Second Chance

It was around...maybe 2 PM right now; only one more hour to go. A glance at the clock told Rin that he was right, it was only about one hour before school let out. He would have taken out his phone to check instead, but he had already been caught by the teacher three times this week and he wasn't about to risk his phone being taken away. It's not like it really mattered anyway. It was Friday and there wasn't like the teacher could do much since he would just be getting it back within an hour.

To pass the time, Rin glanced down at his notebook and started doodling. The teacher was having them work on their homework for the weekend with the last hour of class, but Rin didn't have that much and he didn't feel like doing it anyway. Whatever homework he had on weekends he usually just did it on Sundays or half of it when he got home and the rest on Sunday. It all depended on how he was feeling at the time. He had plans for tonight so he wasn't going to worry about it right now.

Rin jumped when the bell starting ringing then sighed in relief. All the students were already piling out but he was taking his time. He was going to end up getting caught in student traffic anyway so he might as well just hang back and not get cramped. He had already gotten squished on multiple occasions due to his height so he was going to prevent that as often as he could. They were all heading to the same place regardless of who got out first. However, he didn't have to worry about waiting for the bus. His best friend, Blair, was going to be taking him home.

Rin and Blair had been friends since their young elementary school years. At first, Rin didn't really like her because she was a girl and all boys know that girls had cooties. But he slowly started to like her more and more but only as a friend. Blair was in fact the first one who asked if he was gay. She had known him her whole life, basically, so it was only natural when she started to wonder why Rin acted a little differently around certain guys but never with girls.

The whole 'gay thing' didn't really bother Rin that much. Instead of the whole cliche 'you're a disgrace to the family' or 'lets make fun of the gay kid at school', no one really cared. Rin had always been picked on for his small appearance, Japanese heritage, and shyness, but not to the point of hardcore bullying. Most of the kids were starting to grow up by senior year anyway and cared more about what they were going to do instead of some gay kids dilemma. His parents were cool with it. As long as his 'grades didn't drop' and he kept his door open when he had a guy over, they didn't care. They treated him the same as they had always treated him. The only person who really teased him about it was Blair and that's because she had the right to.

"Hey Rin! Hurry up! You're taking forever~!" Blair called as she poked her head into the classroom with a grin on her face.

As she entered high school, Blair had adopted the 'scene girl' style but was still herself. She had a punk, yet girly, style and had long brown hair with random highlights of blue throughout it. Her hair was also cut with layers had had a side-swept bang across her left eye. Rin, on the other hand, was just himself. He didn't really have a style, unless you counted jeans and t-shirts and the occasional cargo shorts. Blair always told him he needed to spice up his style, but he didn't really feel like it.

Rin rolled his eyes and stole the gray slouch beanie on top of her head and placed it onto his own. "Shut up. Why are you in such a rush anyway? We're not going to be leaving until around 7 PM."

Blair gave a mock huff and crossed her arms. "Because I want to be lazy for a few hours that's why. And I'm ready to get out of this school. Being trapped in a room with a lot of people you hate isn't exactly the way I like to spend my days. But that's the price of going to school. If I hadn't come this far, I would drop out."

"You said that in eighth grade and freshman year," Rin said, a sigh to his voice. "I think you just like to complain."

Blair reached out and ruffled Rin's short, light blond hair, which also caused the beanie to almost fall off. "And I think you're a little shit but I love you anyway."

Rin scowled, fixing the beanie on his head before pulling his messenger bag up higher. "Yeah, yeah. So what are we going to go see?"

Their plans for tonight were innocent, no drinking or anything going on. It was just going to be Rin and a few of their other friends staying over at Blair's house after they go to the theater for a movie. Dont get him wrong, Rin was grateful for his life and how easy going it was, but he had always wanted more out of it. He could travel if he really wanted to and go to a college out of state, but that was something a lot of people did.

"No Escape! I cant wait to see it. One of my friends saw it last week and said it was really good and intense. So make sure you meet me at my place an hour early and no later!" Blair said, swinging her bag back and forth.

Rin rolled his eyes. "I'll try but knowing you want me to get there at that time is just going to make me want to take my time even more. But I'll see what I can do; just for my bff."

Once they got to Blair's car, Rin tossed his messenger bag into the backseat with Blair's backpack then hopped into the passenger seat. Blair's music immediately started playing from her car, since she had her phone connected to the car, as soon as she got in and started the car up. "Seat-belt child," she chided as she pulled her own seat belt on.

"Yes mother," Rin mumbled, tugging at his seat-belt and getting comfortable as Blair pulled out of the school.

As Rin relaxed in the car and Blair drove, he couldn't help but feel like he was being stared at. He glanced at Blair, but she was focused on the road and singing, badly, to herself. Rin furrowed his eyebrows as he glanced out of the window. Nothing was there besides people and trees going by. But the hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up and he just couldn't help but think that there was someone watching him. It was a weird, creepy feeling and Rin didn't like it. He nibbled on his lip as he turned back around in his seat so he was facing the front and tried to ignore the feeling.

Finally, they arrived at Rin's house but that feeling was still there. "I'll see you later Blair," he said as he hopped out of her car. "And don't worry. I swear I'll be there."

He couldn't help but chuckle at the pout on her face as he shut the door and headed up to the front door. He could hear her driving away behind him, but he didn't look back to see her leave. Rin just really wanted to get away from that feeling. His heart was pounding so hard he thought it might burst from his chest. It was enough to make Rin shudder as he traveled up the stairs and to his room. His parents weren't home yet and wouldn't be here until around 5 PM. Just great. Even behind his closed bedroom door, he could still feel those eyes on him.

"There's nothing there," Rin told himself as he looked around his room. It was one of those feelings you get when you're alone and you feel like something is watching you and if you ran the feeling just got worse. Sighing, Rin laid back on his bed to try to relax and turned Netflix on, trying everything he could to ignore the feeling of being watched.

The only sound in the house was the sound of the TV in one of the upstairs bedrooms, which was currently playing an episode of Jessica Jones. Rin decided to do a binge watching spree while he waited until it was time to leave to go see his friends. With how long these episodes were, it would make time fly by; and it helped that the episodes didn't seem as long as they were as well. Not only that, but it helped Rin to forget about the feeling of being watched. The hair on the back of his neck was still standing on end and frankly it was starting to get on his nerves.

He huffed and looked around but once again didn't see anything. Rin rolled his eyes at himself before turning back to look at the screen. In a way, he wished he was like Jessica Jones. She was badass and had that 'fuck it' attitude but you could tell she cared about others in her actions. After all, action speaks louder than words. Plus, it'd be pretty cool to be a super hero. Or an anti-hero. At least then, Rin would feel like his life had some kind of purpose. Right now, he felt like he was just going through the motions of life. Most people were discovering their talents or knew what they wanted to do with their lives but Rin didn't. Every time his family brought it up he just shrugged it off and told them he hadn't thought of it yet.

Groaning, Rin rolled over and grabbed his Iphone off the charger and checked his messages. He had a couple, one from Blair and another one from Leo and two from Abigail. Abigail and Leo were siblings, Leo being the oldest and both close friends of Rin's. Embarrassingly, Rin used to have a crush on Leo but he got over that a long time ago. To be honest, it was a little hard to be close to him because no matter how hard he tried, there was still a piece of him that liked Leo and he hated that. But it was easier to ignore it than it used to be.

Rin blinked when he heard the downstairs door open and voices float up to his room; he guessed his parents were home. And just like that, the feeling he had had since leaving school was gone. Weird, but Rin didnt bother trying to make sense of it. Rin glanced up when he heard his mother calling. His door was open so he could hear her just fine. “Rin, your father and I are going out for a little bit. We'll be home a little later okay?”

“Yeah, okay! I'll be fine, I'm going over to Blair's later anyway!”

“That's fine, just keep your location on!” his mother called back before he heard the door opening and closing again, signaling their leave.

Ironically enough, as soon as he heard the car drive off, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. The feeling of being watched was back again. “Screw it,” he grumbled irritably to himself as he stood up from his bed. “I'm getting a shower.” Might as well get ready to leave now. If it meant that feeling would go away if he was around his friends, he was willing to get there early. He just wanted this uncomfortable feeling to stop.