there's so much beauty in a storm » k.q + v.f

3| art of understanding

going to school after such an eye-opening weekend made it seem so much more depressing, but kellin couldn't really have another day off from school or the councillor would be on his tail and he really didn't fancy talking to him. He left the house late as usual, having to walk quickly to get there before the bell—even though he didn't really fancy getting to french on time.

french was his worst subject after all, since he hated speaking english in front of people let alone a different language all together. nevertheless, he showed up, the whole class taking their seats as he walked in, sitting at his desk at the far right corner. "bonjour classe," mr dawson said as everyone settled down. this was about the time kellin zoned out.

he couldn't help but let his eyes wander around the room, taking in all of the inhabitants of the small town that ended up sitting in this dingy classroom. a fair amount of them were dicks. the rest didn't bother with kellin. that didn't matter to him though, since he liked to keep mostly to himself until someone spoke to him— which didn't happen too often.

he'd seen the same faces daily since the school was so small, but there was one person that called for a double take. there was vic, sat with his legs rested on his desk, twirling a strand of his long hair around his finger as his pink sweater hugged his form. kellin's mouth dropped and his first instinct was to turn away, but then vic gave him a cute little wave.

kellin's eyes shot to the rest of the class, trying to figure out if anyone else could see him. that wasn't too easy to guess since vic was sat in the back corner, but surely someone else would have noticed. "hi, kellin," vic said, loud enough that kellin could hear from the other side of the room. no one else stirred. could they not hear him?

he wasn't so deluded to speak back to vic. not now, anyway, so he shot him a peculiar look and turned back to the front, trying not to make it obvious how happy he was that vic was there. as he tried to focus back on the clock so he'd know how long he had before he and vic could talk properly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. kellin turned his head, ready to see vic's face, but instead, his stomach dropped.

"bostwick, i dropped my pencil. be a darling and pick it up for me?" the boy sneered. although ryan had posed it as a request in which he had an option, kellin knew that if he didn't it would get worse. all he cared about was vic knowing just how unpopular he was.

he followed ryan's finger to where the pencil had landed right behind his chair. when he reached down to pick it up, a foot collided with his hand making a very concerning noise as it smacked the floor, sending a throbbing pain through his skin, the pencil snapping beneath it.

kellin bit his lip to stop any noise passing through as he handed a smirking ryan the two halves of his pencil. he didn't even need to look at his knuckles to know they were bruising. it hurt like hell, tears prickling his eyes as his lip quivered. he wasn't going to cry. not now. he wouldn't give ryan the satisfaction.

apparently ryan wasn't done, though. "actually, can i just have yours? mine's a little broken." he asked, again, no option was really there. it surprised kellin at first that ryan— the boy from the drama class that got outed as gay was a bully, but kellin figured being a bully was the only way he didn't get bullied himself. he didn't really bully kellin so to speak, it only happened a few times when it was convenient for ryan.

he knew saying no would make everything more embarrassing, so he handed a pencil from his blazer pocket over to ryan, briefly making eye contact with vic who seemed to be trying to figure this out. he shot ryan a smile in an attempt to cover everything up before turning back around.

luckily, nothing else happened in the next two classes and by the time lunch rolled around kellin started the walk to his usual spot outside. that was when a familiar being appeared in front of him, causing him to jump.