in my room | prinxiety

Chapter Two - School and Spencer's

"Hey there, Virge!" Patton chirped as Virgil flinched away from the sudden physical contact.
"Oh. Hey, what's up?" Virgil replied, trying to regain composure.
"I'm so glad I ran into you! I just wanted to thank you for picking up my shift tonight." Patton said. "Let me get you a coffee sometime, as a thank you."
"It's no big deal, Pat, thanks though. I'll see you around." Virgil said politely as he turned to walk away.

"Hey, wait!" Virgil flinched at the sudden rise in volume. He turned back around and raised a brow. "Yeah? What's up?"
"There's a party going on tomorrow night at Jan's. I was wondering if you'd wanna go with me?" Patton questioned.

Virgils instinct was to say no, definitely not; but a small part of him contradicted that instinct. He didn't like people, he didn't like crowds, and he didn't like loud noises; but he did like weed, and he did like alcohol. The latter outweighed the cons to him.

"Uh... I'll think about it, okay? I'll let you know." He said uncertainly.
"Oh, okay! Just let me know, I can give you a ride and stuff! I won't be drinking or anything, it's not really my thing, I just really wanna go because I think it'd be the perfect opportunity to meet a certain someone, but I don't wanna show up alone and look like some loser, you know? I wanna make a good first impression. Anyway, Ill be able to drive you home afterwards, since I'll be sober and all." Patton said with a toothy smile.

Virgil didn't know a lot about Patton, but he knew one thing: he talked a lot. Too much for Virgil's liking. He also saw an innocence in Patton, though: the way he went about things at work, and the way he talked to people. Virgil admired that about him, and it almost made him jealous.
"Yeah. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go, then." Virgil smiled, earning a small cheer from Patton.
"Oh, good! I'm so glad. I'll see you then, Virgil!"

+

Class went by with a haze, as it always did for Virgil. His mind kept going back to dumb thoughts in the back of his mind. He tried to focus on the professor, but he felt that he was always in a battle with himself to simply pay attention. He sighed as he packed up his laptop and notepad before heading out the door.

He unwrapped his headphones and plugged them in, blasting his usual music as he trotted down the hall towards the cafe he always studied at. He passed by Roman again, who hadn't even gotten up from his spot, and was still typing away furiously at his laptop. Virgil found it almost comical, the way he seemed so fixated at whatever he was doing; so much so that he hadn't moved a muscle within the hour and a half that Virgil had first spotted him.

Virgil's curiosity gnawed at him, and he decided to give in to it, for once in his life. As his breath quickened, he made his way over to Roman, who hadn't even noticed him approach.

"What are you writing about?" Virgil said, trying to be as casual as possible to mask the obvious anxiety he was feeling.
Roman snapped his head up, as if he'd been broken out of a trance. He only stared at Virgil, who felt the regret growing in his stomach. "Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to intrude." He said quickly as he turned to walk away.
"No, no you're okay." Roman said quietly. "Uh, it's just a school thing, I guess."
"A school thing?" Virgil questioned. "Yeah. School thing. I get so caught up in my work sometimes that my brain ceases to function for a bit when I get pulled out of it." Roman said.
"I get the feeling." Virgil reassured. "I always study over at the cafe down the road, it's more peaceful over there. Less foot traffic, you know?"
"I know." Roman smiled softly. "I like that place. Normally that's where I'd go, but I just got caught up here and didnt wanna break the flow."
"Well, don't let me stop you." Virgil joked, taking the hint. "I should be going now. See you around." Virgil walked away, feeling eyes on his back the entire way down the hall.

+

Virgil sighed as he sat down on his bed. He had nearly an hour before he had to get ready for work, and he didn't know what to do with his free time. He never did. He knew he had chores to attend to, like his laundry or tidying the place a bit, but he always ended up scrolling through his phone, dazed by the endless content which fried his dopamine receptors. That was what he was doing now: liking random photos he scrolled through on social media, occasionally being distracted by Storm, who could never get enough attention.

After another half hour of him being lazy, his alarm finally went off, signalling he needed to get his shit together and start heading off to work. He sighed as he put his phone on the nightstand before carefully picking up Storm and taking her off his lap. She purred and rolled around on his bed, making him chuckle.
"Hungry, little one?" he asked rhetorically, making Storm pounce up and leap over to her food bowl, sitting down and patiently waiting for her feast. He smiled warmly at her as he grabbed a can of food and popped it open, tapping the contents into her bowl and tossing the can in the trash.
"You eat up while I get ready, okay?" He said, heading off to the bathroom to wash up and reapply his makeup.

+

"I'll be back, sugarpea. You be good, okay?" He said to Storm, gently scratching her chin. She meowed in protest, bunting Virgil's hand. "Don't be like that, it's only a 5 hour shift, okay? I won't be too long. Bye, Storm." He said, getting up and walking out the door.

Virgil sighed as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, immediately regretting picking up Patton's shift. He trotted down the sidewalk grumpily, kicking rocks as he walked by them. He had forgotten his headphones at home, but felt too lazy to go back and grab them, so he just settled on listening to trees rustling against the wind. He continued down the dark road, feeling the familiar presence that he always felt when he walked at night. As usual, not a single person out, but his instincts shouted otherwise. He pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and popped it in his mouth, using his small purple lighter to light it up. He inhaled deeply, feeling the strings of smoke flow through his lungs before exhaling a large cloud. He tried to focus only on his cigarette, but with the paranoia he felt it was hard to do so. "Damn you." Virgil said to no one in particular. "I'm so tired of feeling this way."

Virgil finally approached the mall, pushing the doors open and immediately feeling a small wave of anxiety wash over him at the sight of the crowd. There wasn't as much people in the mall today, considering it was a weekday. Even still, the small crowd was enough to ruin his mood.

He trudged over to Spencer's and nodded to the guy working the counter. The guy went to the back and Virgil took his place. He plonked his elbows down on the counter and held his face in his palms, already counting the minutes till he could go home.