#bertdidit

Edit Your Friends - Deadmau5

They'd always been… alright with each other in high school. Aware of each other. Wills was never the type to go out of his way to make new friends, so their circles never really collided except for a few conversations every now and then. That isn't to say he didn't like him-- no, Wills thought he was a pretty cool guy-- but he was usually so occupied with his own business that he didn't stop to get to know him.

Odd, then, that they would end up at the same college without realizing it. Even then it was just a few conversations here and there, idle waves when they made eye contact across campus, although Wills actually did want to sit down and talk to the guy this time around. It was strange to see the way they evolved outside of Lakeview, and he found himself curious. While he didn't miss the place one bit, Bert was still someone he could relate to.

Sometime around their junior year, they just so happened to be in the same Biology class. Wills didn't know anyone else, so it only made sense that he'd partner up with Bert on the first day. Every day he got to know the guy a little better; he was a psychology major and on the baseball team. He had a girlfriend of a year or so, but they were in an awkward period between casual and serious and Bert didn't know how to navigate it. And, of course, he had friends around the school-- people he took very seriously, yet every now and then they didn't take him seriously. Flaky, so to speak.

So when he seemed particularly disappointed that they'd all bailed on some plans to party last minute, Wills found himself volunteering to go in their place. The look on Bert's face was hesitant, perhaps a little wary, but eventually he grinned. "Why the fuck not?"

The night was dull at first; they casually bar-hopped and Wills was starting to think the idea was a failure. It was strange-- he was just as worked up when he was trying to make a friend as he was when he was around a girl he liked. It wasn't until they'd both had a few drinks that he loosened up, though perhaps both of them… overcompensated. Within an hour they were both trashed out of their minds, obnoxious and perhaps a little too flirtatious with the girls around-- until eventually Bert flirted with the wrong girl and Wills found himself jumping into his first bar fight. Three bruises and a pair of handcuffs later, he found himself on the floor of the local jail with his new friend.

It was quiet for a while; Wills brewed in his guilt, as he felt he was partly to blame for this whole debacle. But eventually Bert started to laugh and he chimed right in, still pretty intoxicated. It took a long time for them to regain their composure, but once they did, Bert shook his head.

"I sure as hell hope we remember this tomorrow."

Wills raised his eyebrows, certain that it'd be difficult to forget. "Why haven't we done this before?" He asked after a few beats, laughing to himself.

"I dunno, man, but it's gotta happen again," Bert replied, pressing a finger to his fresh black eye and wincing.

"Next week?"

Song Against Sex - Neutral Milk Hotel

At Lakeview, on Tuesday mornings, Shawn had a free hour, and he spent it organising files and stapling papers in the principal’s office. It wasn’t exactly the most thrilling job, but it got him a volunteering hour a week, which looked good on university applications, no matter how bland the volunteering was. That hour wasn’t usually busy - it was just him, the principal’s assistant, Doris, and, behind another door, the man himself - but every once in a while, some kid would get into trouble as early as 8:45 am and wind up sitting on the bench across from the photocopier.

Nine times out of ten, Robert Ridland was on the bench.

They didn’t talk much - sometimes “hello”, not more - and Shawn didn’t hang around the freshmen too much, anyway. He didn’t really have much against them, besides their incapability to go through a week without drama. Most of his classmates would groan and roll their eyes the moment a lowerclassman crossed their paths, but Shawn managed to tolerate them just a bit more than that.

Every time Bert went in, Shawn heard the same song and dance through the door (the walls were paper thin): Bert didn’t do it, someone said he’d done it, et cetera.