Chapter Text
“Coz. Coooz… Colin Charles Greenwood!”
Jonny poked and prodded at his dead asleep older brother. This lazy git. Jonny would not be missing his first day back in school, as much as he had his mixed feelings about it. A few more impatient shoves finally earned Jonny an annoyed groan. More like an awakening from the depths of who knows where, he thought.
“Jesus Jon what time is it” Moaned Colin, still trying to open his eyes and squinting at his baby brother as if he were the sun or brightest light in the world.
“Uhhh.. Go time? please come on you said you’d drive me at least the first day.”
Last year, and every year before, Jonny has had to slowly take as much as he could of his belongings to go in his dorm over the course of the first week back, on the packed bus too, and now Colin’s got his license there is no way he wasn’t going to make him his personal chauffeur.
“Alright then, get your shit together”
Colin sighed as he rolled out of bed. Jonny nodded but he had been ready since 5 in the morning.
A few minutes later Colin stumbled down the stairs with about 700 pounds of luggage for his own dorm.
“Uhh hey Jonny so I forgot my car wasn’t exactly insured quite yet but I’ve just rung a friend to come pick us up.” That made Jonny slightly nervous, he wasn’t exactly a social butterfly. Obviously Colin caught the look on his face (that Jonny didn’t even know he was pulling), and reassured him that he was a good mate and that they were sharing a dorm this year.
Colin and Jonny were left waiting outside in the cold when a beat up truck-ish car sped in the driveway along with a lovely blasting of some form of heavy, but very generic British sounding music, Jonny was trying to decipher the band when it was turned off and a short, skinny, but very handsome boy with blonde hair and an odd looking left eye stepped out.
He immediately went up to Colin and roughly slapped him on the back a couple times as some form of ‘hug’ but Colin did the same so it must be normal, Jonny thought. The thought also crossed his mind that they must be pretty good friends, it was interrupted when the guy looked right at him.
“Hey you’re the little brother Coz has been rambling about”
he spoke as he stuck out his right hand, Jonny took it nervously with a sheepish smile, immediately taking note of his small, calloused fingers. Maybe he plays an instrument? He looks like he would play an instrument. Yeah, I think it’s the hair. Well now he’s looking at me strange and I don’t know what I did. Why does awkwardness follow me like… Well now I have to think of an appropriate analogy. Like a fart in a crowded space? Oh good one Jonathan. Ok, now he’s looking at me like I’m such a boring drag to the point I’m holding him hostage by being here or something. Oh, maybe it’s because I am holding him hostage.
He looks down at his hand that has been grasping onto Thoms, in an accidental tight grip, for the last 3 or so minutes. This would be a good time to die, Jonny declares in his mind.
Thom, however, doesn’t seem to mind, although he goes a bit red. He’s not as indifferent as he thinks.
Thom turns away from Jonny and begins throwing his and Collins bags in the boot.
Thoms driving was horrid. Downright horrific. He’s all go with very minimal, un-warned stopping. A mixture of obnoxiously loud music and glass bottles clanking in the back. Does this guy have a license? I’d rather the uninsured car, or the bus, I miss the bus.. Jonny thought. He, in the back, with god knows what, was trying not to throw up. Colin looked used to it, somehow. And Thom, Thom just doesn’t care.
Is that a badminton racket?
…
“Thanks for the ride mate, see you around.”
Colin politely waved the spunky blonde guy before asking his brother if he knew where to go from here, in which he nodded.
Jonny dropped his stuff with a loud plonk, he’d unpack, one day. He check ed his timetable and trod off to his first class, wood tech, where he sees his friend Andy.
At lunch he finds Andy and sits opposite him. Andy looks behind Jonny and shoots an annoyed look back at the table behind them, where Jonny peers behind him and finds Thom.
“Bloody siblings”
“I didn’t know he was your brother”
“It’s not a pleasant experience, trust me.”
Jonny understands what it’s like to have an irritating brother, But Colins more protective of Jonny, he wonders what it would be like to have a guy like Thom as a brother. Scary.
Thom is laughing at a joke another older boy looks to have said, there are 4 or 5 of them at that table, all just as intimidating as the last, Jonny thinks. That just about sums Jonny up, everything is intimidating, and he is a weak, skinny boy. However, he so badly wants to be friends with the older boys. He wants to be just like them.
“Hello, Jonny? Who r’you look’n at”
Jonny swivels around in an instant. “Nthngh”
“What?”
“Nohtngh..”
“Jonny, your mumbling”
Jonny just starts back on his rock hard pizza.
…
Colin said his dorm was the very end…of the third floor…Of the far right building…
Theveryendofthethirdfloorofthefarrightbuilding Theveryendofthethirdfloorofthefarrightbuilding Theveryendofthethirdfloorofthefarrightbuilding
This should be it.
He knocks, expecting his brother, but a ray of blonde and blue opens instead.
“Ah! Jonny wasn’t it? Cmon in”
Colin jumps off the top bunk
“My dearest baby brother! Thom here ended up as my roommate believe it or not”
Jonny goes a bit pink at being babied, even as a joke, in front of the older boy.
“Yeah, well I think I’m with Andy this year too.”
He picks at small scabs on his knuckles
“Hah, good luck with that one mate” Thom mutters out loud
Jonny looks up and smiles at that. Colin asks if he and Andy want to join their group for dinner down in the hall.
Jonny is thrown out of the water when he sits next to Thom and Colins friends, all of them being around 3 school years his senior. In fact, he thinks the guy named Phil is 5 years ahead. And then there’s Ed, who Jonnys seen around before, he seems nice. Andy stands up and says he’s going to unpack a bit. Jonny thinks of following him but, he wants to stay with the older boys for a bit. He quietly eats his potatoes for a while, listening to them bicker, before ed asks a question, throwing him slightly off guard.
“So Jonny, do you have any interests? Hobbies?”
He thought for a moment but slowly started to wonder if they would think his interests were just plain lame, he was about to reply ‘not really’ when Colin interrupts.
“He’s actually pretty sick with the harmonica”
Everyone smiles at Jonny
“That’s awesome, has Colin told you about our band?” Thom says enthusiastically
Jonny gets excited, too excited, but keeps his usual calm, nervous expression. It’s not like they would ever want him in their band. But imagine if he did get in. Thoms obviously the leader, would he ever let him in? No, get over yourself you play the harmonica for gods sake, and not even that well, for that matter.
“Yeah I think so.” “I also play the keyboards a bit” He says bravely, even though he doesn’t actually really, Colin doesn’t know that and even if he did he wouldn’t out him right?
Thom continues smiling and raises an eyebrow at his friends
“You should come to our practice, our bands called the headless chickens.”
The headless chickens, who came up with that?
Jonny’s just happy to be invited, wait, he’s invited, what.
Oh come on Jonathan stay level-headed, you’re only watching. But maybe this could be my ticket, he thinks (just to give himself a clip around the ear for his stupid hope a minute later)
“Name of the band wasn’t my idea by the way, Jonny.” Ed quips.