Notes

Royce was still having a bad feeling about Elvy. He didn't feel as if Elvy was doing anything wrong, he guessed Elvy had gotten a bad impression of him. He was fine with his behavior, really. He did feel the slight urge to apologize for making him uncomfortable with whatever was going on. Maybe he was feeling jealous and as if he were to steal Brendon away from him. He didn't recall seeing Elvy nod when he asked if he could sit with the guys. How embarrassing. He should have taken more notice to Elvy.

The school bell rang a long hour after, forcing Royce to break out from his thoughts and start packing his bag. He was usually slow with packing because he needed to be truly conscious to actually bring the right books with him. As students rushed out of the classroom and he was left alone in the small space, his teacher unexpectedly piped up

''Hey, Royce, how have you been lately?'' Richard asked with a slight worry in his voice. Royce was close to every single teacher he had, but Richard had a special spot in his life. Moments Royce broke down, he went to Richard and complained his heart out. He knew everything about the situation and wasn't afraid to trash talk Hayes with him. He was the kind of teacher who'd make Royce cry laugh. He'd sigh and play irritated because of Royce's snot everywhere. He'd take the opportunities to refer to his subject and somehow connect the situation. For instance, he'd joke about Hayes not being able to make Turkish meatballs. Royce viewed Richard as the grandpa he never got. The moment Royce realized he had been silent for too long, he looked at Richard reassuringly and smiled weakly.

''I guess the pain is inside of me now, it doesn't want to come out of my fists as much. I think I'm slowly numbing down. you know.. Then, when I hear his name.. I burn up and my heart just stops, and hammers quickly.'' Royce attempted to explain, sighing heavily as he began thinking of what he experienced every night.

''Oh come on, get over the guy. Onto the next one now'' Richard said, sounding dismissive, but Royce knew he meant it well.

''Isn't easy.'' Royce simply replied, quieter than last time. It was just then memories flooded back. The bench, necklace, hugs, but before Royce could process the sorrow clearly, Richard's truth stung through his soul.

''Look at him, he doesn't give a shit. He's happy without you, he has never thought about you since the breakup. You helped the guy, yet look at you.. you're a deflated balloon over a guy who literally doesn't care.'' Richard said, in a cold tone. It wasn't meant cold, but it was true. Sometimes he hated how his teacher was right. Not only in his classes but his advice was even truer.

''I have a bus to catch, but god damn it Royce. You need to get over the douche.'' The teacher concluded and gave him a short sympathetic look. He wasn't the first one to say what he said. It wasn't as if he said anything new. Royce felt numb, unable to process the pain of everything. It stung so badly.
-
When Royce reached home, he couldn't help but think back to what Richard hat talked about. He decided to go to the nearest couch and lay there. Despite him being muscular, his energy level was so low. All he wanted was to sleep. All he needed was to forget the existence of his ex-boyfriend. Before he could close his eyes and wish to sleep forever, his phone buzz rapidly in response to the wifi connecting automatically. Somebody was calling him on social media. Royce's extrovert-self was willing to respond, so he did. Turned out to be one of his friends.

''Royce'' his 'friend', Mitchell cheered on the other side.

''Buddy, you know how graduation is close by. Tests are ticking in and shit, right? Good time to fix up a party. You're in, right?'' Mitchell explained excitedly, Royce absentmindedly nodded like he was used to. He didn't really feel like a party guy, nor was he really. He just didn't want to say no to anybody. Mitchell babbled away about how this was going to be a huge party, in which teens from other schools were going to join in. Teens from other cities, even.

Royce didn't need his parents' approval. They were close, his father being the jocky type of dad. His mother was the protective, but empathetic kind of mom. Royce felt bad for not checking up on them often. He was too caught up on his stupid teen drama. His parents knew he was into guys and didn't mind. Yet, Royce chose to drift apart from them. He felt guilt. Extreme guilt, just by thinking about it.

''Hello'' Mitchell's voice cut through and almost made Royce jump. Guess he was occupied in his thoughts, like always. Another thing that had worsened over his month. His ability to focus.

''Sounds great, buddy. See you there'' Royce ended the conversation short and tossed the phone on the carpet next to the couch. Then, he took a well-deserved 'nap'. Ended up lasting too many hours.
-----------------------
On the other side, Brendon had to deal with a hyped Elvy. All he wished for was a peaceful road home, but instead, Elvy was glued to a bench nearby. Now Brendon was forced to sit down for god knows how long. He had just gotten a call from a guy named Mitchell about a huge ass party. Now, Elvy could only think about pussies and dicks. He had a stupid list of people he wanted to do. The worst part was that no one rejected him. He was tan, intensely blue-eyed, brown-haired, chiseled beard, nice smiley type of guy. Thick eyebrows, and attractive traits all over. As annoying at it was, it made people back off of Brendon. People didn't mess with Brendon because of Elvy. Although, people questioned how a guy like Elvy was best friends with a guy like him.

''Elise, Hunter, Katie, Oliver, Lauren, Jack, Kate, Paul'' Elvy listed, confusing Brendon a bit. Hunter wasn't even that attractive, and Paul was just a weed dealer. Brendon voiced his opinions out loud, to which Elvy dismissively scoffed. Not that he had anything better to reply.

''Best of both worlds, or what?'' Brendon joked in a monotone tone, still managing to sound a tiny bit amused. He glanced at the cars passing in front of him. The speed of the cars made the wind blow onto his face. Brendon tended to be distracted by the environment quite a lot. He enjoyed listening to music and thinking about nothing and everything.

''I don't label myself as anything. I'm just Elvy Miller'' Elvy shrugged but understood what Brendon meant. He nodded slightly, still a bit distracted by the view in front of him. Until he actually came up with a good response.

''I'd label you as a stupid cunt'' Brendon chuckled and laughed a tiny bit. He turned to Elvy to see his reaction. Poor guy was trying to be serious about sexuality and here he was, ruining his much-needed moment.

''Fuck you, too. Aside from the jokes, will you join me at the party?'' Elvy asked, trying to sound dramatically pleading. Brendon's instant reaction was to cringe and shake his head rapidly. The parties were full of people he hated. Useless shit happened at parties. He preferred being in places like these. Places with a view where he could study the colors molding into one another. The shades of blue, lilac and yellow melting into each other above their heads. Sharp reds, blacks, and blues of the vehicles that passed them. Before Brendon got the chance to acknowledge the colors in front of him, Elvy shoved him a tiny bit to get his attention.

''Fuck'' Brendon jumped, clearly irritated. ''No, I won't be at the stupid ass party.'' Brendon deadpanned, his brows furrowed in annoyance. He was not going to let Elvy force him to yet another party. All he ended up doing was cleaning up after Elvy's mess, having to take a drunk Miller home, and apologizing to people for Elvy's behavior. It was annoying, loud, and warm in the locations the parties were at. Don't get him started on scary shit that could happen to him while the drunk asses danced and yelled out non-sense.

''Mitchell sent me the list of people who are coming so far. Care to see?'' Elvy sounded intrigued, having his eyes glued on the list. Elvy scrolled to a certain point, to show his best friend this one particular person was going to be there.

''Royce Allen'' Brendon read out loud. Oh, Brendon forgot that Royce was one of the partying drunk asses too. That made him like Royce less. He began to question whether Elvy was right about him. A fuckboy whose intentions were nothing else but take you from behind and ditch you right after. Not aware of how irritated he was looking, Elvy laughed at his reaction

''I've partied with Royce so many times. He doesn't drink. He hasn't taken a half shot. Not even a quarter of a shot. He hasn't ingested one drop of alcohol before. Trust me. He's a lamb'' Elvy informed him, rolling his eyes at the thought of Royce. Elvy just didn't like him. He knew he said Royce was like a fuckboy, but in reality... Elvy knew Royce was nothing else but a blind puppy in a hot bulldog's body and behind a greek god's face. It bothered Elvy how many guys and girls were thirsty for a guy like him. A guy who didn't even want the thirst. Even if Elvy looked way more masculine than him, Royce's body was starting to almost look better than Elvy's. It was like a silent competition between them. While Elvy continued to think about the guy and the party, Brendon was quite shocked. The guy didn't drink? He could tell Royce was a health freak, but he could have been a party guy simultaneously.

''I'll think about it, Elvy. Only because there's going to be a few sober people there. Fuck you just stay quiet'' Brendon sighed and groaned the moment he saw Elvy's cheeky grin. He hated the stupid son of a bitch sometimes. The sound of nearby cars and buses calmed him. The sky was mesmerizing to look at, the cloud-free sky's ombre gradually changing. Colors overlapping and vanishing after an amount of time. Elvy stayed quiet to his luck. Only if he knew what Elvy was thinking about,

When Brendon came to the previous parties, it was only when Elvy called him because he needed to be driven home. Elvy knew Brendon knew there were a few sober people at every party. Why did Royce suddenly make him 'think about it'? Looked like Brendon was slowly getting a new friend. Something Elvy never thought was possible.