Chapter Text
“What’d you wish for when you blew out your candles?” They were sitting on his porch, watching the sunset over them.
“Nothing, you actually wish for things on your birthday?” Exer asked.
“Why not? It’s fun to act like you’re still little and believe in that stuff.”
“True. Little hard to pretend you’re five when you just turned eighteen though, Day.” Exer leaned back against the step, his eyes watching the sky shift hues. “Is it too late to wish for something?”
David smiled, then shrugged. “Might not come true since there’s no candles to blow out.” He said with a quiet laugh. “Go for it.”
“I wish for our senior year to go perfectly.”
“You’re so cheesy, it’s disgusting.”
Exer laughed in response. “I can’t think of anything else.”
“I bet you jinxed it now, thanks, hot-shot.”
The water dripped out of the faucet as he ran the cloth across his face. The warmth spread on his skin, almost making him sigh as the sleepiness slowly faded from his features. He turned the sink off, taking a glance at himself in the mirror. He already had various hair products lying on the counter, and his outfit was hung up on a hanger in his bedroom. He was determined to not only look good, but also have the best day possible. It was his last, first day of high school after all.
After getting ready, he walked down the stairs, setting his bag on a chair at the dining table. His dad was already at the table, drinking a cup of coffee, per usual. “Morning, Dad.” He spoke as he went through the cupboards for the usual pan he used to make eggs.
“Morning. Did you take the cans to Mrs. Gina last night?”
“Yeah, and I picked your stuff up from the pharmacy too.” His dad just hummed in response, sipping his coffee. He set the pan on the stove then turned it on, grabbed a spatula, butter, and the egg carton. The pan sizzled as he spread the butter and cracked open an egg above it. It was quiet, he didn’t speak much with his dad in the morning, they both were too tired to make a conversation, but the sound of a meal cooking always filled the silence.
After a while, he turned the stove off and plated the food. He set one in front of his dad, taking his own seat. The sounds of food simmering weren’t there to fill the silence anymore. Just the awkward taps of metal utensils against porcelain. Though, the silence was more bearable than trying to hold a conversation with the man before he had finished his first cup of coffee.
Once he was done, he set his plate in the sink. “I’ll see you later.” Exer said as he grabbed his bag from the chair, and keys from the coat rack.
His father hummed in response, then spoke. “Have a good day.”
Exer headed out the door and walked down the steps, out to the sidewalk. The chirping of birds and cars going by elicited a calm smile on his lips. He hopped into his own car, took a deep breath, then inserted the key, once the engine roared to life he was off to Jeanes High School, though he had to make a stop in between. The breeze blew through the tight coils in his hair and the sun beamed down as he drove down the road, the weather was perfect today.
He slowed as he pulled up to a house, parking next to the sidewalk. Exer stepped out of the car, heading up the porch steps. He stood up straight, smoothed out his jacket, ran a hand through his hair to make sure it was perfect, then knocked on the door with a practiced, confident smile.
He waited until it finally opened. There stood Brenda, her ginger hair pulled back in a high ponytail, her cheeks rosy, lips pink and glossy, she was perfect. Her blue eyes always managed to get his attention. “Morning, beautiful.” Exer said, a teasing ring in his voice as he leaned down.
She leaned in, pressing her lips to his in a quick kiss. “Thanks for the ride, I’m so excited!”
“You? Excited for school? You were just complaining about it last week.”
“Well now I’m seeing the bigger picture, and I’m excited for our senior year.” Brenda’s voice was as sing-song as ever. “I got promoted to vice captain of the cheer team, and I get to try all the fun classes I never got to earlier, like ceramics, and poetry.”
“They have an entire class for just poetry?”
“I know, cool, right?” He led her to the car, heading to school.
He stepped out of the car and shut the door, the chatter of students echoed through his ears. “Are you still up for the movies tonight?”
“Sure, I’ll pick you up at seven?” Exer said as he started towards the school.
“Sounds good. Oh, and make sure to give David his lunch.” Brenda handed the bag to Exer, giving him one last quick kiss. “I’ll see you later. Love you.”
“Later.” Exer watched as she walked in a different direction, a smile on his face. He continued on his route, heading to his first class of the day.
“Hey, Exer, welcome back!”
“Good to be back, man.”
“Exer! You have a good summer?”
“Yeah, great actually.”
“Exer, you going to Kevin’s party on Friday?”
“Sure, I’ll stop by.”
He finally made it to class, sauntering through the door with a natural confidence. On the right side of the room, he saw the blonde sitting near the front, already waving at him. “Hey, Day. Got your lunch.” David was his best friend, and also Brenda’s brother. They surprisingly didn’t look that similar, different face shapes, hair color, and more, despite being fraternal twins. Though, the one thing that was undeniably the same in the two of them was their blue eyes.
“Thanks, man. So, how are we feeling, senior?” David said with a teasing lilt in his voice, raising his brows at Exer.
The other boy just sat down in the chair next to David. “I’m ready to get this done and finally graduate.”
“First class of the year didn’t even start yet and you’re already talking graduation? Relax, we have a couple of months, give me time to deny being old.”
Exer snorted, leaning back. “Seventeen isn’t even old, David.”
“But eighteen is, you’re already ancient.”
“Sure, whatever you say.” The teacher began their lecture. The bell eventually rang after a long time of sitting and listening, and they all rose from their seats.
“Hey, you wanna walk with me to my locker? I think I left my math textbook in there.”
“Yeah, sure.” They walked together out of the class, with more of their classmates greeting them on the way. Exer leaned on the locker beside them as David dug through his. His eyes gravitated towards the crowd of people. Then he noticed that guy, he didn’t get a good look, but his eyes seemed glazed over. He was just standing there for a moment, looking almost dazed. Exer nudged David on the side, getting his attention. “Does that guy look weird to you?”
David looked where Exer was pointing, raising an eyebrow. “Um, no? Actually, I walked him to class, I think his name was Jackson, yeah. He’s cool, seems chill.”
“Don’t you think he looks a little lost or something?…”
“He is new, maybe he is actually lost. Hey, Jackson!
“Wait, don’t just call him like that—“ It was too late, he was already looking their way.