My Dark Strange Son-Part 4
Hey, you can tell what part this is at the top :D
Virgil woke up, finding it hard to get out of bed. It almost felt like there was no point in going to school. He had never cared about having friends; he was perfectly fine being an introvert with no friends. But now, having someone actually show interest in being his friend, it made him feel..different. And he had to go and ruin his one chance at having a friend.
He finally pushed the covers off of him, rotating his legs over the side of the bed. He let out a loud yawn and stretched. He stands up and grabs a set of clothes, then heads for the bathroom. After changing and applying his makeup, he heads downstairs, greeting his parents with a nod. He sleepily poured his cereal and milk into a bowl and sat down to eat.
“You’re a confusing kid, Virgil.” Patton points out. Virgil lets out an inquisitive hum. “Your attitude just seems..different lately. What changed?” Virgil swallows the cereal that was in his mouth and looks at his father. “I..uh..it’s a bit confusing. You know, teenager stuff.” Patton looks over at Logan. “You hear that? He’s a teenager now. We’re losing our baby.” Patton says in an over-dramatic way. Logan rolls his eyes with a smile. “Hey, we used to be teenagers too.” “Yeah..but that felt so much different from raising a teen.” “I think I’m leaving now. All this talk of you two being teens.” Virgil then gags. His parents laugh and Virgil takes his bowl to the sink.
Virgil heads out, having been getting into a habit of walking to school. It was probably good for him, he had decided. Upon getting to the school, he gets a sick feeling in his stomach that he couldn’t describe. He brushed it off as being dread, stepping into the school. He makes his way to his locker and looks around, almost hoping to, yet dreading, seeing Roman. When English rolled around, Virgil quickly got there before anyone else did and sat in the back. The day after the incident, Virgil was relieved to see Roman had shown up to class. Virgil, of course, didn’t speak to him, his social anxiety getting the better of him. And that’s how it’d been for the past couple months. Making his way to each class, avoiding speaking to this person he barely new, yet already cared about the opinion of so dearly.
Roman had gotten back into what Virgil assumed was his regular attitude. It was hard to tell if it was genuine or just an act. But today as Roman entered the classroom, he appeared a bit disheveled with glassy eyes. Virgil watched as Roman walked across the classroom, sat in his desk, and put his face in his hands. Virgil was confused, but decided to ignore it for the time being. The classroom began to fill up, and class finally started.
The teacher said all the normal stuff and got to talking about what they would be working on. “So, we’ll be doing a partner project for the next couple of weeks.” Virgil’s eyes widened at the word partner. As if reading Virgil’s mind, she went on. “And yes, you need to have a partner. If you don’t, you will get a zero. Anyways, the project is about Romeo and Juliet. You can make a video, powerpoint, poster, whatever creative thing you can think to do about Romeo and Juliet.” Virgil saw each of the other kids look in the direction of their friends, all knowing who they’ll choose. Virgil sighed and shook his head, not liking the idea of having to work with someone. He worked better alone, after all.
“Now, I’ll give you a few minutes to get a partner. If you don’t have one, I’ll pick one out for you.” Virgil sat there as everyone else got into groups, rolling his eyes at their immediate gossiping. He looked around, seeing that almost everyone had a partner. Only a few other students didn’t, one of them being Roman. Virgil silently hoped that he wouldn’t end up as Roman’s partner.
“Alright.” The teacher began. “Angela and Benjamin. Nancy and Rachel. And Roman and..” Virgil tried to hide in the back, hoping he wouldn’t be noticed. But of course, she spotted him. “Virgil! You’re partners with Roman.” Virgil stared at her for a few seconds, not believing his ears. He couldn’t be partners with Roman, he probably hated him at this point.
Mrs. Scarlett told everyone to get in there groups as she went to sit at her desk. Virgil started to panic. He put his head on his desk until he heard a chair move next to him. He slowly lifted his head, now face to face with a glaring Roman. “Why didn’t you just get another partner?” Both boys ask at the same time. “Hey, I’m not the popular one.”, Virgil said, annoyance hinted in his voice. “I..um..I’m not that popular. I just..treat everyone like a friend.” Virgil scoffs. “Like hell you do.” “Hey, my anger towards you is all your fault.” Roman motions towards the dark clad teenager. Virgil lets out and loud annoyed sigh. “Let’s just get on with this project.” Virgil huffs. “Any ideas?” “Well, I did want to record a scene from the play..” Roman mumbles. Virgil raises an eyebrow. “Hell no. Nothing that involves acting.”
Roman sighs. “It was just a thought. What did you have in mind?” Virgil contemplates for a second. What does he want to do with this project? He suddenly had a perfect idea. “What if..we wrote a paper or something about a what if scenario?” Virgil immediately saw a glint in Roman’s eyes as he said this. “That’s..actually not a terrible idea. It could be, what if the Juliet’s plan would have worked out? What if the two lovers ran away together? What if-?” Virgil cut him off. “No, no. What if the story had taken place in the 21st century?” “There’s already a rendition of that-” “I know, I know. But we could make it our own!” Saying ‘our’ felt weird to Virgil. Almost everything in his life thus far had been his. But having another person to have something with..that was an odd thought.