Chapter Text
[September]
It was a cold day for early September, a crisp breeze accompanying Branzy on his short walk to school. Students filed excitedly through the front gates with him, all bundled up in sweaters and hoodies.
Branzy, sporting a purple t-shirt, hadn't gotten the memo that today would be this brisk. His mom probably commented on the weather as he was leaving the house, but the teen was so focused on getting out and to school that he must have missed it.
Shivering, he spotted his friends across the front lawn of LS High School. They'd reclaimed the same spot they always had lunch at the year prior; two plastic lunch tables pushed together, shaded by an old oak tree that hung over the chain-link fences that surrounded the school.
"Branzy!" In an instant he was tackled from behind, he and his attacker falling to the dewy morning grass. "It's been ages!"
Laughing on the ground beside him was one of his best friends, Rek. Branzy happily laughed with him.
Rek was exaggerating, it had not been ages. They had seen each other just a couple of days prior at the arcade, actually. But after Rek helped Branzy up they still hugged like it had been years.
"Dude, we're juniors now, how does that feel?" Rek exclaimed as they made their way over to the bigger group. "We're the big kids now, all these other younger guys gotta respect us!"
Branzy grinned, "Right? Like, imagine what I can get away with now!"
"Only people you have to worry about now are the seniors!"
"And the teachers," Branzy pointed out.
Rek laughed, "When have you ever worried about them before?"
"Morning guys!"
Branzy and Rek were greeted by a few of their friends, namely Chief, who was waving at them brightly. He sat at the table with Spoke, Parrot, and Zam, while Ash and Red were already up and arguing about something or another.
Parrot rolled his eyes at their antics. "Crazy how they have energy for that this early in the morning. First day of school too, like, already?"
Spoke watched the two with amusement. "C'mon, they always have energy for arguing. And for eachother."
"Wish they'd let me in on some of that energy." Parrot sighed, "Summer got me used to sleeping in, I'm exhausted. Not excited to start the grind this week."
"I am," Branzy said with a grin, "The first week of school is always the best."
"Parrot's talking about the schoolwork grind, Branzy." Chief chuckled, "Not the making-everyone-else's-life-suck grind."
The group laughed, and Branzy's chest swelled with
happiness.
"I'm excited to see how much I can get away with this week before I land my first detention. Took me three days last year."
"And we're positive you can beat that this year." Branzy felt hands on his shoulders as a figure leaned over him. He looked up and saw another friend of theirs, Clown, smiling lazily down at him. "Just don't whine too much when you actually have to go to the detention you get."
Branzy scoffed indignantly as Clown took a seat next to him. "I know exactly what I get myself into, thank you very much."
Clown hid his smile with a hand, propping his head up with his arm. He hummed, "Mmhm."
Branzy froze looking over at him. A dopey smile was a rare sight on Clown, and his hiding it so bashfully was crazily out of character. The shorter teen was unnerved, not only because of how weird his friend was acting, but also because that strange energy seemed to be completely directed toward him. Something was off.
It hit Branzy that Clown had never looked at him like this before.
But before he could do anything, Clown looked away and got himself involved in whatever was going on between Red and Ash, egging them on.
Branzy's cheeks were flushed pink. It was a cold morning.
"So," Zam interrupted Branzy's thoughts, "You guys wanna make a new server this year?"
And thus, the moment was swiftly forgotten as the boys chatted until the first bell rang.
♤
"Hey, dude, did something happen between you and Clown?" Parrot asked out of the blue, as he and Branzy walked to their first-period class together, Math.
Branzy furrowed his brow. "No? It's the same it's always been. Why?"
Parrot shrugged, his expression unreadable. "No reason, really. He just seemed weird around you this morning. Maybe it was just me."
"Probably. I bet it's just first-day nerves." Branzy supplied, "This is technically his first day here, since he only enrolled in the second semester last year."
"...yeah, probably."
♤