ᴛᴏᴜʀɴɪ !

my friends call me a loser.

cuz i’m still hanging around.

i’ve heard so many rumors,

that I’m just a girl that you bang on your couch.

laurance zvahl hadn’t had the best life; but he had made a turn for the best. to new friends, he had everything.

captain of the soccer team,

beautiful brown hair,

tan skin,

baby blue eyes,

he made a name for himself. a flirt, a womanizer. nothing like his previous self; which he was ever so appreciative for. because there was a beauty in forgetting himself.

there was beauty in the riddance of the rage that consumed him looking in that mirror; seeing himself. seeing the man he hated, every single day. and now, he didn’t have to do it anymore. he was a new person and a fucking special one at that.

for once, he was special. he was happy. he was okay. from the outside, that was.

and there was one person who hated the fact. gene saab. not purely the fact that laurance was popular now; as much as they did hate it, nothing can top the hatred of laurance changing himself.

because completely overnight, when everything was fine, laurance left all his old friends behind. the people he knew at meteli. the boyfriend he had, gene.

the only thing that was the same about laurance was the man’s name- nothing else. different hair, different voice, different eye color. everything with laurance was fabricated.

gene and the rest of the shadow-knights were laurance’s old friends. they were trouble makers, rebels, rule breakers. they drank alcohol and did drugs. and, well, that was the reason laurance left. he saw them do it, didn’t agree with it, and left.

ོ — — — — — — — — 𓅪

garroth ro’meave was known for a few things. being amazing at baseball, his fluffy blonde hair, his charming face.

and being laurance zvhal’s best friend. they were everywhere together. they supported eachother at their respected games, posted eachother on their social media stories. even outside of school, they were together.

laurance zvahl was everything garroth wanted to be. see, laurance was so unapologetically himself. he didn’t have footsteps to fill, was capable of being independent, had a beautiful laugh and a beautiful face and- well. open.

for example, everyone knows that laurance is bisexual. his family, other students, all of them. and no one cares, people still love him. he’s so openly atheist and garroth- fuck- he wants that, in a sense.

not in the sense that garroth was gay; but in the sense that he knew if he was, he’d be no where as close to as accepted as laurance is. or, that’s what runs through his head.

garroth ro’meave is straight.

garroth could tell that there was more beneath that smile; and as their friendship continued on he was able to tell. when laurance would have a bad day, when something was going on, when he drank.

when gene messages him.

i thought, you thought of me better.

someone you couldn’t lose.

you said, “we’re not together,”

so now when we kiss, i have anger issues.

it was funny because, garroth romeave was everything laurance wanted to be too. a good kid, religious and obedient. fuck, he had money. a loving family. many things laurance grew up without. sure, he’s got the best adoptive family now. but there was a time he didn’t have that.

there was a time where he didn’t have a warm home, a stable home, or a fucking roof over his head. even now, he wasn’t the most well off. especially not compared to garroth.

new meteli highschool was nothing like pheonix drop high. pheonix drop was bubbly, colorful. the teachers were passionate, the staff cared.

meteli was known for its students reckless behavior. skipping classes was normal. laurance remembers throwing pencils into the ceilings and nothing being done about it.

on a more serious matter, he remembers the bullying. the peer pressure. the words. the amount of lives that school lost because of the principals lack of action about the bullying.

it was bad. laurance hated every single day there. it sent him into some deep, dark things. maybe things he will never recover from.

ོ — — — — — — — — 𓅪

the classical music rang in his ears nearly as much as the forks and knives clashing around him. this was not what he was used to.

the table cloths were so perfectly white, plates and silverware aligned in the perfect spot to a t, and everyone at the other tables were dressed like they were made of money.

except for garroth. in his stupid, unbuttoned hawaiian shirt, white tank top and khakis. fucking khakis.

zianna and garte screamed elegant- their clothes were a huge middle finger to laurance’s bank account. they probably costed more than a single one of his paychecks.

and then there was laurance- who was gripping his ripped jeans so hard the rips would most likely expand. garroth didn’t tell him where they were going. so he showed up in ripped jeans, a striped t shirt, and converse. that’s literally cracker barrel behavior right there.

zane being dressed emo was the only thing saving him from complete embarrassment right now.

“laurance, dear, do you want any appetizers?” zianna’s sweet voice ran through the table.

laurance’s head bolted up, and he looked down at the menu- back at her, before responding.

“no, i think ill be good.” he says, smiling quickly. where both garroth and zane had soda’s, he had a water. with lemon. garte had a lemonade and zianna had a tea.

“he really likes fried pickles.” garroth says. “and i kind of want some. him and i can share them!”

oh garroth. so excited to share an appetizer with his best friend. an appetizer laurance could not afford.

oh, you should have seen their faces when he asked for water. it was clear garroth knew it was because laurance wasn’t as well off, and tried to gesture to his rich father, but laurance was respectful.

i mean, who just.. gestures to their rich CEO father when something needs paid for? hello??? is anyone there??

“i just.. really like water.” he’d have to say, because now the entire families attention was on him. yup. he just really fucking likes water. that’s it, folks.

he’s not poor, he’s just a big fan of water.

he’s broken out of his thoughts when garte clears his throat to ask him a question.

“i heard you’re the captain of the soccer team. and ive come to a few of your games. garroth talks great about you.” garte says, before sipping his lemonade. god even the way he sips lemonade screams rich.

“well, i played soccer at my old school.” laurance says. “and i was raised on a farm. so endurance and fields is kind of my strong sport,” the brunette chuckles, though nervously cracking his knuckles under the table.

garroth talks great about him. if he weren’t in a public setting, he’d giggle. kick his feet a lil bit. maybe twirl his hair.

but he couldn’t, not now. not here. because right now- he needed to be cool. well, he was good at being cool. but not the rich kid type of cool.

he can’t help but wonder what garroth was saying about him though. did he call him pretty?

“you played soccer at your old school? i thought you were at phoenix drop for a while, considering you’re already captain.” garte says. “what was your old school?”

and there’s a little bit of silence- and laurance looks at garroth, and then back at garte.

how the fuck is he. supposed. to tell. a rich man. he was from. meteli? the worst school in the area.

how was he supposed to tell his best friends parents he was an ex-horrible child at a school that he moved from because he was being so badly bullied that he would rather rip every strand of his hair out individually before he ever stepped foot in there again? and stay a good influence on garroth?

news fucking flash, he wasn’t going to remain a good influence if he did. so quickly, he had to change the subject.

“mr. romeave,” laurance says, before being corrected with a ‘please, garte,’. “the two of you- you and garroth- look so much alike it’s insane. he’s definitely your child, he’s like your carbon copy.” laurance says.

“except garroth can’t grow a beard,” zane says, and it’s genuinely the first thing he’s said this entire night.

speaking of the entire night- the rest of it is akward. it’s so obvious that laurance avoided his question and now he’s pretty sure garte is going to do an intense background check on him when he’s home.

he can’t have garte seeing that. his record might not be bad, but to garroth’s family, it probably means he’s being shunned and going to hell. it’s just.. one or two charges. a few hospital visits.

and he really, really can’t lose garroth.

“i forgot to answer,” he starts. “but i used to go to new meteli central. my farm is in between pheonix drop and meteli, and that’s where my father had me enrolled at.”

it was quiet for a few minutes.

“i’m glad you got out of there.” garte says. “i’ve heard some horrible, terrible things about that school and its students.”

laurance looks at his thighs. there was truly nothing he could say there. whatever he heard, times ten, and it was likely true.

“me too,” he says, and his eyes water a tad, enough for the family to know to change the subject.

a lot of things happened at new meteli central.