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“Hey man, what’s your schedule like?” JD asks.
Fred reaches behind his chair and digs through his bag that’s already managed to become an unorganized mess. He eventually pulls a crumpled piece of paper out.
“Today I’ve got home room, obviously. And next I’ve got art with Wes, A lunch, statistics, and then film.”
“How do you already know you’ve got class with Wes? And why the fuck are you taking statistics?” Jon jabs.
“We carpooled. His truck stopped starting up last week, remember? And why the fuck are you taking pre-calc?” Fred shoots back.
“Whatever man fuck off,” JD swats at Fred and leans back in his chair. He doesn’t know why he chose pre-calc either. “We have the same lunch for today too.”
The teacher calls for attention and class officially begins. Fred spaces out for most of the class, messing with Jon every once in a while to temporarily tame his boredom. Class drags on for another 80 minutes and when the bell finally rings, Fred is more than happy to bolt out of the classroom after promising to meet up with JD at lunch. He heads down the hall and trudges down the stairs, heading toward the art hallway.
Fred reaches the bottom floor and while paying far too much attention to the dizzying pattern on the carpet, runs into someone else. He stumbles momentarily back and is about to chew the guy out before he realizes who it is.
“Oh, hi Wes.”
Wes quickly turns, his body tense before recognizing his assailant. “Man what the fuck- oh. Hi Fred!”
They loiter in the hallway for a while, talking about their home room classes until the bell is about to ring. They rush to the art room, Wes pulling Fred alone, he’s always been markedly proud of his good attendance.
“I was almost able to forget how bitchy Mrs. Johnson is” Wes complains as he walks into the classroom, “that woman won’t let anything go. I was an asshole freshman year, I get it, but let it go man!”
“I’m glad I was able to avoid her history class, she’s a bitch” Fred agrees, taking a seat at a table in the back of the room. The bell rings shortly after they settle into their seats and the teacher jumps into the lesson after attendance.
“Good morning everyone and welcome to intermediate 2D art! We are going to start with a simple assignment to get us into the flow of the classroom. I want you to draw the person sitting across from you!”
Fred’s eyes immediately shoot up to Wes’ face and he gets a groan in return.
“This is going to be the best portrait ever,” Fred beams. He grabs his pencil and eagerly begins sketching on the paper.
“Whatever you say dude,” Wes laughs, his pen dragging smoothly over the paper.
They draw for a while, Fred forcing Wes to look at him straight on so he can get his features right, then going back to erratically drawing. He’s putting on a bit of a show, he isn’t exactly trying his best. It’s just a filler art assignment that won’t matter in the long run so he might as well have fun with it.
Fred wouldn’t describe himself as a bad artists, not really, but he’s always preferred tattooing (which he can’t really say he’s good at either. Head is still mad about that dumb tramp stamp Fred gave him) to just plain pen and paper. His work is almost always lackluster compared to Wes’ unique style and craftsmanship. Though, he doesn’t like to compare himself, his art has its own charm for what it’s worth.
“So, Wesley, wanna hang out after school?” Fred asks. He’s just lazily doodling on the side of his paper now, growing bored of the portrait.
“Sure, I don’t have to be home until later. Anything in mind?” Wes says, still engulfed in his drawing.
“I was hoping we could go to a skatepark or something, ask around at lunch and see if anyone else wants to join, I’m sure Jon will want to tag along.” Fred has been itching to go to the skatepark with everyone again. It’s hard to get everyone together, summer jobs and families keep schedules hard to sync up.
“I’m down if you are” Wes shrugs.
They lull in and out of conversation, talking about whatever until it’s the last ten minutes of class and they’re instructed to clean up and show their partner their drawings. Fred turns his paper around to face Wes with an over exaggerating smile.
The drawing isn’t good, Fred is fine saying that. It’s crude on purpose, the whole face is a little fucked up all over. The nose is too big, ears comically large, and hair overly spikey.
“It could replace the Mona Lisa,” Fred boasts sarcastically.
Wes laughs loudly and holds the drawing up in front of him. “Yeah, I can see it hanging front and center in the Louvre,” he smiles.
Wes’ drawing is cute, to say the least. It’s a nice drawing of Fred with clean lines and simple shading, he really likes it. He puts it carefully between two notebooks in his bag, hoping it will withstand the hurricane that is his backpack.
They finish clearing off the table and hang around by the door until the bell rings. They push through the crowded hallways and make their way to the cafeteria. It’s a short walk and once they get there they stand dumbly in the middle of the room, hoping to find someone they recognize among the crowd of buzzing students.
Wes is on his third full spin around before he finally recognizes a head full of braids sitting near the back of the room. He punches Fred, who is facing the other way and standing on his tip-toes to get a better scan of the room, and doesn’t wait for him to respond before walking toward the table.
The round table with seven seats is already almost full, with two spots conveniently left empty. Wes tosses his bag under the table and slumps down, Fred following close behind.
Jon, Head (who had caught Wes’ eye from across the room), Lethal, Chino, and Serj were already poking at their lunch trays and talking.
“Man not having a car is becoming a pain in the ass, the bus is so crowded and carrying around my skateboard at school gets real fucking annoying,” Chino complains to the group, adding on to whatever conversation was already taking place.
“Speaking of, anyone trying to hit the skatepark with Wes and I after school” Fred interjects.
“Hell yes, I’d rather die than go home and do nothing all evening,” JD says. Head nods in agreement, solidifying his spot as well.
“Sure I’m down, I don’t work tonight,” Chino agrees.
“Ugh, I do. Next time I’ll come though,” Serj groans. Lethal says the same thing.
“Maybe I’ll ask Lynn to come too, I think we have a class together today,” Wes suggests.
“Sounds good to me, let’s meet at 3:30,” Fred concludes. After that they Fred eats his sandwich while they talk about their previous classes, complaining about teachers and stupid ice breaker questions.
Lunch ends and Fred goes about the rest of the school day dutifully, dragging himself through each class and waiting for the sweet sound of the dismissal bell. When 3:00 finally hits waves of student pour out of the exits.
Wes is already waiting by Fred’s car, waving goodbye to Lynn Straight when Fred walks up.
“I’ll swing by my house first to put my shit away and grab my board, then your place,” Fred says, climbing into the drivers seat.
Wes nods and takes his place in the passenger side, popping in a new CD and cranking the volume.
After the short drive to his house, Fred hops out of the car. With his backpack in hand he runs into the house and once in his room he tosses his backpack onto the bed carelessly and grabs his skateboard.
Fred pauses as he’s about to leave again and considers his backpack. Quickly, he digs through it and grabs a piece of paper from it.
He pins Wes’ art on a cork board above his bed, right next to all the others and bolts out of his room and back to the car.
Later, after the skatepark and impromptu gas station run, Wes will put Fred’s portrait in the box holding all the other art he’s been gifted.