Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Jeremy sighed, they would have to go into the boys bathroom again. They hated the fact that there were no gender neutral bathrooms in the school other than in the nurses office, and they didn't have time to go all the way there and back unless they wanted to be late for their history class. They opened the door, ignoring the two boys that were messing around, and writing on the walls as they walked by. Luckily, they got the largest stall where they could pee in peace.

They ran a hand through their curly brown hair after they finished washing their hands, as they looked at their reflection. They hated the fact that they hadn't told anyone yet. Not even Micheal. In all honesty, they were still adjusting to calling themselves 'they' instead of 'he', as they had only discovered that they could identify as something other than a boy a short while ago. It did make them more comfortable, and made sense in their head. They had never really felt like they were a boy, but they were never a girl either. Someone knocked on the door, scaring them out of their thoughts. "Hey man, some of us need to pee." Jeremy breathed out, before nodding and opening the door. As much as it made them feel uncomfortable being called 'man' they felt they couldn't say anything. After all, he didn't know what they identified as. Not that it was any of his business to know. Jeremy walked past the guy who rolled his eyes and walked in. Other than the two of them, the boys bathroom was empty, the other two boys had walked out. Jeremy gave a soft sigh of relief and grabbed their bag from where it rested on the undoubtedly dirty ground. Another day in hell, they supposed.

Micheal waved at them from his desk when he saw them through the classroom window. The other one, which belonged to them, was empty except for a fruit by the foot roll up still in its packaging. Jeremy laughed as they sat down and opened it up. Considering they hadn't had anything to eat during lunch -Jeremy theorized that the schools 'mystery meat' was radio active- this was a god send. Their stomach felt close to eating itself.

"Thanks Micheal!" They said with a full mouth. Micheal laughed, putting his feat up on the desk and leaning back in his chair casually, despite Jeremy's warnings about the chair slipping and him hitting his head.

"Of course dude! Hey, we have a sub today, so if you feel like it, we can skip and get some actual food." Micheal almost looked like he hoped Jeremy would say yes. Jeremy thought about it for a second, before nodding.

"Yeah. I'm starved." Micheal's eyes lit up, and he nearly fell out of his seat when the substitute-a young woman who didn't really seem to care all that much- came into the room and began to take roll call. She either didn't notice or care when Micheal and Jeremy walked out the door, claiming they were using the bathroom.

Jeremy sighed as they sat in the passengers seat of Micheal's PT cruiser. It was so much nicer than the freezing building that was the school. It was the reason they wore their warm, blue cardigan everyday, and Jeremy figured that was why Micheal wore his sweatshirt as well. Micheal started the engine. "Where do you want to go to eat? I have a bunch of money from doing chores this week." Jeremy shrugged.

"Anywhere but here." Micheal's eyes flickered over to them as he drove. He had seen that look on his friends face before. Only a few times, but enough to know something was wrong with his best friend.

"You okay?" Jeremy shifted so they could look out the window without straining their neck, and rested their head on their hand.

"Fine. Just a lot on my mind I guess." Micheal's eyes moved back and forth between Jeremy and the road.

"Wanna talk about it?" Jeremy did. They really, really did. They opened their mouth to talk but nothing came out. They just couldn't find the words to explain everything they've been feeling. Micheal pulled into a Mcdonalds parking lot and stopped the car. "That's okay, if you don't feel like telling me now, you don't have to." But Jeremy wanted to tell him now. Their shoulders slumped. This was tougher than they thought it would be. Micheal smiled softly. "But when you do, don't be afraid to talk to me alright? I'm here for you, player two." Jeremy smiled at the nickname as Micheal got out of the car. Jeremy followed suit, throwing an arm around their friend as the two walked across the parking lot.

The meal was almost awkward with Jeremy's thoughts roaring inside their head, keeping them from talking all that much. Luckily, Micheal did most of the talking for them. "Did you see they're rebooting apocalypse of the dammed? The new graphics look sick!" Jeremy took a bite of their double pounder cheese burger as he talked. "They even added new playable characters!" He ate a chicken nugget before continuing. "Its gonna be awesome!" They smiled, they just loved seeing him so excited, but the game wouldn't come out for at least another three months.