kiara, but anyone that lived here while those five were friends would know they were practically inseparable,'' Clark grunted. the h/c haired breath hitched slightly hoping to avoid the female's interrogation. 'At least Clark had the decency to leave out the mention of the sixth member of my old friend group." Kiara was about to open her mouth to continue speaking on the topic but Clark stopped her "Hey hurry up Kia, we only have 3 minutes left of lunch and you haven't even finished your sandwich yet!" Kiara widened her eyes and proceeded to scarf down the rest of her food. Whilst the female was busy inhaling the rest of her sandwich, Y/n and Clark shared a look that served as a 'thank you' from the h/c boy to the brown-haired.
the sound of the school bell was heard through the cafeteria indicating for the students to go move on to their next classes. "damn it!" Kiara whined a mouthful of food. The two boys giggled. "You would be able to finish your food on time if you ate instead of talking." Clark teased. "shut up.'' Kiara flustered in embarrassment. As the trio walked out of the cafeteria, Y/n once again felt eyes staring at him. ' Are you kidding me?'
________________________________________________________________________________
Y/n was sitting in his next lesson half-heartily listening to his teacher's explanation, suddenly something caught in the corner of his eye. Hair colored ash blond. Temporarily forgetting the person standing in front of the class, Y/n took a moment to fix his bored posture and looked at the person. A boy with ash blond hair and ice blue eyes was sitting a few seats away staring down at his book. Y/n recognized the boy in an instant. Nova Pierce, son of Mayor Charlotte Pierce, also a former childhood friend of Y/n, Nova looked the same as Y/n remembered but more mature, ash blond hair, and ice blue eyes that the h/c haired boy could spot from anywhere. he had white studs. and his uniform sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing off his toned forearms.
The h/c haired boy bit the inside of his cheek.
"Mister L/n!" The boy jolted and turned his head back to his teacher "I would appreciate your attention on the lesson and not your classmates." The teacher scowled. "Sorry, Miss." He bowed his head in embarrassment, the teacher glared at him for a few seconds before she continued with her teaching.
Y/n failed to notice the small grin the ash blond male a few seats away had on his lips.
Y/n was walking next to Kiara. While the black-haired girl was happily blabbering Y/n felt the hairs of his neck stand up 'It feels like someone is watching me.' he shifted his head around and looked across the hallway in scrutinization but found no one to be staring at him. Kiara looked at him ¨Did you forget something?
The boy stared into the hallway for a few seconds before turning back around to his friend ¨No, it was nothing.¨ he brushed off and continued walking with the female trailing behind him. The unnerving sensation didn't disappear.
Kiara and Y/n walked to the school gate ¨where's Clark?¨ Kiara looked at him, smiling nervously ¨ He is probably still at his club¨ Y/n raised an eyebrow ¨Clark is in a club?¨Kiara nodded ¨yes, he is the president of the cooking club.¨ the male shot her a dumbfounded look ¨He is? I didn't know Clark could cook...¨ he trailed off. ¨Oh yes, he definitely can! You should taste his stir fry! It's so good!¨ Kiara reached for her phone ¨That gets me thinking, we should exchange phone numbers so we can hang out!¨ Y/n nodded taking out his mobile device, letting Kiara put in her number before giving it back, the female gave Y/n her phone and he in return put his number in. ¨Cool! Thanks Y/n!¨ Y/n smiled at her ¨No problem.¨
The bus ride from school was peaceful, the h/c haired boy found himself closing his eyes in a daze and began drifting off.
a young boy was sitting on his bed in his room with tears in his eyes as he heard the voices of his parents arguing downstairs ¨ She's gone, Layla! our daughter is dead and it's his fault!¨ the woman was crying as she tried to calm down her husband ¨it isn't his fault! he couldn't have known that would happen!¨ she cried out ¨it was a goddamn abandoned house!" he is old enough to know it would be stupid to go in!¨
the boy closed his eyes and tried to block out the noises.
¨I can't continue living here!¨ the old man's voice echoed through the house making Y/n's blood run cold. ¨what?¨ the woman's tone was frantic ¨You heard me.¨ the female's voice began cracking, hysteria melting over the edges ¨N-no! please, we can figure something out just-¨
the male cut her off ¨we can't figure this out, it's not something we can change, she's gone. and I can't continue living here with that burden.¨
The male opened his eyes and took a few seconds to recognize his surroundings 'That is the second time since I got here.¨
eventually, the bus came to a stop and Y/n stepped out, he watched the vehicle drive away. He started to walk down the street, everything was so quiet, the only sound being the boy's shoes hitting the pavement, his slow breaths, and the rousing of leaves in the trees.
¨Mom, I'm home.¨ Y/n called out as he unlocked the door to his residence, he took off his shoes and descended deeper into the house until he came into the living room where he saw his mother sitting at the table intensely staring down at some papers ¨mom?¨ the woman in question slightly jumped and took her gaze of the papers with a almost terrified expression, her eyes wide, as if she was on the verge of bursting into tears, her face paler then normal. ¨Whoa, calm down, sorry I didn't mean to scare you, mom..¨" the h/c haired boy reassured putting his hands up to show no ill intentions.
The woman kept looking at her son with an unreadable expression before lowering her gaze back to the papers without a word. The boy lifted his eyebrows ¨Are you okay? you seem out of it?.¨ no reply.
Y/n creased his eyebrows together in puzzlement ¨Perhaps it's better if I leave her alone for a while.¨ With that thought in mind he began moving his feet toward the second floor as he was about to entire his chambers he stopped. his eyes sliding over to a door in his peripheral vision and felt his throat closing as he pondered his choices. ¨screw it.' he moved towards the door but as he put his hand on the doorknob he shivered ¨Calm down it's not like her ghost is going to stand there.¨
his body moved faster than his brain could think, he opened the door with more force than necessary, Y/n gawked into the room not believing his eyes. The room was completely clean, the bed was neat, the desk was lined up with pens, books, and a diary. it was as if nothing had changed from the last time he saw the room. he felt bare in the space before he could regret his actions he stepped inside.
he now stood inside the room, he felt as if he was doing something wrong, no one had forbidden him from entering the room. it was just a gut feeling, a dire atmosphere that threatened to engulf his form any moment, the boy pushed the feeling away and began slowly moving, he let his palm glide over the bed frame as if not believing it was real.
he took his hand back and looked at his palm. not even a speck of dust decorated the furniture. had someone been keeping the room tidy? must be, there is no way that the furniture wouldn't be covered in dust if no one bothered even coming into the room. but who?
¨Mom...¨ he mumbled to himself as he moved his arm back to his side.
'Has she been keeping the room clean?' He looked around the room with the newfound revelation, it now seemed as if the room was being perceived, standing still in time as if the owner of the room was temporarily gone, waiting for someone to return, to occupy it, someone who was long gone never set foot in the area again.
the male slumped his shoulders, 'After me and dad left, Mom was alone, had she been cleaning this room to feel like she wasn't? deluding herself to believe Lucia would come home?' He felt a sickening dizziness hit him. ¨They didn't find her body¨ a voice whispered in his subconscious, he began shaking his head to rid himself of the thought 'They didn't need to, no one would be able to survive something like that.' his hands began shaking as the voice of false hope began chanting sweet lies to him
'I need to get out of this room.'
The boy stumbled out of the space and shut the door desperately as if to keep a force inside. Any seconds longer in there and he felt he might've gone mad.
The buzzing sound of his device came out of his pocket and his heart nearly leaped out of his throat. a reached toward his phone and saw a notification from Kiara, he unlocked his phone and went to his messages.
Kiara:
Heyy! Would you like to come to the convenience store with me? Clark would also come with but he is currently busy with homework :(
Y/n
Yeah sure, what time?
Kiara:
twelve pm.
Y/n:
Sure, what do you need to get?
Kiara:
just some snacks
Y /n:
why not earlier tho?
Kiara:
I like breaking rules :D
and um, this convenience store is the only one with good chips. and it is only open from twelve am to eight am
Y/n:
what rule?
Kiara:
you don't know?
Y/n:
No??
Kiara:
There's a town curfew. everyone is HIGHLY advised to stay inside after dark.
Y/n:
why??
Kiara:
Okay bye! See you later! I'll wait for you by the town sign since the convenience store is a little bit out of town! ^^
Y/n:
wsit
waut*
WAIT*
why is there a curfew??
Hello?
you there?
oh, come on!
Y/n did not get a response from Kiara after that.
Dinner went by surprisingly silent, his mother had made soup for the both of them but the woman was not eating, she was stirring her spoon in the food with a blank look ¨Mom are you okay?¨ he asked to which the woman glanced up at him through her lashes, no response. the boy pursued his lips together and looked away 'What with her?'
After the evening meal, his mother left the table without a word and Y/n took it upon himself to do the dishes and vacuum the bottom floor to relieve his mother of some household tasks before heading back up to his room.
Timeskip
it was now almost twelve pm and Y/n had decided not to tell his mother of his trip to the convenience, he figured since it was advised to not leave the house after dark his mother would not allow him to go outside if he told her.
he walked down the dark streets of Runswick until he finally reached to sign of the town indicating your arrival or departure. Leaning against a lamppost was a dark-haired girl wearing a light yellow jacket, when she saw him her face lit up.
¨Hey Y/n! Thanks for accompanying me.¨
¨ofcourse.¨
the pair walked through the path of what appeared to be the outskirts of a forest, Kiara had told him it was the fastest way.
eventually, the two saw the lights of the convenience store and they unconsciously sped up their footsteps. Neither of them wanted to be in the dark much longer.
¨there it is, let's go in and buy some snacks!¨ but the H/c haired boy shook his head lightly ¨you can go I'll stay here.¨ Kiara gave him a conflicted look ¨are...are you sure?¨ the boy nodded ¨yes, I'll stay in the light, don't worry, I'm not a fan of the dark,¨ Kiara slowly nodded and turned out to walk into the store
The boy let out a sigh 'I just need some time to collect my thoughts' He looked down at his feet in consideration 'That dream I had on the bus...¨ his heart skipped a beat at the bitter reminder. he felt his eyes slightly burn and he frowned in resistance 'I can't let a flimsy dream can't get to me...was it even a dream? shouldn't it be considered flashbacks?¨ He closed his eyes to avoid the pool of emotions beginning to creep up.
He felt a firm hand being placed on his shoulder and he swirled around and stared back at...ice blue eyes. His heart was beating faster than normal, not only because of the pressure of suppressing unwanted memories and emotions but also because he now stood face-to-face with none other than his childhood friend.
Nova pierce.
He noticed he had a few tears in his and quickly went to wipe them, he flinched when he felt the stinging pain of his black eye. it wasn't as visible as it had been but if you looked well enough you could still see the discolored skin around his eye.
Nova stared at him with an unreadable look before he pulled his lips into a small smile
¨Hello, Fancy seeing you here.¨
Y/n gulped this wasn't the reunion he had expected, in the middle of butt f**k nowhere in the dark and himself being on the verge of a mental breakdown. nonetheless, he answered back.
Hey..Nova.¨ his tone was uncertain as if he was about to regret opening his mouth to begin with. Nova smiled at him and blinked his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering over his eyes in an angelic manner, the color of his eyes almost lit up the dark path more than the lamppost did.
¨what are you doing out here?¨ he questioned his voice a soft murmur as though he knew the h/c haired boy was about to break down just a few moments ago.
Y/n cleared his throat ¨im waiting for a friend to finish buying something.¨
Nova hummed ¨ I see...and is there a reason you guys are outside at midnight in the middle of nowhere buying something when you could've gone at a much earlier time at the local grocery store?¨ he challenged raising a brow
Y/n snickered ¨well my friend says this is the only store that sells good snacks, and it's unfortunately only open at the most ungodly hours¨ he shrugged
¨ Can't argue with that.¨
And what are YOU doing out here 'in the middle of nowhere at midnight'?¨ he joked, the ash blond grinned at him.
¨Well for almost the same reason you are. The others are hanging over and Roy only drinks the energy drinks that this convenience store sells. so it's of course my job as 'lapdog' to get it for him, and Elio said he also wanted something, so now I'm running errands.¨
Y/n nodded, he could feel his muscles go taut, the mention of names he hadn't heard in a while was like a cold bucket of water had spilled over him making a chill go down his spine. he didn't understand why he felt this way, was it guilt? perhaps. but before the boy could immerse himself in his self-pity, a voice broke him out.
¨so...why are you back in Runswick?¨ There it was. he couldn't say he didn't expect the question. it was the big elephant in the room.
¨...¨
Y/n felt his mouth dry up. should he lie? or tell the truth? 'Yeah, sure. yea, I'm back in Runswick because my dad is an abusive piece of crap and has drinking problems. great conversation starter when you see one of your closest friends after six years' he mentally rolled his eyes.
¨I just needed a change of scenery and missed Runswick.¨
Nova looked at him amused ¨that's understandable... although you've not arrived at the best time for this town.¨
¨why is that?¨
the blue-eyed boy looked at him in confoundment ¨Haven't you heard there a serial killer waltzing around?¨
Y/n face dropped ¨oh...yea, I have. I just...forget I guess.¨
The ash blond started laughing ¨How do you casually forget there's a serial killer in town?¨
Y/n shrugged ¨Been busy, and I have been here for a day, i haven't seen much of the local freakshow.¨
Nova opened his mouth to say something but he stopped himself when the door of the convenience store opened revealing a black haired girl coming out with a bag of junk food she had bought ¨Hey sorry i couldn't choose which flavor i wa-¨ her eyes went wide when eyes landed on them.
Kiara stood stunned watching the two.
Nova looked at her with indifference before the ash blond switched his demeanor and began walking up to the convenience store but before he went inside he waved towards the h/c haired male and without another word, disappeared into the building.
Kiara and Y/n stood in silence for a while ¨So, did you get what you wanted Ki- ¨
¨WHAT DID I MISS?!¨
Author note: Hello it's me! sorry for the short chapter! I'll give you a longer chapter next time. I've just been busy with school so I haven't been able to write as much as I would like :p I wanted to post this chapter on 29th February because its a day that only exists once every four years so.. that's my excuse. and if you ask yes I changed the mayor to a woman because yknow. because i can.