Work Text:
Dave is still sore as he stirs to the sound of his phone chiming with a notification. Not suprising; he's pretty sure that sleeping in the back of his car would make him stiff in the best of times, and this is so fucking far from the best of times.
He groans and sits up, squinting at the sunlight streaming in through the car window. Alright. Morning. He made it through the night. One step at a time.
He pulls out his phone, and his stomach lurches upon seeing Jade's name. There's something about being exposed to something too good and pure when he's just gone through the worst night of his goddamn life that makes him want to cringe away, like some sort of wretched nocturnal creature being exposed to sunlight.
But he makes himself open the message and answer it. She'll worry if he doesn't, and fuck, he really doesn't want her to worry.
good morning dave! :)
i love you! <3 how are you?
chill as ever
you know how it is being the coolest guy in the whole damn city of houston
people walk by me and whisper about how theyre never gonna live up to my levels of effortless swag
lol!
also love you too
whats up with you
As Dave waits for a response, he makes a quick assessment of himself and what's in the car. He'd had to make a pretty mad dash from the apartment yesterday; he has some clothes hastily packed in a suitcase in the back, but there are some graphic tees that he's simply resigned to never seeing again. He still has all the usual shit in his car, including his emergency snacks. He grabs a pack of car Fritos and starts to chow down; it's as good a breakfast as any.
He still has his wallet with all of the money he'd saved in it, thank fuck. That had been the thing that had set Bro off last night. He'd caught a glance of the cash in Dave's wallet, asked what Dave needed with that kind of money, and... the rest is a blur. Doesn't matter.
He flexes his arms and legs and tests his range of motion as best he can in the backseat. It doesn't feel like anything is broken there. Same goes for his ribs; he knows what a broken rib feels like, and this is minor by comparison. His face is a wreck when he looks at it in the mirror, though. Maybe he can ask his boss to let him run inventory or something so he doesn't scare off the customers. Wouldn't be the first time.
Dave pops another Frito into his mouth and looks back to his phone.
nothing much!
im just getting ready for school :)
i have a test in english today :P but i took really good notes on frankenstein so i think it will be easy!
are you guys reading frankenstein this year? i think youd like it!
yeah i think so
but not til the spring
idk ill probably just spark notes it
nooo! this one is really good i promise!
what are you guys working on now though? :o
Shit. Dave doesn't know. He dropped out like two weeks ago, and he hadn't exactly been on top of the required reading list before then. What's a high school book? Shakespeare? He's pretty sure they read Shakespeare.
were reading romeo and juliet
we read that one last year!
i liked it a lot :)
does your teacher have you read the parts out during class? i bet youd be really good at it!
Ugh. Dave doesn't know. He's already forgotten the name of his English teacher from this year. Something Irish, he thinks. Well, it's not like Jade will ever know. She lives in Washington, so there's no way that she'll figure out what pedagogical practices her Texan boyfriend's would-be English teacher uses.
nah hes too boring for that
we just do assigned readings
oh thats too bad ):
wait youre in class right now right? put your phone away!
no its chill my geometry teachers out for the day
sub doesnt care what we get up to
geometry? i thought you had that third block. isnt it time for second right now?
Shit.
Dave knows, realistically, that he can't keep this ruse up forever. Jade is going to put things together and realize he's not going to school. Hell, if he doesn't figure out his shit soon, she'll realize he's not going to school and that he's living out of his car. She'll probably dump him then. Jade is probably set to be valedictorian at her high school, and there's no way she's going to want to stay with some schmuck like him.
It's inevitable, but Dave wants to keep this going as long as he can. So he keeps lying.
oh yeah they had to move my schedule around a bit
nbd its like a thing with my elective or whatever
oh! ok
you should send me your new schedule when you have time then :)
yeah ill get on that
He won't. He's going to hope beyond hope that she forgets to ask.
anways the subs looking over here so i think i gotta scram
kick ass at school today blow the socks off of the teachers and all
you know your usual shit
i got work late after school today but we can talk tonight sometime
ok!
i love you <3
love you too
With that, Dave turns off his phone and stares up at the roof of his car, watching the way the sunlight plays off of it with the shadow of a tree behind it.
This is fine. Everything's fine. It's a new day. Jade still loves him, he still has his car, and he's got enough food stashed away to last him a couple of weeks if need be. If he plays his cards right, he may never have to see Bro again.
Things have to be looking up.