↬two
❛ gosh, dude, there's really nothing going on ❜

"Have you noticed Hyrum being weird lately?"

Lucy was in the middle of getting ready for bed, and nearly dropped her hairbrush in surprise. She turned to see Carson in her doorway, and she frowned at him.

"A knock would be nice," she huffed. "But no, I haven't. Why do you ask?"

"I dunno. He seems weird," Carson shrugged, going to sit on Lucy's bed. He picked up a stuffed rabbit and examined it.

"Is this new?" he asked, and Lucy turned to him, rolling her eyes.

"What is this, an interrogation?" She couldn't help but soften, though. It wasn't often she and her brother were nice to each other, and she could tell he was trying to extend an olive branch.

"Yeah, it's new," she said after a moment. "Why, you like it?"

"No, just never seen it before," Carson replied, setting the rabbit back on the bed.

They sat in silence for a moment before Carson broke it.

"Do you have Friday's Algebra homework?"

"Is that why you were being nice to me?" Lucy scoffed, and Carson held up his hands in innocence.

"No," he protested. "Just trying to... make conversation."

"No, you were just too busy with the band," Lucy shrugged, before a mischevious grin spread across her face. "Or you were too busy with Mia."

"I was not busy with Mia," Carson muttered. "We hung out once."

"You should ask her out," Lucy said, turning back to her reflection in the mirror.

"What?" Carson sputtered. "I don't- I wouldn't- I don't like her like that."

"Come on, I see the way you look at her," Lucy teased, setting down her hairbrush.

"It's no big deal," Carson shrugged, trying to act nonchalant even though his face was burning red.

Lucy huffed. "Okay, definitely."

"It's complicated," Carson replied. "You're too young to understand."

"I'm literally a year younger than you," Lucy pointed out as Carson got up to leave.

"Still younger," Carson called as he walked away.

"Still younger," Lucy mocked as she turned off her lights. She clambered into her bed, rolling over and closing her eyes as she tried to fall asleep.

Meanwhile, Hyrum laid on his bed, looking up at the ceiling.

He inadvertently began humming Chaos Girl, and upon this action, he thought of Lucy and how she had said she liked the song.

He wondered just why they had cut it from the album. Sure, other songs like Dumbstruck were arguably better. But Chaos Girl was fun to play.

And Lucy liked it.

He paused for a moment, wondering why his mind kept wandering to Lucy. Maybe he was just tired.

The next day, Lucy and Carson walked to school, being joined by Hyrum, Mia, and McKenna. The girls made a beeline for Lucy, especially Mia, who had a strong dislike for Carson and only hung out with him in large groups.

Hyrum glanced back at Lucy as he joined Carson on the sidewalk. He kind of wanted to walk with Lucy, but knew doing so would be out of character for him, and besides, it would leave Carson alone.

Carson would probably say something about him being weird again. And truthfully, Hyrum was being weird. Even he acknowledged this fact.

"Where's Mary?" Lucy asked Hyrum, who turned to face her, causing him to walk backwards. Carson gave him a funny look but said nothing.

"She's sick," Hyrum shrugged. "Cold or something."

"That's too bad," McKenna chimed in with a frown.

"If she wasn't so old," Mia joked, "I'd offer to bring her all her homework."

"Shame she was born so much earlier than us," Lucy agreed, and Hyrum smiled as he turned back around.

"Psst," Carson hissed, and Hyrum turned to him. "You're being weird again."

"Am not," Hyrum protested.

"Look, at least when Mia's around I can behave like a functioning human being. You're being all smiley and stuff, it's weird," Carson replied.

"Mia also never talks to you," Hyrum pointed out, and Carson groaned.

"Don't remind me. But I guess it's better that way. You know me, I'd mess things up with her."

"Don't talk like that," Hyrum frowned, but Carson shrugged.

"It's true. Remember what happened last time?"

"Okay, but that was last time. Think about now," Hyrum offered.

"Well, now, if she were to talk to me, Lucy would catch on right away," Carson sighed. "In fact, she already has. She was grilling me about 'the way I look at her' last night and I had to lie so she'd drop it."

"I'm surprised no one thinks that about me and Lucy," Hyrum murmured, and Carson paled.

"What did you say?" he asked, wondering if he had heard the brunet clearly.

"Huh?" Hyrum asked, looking up at Carson. "I didn't say anything."

"Yes, you did, you're an awful liar," Carson hissed. "You said something about my sister."

"I didn't!" Hyrum cried.

Carson gave a quick glance at the girls to make sure they weren't listening before he huffed. "You like her, don't you?"

"Who?" Hyrum asked, giving Carson an awkward chuckle. "I don't like anyone. I'm just... vibing."

"Shut up," Carson scowled. "No one says 'vibing', and besides, that stupid laugh just gave you away."

"I don't like anyone," Hyrum repeated as they crossed the street.

"Yeah, right. You like Lucy. You just don't want to admit it."

"There's nothing to admit," Hyrum attempted weakly.

"Whatever. You're not going to say it. But that's not fair. You know I like Mia, so why won't you just tell me you like Lucy?" Carson argued.

"Because I don't like her," Hyrum argued back. He got the strange sense that he was lying, though he knew he wasn't. He didn't like Lucy. He'd never said he had, to anyone, not even himself. So why would he like her?

"Whatever," Carson huffed as they walked into the school building. "If you try anything with her behind my back, though, I'm going to kill you. And I mean it."

"Gosh, dude, there's really nothing going on," Hyrum shook his head as Lucy joined them.

"Whatcha talking about?" she asked cheerfully, and Hyrum shrugged.

"Nothing. Just... just band stuff," he offered lamely.

Lucy raised an eyebrow, but didn't press it.

"Hey, Carson, Hyrum," came a voice from behind, and Shredder squeezed between Hyrum and Lucy. "What's up, Lucille?"

"Nothing much, Asher," Lucy said sourly, though she quickly returned to her original cheerful disposition.

"So, where's the kid going?" Shredder continued.

"Algebra. With Hyrum," Lucy answered, knowing he was referring to her since she was the youngest - out of the boys and the girls, even though the girls had left several minutes earlier.

"You know, like we do every day," Hyrum added.

"Right," Shredder nodded. "I knew that."

"Sure," Carson rolled his eyes as he departed from the group for his History class.

"Yo, guys, I'm going the wrong way," Shredder said, stopping in the middle of the hallway. Lucy and Hyrum stopped a few feet ahead of him, sharing a classic Shredder look.

"Okay," Lucy said after a moment. "See you, Asher."

"Likewise, Lucille," he replied as he turned around and walked back the way he came.

Hyrum and Lucy were left alone, and they began walking.

"I can't believe we have Algebra first period," Hyrum huffed as they rounded the corner and walked smack into a crowd of people.

"Yeah, me neither," Lucy muttered, craning her neck to see what the holdup was. But alas, she couldn't see through the throng of students. "It would be fine if we didn't have to wake up so early."

"It's never fine for me," Hyrum replied as the group began inching forward.

A boy cut between Hyrum and Lucy, and Lucy frowned, squeezing around him and taking hold of Hyrum's backpack.

"Almost lost you there," she smiled. And though she hadn't really, it felt like it for a moment.

Hyrum's gaze flickered to the hand Lucy had placed on his backpack. He smiled back at her as the crowd moved another three or so inches.

"This is gonna take forever," Hyrum said, stating the obvious. He just wanted to talk to Lucy more, even if that meant making idle chatter.

"I wonder what's taking so long," Lucy mumbled, trying to peer over a girl's shoulder, but she couldn't see much.

"I think this hallway's always crowded," Hyrum shrugged, and they fell silent again.

After several minutes and a warning bell, they finally made it out. Turns out a stairwell had been closed for repairs, so dozens of additonal students had used the hallway as a detour.

"You think we'll make it?" Lucy asked as she glanced at her watch.

"Depends," Hyrum replied. "We might have to walk a little faster."

"Yeah, no thanks. It's too early for this. Mr. Johnson can suck it," Lucy decided, casting a sideways glance at Hyrum, who smiled.

"Yeah," he agreed. "We're lucky he's chill, or he'd be giving us tardies, like, every day."

"My mom would have a fit," Lucy snorted. "She got mad at Carson for skipping class once. He was totally freaked and he never skipped again."

"I remember that," Hyrum nodded as the bell rang. "He got mad at me and Shredder for pressuring him into it. We didn't do anything, we just said we were skipping and he asked to come along."

"That's funny," Lucy grinned as they arrived at their Algebra class.

Hyrum relished in her smile. Whenever she was happy, he was.

And strangely, he loved it.