17 Black

29•

Wow what a long wait, I know - but this chapter is fairly long, just over 6000 words, but still, took me a while on that one. I hope you guys like this chapter because I think I really do. So for homework over the summer (you can skip this whole part if you'd like, but some of you might like it) I've had to read Stephen King's On Writing, and for those of you aspiring writers - and for those of you who aren't, too - I highly highly highly recommend reading this. It'll seem pretty boring at first, but this book is honestly so good and you will learn a lot more then just some tips about writing. King is a genius, and even if you don't want to read about writing, this book is packed with little stories and life lessons that will inspire you (they inspired me, at least). After reading this book, I'm so excited to keep writing and write more and write amazing stuff so I'm really looking forward to starting this next chapter. So I just thought I'd put that out there for you guys because I love reading as much as I love writing, and if you're the same way, On Writing is FOR YOU.

Anywayyyyy, the comments you guys have been leaving lately are BLOWING MY MIND AND I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR STICKING WITH ME AND MY SLOW UPDATES AND LONG PRE-CHAPTER RANTS. So I'll just leave you to it now, but know that I appreciate ALL of you little larries and am not giving up on this book even a little :)
- B
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Louis feels like he's never seen a thunderstorm while in class before. As he leans against the wall and peers out the window, he watches a thin streak of white zig zag across the purple plains of the sky in awe. For some reason, he finds himself able to actually appreciate it this time instead of being too frightened to even look at it or listen to it. Normally, when it storms, Louis puts in his earphones on full volume and concentrates extra hard on his homework. He can admit that he has never exactly been a huge fan them, but he guesses they're alright now. Since it has been raining so fucking much this year, Louis figures he might as well get used to it. The only thing is, though, it's storming so practice might be cancelled if it doesn't let up in about half an hour. By the looks of it, Louis would bet they've got the day off today.

Something small bounces off Louis' chin, startling him out of his trance, and he looks down to see a crumpled piece of paper lying on his desk. Frowning, he looks around the room for a second before he unfolds it to find the words "history sucks" messily scribbled over a lousy illustration of a dick. In the lower left corner of the paper is scrawled "films and ice cream at mine tonight?" with a winky face. Immediately, Louis grins and looks a few seats to his left to where Liam is sitting calmly like the perfect student he is, watching the teacher with a telltale quirk to the corner of his mouth. Louis spends the last half hour of the class with a relentless tug at the corners of his lips and a light feeling in his chest.

He finds Liam waiting outside the classroom after the bell rings, happy crinkles beside his eyes and biceps on full display in a Guns N' Roses bro tank. Liam really is quite strange character, he thinks, almost like he's got two different personalities living inside him. One of them is the frat boy type who wears bro tanks and backwards hats and throws crumpled paper balls of crude illustrations onto classmates' desks, and the other is the straight A student with an insanely accurate moral compass and a cuddly, compassionate side like you've never seen. He's like a living contradiction, almost. Louis wouldn't rather have anyone else to call his best mate.

"Hey Lou, you get my note?" Liam pries at him as they walk down the hallway, waggling his thick eyebrows playfully. Louis can't help but roll his eyes.

"Yeah I got it, you idiot," he mutters, attempting to keep the fondness out of his voice but not really caring that it doesn't quite work. "And it depends on the movie. Also on the flavor of ice cream."

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Half an hour later, Louis and Liam stroll into the locker room together, and Louis feels oddly invincible for once. They find Isaiah and Stan in their usual corner of the room, and Isaiah offers Louis some sort of brotherly handshake and a warm white smile. Always been such a friendly lad, he has.