Night Vale ▷ Steve Harrington

ii. lights out

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐒𝐌𝐔𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒. The cold washed over his skin whenever he stopped pedaling, licking at his face and creeping between the crevices of his clothes to freeze his fingers grasped against the handlebars, chilling his limbs into clumsiness and nearly causing him to crash more than once. The small crystals of ice formed on blades of grass and pipes might have been beautiful to stop and admire, but he was more focused on riding, his backpack bouncing against his chilled back as he pedaled faster and faster.

The vibrant glow of his bike lights reflected on passing cars and store windows, giving Scout a glimpse at what other people saw when he rode by, temporarily blinded for the briefest of moments until he dipped his head as if to apologize and glided by, the crisp light throwing him off balance when it hit him at just the right angle, the flash of light akin to what one might see right before they died.

Blue eyes winced at the illuminating glare that almost sent him spiralling into a stop sign that he saw at just the last second, a gasp escaping his lips as he jerked the handlebars to the side to avoid running into the frozen pole, sending him tumbling onto the grass beside it. He put out his hands to break the fall, but it wasn't enough, because he ended up slamming face first on the ground, sitting up with a groan a few seconds later, spitting bits of grass out of his mouth. He reached for his hat which had fallen off at his feet and jammed it back onto his head, before quickly turning his head in both directions to see if anyone had seen him fall. Seeing as how the only people around were a group of middle schoolers walking to school with their parents, he nodded to himself and picked up his bike, resuming the ride.

It only took a few more minutes for Scout to reach school, his breaths coming heavier than usual as a result of his riding, and locking his bike and making his way inside are motions he'd gone through what seemed like hundreds of times. It was more reliable to just ride to school than to ask his dad for a ride, and he liked to do it when he could anyway, since it gave him time to clear his head and simply focus all his energy on getting to where he needed to be. It was the only time the silence gave him space to breathe; anywhere else, it would have been stifling.

He didn't have to put up with it for long, however, because despite arriving far earlier before class, Scout picked up on all sorts of sounds, including ones he might not have supposed to; kids slamming locker doors and yelling across the hall, teachers chatting as they paced the weathered path from their classroom to the break room, while still others played music as loud as the settings of their walkman could go, each and every person enjoying the time they had left until they were forced to settle down and study for hours on end, doomed to repeat the same routine until they died or graduated—whichever came first.

He let his feet carry him down the halls he knew all too well until he found himself stopped outside the music room, the muddled jerks of a guitar making him grin as he pushed open the door, already knowing who was waiting for him inside. He was instantly bombarded with a crash of cymbals, and he threw his hands over his ears, wondering if there was someone else in the room, before raising his head and finding Letitia laughing on the floor beside the music stands.

"I didn't appreciate that," Scout told her in lieu of a greeting, making his way over and dropping his back on the floor, plopping on the floor beside her.

"Please," she scoffed, poking his cheek with a finger, stretching her legs out in front of her, careful to stretch her skirt over her thighs in case a teacher walked in, "I did you a favor and woke you up, you look half dead. You didn't even leave that late either, what's up?"

She knew him too well. Lying would have been useless, Letitia was far too good at reading people so trying was in vain, and it'd make him feel guilty anyway. He shrugged. "Just couldn't sleep, is all. You know how it is."