Starbugs [Analogical] (Highschool AU)

Prologue

Unedited

First night in a new neighborhood and Virgil already hated it. Why did his parents have to get divorced? Now he was stuck a million miles from Michigan and stuck in Gainesville, Florida with no friends in the last nine weeks of the semester. Today was Sunday, meaning he'd have to deal with yet another first day of Sophomore year tomorrow morning. It had to be at least eight o'clock at night and it was kind of dark. Scratch that. It was completely dark since it's a full moon tonight. Virgil walked to the cup-de-sac near his house, where he knew a small park was. Florida was weird.

Virgil saw small children, maybe five or younger, all around chasing little lights in the air. Virgil was extremely confused. Were they mechanical or toys or something? It's March so there shouldn't be any fireworks or sparklers going off. Virgil ignored it and found a nice comfy spot underneath a tree. He pulled out his little flashlight and pencil and began drawing. It was the only thing he was semi-decent at. Drawing characters and creating worlds for them to live in. At lest they were happy while he was stuck in the middle of a messy divorce.

Virgil was drawing a strong teenage girl with a blonde ponytail and skinny frame who was conquering her depression and anxiety. She smiles through the pain and everyone loves her despite her hating herself. He drew another girl next to her, much shorter and pudgier. She wore glasses and was a huge nerd. They were holding hands, proving that love transcends all stereotypes and what other people say. Also fat is beautiful. Virgil had tummy chub himself, so he felt drawn to these thicker characters he created. He wanted to make a happy ending for people he related to. And he always gave his characters two parents, or more depending on the  situation. Virgil wished his dad took custody of him and not his mom...

Virgil snapped out of his own mind when he saw one of the little lights land on his paper. It died down and Virgil shone his flashlight directly onto it. What was that? It looked like a little bug. It was black and lean. It's littke antennae went wowards the light as suddenly it's tiny little backside lit up. Virgil was astounded. Those little lights the children were chasing were insects!? Virgil watched in awe as the little bug with a little yellow light coming out of its butt flew away and out of Virgil's little spotlights he created for it. There were so many of them. Kids had jars and collected the little bugs in it. Virgil was enamored with the idea a bug could twinkle like a star.

A star? Hey, that's a good idea. Virgil had no idea what these amazing little creatures were, so he thought he could call them Starbugs. Virgil forgot all about his problems and turned his mind to the simple beauty of a bug with a glowing arse. He flipped the page and began to draw two little boys, maybe five years old like the ones playing in them cul-de-sac, chasing little Starbugs in the dark. Virgil gave one little boy glasses and the other really messy hair and an oversized hoodie. The one with the hoodie reminded Virgil of himself. Wow, that was unintentional. Virgil pulled out a yellow highlighter from his small bag and he put dots in the graphite sky, adding in the Starbugs. He also gave the glasses boy a jar and put some in there. It was so blissfully sweet and wholesome that a smile adorned Virgil's face. An angst teenager smiling? Florida really is crazy.

Virgil flinched hard when he felt a ticklish sensation on his face. He focused and saw a bright golden light on the bridge of his nose. A Starbug landed on his ugly face? Maybe starbugs are like ladybugs and they give you good luck when they land on you. That's always a possibility. Virgil grinned as he noticed the little starbugs were all around him, landing in the tree at his back and all over his purple hoodie. They flew and went dim, almost as if speaking to eachother. Virgil didn't know why such a small thing gave him so much happiness, must be because he's from Michigan. Michigan and Florida are like two different continents, so seeing something like this was a big deal.

Virgil set down his flashlight and his little composition book he drew in. He looked out and saw the parents making their children release all the Starbugs they caught before leading them to a house in the Cul-de-sac. Virgil felt his heart go warm yet tug at the same time. He wanted that, but it was so adorable he couldn't help but smile. It's a very conflicted emotion that's hard to describe. Virgil didn't want to stand up, in fear of scaring off the little glowing bugs. It may have just been the moment, but...

He thinks things are going to turn out okay after all.

844 Words