[Y/N] - Your Name
[M/N] - Middle Name
[L/N] - Last Name
I
["Talking"]
["SCREAMING"]
["Whispering"]
["Thinking"]
* - Translated directly from Italian

The support on the last chapter was beyond incredible. Thank you all so, so much for all the love and kind words, I am so, so happy that you're all enjoying this story! Plus, the experiment seems to be going in my favor. I can pump out about three chapters of this fanfic a week, and still have a rest day if I do so. The influx of votes and followers help, too, but I'd trade them for comments any day of the week for sure.

But I won't hold you here long, so as usual, I hope you enjoy!

[==========================]
-> [ARTISTS / SERIES USED]

- lilredbeany.

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

Interest.

That which hooks our attention, our eyes, our mind, feelings and thoughts. Be it an action, words, some form of media or even a living being. From simply thinking about it, to brainstorming scenarios, ideas, or wishes to whatever it is that interests us. Maybe it is a person? A lover who we miss, a family member who we've spoken to soon? Perhaps even a story by an author you like, or who you only recently met?

There are, however, things that interest us for negative reasons. A low grade in school which you cannot help but think back to? Maybe a movie or song that is so bad, you can't help but think, "How the hell did they think this was good?". Perhaps a person who we dislike, and whenever we are around, are only interested to see what they'll do today that will make us mad — Bottom line is that interest is the root of it all.

And today, someone found some negative attention.

Y/N: ["Why do these people insist on staring?"]

Y/N mused whilst his eyes wandered from place to place, person to person. He stared at his phone every-so-often, looking at the number of the classroom he was given, and searching throughout the hallways after the damned place — Yet, nothing. Minutes and minutes of him moving through hallways led to the only sensible conclusion: Much to his own annoyance, Y/N L/N had gotten himself lost.

Y/N: ["The most ideal thing to do is ask someone, but..."]

He looked around, seeing a brown-haired boy and an identical girl who Y/N assumed to be his twin, seemingly starting a fight. The boy was held back by his teammates — Baseball, Y/N figured judging by their uniforms — while the sister recorded everything. Turning his back to the scene Y/N just made his way past the people, silently thanking them for taking the attention to themselves and not him any longer.

Y/N: ["I hate talking to people for useless reasons"]

Still looking for that classroom, Y/N decided on a failsafe plan — Even if it would take him a while, he had come much earlier than needed anyways. And so, he stuck to the right wall, and walked, walked, and walked. He found himself in the area of younger students, of older students, of professors and janitors, yet nothing of the damned classroom. He would get annoyed — If he could — were him not so patient.

"201. 201. 201. 201. 201". The numbers rang on his head, echoing from place to place like in an empty, dark cavern, repeating nonstop into an endless, annoying loop which soon overtook his head. From side-to-side, he looked, from hallway to hallway, he wandered — Until finally, the light at the end of the tunnel proved not to be an incoming train, but salvation. Still, his face remained blank as he went inside.

Y/N: ["With 20 minutes to spare, even. I gotta remember to not set my alarm as early anymore..."] He wandered around the classroom, noting how most of the seats had names engraved into a metal plaque on them ["Mine isn't anywhere. Probably because of how late I- How late they enroled me here"] Not showing how annoyed he was, Y/N put down his backpack into the unmarked seat, which stood right in front of class ["Of course. "Only what is best", so they hope I become a teacher's pet, how original. Well, at least I got the window"]

Pushing his backpack against the wall, and sitting with his back pressing against it, Y/N sighed. His eyes closed for a moment as he crossed his arms and lifted one foot atop the metal bar of the table, and crossed a leg over the other, he thought back. Rummaging through his mind, and soon through his phone, in search of something — Though he looked everywhere, it was clear that he would not find it anywhere.

Y/N: ["I gotta think of another name besides "Y/N"]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

Ashlyn: ["I made it..."]

A sigh, a hand to clean the sweat off of her forehead, and a sip from her cup later, the girl found herself inside. People chatted, slept, used their phones — A girl in the back was even braiding her hair. Something that Ashlyn felt glad for, thanks to not one of them making contact with her. The harsh sun outside invited the girl to look for a seat close to the window, which, coincidentally, would be her same seat for the year.

Ashlyn: ["Ugh, it's so loud in here..."]

Though people kept on going amongst themselves, all the girl did was sip from her coffee and root that none of them would spare her a glance, and just let her get to her seat in peace. Taking a quick look outside to see her father waving out the window, Ashlyn could not help but smile at his action. Still eyeing the same seat from before, she came to a halt when she spotted two faces she had never seen around before — A blonde boy nearly falling through the window, and a brown-haired one holding him.

Ashlyn: ["Are they new-"] She immediately went quiet when the blonde's red eyes met hers ["Ah, damn. We made eye contact... And my seat is right in front of them"] The ginger averted her gaze, silently hoping, begging that she'd be left alone while she sat down ["Don't talk to me, don't talk to me, don't-"]

Ashlyn yelped in surprise at the fact that, out of nowhere, the red-eyed blonde had practically snapped into existence right before her eyes. Thanks to the movement of the bus, gravity, and Newton's lawn, she was shoved back, and smacked nape-first into the bus that was in front — Technically back as she now faced Aiden — of her. Unbothered by the pain he caused, all the blonde did was point out the window.

Aiden: ["Is that your house? What's up with the whole "bus graveyard" thing?"]

Ashlyn: ["It's a junkyard with used buses. Personal space, dude! Give me some!"]

Aiden: ["That's it?"]

Ashlyn: ["... Yeah?"]

Aiden: ["Well, that's disappointing"] He slumped back into his seat, arms crossed behind his head ["I was hoping for some lore or some sort of paranormal jazz"]

Ashlyn: ["Yeah, good luck finding any of that here..."] The girl thought to herself, rubbing the back of her head before she sat ["I guess the conversation is over? Please let me be right just this time..."] She continued in her own mind, reaching for her phone.

Aiden: ["Anyways-"]

Ashlyn: ["So close!"]

Aiden: ["I'm Aiden!"]

Ashlyn: ["And I'm not interested!"]

Aiden: ["And that's my cousin Ben. We just moved here a week-or-so ago from Virginia"] He pointed with his thumb at Ben, who gave Ashlyn a silent nod as a form of greeting ["Can't remember what town it was though. Oh yeah! We live just a house down from you!"] He noted, while again pointing over his shoulder using his thumb, indicating his house's direction ["Since we live so close to each other, maybe we should hang out often"]

Ashlyn: ["No way. I need to stop this progressing disaster"] She continued to think, finally collecting her thoughts to speak ["Sorry, nothing personal but I'm a bit tired and not in much of a conversation mood"] Aiden hummed as a smile spread on his lips.

Aiden: ["I get it"]

Ashlyn: ["Finally!"]

Aiden: ["You're just shy, right?"]

Ashlyn: ["Hold on. Huh? Shy?!"]

Aiden: ["It's alright, I'm good at talking, so it'll be fine!"]

Ashlyn: ["No, I am not shy! I just want to be left alone!!"]

Alas, left alone, Ashlyn was not. Throughout the entire route to school, Aiden just kept babbling about something she did not care about to register. Impressively, he always found a way to hook his words into something else so that he could keep talking, leaping straight from one story to the other, tying it all together. Even as Aiden, Ben, and Ashlyn got out of the bus, the blonde just kept on yapping.

Even as the three went on inside, getting a few looks thanks to Ben's height, and Aiden not shutting his damned mouth, the girl was still followed. Every corner she turned, Aiden and Ben followed right along — Or, more precisely, Aiden followed along, and then he was followed by Ben — and never once did the former stop. Instead, he went on about this and that, always finding something to talk about.

Ashlyn: ["How do I escape? And why are you still following me?!"] The girl's inner voice stopped as Ben yanked Aiden by the collar, and pointed towards the door to the office ["HERE'S MY CHANCE!"]

Aiden: ["We gotta pick our schedules-"] He turned towards the now-empty corridor, not seeing Ashlyn anywhere, no matter how hard he looked around ["Up-? Ha... HAHA"]

Aiden: ["She's fast, haha"]

He cleaned a tear which came from laughing too much from the corner of his eye, smiling rather brightly at the thought of the now-gone girl. With this, Ben pulled him inside the office, though Aiden poked his head out one more time to look for Ashlyn, which only made Ben yank him inside again. A few seconds later, two bright emerald eyes poked from around the corner not too far ahead as well as long, orange braids.

Ashlyn: ["I got away!"]

The girl thought with herself — Had she spoken, euphoria and relief would've been undoubtedly clear in her voice. Exhaling and inhaling to regulate her excited breathing, she returned to walking across the hallways of the school. Sipping her coffee that was still somewhat-warm thanks to her cup, the girl's eyes dropped to the ground. Not exactly tired, but still looking worse than normal, Ashlyn sighed.

Making her way across the place, looking at the sheet of paper it was handed to her with her classroom number, she had a much easier time than a certain black-haired boy, thanks to being familiar with the place. She recalled passing in front of the room noted every-so-often, but this was her first time studying in it. Regardless, as she made her way towards what would be her class, the girl's eyes dropped a bit.

Ashlyn: ["Classes haven't even begun and I'm already so drained..."]

Boy: ["INCOMING!"]

The girl's braids and her bangs shot back, and up, respectively as something flew by her at tremendous speeds. The moment she had raised her eyes, a blur of black went by the side of her face, narrowly-avoiding leaving a cut in her cheek — From the corner of her vision, her eyes barely registered the presence of a flying shoe. It stabbed into the wall, already cracking it thanks to the sheer strength it was thrown.

Boy: ["Ah, I'm sorry!"]

Ashlyn: ["YOU SHOULD BE!"]

Boy: ["We were just goofing off, haha!"]

A small little chuckle as if he didn't just almost remove Ashlyn's head off, the young man that threw it held another teammate of his on a single arm — Judging by his height, and attire, an older member of the baseball team, Ashlyn noted. The young one which he held barked to be put down, slamming his fist into the older boy's shoulder, all while a girl that looked exactly-identical to him recorded it all.

While another student laughed at the situation that his younger team member was in, he bumped shoulders with another young man, likely of similar age. Already, Ashlyn hung back and watched as the situation went from a "Watch where you're going" to a full-on brawl. The girl who looked like the boy being carried stepped back, raising her cellphone pointed at the fight while trying to make herself as invisible as possible — And Ashlyn... What other choice did she have other than stay and watch the fight?

Ashlyn: ["... You're blocking the hall..."]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

Ashlyn: ["201. This gotta be it, right?"]

She looked down from her paper up to the classroom. Her emerald eyes stopped for a moment as she glanced around — No sign of the two students who were fighting, or even worse, Aiden. Instead, in that hallway the only two people were her, and a young man with glasses, who fidgeted around with his paper in an awkward manner. He flinched when he saw that Ashlyn was looking at him from the corner of her eye.

The girl, silently feeling guilty for having scared the clearly-jumpy boy, kneeled down to pick up the paper he had dropped. Though quickly putting it away out of her lack of interest, her eyes caught a glimpse of his classroom's number — 201. Standing up straight, she found that, as thin and jumpy as he was, he was still just a bit taller than her. Regardless, she offered the paper sheet back, directly putting it on his hands.

Ashlyn: ["Here"]

Logan: ["Oh- Uhm... Thank you"]

Ashlyn: ["Yeah. He's just like a puppy..."]

Without any more words exchanged between the two, they made their way inside. Strolling along the class, and one final sip from her coffee cup, Ashlyn noted the various seats, all engraved with a little metal plaque in their front with the name of who sat there. Aside from Logan — Who sat at the back of the class — and her, there was only one more person inside, who slowly opened his eyes to meet Ashlyn's.

The girl and him exchanged a single glance before he dropped his head again. Arms still crossed, just like one leg, Y/N went back to his resting position. Ashlyn found herself staring way more than she would've liked, but he was strange, never before had she seen someone who looked so... Vacant. His face didn't convey any expression, any thoughts or feelings — It was like staring with her eyes closed.

Ashlyn: ["Looks like we have assigned seats, and mine is..."] She had little time to push the thoughts of this stranger out of her head ["Right behind the new person .Great. Well, at least I'm not sitting near-"] She stopped talking the moment she sat down, turning to face a chair behind, and to the left of her — Aiden C ["Maybe there's more than one Aiden?"]

She thought, but it soon dawned on her the memories — Throughout everything that Aiden said, through all of the stories he told, through all of his yapping, she remembered one thing: Ben. Always following along silently, nodding or shaking his head in disapproval, he would be there. Though Ben wasn't just any Ben, because now she looked behind Aiden C's seat, and she saw the name engraved: Ben C.

Y/N: ["... Shit. She's staring at me, I can feel it"]

Ashlyn was, in fact, not staring at Y/N. Instead, the girl only opened her eyes to see him the moment he slightly tilted his head back, looking over his shoulder — HIs indigo eyes met Ashlyn's emerald ones. They only exchanged a glance before he looked forward again, turning away from the girl who was left confused at what had just happened. Slowly, Y/N's thoughts began to spread each time more and more.

Y/N: ["Fuck. Only two people, but one is already behind me"]

Minutes went by, and throughout all of it, Y/N remained quiet. The students that came alone either greeted the ones already in class, but most just kept to themselves. The majority of them walked in in groups, and took their seats. Y/N just kept to himself, arms still crossed, the glare in his eyes as present as ever while he watched everyone who came and went — And throughout it, both Ashlyn and Y/N kept to themselves.

Y/N: ["Five horizontal seats, all with 5 seats, except mine which has six — I'm the odd number out.Probably thanks to how late I've enrolled"] Y/N mused to himself, his eyes wandering down to lock at the table while his index finger tapped at his crossed arms ["Means there's a bigger chance I'll stay to work by myself if there is ever any group projects. Good"]

Closing his eyes again, he listened more to his thoughts than to the rest of the class. The students that talked amongst themselves, the ones who fiddled with their phones or were already messing something up — All of it was in the background of his interest. Ashlyn, meanwhile, looked around the classroom every-so-often, awaiting the ever-ticking time to pass. Her eyes then wandered to someone very close by.

Ashlyn: ["He must also be new, I don't think I've ever seen him around..."] She gently tilted her head a bit, getting a glance on the side of his face ["He seems to be the quiet type, that's good. Especially compared to..."] She glanced over her shoulder at Aiden's seat, shuddering in slight remembrance of his yapping, before gently standing up a bit to read the name on his desk ["Unmarked. Maybe they didn't have time to make his plaque yet.."]

The girl fell on her seat once more, leaning back and returning to waiting. And waiting some more. And then some more, more. Impatiently the girl leaned back, both arms crossed behind her head as the clock continued to tick — Notebook, pencil case, pens and pencil all on top of the table, and yet, nothing. The time moved slower and slower, and poor Ashlyn could not help but sigh out in some very clear frustration.

Ashlyn: ["The teacher is late..."] She turned a bit, glancing at Aiden's seat ["I have a foreboding feeling"]

Tyler: ["We wouldn't be late if you would have helped instead of recording!"] The familiar voice of a then-stranger caught Ashlyn's attention, who turned towards the door ["Sorry we're late!"]

Taylor: ["Please don't mark us tardy!"]

Both Tyler and Taylor came through the door and almost crashed right through it. Breathing heavily and looking inside, all around the place, they found no teacher, and just a bunch of students watching them — Y/N opened one single eye to direct his attention to them, closing it right after. Wiping some of the sweat from their forehead, the twins wandered inside, and looked around some more, but still no teacher.

Tyler: ["They aren't here yet"]

Taylor: ["We still have a chance, then!"]

Teacher: ["A chance?"]

An older-sounding voice rang from behind the two, who didn't even turn around to stare at the older man, nor the other two boys who walked side-by-side with him. Instead, the two just broke into an even-colder sweat than before — Ashlyn, who was still facing them, noted the teacher and her eyes fell in hopelessness when she noted who walked by his side. Y/N just listened on, but his eyes now fully opened again.

Teacher: ["Are two of my students already late on the first day of school?"] Tyler and Taylor remained quiet, until the teacher broke out into a cheerful laugh ["Ha ha, I'm just kidding! A class rule of mine is, if we're both late, and you get here before me, you're safe-"] He went quiet all of a sudden, looking at Tyler up and down for a very brief moment ["Where's your shoe?"]

Tyler: ["I... don't know..."]

Teacher: ["You should find that after class"] He said while Tyler, lying through his gritted teeth, nodded ["Go and find which desk has your name on it, and take a seat"]

Ashlyn: ["... Oh no..."]

The teacher, Ben and Aiden strolled into the place, the latter two looking forward and not seeming to mind the whispers of the curious students who had never seen before. The blonde-haired of the duo turned around to scan the class for a moment, and his red eyes shot wide open in happiness when they landed against the emerald-green of Ashlyn's own eyes, who instantly dropped her head, and hid it behind her two hands.

Teacher: ["Sorry I am late everyone. These two are new to the school, so make sure to give them a warm welcome"] Beaming a happy smile, the teacher motioned towards Aiden and Ben before looking around ["Curious. There was supposed to be one more new student, but I don't think he has arrived yet. Regardless, you two can go take a seat as well"] Ashlyn now moved her eyes to Y/N, who remained stone-faced while listening on ["Let's begin with introductions, shall we? We'll go in alphabetical order!"]

Ashlyn: ["... Is it too late to request a class change?"]

Ashlyn felt Aiden's glare nearly burning through the back of her school, but there was not really much she could do about it other than her head to the other side. Pretending as if she didn't even know him, the girl still paid some attention to the teacher, who picked up his blue marker — A twist and a pop made the cap come off, and with a rather charming lettering, he wrote out his name, and turned to the class.

Thomas: ["When it's your turn, state your first and last name, and say something about yourself"] The man smiled, after having just written out his name on the board ["My name is Thomas Walter, and this is my first time teaching my own class. I look forward to being with you all!"]

Y/N: ["All I have thought out is a first name. Plus something we like? I guess It'll be best if I go last regardless"] Y/N eyes wandered around, trying to come up with something, but still, his lips remained unmoving ["Something we like, something we like... Guns, maybe? Everyone like guns in this country, right? Especially teenager boys like me"]

Ashlyn sighed as she stood up, still feeling the burning gaze of Aiden practically piercing her back — How unfortunate for her that it had to be in alphabetical order. Taking the marker from the teacher, she wrote out her name in a rather artistic lettering, and when she turned to the class, she faced everyone. Y/N didn't pay much attention to her, but he did notice how the girl fidgeted, and avoided eye contact.

Ashlyn: ["Ashlyn Banner, I like dogs. Are introductions really necessary? I want to sit back down..."]

Y/N: ["No, I already got too many weird looks as it is. I don't need people thinking I'm gonna shoot this place up, guns are a no-go"] Y/N leaned back, watching a few more students go by whilst his eyes darted from place to place ["What's something I know about, and I like? Sports? No, there are athletes in this class, I don't want them approaching me..."]

Aiden: ["I'm Aiden Clark, I like bungee jumping, skydiving, rock climbing, racing, water skiing-"] He kept on counting on his fingers all of the activities, before pointing towards the seat behind his own ["That's my cousin, Ben Clark. He likes taking naps"]

Y/N: ["Yeah, Ben, me too. And yet nothing, but I think the name is more important. Still, much better than whatever they would've given me if I had let them choose it"] With his face still as unresponsive as ever, Y/N just awaiting some people to go by ["Y/N, Y/N, Y/N, Y/N... Y/N L/N? It's got a nice ring to it. And actually sounds rather charming as well"]

Logan: ["Hello, I-the-uh um, eh... Logan Fields..."] He fidget around with his fingers for a moment, always keeping his eyes down, and never facing anyone in particular ["I mean I'm Logan, Logan Fields... I, um, I enjoy astrology"]

Y/N: ["I think that by itself sounds good, but... A middle name couldn't hurt. Y/N L/N, Y/N L/N..."] Humming as he tapped his fingers against his own arm, the boy's eyes closed again ["Eh, screw it, I'll just use my real one — Y/N M/N L/N. Sounds pretty good to me"]

Ashlyn: ["What the hell is this guy thinking so hard about...?"]

Taylor: ["I'm Taylor Hernánez! I'm in the mechanics club!"] The girl waved at the others with a bright smile on her happy face ["Come to say hi if you get the chance!"]

Y/N: ["Now to something I like, and I can't bullshit it in case someone approaches me to try and talk about it..."] So lost in his mind, he could not even see Ashlyn confusedly look at him thanks to how still his body was ["I guess I'm good at studying, but I don't like it"]

Tyler: ["I'm Tyler Hernández. Yes, Taylor and I are twins"] Sounding rather uninterested in the whole "introductions" thing, Tyler lazily spoke ["And I'm in the baseball club"]

A few more students went after him, but none of which caught Y/N's eye for one reason or another. As the last one finished their introduction, Thomas was about to speak, even having already breathed in to talk, but stopped when Y/N stood up. All eyes were on him — Some uninterested, most confused. He walked to the front of the class and wrote up his name in a rather rushed, but still-understandable lettering.

Y/N: ["I'm Y/N M/N L/N, I just moved here two weeks ago"] His voice and face were both stone cold, it was almost weird to look at ["And I like art in all of its ways — Theater, music, paintings, etc. I came last cause got stuck when thinking of something I liked"]

He then walked back to his seat, his eyes moving from Taylor and Tyler, to Ben and Aiden. Finally, they rested against Logan for a moment, and then Ashlyn since she sat right behind him — Her emerald-green eyes were warm and seemed rather friendly, while his indigo irises were cold and icy. Without much ceremony he just sat down again, waiting for the teacher to continue, which he did after just a few seconds.

Thomas: ["Alright, now that introductions are done, let's talk about the semester-long group project!"] He tapped on a controller, making the projector hanging by the roof light up ["Today you'll be choosing your group partners for the project, and each group should consist of six people"] At his words, Ashlyn groaned, and Y/N's thoughts returned.

Ashlyn: ["Calm down Ashlyn, don't panic. He might let you work alone-"]

Y/N: ["I'm an odd number on this class. Maybe he'll assign me to myself-"]

Thomas: ["Oh, and no one will be allowed to work alone!"]

Ashlyn: ["TAKE IT BACK!"]

Y/N leaned back, more annoyed than frustrated, but not really showing it. Ashlyn, however, felt a shiver crawl up her spine when a shadow towered over her. Turning around, she saw Aiden's smile bigger than ever, and before she could protest it, he yanked her to the group that was already being formed — Y/N watched over his shoulder, but never once spoke up. Of course, as to not drag attention to himself.

Thomas: ["The rest of the class will be about the project, so go ahead and sit wherever you want with your group for today"] Still beaming that beautiful smile, the man wandered calmly while inside of the classroom ["Our main focus this semester will be the history of Georgia's oldest city, Savannah. This is also what your project will be about and the topics you'll choose to present are stated in your rubric"] Y/N shot a glance over his shoulder again, now focusing on the group that Ashlyn was dragged into ["Additionally, there is an overnight field trip to go along with the project. Of course, it is optional, however those who attend can get extra credit for your individual grade"] He picked up a pink-colored paper, waving it around for a moment ["If you are interested, the permission slips are on my desk and include everything you'll need to know. For the rest of the period, please choose what topic your group will present — You've got 25 minutes, so use it wisely!"]

Y/N: ["Hm. And I'm still the one without a group, can't say it's anything new, but at this point I should be used to it"] Y/N looked around the classroom, noting all of the numbers of students before looking over his shoulder ["A six-man task for me alone sounds like a bit of a pain, but still..."]

Y/N: ["I suppose it could've been worse-"]

Thomas: ["Ah, Y/N! I see you've found a group that catches your interest"]

Y/N: ["Oh, motherfucker..."] Y/N turned to face the teacher, shaking his head gently ["No, sir. In fact, I was just wondering — Since I'm the odd number out, couldn't I-"]

Thomas: ["I am sure that they'll be glad to have you, no need to worry! A group of 7 is a bit unfair with the others, yes"] Y/N felt relieved. Perhaps there was still a chance to not- ["So I'll need to be increasing the work of your group to make up for it having an extra member!"] Y/N, who thought he had lost all hope, losed last additional bit of hope he didn't even know he had.

Not seeing much else he could do, Y/N just pulled up his chair to the circle, and sat down, not minding the looks he got from some of the people. The poor Ashlyn had both feet atop the chair, her knees tucked into her shirt with her face nuzzling up against her legs, and both arms dejectedly fallen at her sides — And before Y/N had much time to argue, or talk back, the minutes went by in the mere blink of an eye.

Sometimes he'd talk, but more often than not it was him and Ashlyn just nodding along. As time went on, and everything was decided, Y/N put his stuff away and walked to the front of the class to pick up the permit for the trip, just wishing to get everything done with as quickly as he could — A vibration on his phone made him pick it up, and hum in amusement as everyone else did the same, save for Aiden.

Y/N: ["A group chat? These never end well... Red, green, black, blue, brown and indigo — Those are just our eye colors, how original"] He mocked with a lack of tone in his own mind, just putting his phone away and picking up the permission slip ["All I want is for this trip to go well. That's not asking much of the world, is it?"]

Ashlyn: ["Group projects never go well, and I've already been dragged into a group chat"] The girl looked at her phone for a moment, but then turned to face the blonde boy ["And even worse, he has my number!"]

Aiden: ["You aren't gonna go to the field tirp?"]

Ashlyn: ["I'd rather stay home..."]

The girl walked away before he could say anything else — But that wouldn't detain Aiden Clark. Instead, he just wandered his red eyes towards the pink slips on top of the teacher's desk, and his smirk widened. He had already picked up one of them previous to it, but now that he had two, he stored one away in his bag. From a distance, Y/N watched, shaking his head from side-to-side after an audible sigh.

Aiden: ["Hehehe~..."]

Y/N: ["Something tells me this trip is not going to go well..."]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

Elio: ["How was school, sir?"]*

Y/N: ["Boring, as school tends to be"]*

Y/N hummed while making himself comfortable on the leather seat of the black SUV. His head resting against the window with closed eyes as to rest and think, everything inside was silent thanks to all the soundproofing. Something made him snape awake, however, when his phone vibrated in his pocket — Taking it, and checking the messages of the group for the second time that day, Y/N hummed with interest.

Y/N: ["Elio"]

Elio: ["Yes, sir?"]*

The man with his half-scarred face shot a quick glance at the rearview mirror, staring at Y/N for a moment with his blue eyes. Y/N sat forward, staring at the address that was just sent to him, and plugged it into the GPS of the car. The driver looked at it curiously for a moment, but soon smiled, understanding the assignment without Y/N's input. Taking a turn, he changed the direction of the car completely, but still asked:

Elio: ["A friend of yours, sir?"]*

Y/N: ["... Something like that, I suppose"]*

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

Ashlyn's Mother: ["Sounds like school went well"]

Ashlyn: ["It didn't... Not only am I stuck with that guy on the bus and class, but now I'm in a semester-long project with him! Ughhh, I don't wanna go back tomorrow..."] The girl whined while planting her head on the table. Her father sipped from his cup while staring at her mom, both sweating nervously ["And there's like- This one other new student that is so weird. He looks nice, I mean, he's got nice eyes and all, but his face, it's nice, but also just so cold!"]

Ashlyn's Mother: ["On the bright side, maybe you'll finally make some friends"]

Ashlyn's Mother: ["How could you say that?! How can you deprive your own parents like this?!"]

The woman's sudden outburst made both her husband and daughter jump back in surprise, with poor Ashlyn almost falling from her chair. A moment later, smashing her fist into the table, and a hand on her face, the woman looked up towards the man, who looked at her confusedly. In response, all she did was direct her green eyes towards Ashlyn before bringing them back to him — Immediately he got the message.

Ashlyn's Mother: ["Where are they?! The memories of you having sleepovers and birthday parties?!"]

Ashlyn's Father: ["Our memories of bonding with your friend's parents and planning play dates?!"]

The two fell to their knees, reaching up at the skies with crying tears of painful remembrance: Memories that stung their minds, thoughts and feelings that overwhelmed their bleeding hearts. Salty water that ran from their eyes, their arms reaching up in a begging cry for God — No matter how much they cried, God did not help them. Now all that they could do was silently fall, and rot in their own sorrow.

Ashlyn: ["You guys done yet?"]

Ashlyn's Mother / Father: ["Yeah"]

Ashlyn's Father: ["But, in all seriousness, in your entire 16 years olf existence, you haven't once had a friend"] The two sat down again, her father staring at the girl with a nonchalantly look ["I get that people are exhausting, but sweetie, you can't just avoid-"]

Ashlyn's Mother: ["No, I think she's fine, Mike. Socializing is way more effort than it's worth anyways"] The woman opened her pack of chips, throwing some into her mouth with a shrug ["We'd rather do something else"]

Mike: ["Aaaaand I give up"]

KNOCK KNOCK!

Mike: ["That's probably the delivery guy"]

The man stood up after hearing the knocks against the door. Walking towards it, at the same time that Ashlyn stole some of her mother's chips and scrolled through her phone. A hum of interest and surprise washed over her as she received a notification of the group chat for their project. Said surprise and interest fell to reveal what was underneath the mask — Horror, and a feeling of dread as she read Aiden's text.

Ashlyn: ["Wait, dad! DON'T OPEN-"]

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

[Published in - 02/21/24]
[Word Count - 6.180]

God, I haven't felt hyped to write like this in AGES!

The overwhelming support last chapter really helped me with wanting to put out more of this, plus how fast I can write the chapters really helps. So far, this experiment of "Less = More" really is proving to be right. Speaking of which, this was a bit of a more uneventful chapter, but I promise to y'all that stuff are about to pick up soon, so stay tuned! As per usual, I'll put out a chapter every two days, or three times a week.

Hope you're enjoying the story so far! <3