Still so Young - Desperate for Attention
Chapter Four.
“Wake up, Brendon, get to school.” Mrs. Urie said knocking on Brendon’s door, before adding, “Is Will in there?”
“Mhmm.” Brendon hummed, clenching his eyes shut.
“Okay, get up.”
Brendon groaned before pushing the covers off and climbing out of bed. He got dressed slowly and ran his hands through his hair, before getting Will up and heading to school.
---
Ryan
---
"Ryan! School!” Ryan heard his dad holler up the stairs. He groaned and rolled over, before getting out of bed and opening his, still packed, suitcase. He pulled out jeans and a tshirt, before heading downstairs and eating some cereal. He decided that the cool thing about switching schools is that he gets to take his dad’s car, well until his dad decides that he wants to use his car during the week and takes it back.
He gets in and drives the short distance to school, only getting slightly lost and having to make a very illegal U-turn. When he gets there, Brent is waiting up front for him. He exits his car and heads into school with Brent.
So, it turns out that Palo Verde is not much different from Bishop Gorman, all of his classes are about the same length, with the same kind of teachers and the food isn’t much better. Him and Brent don’t really talk all day, they just walk around in a comfortable silence. Brent bid Ryan goodbye and headed out of the school as Ryan finished up at his locker.
Ryan was almost outside when he ran into someone.
“Sorry, sorry!” the boy apologized quickly, reaching down and scooping up a book. Ryan glanced at the cover and recognized it as ‘Junie B. Jones’. He scoffed, before glancing up and meeting the boy’s eyes. He had long brown hair and was tall and lanky, much like Ryan.
“Isn’t that book a little young and girly for you?” Ryan said, motioning to the small chapter book he had gripped in his hands.
The boy looked down at the book then back up to Ryan, before turning and heading out of the school. Ryan squinted, before brushing it off and heading out to his car.
---
Brendon
---
“Will, what’s wrong?” Brendon asked instantly, when he saw his brother heading towards him quickly.
“I hate this!” Will said in frustration, “I want to be like you!”
Brendon sighed, before opening the passenger door and ushering Will in. He got in and let Will simmer down on the way home.
“How was school?” Mrs. Urie asked.
“I’m never going back!” Will shouted, stomping up the stairs. Brendon glanced over at his mom.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. After school he seemed really upset, but he didn’t say much.”
“I’ll go talk to him.”
Brendon grabbed some snacks and lounged on the couch whilst flipping channels. The doorbell rang not long after that and he hopped up to answer it.
“Sup, Urie.” Gabe said with a nod of his head.
“Saporta.” Brendon returned, smirking.
“I invited myself over. Did you smash Brent’s face in yet?”
“Not quite. He left too quickly today, plus, Will is upset about something.”
“What’s up?” Gabe asked stepping inside and shutting the door.
“I don’t know, mom’s up there talking to him now.” Brendon sighed.
“Hmm.”
“Brendon, can I talk to you for a minute?” Mrs. Urie’s voice rang. Brendon turned around and glanced at his mom at the top of the staircase before telling Gabe to hold on and jogging up the stairs.
“Will says you left last night.” She stated. Brendon tried not to show any signs of alarm on his face.
“I had to run out to my car to grab my, uh” he paused and coughed a little, trying to think of what he would need out of his car, “Peter Gabriel CD. I couldn’t sleep.” Brendon finally shrugged, casually. Mrs. Urie gave him one more hard look before sighing and heading into her room. Brendon decided against checking on Will and headed down the stairs.
“I’m not quite sure if she bought that.” Brendon mumbled before walking into the living room.
Gabe laughed, before following him. They’d been laying on the couches watching whatever was on TV when they heard someone sniffle. They both turned to see Will standing there nervously.
“Hey, wanna watch TV?” Gabe offered, sitting up so there was room for him. William nodded and sat down, pulling his knees up to his chest and leaning against the arm of the couch.
“Brendon!” Mrs. Urie called again.
“I’ll be right back.” Brendon excused himself before heading back upstairs.
“Tomorrow, can you pick Will up from his classroom and walk with him to your car?” she asked him.
“Yeah, why? What happened?”
“Some kid ran into him and then told him that his book was for kids.”
Brendon felt his hand clench into a fist, as he nodded, “Yeah, mom, I will.”
Brendon heard Gabe’s voice speaking quietly in the living room and he heard Will sniffle. He paused and listened for a second.
“But I am different. You and Brendon get to switch classes and you carry around big books without pictures and eat lunch in the cafeteria.”
“You’re right,” Gabe sighed after a second and Brendon was a second away from heading in there and slapping Gabe across the head when he spoke up again, “but if you weren’t different you wouldn’t be so close to Brendon, actually, you guys would probably fight a lot, and you wouldn’t get to go everywhere with him, and you would’ve gotten in trouble a few years back when we were playing basketball outside and you accidentally fell onto your mom's flower garden.”
Will was silent for a while and Brendon silently entered the room, just able to see their heads from above the couch.
“But you guys have so much fun.” William finally said, shrugging and scratching his neck.
“Oh, don’t tell me that you don’t have fun at school every day, or hanging out with Brendon.”
Will cracked a small smile. Brendon took the silence as his cue to return.
---
Ryan
---
“No, Spence, it’s so boring. It’s like, not bad, but it’s not good, either.” Ryan ranted.
“Make a friend.” Spencer told him.
“I met this one guy, his name was Nick, or something. He was pretty nice, but then when I told Brent he told me not to hang out with him. So, then-”
“Dude, don’t listen to Brent.” Spencer cut him off.
“So, then,” Ryan continued, “I asked Nick if he knew Brent and he got all weird and was like ‘Well, do you know him?’ and I told him I did and he stopped talking to me after that, but he had this nasty bruise under his eye.”
“Weird, I’ll ask Brent.” Spencer laughed.
“No, don’t even tell him I brought it up.”
“Fine, fine.” Spencer agreed, “Anything else?”
“Well, there was also this guy who looked like me and I ran into him, and he dropped his book, which happened to be ‘Junie B. Jones’ so I said something about how that was little kid’s book and he just walked the other way.”
“Well, if you’re gonna be a prick, people are gonna ignore you.”
“But it wasn’t like that…this was just, different.” Ryan tried, for lack of better word.
---
Brendon
---
Brendon lay in his bed the next night. Tomorrow he’ll pick up Will from his classroom, then he will walk and pray that whoever is picking on his brother says something again, so that he will have a reason to beat the person’s face in. He smirked. He will fight until everything is fair. With that thought, he fell asleep.
---
“Will, are you ready for school?” Brendon asked, knocking on Will’s door.
“Yeah.” Came the muffled reply.
They drove to school like usual, and Brendon told Will to have a good day, before departing to go to his first class.
“Mhmm.” Brendon hummed, clenching his eyes shut.
“Okay, get up.”
Brendon groaned before pushing the covers off and climbing out of bed. He got dressed slowly and ran his hands through his hair, before getting Will up and heading to school.
---
Ryan
---
"Ryan! School!” Ryan heard his dad holler up the stairs. He groaned and rolled over, before getting out of bed and opening his, still packed, suitcase. He pulled out jeans and a tshirt, before heading downstairs and eating some cereal. He decided that the cool thing about switching schools is that he gets to take his dad’s car, well until his dad decides that he wants to use his car during the week and takes it back.
He gets in and drives the short distance to school, only getting slightly lost and having to make a very illegal U-turn. When he gets there, Brent is waiting up front for him. He exits his car and heads into school with Brent.
So, it turns out that Palo Verde is not much different from Bishop Gorman, all of his classes are about the same length, with the same kind of teachers and the food isn’t much better. Him and Brent don’t really talk all day, they just walk around in a comfortable silence. Brent bid Ryan goodbye and headed out of the school as Ryan finished up at his locker.
Ryan was almost outside when he ran into someone.
“Sorry, sorry!” the boy apologized quickly, reaching down and scooping up a book. Ryan glanced at the cover and recognized it as ‘Junie B. Jones’. He scoffed, before glancing up and meeting the boy’s eyes. He had long brown hair and was tall and lanky, much like Ryan.
“Isn’t that book a little young and girly for you?” Ryan said, motioning to the small chapter book he had gripped in his hands.
The boy looked down at the book then back up to Ryan, before turning and heading out of the school. Ryan squinted, before brushing it off and heading out to his car.
---
Brendon
---
“Will, what’s wrong?” Brendon asked instantly, when he saw his brother heading towards him quickly.
“I hate this!” Will said in frustration, “I want to be like you!”
Brendon sighed, before opening the passenger door and ushering Will in. He got in and let Will simmer down on the way home.
“How was school?” Mrs. Urie asked.
“I’m never going back!” Will shouted, stomping up the stairs. Brendon glanced over at his mom.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. After school he seemed really upset, but he didn’t say much.”
“I’ll go talk to him.”
Brendon grabbed some snacks and lounged on the couch whilst flipping channels. The doorbell rang not long after that and he hopped up to answer it.
“Sup, Urie.” Gabe said with a nod of his head.
“Saporta.” Brendon returned, smirking.
“I invited myself over. Did you smash Brent’s face in yet?”
“Not quite. He left too quickly today, plus, Will is upset about something.”
“What’s up?” Gabe asked stepping inside and shutting the door.
“I don’t know, mom’s up there talking to him now.” Brendon sighed.
“Hmm.”
“Brendon, can I talk to you for a minute?” Mrs. Urie’s voice rang. Brendon turned around and glanced at his mom at the top of the staircase before telling Gabe to hold on and jogging up the stairs.
“Will says you left last night.” She stated. Brendon tried not to show any signs of alarm on his face.
“I had to run out to my car to grab my, uh” he paused and coughed a little, trying to think of what he would need out of his car, “Peter Gabriel CD. I couldn’t sleep.” Brendon finally shrugged, casually. Mrs. Urie gave him one more hard look before sighing and heading into her room. Brendon decided against checking on Will and headed down the stairs.
“I’m not quite sure if she bought that.” Brendon mumbled before walking into the living room.
Gabe laughed, before following him. They’d been laying on the couches watching whatever was on TV when they heard someone sniffle. They both turned to see Will standing there nervously.
“Hey, wanna watch TV?” Gabe offered, sitting up so there was room for him. William nodded and sat down, pulling his knees up to his chest and leaning against the arm of the couch.
“Brendon!” Mrs. Urie called again.
“I’ll be right back.” Brendon excused himself before heading back upstairs.
“Tomorrow, can you pick Will up from his classroom and walk with him to your car?” she asked him.
“Yeah, why? What happened?”
“Some kid ran into him and then told him that his book was for kids.”
Brendon felt his hand clench into a fist, as he nodded, “Yeah, mom, I will.”
Brendon heard Gabe’s voice speaking quietly in the living room and he heard Will sniffle. He paused and listened for a second.
“But I am different. You and Brendon get to switch classes and you carry around big books without pictures and eat lunch in the cafeteria.”
“You’re right,” Gabe sighed after a second and Brendon was a second away from heading in there and slapping Gabe across the head when he spoke up again, “but if you weren’t different you wouldn’t be so close to Brendon, actually, you guys would probably fight a lot, and you wouldn’t get to go everywhere with him, and you would’ve gotten in trouble a few years back when we were playing basketball outside and you accidentally fell onto your mom's flower garden.”
Will was silent for a while and Brendon silently entered the room, just able to see their heads from above the couch.
“But you guys have so much fun.” William finally said, shrugging and scratching his neck.
“Oh, don’t tell me that you don’t have fun at school every day, or hanging out with Brendon.”
Will cracked a small smile. Brendon took the silence as his cue to return.
---
Ryan
---
“No, Spence, it’s so boring. It’s like, not bad, but it’s not good, either.” Ryan ranted.
“Make a friend.” Spencer told him.
“I met this one guy, his name was Nick, or something. He was pretty nice, but then when I told Brent he told me not to hang out with him. So, then-”
“Dude, don’t listen to Brent.” Spencer cut him off.
“So, then,” Ryan continued, “I asked Nick if he knew Brent and he got all weird and was like ‘Well, do you know him?’ and I told him I did and he stopped talking to me after that, but he had this nasty bruise under his eye.”
“Weird, I’ll ask Brent.” Spencer laughed.
“No, don’t even tell him I brought it up.”
“Fine, fine.” Spencer agreed, “Anything else?”
“Well, there was also this guy who looked like me and I ran into him, and he dropped his book, which happened to be ‘Junie B. Jones’ so I said something about how that was little kid’s book and he just walked the other way.”
“Well, if you’re gonna be a prick, people are gonna ignore you.”
“But it wasn’t like that…this was just, different.” Ryan tried, for lack of better word.
---
Brendon
---
Brendon lay in his bed the next night. Tomorrow he’ll pick up Will from his classroom, then he will walk and pray that whoever is picking on his brother says something again, so that he will have a reason to beat the person’s face in. He smirked. He will fight until everything is fair. With that thought, he fell asleep.
---
“Will, are you ready for school?” Brendon asked, knocking on Will’s door.
“Yeah.” Came the muffled reply.
They drove to school like usual, and Brendon told Will to have a good day, before departing to go to his first class.
♠ ♠ ♠
Okay, so Ryan and Brendon will meet soon.