When they started eleventh grade, Justin dyed his hair purple and started to add more purple things into his everyday life. He had gotten to the point of accepting who he is and if someone else doesn’t like who he is, they aren’t worth his time. His hair was long and covered a little under half of his face and Raven started to pull her fluffy hair into two buns on the top of her head. They both looked a lot different than they used to and they felt different too. Things got heavy with them at some points and things escalated, but things were never awkward between them. They were still best friends and Raven even got Justin a aro bracelet when he turned seventeen.

A few weeks after his birthday Justin and Raven were invited to a party. Raven was in AP classes and had to study for the exams, but Justin decided to go. He had never been to a big party and wanted to know what the high school experience was like. Raven made him promise that he wouldn’t become a father and he was headed out. Within thirty minutes of being there he was welcomed into the friend group of some nineteen year olds named Micah, Anthony, David, and Nathan. They hung out and they offered him beer and weed. He accepted then they offered him whiskey and vodka. He accepted then they started mixing together random things and drinking them. Next thing Justin knew he had pills in his hand and that was all he remembered.

When he woke up all of the guys were sitting on the couch, passed out, and leaning on each other. He was laying on top of them and there was trash all over the floor. He woke up the guys, when he tried to move and they all got up fairly quickly. Justin felt kinda sick so they gave him medicine and seemed unphased by the night before. They went to parties often and told Justin they were watching him the whole night, so he didn’t do anything with any females. They exchanged phone numbers and drove Justin home. He ended up calling Raven and then passing out again while on the phone.

About a week later the guys made a group chat and had planned to take Justin to this wall they wanted to show him. He was confused but agreed anyway. He told Raven he was going out with friends from the party and had to classify that they were all males. Raven wanted to meet them, but couldn’t go out, so Justin went alone again. When they got to the location, everyone except David drank. He was the dad friend and was immediately the designated driver. Nathaniel was the stereotypical jock, but he was surprisingly smart. Micah was the friend everyone joked about the most, but he joked back with them. Kinda like the group clown. Then you had Anthony. He doesn’t understand much and frankly, he doesn’t care.

After they drank they smoked and David pulled a bunch of spray paint cans out of the back of his car. They started to spray paint the wall, but the only person who wanted to make art instead of straight up vandalism was Justin. He wasn’t doing the best since he was under the influence and new to this, but the other guys had it down to a T. They gave Justin eyedrops and took him home after about an hour and He got back inside, undetected.

They hung out a lot and they all liked Raven, but Raven didn’t like them. Justin never told her what he had done and she never needed to know. She hated the thought of drugs and drinking, due to her mother’s passing and she always told herself Justin didn’t do anything too bad at the party. He did a lot of things, but didn’t die. Then he did more things and didn’t die. Then he did more things and stole a bandana, with Micah. During summer Justin spent three nights in a row at David’s house, then went back to basically living with Raven. He hung out with the guys a lot that summer and Raven was kinda shoved into the background most of the time.

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When He started his last year of high school his life got more serious. He didn’t know what he wanted to do and wasn’t going to go to college just to waste money. He struggled to manage time with Raven, the guys, and his school work. He focussed on his grades and the guys more than Raven. He didn’t see that it was wrong and that their friendship was immensely unbalanced, until winter break.

Willow stopped eating and when his parents came home from the vet they gave him the worst news he had heard in a long time. Willow had cancer and the first person Justin called was Raven. She drove to his house instantly and was there everyday. They couldn’t get Willow treatment, due to a lack of money. Raven was there when they had to put Willow down, but where was Justin been when Willow was sad? He only saw her at school and she still was there for him right when he called.

The guys got put on the backburner for the first time in a year. They all were adults and understood his decision. They understood it more a week after though. Justin’s grandfather, Edward had a seizure and had passed away. Raven spent basically every night at their house. Justin didn’t feel safe with himself and he didn’t trust anyone else with his life. They practically lived with each other until the last two weeks of school.