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Loud roars of thunder clashed outside of your bedroom. Every strike was a chord being plucked. You used to be scared of being alone while there was a thunderstorm outside but now you were numb to the feeling. Nobody was there to comfort you. By now you would be crying, hiding your face in your arms, trembling, but you were now in your teens. You’ve grown up without any parental figure to care for your wellbeing. Losing all hope for comfort from anyone. Too busy with coming up with an escape plan. Away from this shitfest of a mansion. Underneath all the wealth was a dysfunctional family. You assumed every family setting is like this and you weren’t the unlucky few to have this happen upon them. Instead you got a family full of assholes who couldn’t care less if you vanished one night. They might even forget you ever existed. Constantly reminded by your sister that you weren’t the favorite child in the family. You stopped caring after a while. You made a makeshift rope made out of fabric tied off in knots to add security. You weren’t about to find out what happens when you fall out of a two story building, save that for another day. You just wanted to get out of there with no problems. Alone with your thoughts and a pack of cigarettes along with a lighter as your companions. Too bad it was raining but you waited long enough for it to be ending soon. You were about to land when you lost strength in your arms and slipped onto your face into the mud. You were a mud boy now. Better get used to it because it only gets worse. This is just the beginning.
In the present you found two life long friends. Friendships don’t always last and you did have a rocky first encounter with the two but somehow being the most problem solving one of the bunch you found a way to stick around longer until it turned into months which changed into years. At least you had some sort of luck following you. You met some people along the way, all of them being loud and annoying one way or another. You despised a lot of people but never made it out of your way to pick any fights. Alcohol prevents you from performing any drastic movements and instead makes you vomit all your stomach acid. The two best friends you have are not excluded from this treatment. You have a frenemy relationship with Vinnie and Skipp— well he’s just tiresome to be around for the prolonged duration you were with him. The only person you didn’t have a lot of problems with was a hobo in the graveyard district. Usually you steered past those kids whenever you got the chance. Last time you disturbed their territory was when Vinnie had this plan to dig up graves for any valuable treasure. It just so happened you were tasked with guard duty, making sure no officer caught you guys in the criminal act. Instead, you found a rat. Alarmed you let out a squeal, instantaneously bringing your hands to block the sound from your mouth. Yeah you had a fear of rats. Their black beady eyes looking into your soul, whiskers displayed on either side of the face, and their long bare tail scare the absolute shit out of you. The thought of a hobo being terrified of rats would baffle people. No, this person was different. So contrast compared to everyone you’ve encountered in this runned down hickory town. When she speaks it’s often short and cut to the chase. Skipp is the complete opposite of that. He rambles his mouth off until he finds himself deep within a forest. You liked that about her. Idle conversation isn’t necessary and only makes you more anxious when trying to have a one on one. Which you tend to avoid at any given point. You never made the effort of trying to befriend her because well the thought of it was out of the question when your friends obviously made a bad first impression with the grave kids. You assumed she already had distaste for you. The way you think is most likely the reason why you don’t have many friends, why you think one day your current friends will leave you, abandon you for your grouchy behavior. You will be alone again. Nothing will become of you but thoughts clouding your brain. Catching yourself stuck in your head you took a swing of the beverage in your clenched hand. Chugging it down like it was your life source but it was the complete opposite. You dug yourself into a deeper hole everyday of your own regret. Vinnie eyed you but went against bringing it up. She would make a tease out of this on other occasions but she knew what kind of day you were having. I mean you had a couple of sobbing scenarios that you tried to hide from them but gave up when one of the two brought it up. Skipp tried to help by playing a comforting tune to cheer you up, followed by soft singing, you always passed out before you could hear the song. You made sure to keep a very private profile of your background. All you’ve ever said to them correlating to your past was that you ran away from home, end of story. Skipp and Vinnie respected your wishes because they knew they couldn’t get anything out of you. You don’t even mumble anything in your sleep because you always knock out before anyone else. You wanted to run away from your problems and you did exactly that. Away from the alleyway you reside in. Clearing your head with the gust of cold air blowing into your ravenette blue hair. You found yourself sitting in the graveyard against the bark of a withered tree. If this place wasn’t claimed you would stay here longer. Lighting a cig then inhaling the tobacco then puffing a string of smoke into the air. You stared off into the sky with the moon lighting up the sky. This is nice. It’s quiet . . . A little too quiet. You waited for any disaster to pop up because that was always the case. One moment you will be relaxed, the next it’s ruined by someone. You were about to give in to the serene environment but was interrupted by a branch crackle. That’s when you looked up and caught an upside down bat that was the size of a teen– oh wait nevermind it was Nim hanging on a tree branch. You thought for a moment a bat that could be around your size would eat you whole. You’ve seen sirens and Satan himself before you challenged him at a violin competition and sent him back to his domain. That begs the question which side of the coin will you end up with but that’s for another day. You glared at her in response to her sudden appearance, “What are you staring at?” How long has she been creeping behind you? “Just marveling at the sheer monotony of it all.”, with a deadpan expression across her facial features. Wow, you were not expecting a response at all and certainly not of this tone. It came off as something you would say to someone faced with the same question. This was off putting in more ways than one. Firstly, you’ve never had someone that was like you. I mean, you were the definition of a moody teenager and now you were outmatched. Don’t get it wrong it was a refresher from everyone whom you met but it shocked you. “Oh, don’t worry, I find your existence to be the epitome of monotony. It’s a wonder how you manage to be so consistently uninteresting.” You were caught off guard when the hooded person left a small chuckle. Was she laughing at you? “I feel like we could keep arguing with one another and still be tied at who won the argument.” She hummed in thought. She was right with that theory. It still begs the question why she responded with contradictory compared to everyone else you’ve spoken to with retort. “You gonna get down from there or continue to watch me?” “You gonna catch me?” “No.” They shrugged. Swinging back and forth and landing with ease. “We’re not that different from each other.” You were taken back, “What’s that supposed to mean?” She stared off into the stars, “We’re both looking at the stygian sky, aren’t we?” How could you not see her when you first arrived? Then again you didn’t expect someone at midnight to be on a tree. She does blend in with the darkness with her black hood but otherwise her face was white in contrast. Her eyes sparkled like rubies. Then you realized you were starting to gravitate towards them. Why only now did you realize how much alike you both are? The possibility of finding someone like you was slim but here you are sitting with someone who you could talk to. It was unsettling. To think a person who matched your personality would be in a graveyard. You wondered what other things you had in common. You started to make more visits to the graveyard after that night. Vinnie and Skipp followed behind in pursuit of what you were doing. Realizing that you made a new friend– wait what? Was that.. Nim. “Are they-.” Vinnie was cut off by Skipp. “Oh, they totally are! They’re getting along.” He beamed with glee. It was clear as day that Stone somehow managed to find companionship with someone. Thinking back on it. . It did make sense. I mean with the whole goth and emo theme it was only natural, right? What was even more mind blowing was the fact the two of you were having a great time. Vinnie and Skipp were jealous but it wasn’t everyday Stone could have his moments without the two ruining it altogether. They only bothered Stone when they had to pickpocket and seize stolen goods.
Everything was going good for you, You weren’t all buddy with Nim most of your conversations consisted of sarcastic replies but you wouldn’t have it any other way. You wanted things to stay like this. You liked listening to Nim’s poetry. To others it may come off as corny but Nim put in effort into her words. You could appreciate that aspect of them. You learned more about Nim and she learned more from you. You shared your space and flight knowledge with him. Both of you took turns listening to the other. You did have some moments when you couldn’t figure out your own gender. Often conflicted with the premise of partially feeling like a boy and other times nothing at all. If that made sense. None of the adults would make sense of that. You’ve given up on the idea of telling anyone your identity because you assumed you were the one at fault. While you were friends with Nim you were still on bad terms with the other graveyard hobos. It didn’t bother you and Nim didn’t care. Vinnie spoke while munching her can of beans she grabbed from the canned bean pile, “I bet you those lovebirds are going to have no idea the other likes one another.” Nodding in response, “Oh, definitely. I could help the two–.” Vinnie caught him in his tracks by lifting a finger to his mouth, “Let’s just wait and see how long it takes for them to realize it.” Skipp replied, “Your finger smells like beans.” Vinnie grins, “Thanks, let’s ditch these punks. It’s getting chummy.” The next thing you know you find yourself drowned in bottles of liquor. “What happened?” you said with disdain. “Dude, you drank 10 times the amount of alcohol you normally drink.” Vinnie answers with a neutral voice, pointing at the obvious mass of liquor bottles on the murky stone flooring. If you could, you would’ve sworn you heard worry in Vinnie’s voice maybe it was the alcohol influences. Oh no, oh no . . no no no. It couldn’t be but what else would it be? You were in love. Could you even call it that? You weren’t even sure of yourself with the idea of what being in a romantic relationship would entail. You’ve never had teenage love and thankfully you didn’t have to experience it. Now that you were almost a young adult you wouldn’t have to. You’ve heard countless times from Skipp’s songs to lectures of him trying to introduce the idea to you but this felt different, far from it. What is this feeling? Well whatever it is you decided to shut it all down by drinking more bottles that you somehow stored in the pockets of your trench coat. “I’m fine.” You were not. You stood up, fighting for balance. “Okay, I can’t sit idly by anymore. Stone, you need to admit your feelings to Nim.” Feelings? What feelings– psh. “Good try there, Skipp. You of all people know that I’m incapable of having the ability of affection.” You wobbled at every word. “Well that may be the case but you’re not fooling anyone when you obviously have some fondness towards them. It doesn’t have to be romantic.” You scoffed, “She doesn’t even like me in that way. You know what, I'm not in the mood to fight about it right now. Get off my case.” You can’t listen to him any longer. You stagger your way out of the alleyway. Throwing up puke in a nearby trash can. Shit, as if life couldn’t get any more insufferable. You were sitting alone on a rough texture. You were about to drift away when you caught a shadow figure confronting you. This could mean many things, most of them being bad. One, it could be a gang member, two Franzwick, or three another one of Nadia’s myriad pages of written fanfics. All of which you wanted to avoid. It turns out all of your assumptions were wrong. “You look like shit.” Nim was standing in front of you holding her out towards you in a worried gesture. She wasn’t wrong, you felt like shit too. You were about to accept her invitation but you found your hand sweating from anxiousness. You froze in your movement. Thoughts racing. You fought to make a conclusion. One thing is clear you were definitely in love but not the type of love people expect. You were forced back into reality when she made no waste of time to lift you up from the dirt. You are extremely malnourished, it wasn't difficult for someone to steal you. “Let’s ditch this town.” Nim held your hand, leading you to the exit. You would follow her to the end. “Your friends told me everything. How you weren’t feeling well.” You heard a hint of her words being shaken. Relieved to hear your friends didn’t rat you out. You needed to smoke a puff after this was all over. “Yeah, well I’m fine.” Admittedly that did not sound convincing. You’re pretty sure you slurred some words in your sentence. “Okay, then you won’t care if I left you here?” Nim said, leaving the premise. You were waiting for her to turn around but she never did. “Wait!” You tried chasing after her but you knew you would lose balance and trip on your footing. She turned around to face you. Your hand over hers. “I need to tell you something but I don’t think I’m ready to say it to you.” You hid your face in the rim of your turtle neck. Needing more time to know what you want before confessing how you feel towards the individual. You hated having someone see this side of you. “I’ll wait.” She held onto your hold with added pressure. Your hand felt warm but your face was even more warmer. You were the first to withdraw from the hand holding. Making an excuse to leave, you left the premise. You didn’t want anyone else to catch you and Nim conversing not after what you said. Baffled from the whole interaction. You couldn’t believe you did that, it was completely out of your nature. You didn’t know how long it would take for you to express your feelings. If you had gone along with the idea of being in a relationship it would not work out with you being in the worst best mental capacity. All that mattered was she was willing to wait for you and that was plenty.