Pretty Boy

Take A Deep Breath As You Walk Through The Doors

                    Part 1: The First Crack
                              In The Glass

                           ~Present Day~

Serge:

Drowning upon the vague sound of a disturbing sensation choking me as I open my mouth, I welcome the unpleasant feel of a vomit lushing out of my opening and wait helplessly for it to stop.

"You're taking too long in the bathroom, Serge, get ready to go to school" my mom says, her vigorous voice echoing from the hall.

With a volant move, I jerk myself away from the sight of a toilet beaming with the notice of my doing and go to the sink.

Quickly wiping my mouth, I soothe the taste of uncommonness still washing over my lips, brush my teeth, and leave the bathroom.

Summer still feels like a fever dream, as I last recall it.
I mostly just spent the whole while of it, almost hoping that school would end up better, as it is our last year. With the depths of college already coming upon me, I couldn't help but wonder what I'd do once I reach that platform.

I also ended up working an 8-hour shift at "Carmy's Restaurant" across our street after I finished all my schoolwork.
Carmy, who is the owner, paid well and was also kind to us, who are her employees. Thank God, Ryland was there to help me understand how the restaurant even works. It kind of became therapeutic in a way that helped me to at least have something to do to easily pass time.

It's also quite different without the company of my best friend, Hogan.
We usually go out to our town's cinema and spend nearly the whole day on our favourite beach, down at the harbour of St. Benedict at this time of year. But mostly, we also just stay in each other's room since it's better for me to stay indoors, especially when my anxiety starts to kick in.

I used even to try to get him to stay the night with me, so we could chat nonstop about things that seems to give quite bother to him. Last year was fun since I fascinatingly got to watch his nonchalant self, complaining about how unfair it was for me to get free drinks every time I went to the boba house in our town, even though my aunt literally owns that place. I know he'll probably feel embarrassed with all of his rant if I say that, so I didn't bother to correct him. But it did grant us a big laugh when my aunt, who is the owner, actually went to our house one time when he was at our place.

This year, though, is kind of a bummer. With the vacation Mr. and Mrs. Henderson had planned for them, I didn't bother asking for him to stay.
I mean, what for? It's not like we don't already spend every single school day together anyway.

But these past few years have been quite different.
With my growing attraction to him, I couldn't help but try to act normal whenever we're together. I don't even know if I can still fathom the idea of spending a whole school year with Hogan again. Especially if I get to see his cute little boy next door persona, that always gets me head over heels for him. Nuh uh, definitely not.

Quickly putting those thoughts aside, I head to my room and dress myself.

Going to the mirror, I stare at my body for a whole minute and try seductively lifting my shirt. Just watching me act like a fucking stripper, instantly turned off the semi I was sporting a while ago.

I'm definitely skinny, and the bruises that are marked around my body totally wouldn't add some hotness to my already wretched state. But hey, a little scratching of ego wouldn't hurt, right?

Putting my shirt back down. I gather my things, grab my bag, and slump it on my shoulder.

With a loud thump, which made me wince. I realized I actually forgot to zip my bag, which caused a few of my books to fall on the bedroom floor.

"Now, Quiet down. I don't want you to start your day with an instant bang" mom shouted. Which made me chuckle a bit.

Walking out of my room. I lock the door and stride down the stairs, where my mom welcomes me with her beckoning smile.

It's been a while since I last saw her with her usual gleaming self. These past few weeks have been rough on her and my stepdad. With arguments after arguments we're having about how irresponsible I'm becoming and all the bullshit that I've been weighing on their shoulders, It's almost become quite our thing.
I don't really blame them for the concern they'd been feeling, but at the same time, I wish they wouldn't just directly affront me about it.
But today's totally not the time to dig for that, and hopefully not for the rest of the week, because confrontation is definitely not my finest suit, so I try to avoid it.

"Hi Mom, Dad" I greet them as promisingly as I could, to hopefully resolve the tension that's definitely going to be forming any minute now.
It's also probably best if I already think of a propitious reason to defend myself from last night's events.

But instead of the scowl I was expecting, my mom just gives me a reassuring look and brightly says, "First day of school. How are you feeling?"

"Quite fine" I answered back.

Surprising as it is, she didn't bother to bring up any inconvenience that I've been dreading not to make an excuse for. Yup, please don't bring that up.

For short. I was entirely wasted last night. As much as I hate to say it, I've been stressing about how I'm going to be approaching school, especially being in the quarters of Hogan once again. I barely survived last year, so that was one of my issues.
I went out to go to a bar and got drunk as hell, that I couldn't even see straight. Not that anything I do is straight.

It was relieving for most, and I enjoyed the taste of alcohol budging on my lips. But of course, I had to make the stupid move of calling Haley and shamelessly asking her that if, "alcohol could solve any problem, then why do I feel dumber doing my math homework when drinking" She laughs, but I reckon I was genuine during that question. Sadly, she went into serious mode too, and asked if I was drunk, and the "No....I'm gay?" answer definitely didn't help, because she ended up picking me up from the bar and made a knowing decision of going to my house, instead of me, sobering up at hers.
My mom didn't see us walk through the door, but my stepdad, with a newspaper, reading in his usual place on the couch, definitely did.

Mom just stays there, examining me with the same inscrutable look that always makes me play WOULD YOU RATHER with options such as "is she going to lose it or is she just thinking of a nice way to deal with me."

Simply, she just smiles and says, "That's great. You know, year 12 could be a lot."

Even at a fair tone, I could see how carefully she tries to hint at her words, but she easily covers it as she continues. "Are you stopping over at Killian's house? He said that Hogan and you could go to school together if you want"

With a small nod and a quick response of "Sure" I continue back to my heels and give both of my parents a peck on the cheek.

Taking a deep breath as I walk through the door, I let myself indulge in the sensation of breezy winds and take out my phone.

Replying to the text Hogan sent me yesterday of "Can we walk to school tomorrow?", I find myself preparing once more and try my best to stay focus before I go and meet up with my superhot best friend. FUCK.