04 - pass

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04

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04

Mickey thinks there are two different types of depression. There's the mental illness that has no cure, and no real set trigger. Then there's circumstantial depression, which is what Mickey thinks he has. He's not sad or demotivated until he gets a letter from his father on Saturday morning.

For a moment, he lets himself believe that it might be a congratulatory letter for winning his first game as a captain. But it's just another letter telling him how he shouldn't wear makeup. He shouldn't act so "feminine". Mickey wants to call his father stupid. Makeup doesn't make anyone more feminine than they were before. Mickey doesn't even act feminine. He doesn't even wear makeup unless it's a special occasion. His dad is just embarrassed to have a son who paints his face.

He should be embarrassed to have a son that bullies anyone different than him. That's what Mickey thinks anyway.

Mickey tugs the canary yellow beanie down past the tops of his ears. It's pretty chilly despite being early March. The letter from his father weighs heavily in his front coat pocket. He wants to burn it (correction: he wanted to burn it as soon as he received it.) But he's sort of afraid of his dad, so he's chosen to visit the stationary shop for more envelopes. The longer it takes him to send a reply, the more lies Roman can make up about him.

The bell above the stationary shop's door rings as Mickey enters. The sound feels sharp against his head, but he pushes his way in. He finds the cheapest pack of envelopes that he can and purchases it.

The bell rings again. Mickey accepts his change from the clerk and turns to see James Potter himself. He's a bit relieved that the newcomer isn't Roman, however James Potter isn't exactly his ideal companion.

James spots Mickey immediately and smirks at the envelopes in his hands. "Writing to your hippie parents?"

Mickey thinks there are two different types of liars. There are those who lie all the time, for no real benefit to anyone but themselves. And there are those who lie to protect someone, sometimes themselves, but never out of selfishness. At least, that's what Mickey tells himself, because he's the liar in this situation, and he's got James Potter thinking he's got two hippie parents. "Uh, yeah," and when he notices James looking at him weirdly, he ups his act. "Where else would I get my smokes from, Jimbo?"

Adam. He gets them from Adam, who gets them from his hippie parents. Mickey doesn't even have two parents. He has a lousy father, who'd kill him if he knew Mickey had drugs.

But James doesn't have to know any of this. Not yet. Not any time soon.

James purses his lips. "You know, smoking isn't good for you."

"Don't your friends smoke?"

"Yeah, but I don't like, condone it or anything."

Mickey hums. He feels awkward being in a shop with only James Potter and no one else (well, besides the store clerk, but Mickey's pretty sure the man left the counter a few minutes ago). "Where are your friends anyway? Don't you guys do everything together?"

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