All the Stars on Your Ceiling

Kellin did not see Vic leave, but as he pulled his bag on to his shoulders he noticed that the desk next to his was empty. The bell had not yet released them, and Kellin found himself wondering how Vic had managed to sneak out. He eventually came to the conclusion that you could get away with anything on your first day, especially if you were anything like Vic.

Oli walked straight past Austin with a smug smile and made his way through the gaggle of other students to stand by Kellin.
“Roof?” he asked quietly, lip quirking in a way that could almost be considered a genuine smile. Kellin nodded as the bell went, making his way casually to the door and strolling through the crowded hallway. There was a “utility” door hidden in the corner of A block’s top floor hallway, leading to a comfortably-sized hallway and a metal staircase. It was easy enough to dodge into, especially if the hallway was still crowded, and Kellin often found himself sitting in the hallway with Oli on colder days or out on the roof when the weather allowed. Thankfully, the rain had stopped and they would likely be able to sit in the small covered area until the rain dried. They would likely not return to classes until after lunch, if at all, if their previous endeavours in skipping were anything to go by. Once they’d left, it took far too much willpower to return.

The hallway had mostly emptied by the time Kellin and Oli got there, so they simply fell into step with each other and walked to the door like they’d been sent there by some sort of authority for a job or something. People are less likely to question your actions if you look like you know exactly what you’re doing. This was something Kellin had learnt early on in his endeavours as a ‘rebel’, and often had to put into play during the school days. He pulled the door - which had been left forgotten and, therefore, unlocked for as long as Kellin had known it - open and stood to let Oli in before him. The boy smiled exaggeratedly at him and curtsied, dodging through the doorway before anyone was able to turn and see what was behind it. Kellin followed and shut the door softly, appreciating the school’s soundproof walls as the hallway was plunged into a pleasant silence. The silence was soon interrupted, however, by muffled voices. They were above normal volume, one on the cracking edge of tears and the other gritty in anger, but no words could be made out. Kellin assumed two students were having some sort of argument in the hallway, but the voices were not coming from that direction. They were coming from the roof.

Oli seemed irritated that their hiding spot had been discovered by someone else, though the roof was not exactly a secret. Finding the entrance was the task. “Who’s ‘ere?” he whispered as he took a step towards the staircase, as if he didn’t want the people to know of he and Kellin’s presence. Kellin rolled his eyes.
“How should I know?” he said sarcastically, but also kept his voice low. “Should we just leave? We can find somewhere else, or just hop the gates.”
Oli shook his head, edging to the stairs again. “They’re obviously here to skip too, and the roof’s pretty fuckin’ big. Why should them bein’ there stop us?”
“Because they’re arguing, dude. I don’t wanna get involved in that shit. One of them’s crying.”
Kellin’s concerns went ignored, and the staircase made a dull noise as the sole of Oli’s shoe hit the bottom step. He seemed to have no interest in speed despite his confidence in walking in on some random students’ emotional argument. Done with waiting, Kellin grabbed him by the hood of his acid-wash jumper, and walked up the steps himself. He did, however, wait until Oli was behind him to open the door.

He doubted anything could have prepared him for the scene in front of him. The new kid - Vic - was sat against one of the metal ventilation things, knees pulled to his chest and tears streaming down his cheeks. His hood was pulled down, revealing long brown hair falling past his shoulders in untidy curls and pulled across his forehead to near enough cover one eye. He seemed somewhere between distressed and scared, staring up at the other guy stood towering over him who had his brows furrowed and fists clenched. As they sensed the presence of others, however, both of them turned to look at the door. The guy backed away from Vic and approached Kellin and Oli, anger apparently only increasing. Vic scrambled up from the floor and ran to him, reddened eyes with an unpleasant look of complete vulnerability widening as they fell upon Kellin. He quickly looked away and set his sights again on the guy, who Kellin noticed was far taller and stronger-looking than Vic. Had he hurt him?

Oli looked uncomfortable at the prospect of confrontation, but was spurred on to stand his ground by the terrified look in Vic’s eyes. He almost flinched back when the other guy stepped forwards, but instead modified his posture. The taller guy opened his mouth, but Vic threw himself forwards. All essence of carelessness had seemingly been abandoned as a distressed sob rose in his throat.
“Mike, please--” he choked out, but the taller guy - Mike - threw an arm out behind him. Kellin and Oli moved suddenly, assuming he was going to hit Vic, but stopped in their actions when Mike’s arm instead pulled Vic behind him in what seemed to be a protective action rather than a violent one. Vic began crying again as his apparent distress spiked, putting a hand to his mouth in an attempt to muffle his sobs. Mike did not move away from his protective stance in front of Vic, but squared up again. His actions went uninterrupted and Kellin was struggling to read the situation. He didn’t know what he was about to do, but his mind stopped as Mike opened his mouth.

“Look,” he hissed venomously, glare directed at Kellin but eyes occasionally drifting to Oli, “You’re not fucking funny, alright?”
Kellin let his guard down, completely confused. If the guy wanted to talk, he supposed he couldn’t exactly fight without knowing the context.
“What’re you talking about?”
Mike’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“You know exactly what I’m fucking talking about. Your fake niceness isn’t fooling anybody, especially not me. If you think you’re gonna be able to manipulate my brother and hurt him like that, you’ve got another thing coming. So back off, alright?”

Genuinely confused, Kellin backed off. “I...look, I dunno what you think or what people’ve told you, but I don’t have any ill intentions. Like, at all. I swear--”
For the first time, Mike stepped forwards and left Vic standing unprotected a little way behind him. “Yeah,” he hissed, close to Kellin’s face, “Totally believable. Don’t think people didn’t warn me about you and your fucking friends, Quinn. Leave Vic the fuck alone.”
With that, he turned back and took Vic gently by the hand, eyes softening when they met his brother’s. He pushed past Kellin, avoiding any confrontation with Oli, and made sure Vic was back inside before he turned to glower murderously at Kellin. He turned and shut the door silently behind him. Kellin and Oli were left silent and shellshocked. Since he apparently knew more about the situation, Oli turned questioningly to Kellin.
“What the fuck was that?”
Still staring wide-eyed at the shut door, Kellin slowly shook his head. “I d--I have no fucking idea, dude. I don’t even know what I did.”
“He seemed to think you were bullying Vic; all you did was say hi to him in class. The fuck’s this dude on?”
“Wait, he said brother, didn’t he? He said Vic was his brother. Is he just like, an overprotective older brother or something?” Kellin questioned.
“You’d think he’d want his brother to make friends, wouldn’t you? What’s he got against you, since he must’ve just moved here the same time Vic did?””
“‘Don’t think people didn’t warn me about you’...people warned him about me. He thinks I’m gonna hurt Vic.” Kellin felt his stomach drop. “I--shit, dude, people warned him about me. He..everyone thinks I’m a total asshole. I’m not, am I? Do I bully anyone? Shit, dude, fuck, what if I actually am that bad--”
Oli cut him off, “You’re not, mate, I promise. ‘S just the others, y’know? Everyone thinks we’re like them ‘cause we hang out with ‘em.”
Kellin sighed. The bad reputation of him and his friends was hardly a secret to him or anyone, but he still despised it. It had gone too far for him to back out now, everyone either feared or hated him, and he knew that he either remained with his current ‘friends’ or lived out the remainder of his high school days alone and hated. The choice was unpleasant but obvious.

“I hate them,” Kellin said suddenly. The outburst was completely out of context, but Oli seemed to understand. “I hate them so much. They’re assholes and they’re heartless and I’d do anything to get back every fucking second I wasted on them, but now it’s too late and we’re both trapped here. I wanna say they ruined us, but fuck, dude; we ruined ourselves.”