The following day hit Dylan like a truck. Awoken by his blaring alarm, he was strewn across his bed with his legs on his pillows and his head just about to teeter off the side. He groaned, barely conscious, as he pulled himself up and rummaged around to find his screeching phone. He dug it out under his pillow and turned off the alarm, spilling off his bed haphazardly and off to the restroom to start his morning routine. He had no clue what time he went to sleep last night, but that didn't matter. He still needed to go to school. He decided to take the 7:23 bus instead of the 7:58 one, to try and get out of the house earlier and avoid Astra. He snuck out of the house quietly and down to the bus stop, tugging at his backpack straps since they felt too loose. Astra hadn't caught him sneaking out early, so he considered himself lucky.

While waiting, he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket rapidly. He knew who was pestering him, and after a minute of consistent buzzing, he finally decided to answer.

Sys. ~ New message!

radi0r0ade: MF

radi0r0ade: YOU

radi0r0ade: CANT

radi0r0ade: KEEP

radi0r0ade: IGNORING

radi0r0ade: ME

radi0r0ade: GRGHGHRGHGGRGRREUDKWBCKE

radi0r0ade: PLEEEEAAASEEEEEEEEEEEEE

radi0r0ade: I DONT WANT YOU TO DIE UHGERJGWKRJ

radi0r0ade: I DONT EVEN HAVE A SUIT TO WEAR TO YOUR FUNERAL

radi0r0ade: PLUS WHO WILL I SLOPPY MAKEOUT WITH???

radi0r0ade: MY LOVELY GF????

radi0r0ade: HELL NO.

radi0r0ade: I NEED MY EMO TWINK BOY BSF OK

Sys. ~ USER;[dyln..darko] online

dyln..darko: OMG

dyln..darko: WHTA THE FUCK S SO IMPORTANT

radi0r0ade: oh hi babe your alive ahaha good <3

dyln..darko: MF

radi0r0ade: are u cuming to school today

dyln..darko: YES

radi0r0ade: omgggg we should meet up

dyln..darko: no

radi0r0ade: i can finally meet all your many adoring friends and fans!

dyln..darko: oh yes

dyln..darko: all 1 of them

dyln..darko: aka just you

radi0r0ade: omg wait you actually have a friend

radi0r0ade: o

radi0r0ade: cmon bbgirl i wana see ur face xoxo

dyln..darko: its

dyln..darko: way to fuckin early

dyln..darko: for this gay shit

radi0r0ade: stop being homophobic

radi0r0ade: #ally

dyln..darko: just hang out with marina

radi0r0ade: wait can i buy ur time

radi0r0ade: ill do ur hw for u

dyln..darko: you fuck.

radi0r0ade: LMAOONJQNSDKJA

dyln..darko: furthest hallway to the gym

dyln..darko: like the one that doesnt connect to the locker rooms

dyln..darko: oh the first level too

dyln..darko: massive ass school like wtf

radi0r0ade: oh yeah cause the sight of buff sweaty men scares you

dyln..darko: fuck off im not that fucking gay dude

dyln..darko: smh

radi0r0ade: mfer we all know you are

radi0r0ade: bro lover

radi0r0ade: boy kisser

radi0r0ade: man macker

dyln..darko: goodbye.

radi0r0ade: HAJDHJAHSDJAHDJAHCJ

Sys. ~ USER;[dyln..darko] offline

The bus was empty since it was earlier in the morning, with maybe only three or four other people besides Dylan. Since he'd arrived at school extra early, and class didn't start till 8:30, he had some time to kill. He deliberated on what to do but decided to finish his homework in the computer lab. He completed his English homework and got a good start on his world history homework before he had to get to class. The first part of the day went by relatively quickly. His English and World History classes were uneventful, just some general lecture and project days.

After World History, he headed off to his hallway spot to meet with Reyes, who was already waiting in the hall when Dylan arrived. Reyes immediately perked up when he saw Dylan, pulling his friend into a bear hug. Reyes was a lot stronger than Dylan, his white tank top only assisting in showing off his biceps. His tan, melanated skin looked far more colorful than Dylan's pale, cool-toned skin. His hair was dark brown with blonde highlights that contrasted with his warm grey eyes, with a grown-out undercut and a fluffy left side part. His jaw and cheekbones were quite chiseled, and his nose had an excellent structure with a bump in the middle. Compared to Dylan, Reyes was one hell of a babe. It was so unfair. His face was even perfectly symmetrical. 

Dylan choked a bit as he was forced into his friend's iron embrace, "You fucking oaf put me down," he demanded, but Reyes pretended not to hear him. Reyes squealed happily, "Oh my goddddd my silly little guy!!! He's fuckin real brooo!!!," he giggled before finally releasing Dylan. Dylan immediately tried to push past Reyes to sit down, only to be yanked back by his wrist and suddenly dragged out of the hallway. Dylan stumbled as he was caught off guard, but managed to regain his composure as he struggled to awkwardly follow behind Reyes, "What– Dude, what the fuck are you doing?" he furrowed his brow, but Reyes just laughed menacingly and continued to drag Dylan along.

Dylan was too tired for these shenanigans, but Reyes cared not for his friend's silly 'opinions' and dragged him up the stairs and to the rooftop. The rooftop was decently packed during lunch since there was much to do up there. There were food vendors, telescopes, and obstacle courses for some elective classes, even more trees and plants for the gardening classes and clubs, and tables for kids to eat. As they approached one of the tables, Dylan squinted to try and see who was at the table. Figuring out who the occupants were made his heart drop, "Noo, no, no fucking way, Reyes, that's way too many fucking people. We're not doing this shit today," He panicked, tugging and punching at Reyes's arm, but Reyes just laughed.

There were five people at the table. One of them was Marina, who stood out because of her iconic style. She had long black hair with hot pink highlights and bangs, and her skin was a cooler dark tone, which contrasted nicely with her nearly golden-hazel eye color. She wore a black and pink cropped jacket and crop top, with some effeminately colorful spray-painted mom jeans and highly customized pink platform boots. She had some false lashes and lipstick on but not a full face of makeup. Her features were similar to Dylan's in that they were soft and rounded, but Dylan always thought she had better features than he did since her eyebrows had a better arch, her eyes were upturned, and her nose curved slightly upwards. 

To Dylan, Marina and Reyes were probably the prettiest couple he'd ever seen. He was utterly jealous of them, not because he was attracted to either of them, but because of how unrealistically perfect they were just as people and for each other. They'd been dating for two years, too, since freshman year. What freshman-year couple EVER stays together and actually flourishes? Dylan always swore it was 'some shit out of a fairytale.'

The other person Dylan recognized at the table was Markus because, of course, he was there with his polite posture and kind eyes. God. The nerve of this guy. He didn't even know that Marina and Markus were friends, though it wasn't like he ever cared to ask. As Reyes dragged the protesting Dylan to the table, he waved to the group and introduced Dylan to everyone. 

There was a dirty blonde girl, Minerva, who had a short wolf cut and messy micro bangs that she somehow managed to pull off. Her eyes were nearly black and upturned with monolids and mostly flat facial features. Her expression felt weirdly judging. She wore a black turtleneck crop top, oversized brown hooded jacket, dark grey sweatpants, and basic red Converse. Not exactly a fashion icon. 

Another girl, Noah, had thick dark brown hair and bangs with a side part. All her facial features were upturned and rounded. Her skin was slightly tanned, and her eyes were this distracting blue color that made her stare uncomfortably piercing. She had an alternative fashion sense, with a longsleeved fishnet undershirt and oversized Batman t-shirt on top of it. She wore jean shorts and black leg warmers over typical black combat boots. She also had a necklace with a Star of David pendant, which she fidgeted with while Reyes introduced.

The last mystery person was Lawrence, who had shorter blonde hair and a middle part. His eyes were a darker blue-ish grey color, and he didn't have many outstanding facial features besides his eyebrows, which were pretty thick and had a shape. He wore a blue sweater with a whale design, dark green baggy jeans, and a pair of bape-branded sneakers. He'd been staring at Dylan the whole time, but not in a way that made Dylan uncomfortable, like Noah or Minerva. His stare felt weirdly empty as he kicked his legs back and forth, elbow on the table as he held his head up. This guy had terrible posture.

Finally, Reyes introduced Dylan to Markus. Markus's shoulder-length dark brown hair was in a ponytail, but his curtain bangs still hung loose and framed his face. His eyes were black like Minerva's, but they had this vaguely brown tint to the highlights. His outfit was a loose white t-shirt with a grey flannel jacket, dark grey basketball shorts, and navy Adidas sneakers. Dylan didn't want to stare at Markus for any longer than a few seconds. Markus seemed to reciprocate this behavior, as they both looked away as soon as eye contact was made.

Dylan had no energy to entertain any socialness today, but had a creeping feeling that he had no choice as Reyes dragged him down into the seat next to him. Fantastic. He also couldn't shake the feeling that Noah wasn't too fond of him. He shifted back in his chair uncomfortably, avoiding looking at her intimidating expression. He noticed Lawrence was still staring at him, but now his thoughtless eyes were squinting at Dylan. Guess they weren't so thoughtless after all. Until the man spoke, saying something that nearly made Dylan scream from shock.

"So you're Markus' situationship?"

What. the. fuck.