Disequilibrium

Part 2: Sophomore Year - Scene 1

Fall

My favourite part about coming back to school is the atmosphere. It's never consistent—not for the first few days. You've got the people who feign excitement just to make their friends think they missed them more than they actually did, the people who are genuinely excited because they're too goddamn boring to make their summer worthwhile, and then the people who are pissed as hell and aren't afraid to show it.

My favourite part about coming back to school is watching just how much people have changed in the course of two months. There are some who haven't changed much and probably feel out of it since their friends have. New relationships are built, and old ones are destroyed.

The nickname 'Tiny Tim' finally dropped, at least. Good riddance.

My favourite part about coming back to school is finding the little things that haven't changed, like the light that keeps flickering in the math hall or the fact that in every hallway, there's a drawing of a dick. They're on the most unfortunate places too, like right above the water fountain or next to the girls' washroom.

My favourite part about coming back to school is Casper. I haven't seen him since June when he told me he'd be spending vacation with his extended family. That's it. I haven't received a single call, or email, or text from him in about sixty days. I can't complain about it though. We aren't exactly best buddies, after all.

The erratic sounds finally die down once I find my common place, heading up the stairs to my usual spot by the big window. I've wasted about twenty minutes of my lunch period answering goddamn questions for my math teacher. It isn't as if I'm missing anything, anyway. Two days into the school year and I'm already eating alone, even though I promised myself to make more friends this year. Not for my personal gain, but just to shun Dad for being on my ass all the time.

But today's different. There's someone already sitting by the window, so engrossed with the students leaving the lot that they don't notice me come up. I almost can't recognise him without the brown curls covering his ears. His hair is cropped now; not short, but short enough. His face has also lost that boyish look. I mean, it isn't exactly gone, but he looks a hell of a lot older than he did two months ago.

I try to clear my throat in a suave, almost sexy way, but it comes out like a squeak. Maybe a hiccup. Either way, it catches Casper's attention, and he looks away from the window to take a good look at me.

Up and down, left to right. His eyes are going everywhere.

"I was almost hoping I wouldn't catch you here," he says. Holy fuck. When did his voice get that deep? "I mean, everybody's switching things up this year. Shouldn't you?"

"I'm not much of a fan for change," I say as I walk up the stairs to sit beside him. "What are you doing here?"

Casper lets out this melodramatic sigh and looks out the window again. "I can't stand sitting at that table. I mean, we're two days in and they're still talking about vacation. It's sickening."

I savour the way he looks for a moment. The warm colours outside seem to make his hair look brighter than it should, painting a hue—maybe a halo—of reds, oranges, greens, and yellows all around him.

"Holden?" Casper glances at me from the corner of his eye. "Did you hear me?"

"Y-yeah, sorry. Why do you hang out with them if they bother you? You don't have to be friends with them."

"Don't you think I know that? Besides, they aren't completely terrible. People just have weird quirks." He sighs. "This town is just too fixed for me. It's like we're back in the olden days, you know? High and middle class people hang out at one side and lower class on the other. We should be past this by now. I mean, the rest of the world is."