𝔹𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔹𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕣𝕤

𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪

(TW: mothman (for my friend))

Once the two of us get to the chemistry classroom, Romeo grabs my arm and leads me to two seats near the back.  We sit down and he starts asking me a million questions about myself. None of them are too personal, however, so I guess it's fine. Even if it's annoying. A few minutes later, a woman who appeared to be in her 50s walks into the classroom and turns to us.

"Good morning class..." She addresses us with a smile. "I'm Mrs. Destefano, and I'll be your chemistry teacher this year. Let me take attendance real quick, and we can get started!" When she comes to me, she actually addresses me as Antonio instead of my deadname, which is weird, considering I haven't gotten my name legally changed. I guess Medda told the school to change my name in the system. The thought makes me crack a small smile.

45 minutes later, the bell rings, making me jump ten feet in the air. I'm never going to get used to that thing. I pull out my schedule. My next class is ELA, which shouldn't be too bad. Once I walk into the room, guess who's waiting for me?

Albert. Of course. Because this is gonna help me get him off of my damn mind.

He waves at me to sit with him, and my body acts before my brain does. I take a seat right next to him, trying not to blush.

"Antonio, right? We didn't get to talk earlier."

I swallow. "Y-yeah"

"Then again, I'm pretty sure Romeo talked your damn ear off." He says, earning a small laugh from both of us. He looks up again as Elmer walks into the room. "El! Get your ass over here!" He laughs. I look around the room, but there's no teacher in sight to yell at him for swearing. Nice. Elmer sits on the other side of Albert with a grin. He seems like a really happy kid, he was smiling in the library earlier as well. I wonder what it's like.

During class, I can't help but steal a few glances at the redhead. Okay, maybe it was more than just a few. So sue me. My next class is math. Geometry, to be exact. I'm the first one in the classroom, other than the teacher. A few minutes later, to my relief, Charlie enters the room. I wave at him, and he grins, making his way over to me.

"Toni! Have you been enjoying your classes so far?" I give him a slight nod. "I know my friends can be...overbearing at first. But trust me, they're some of the best people I know."  He places a reassuring hand on my shoulder, removing it as class starts.

The rest of my day goes like this:

My next block is lunch, which I have with everyone in my grade. This means I sit with Charlie, Albert, Spot, Smalls, Finch, Elmer, Romeo, Jojo, Buttons, and Tommy Boy. I assume this means that Specs, Davey, Katherine, Sarah, Jack, Mush, Blink, and Hotshot are all juniors or seniors. Now that I think about it, Charlie has a huge friend group. I'm not surprised, considering how kind and caring he is. I guess I've just never had that many people care about me before. I sit in between Charlie and Spot.

My next block is band. I don't know anyone in my class, but it doesn't really matter. I'm used to being ignored in class anyway.

Next up: history. A good chunk of Charlie's friends has that class with me. Spot, Buttons, Finch, Romeo, Jojo,  and Elmer. We all sit together, and they make me feel like I actually belong in their group, which is nice.

My last class is French. I was going to take Italian, but I'm already fluent in that, so it wouldn't really help. I have that class with Charlie, Buttons, and Tommy Boy.

When French is over, Charlie and I say goodbye to his friends and we make our way to the car, where Jack is already waiting for us. And...so is Davey? Which is weird, but I honestly don't care. The four of us pile into the car and begin the ride home, silently chatting. Charlie turns to me.

"Wanna join the groupchat?" I just stare at him and blink. "You've never been in a groupchat before?" he says, shocked. No, Charlie. I haven't had people who cared about me until now. He whips out his phone and punches my number in. My phone buzzes, so I take out my phone.

You've been added to "mothman. he's a moth and a man, he's a mothman."

What. Charlie tells me who's who since right now there's just a bunch of unknown numbers.

"And that one is Les."

"Who the fuck is Les?"

"Davey and Sarah's little brother."

"How old is he?"

"10."

"The fuck-"

Davey turns around. "You guys better not be making fun of my brother. That's my job. And Sarah's."

We all laugh as Jack pulls into the garage. I look at the name of the groupchat.

"Does Les even know who mothman is?"

Charlie laughs. "I have no fucking clue."

"He doesn't." Davey cuts in.

Charlie, Jack, and I gasp in unison. "How DARE he," Charlie says, overdramatically.

"Davey, you need to educate your brother. This is treason of the highest degree." I add. We all laugh as we exit the car.