Mailboxes and Park Benches ~A Ftm story~

Chapter 12

On Tuesday Luke sat down next to Matt on the bus. They smiled at each other. The other day Matt hadn't wanted to talk so instead he pressed Luke to talk about Ryan. He struggled not to break down in smiles and giggles (though failing) as he talked and blushed. After that Luke had gone home and gotten some rest. He knew there was still so much going on and so much more to do but he could finally sleep after a long time, knowing everything was going better now. He would have to face Ryan today but he was cool with Matt, who was also going to explain everything to their friends. Although they hadn't seen each other for so long, they talked like they normally did. They had known each other practically their whole lives after all. The bus road along the street, stopping occasionally to pick up more people. Soon it finally arrived at the school and stopped with a screeching sound. Kids rushed off the bus, chattering loudly and laughing with each other. Matt and Luke smiled at each other again. It was nice for everything to be back to normal. They waited for everyone else to get off the bus and finally stood up. They moved along with the rest of the crowd down hallways until they were to their classroom. When they arrived, Chris and Alex were already sitting next to each other, huddled over Chris' notes and talking. Luke and Matt sat down next to them and they looked up.
"Oh. Hey, Luke." Chris said in surprise.
"Hey." He said, trying to sound normal.
"We're cool now." Matt summarized, looking over at him.
"We'll tell you later." He said and shifted in his chair to unzip his backpack.
"Oh. Cool. Well that was quick. Welcome back, Luke." Alex smiled at him and he smiled back, his heart full of love for his friends. They looked up at the board as the teacher walked in, though they chatted in quiet whispers for most of the class. In the rest of their classes, Luke and Matt summarized the same thing to the rest of their friends. And in every class the teachers had to tell them multiple times to stop talking. Luke couldn't help but smile. He didn't realize how much he had missed them. Finally, after many classes of teachers getting annoyed at Luke and his friends, it was lunch. Luke stood by the door as the bell rang and Matt walked over to him, flinging his backpack across his back. Luke smiled and Matt laughed a bit, they were both thinking of that day in the lunch line when Matt was giving Luke shit about not waiting for him.
"Are you ready now, royal prince? I will be your escort."
"Oh shut up." Matt laughed. They left the classroom and walked down the halls to the lunch room. As Luke joined the lunch line, Matt hesitated by the door.
"You sure your not going to leave us?"
"One time." Luke reminded him but in a friendly way.
"I'll come to the table once I've gotten Ryan."
"I'm excited to meet her." Matt smiled mischievously at Luke, who punched him playfully in the shoulder.
"We're not dating."
"Mmhm. Ok." Luke rolled his eyes and moved on with the line, Matt strode out the door, heading to their table. Luke sighed. This was going to be really awkward but he had to get himself together. He wasn't about to go leaving another friend behind. The line moved along quicker then Luke found comfortable and eventually he gripped his tray firmly in his hands. He looked to the corner instinctively, as if Ryan might not be there but sure enough she was sitting, chewing on a slice of cheese pizza. He took a deep breath and walked over. He felt as if he were meeting her all over again. When he got to the table he set down the tray and sat next to Ryan in his usual spot.
"Hey." He said awkwardly. Ryan smiled.
"Hi, Luke. I'm glad to see you."
"I'm glad to see you to! Um... so I have something to tell you. It's nothing big. Just that when we met I kind of had some sort of argument thing with my friends. We haven't spoken since then. Well until yesterday. I was walking home and well a thing happened and we talked and... see the point is I want you to meet them." Luke thought about Hunter but brushed it off. She didn't need to know about that. At least not right now.
"Of course, dude! And well I'm sorry if I got between your friend ships."
"Oh no no no. Nothing was your fault. It's honestly all just stupid misunderstandings and stuff."
"Ok good."
"Yea. So do you want to go now?"
"Sure. I can't wait to meet them."
"Right." Luke picked himself up from the table and Ryan followed. They picked up their trays and Luke led them through seas of students.
"So there's Chris. He's really tall and has long hair and likes metal. Then there's Alex. She has a lot of piercings and half of her head is shaved and she's basically the queen of punk rock. There's Ashley. She's really goth. And James he's an innocent cinnamon roll emo child. Victor's basically a drag queen. And Matt. Matt was my friend sense basically forever." Soon they arrived at the table and the group turned to look at them.
"Luke!"
"Hey guys. Um. This is Ryan." Ryan waved awkwardly.
"And Ryan. This is Chris, James, Alex, Ashley, Matt, and Victor." He pointed at each one in turn. They waved and gave her friendly smiles.
"Hi" she said quietly and waved with an awkward smile.
"Welcome to the fucking weirdos. We're all alternative peeps here. So let me ask you. Emo, scene, goth, punk, metalhead?" Ashley sat on the table, leaning back on her hands. She was wearing fish net leggings and ripped black jean- shorts with platform boots. She wore a studded belt and a shirt with mini pentagrams and skeletons. Her fingernails were painted black on hands that bragged worn black fingerless gloves that reached up to her elbows. Hey eyes were dark with eyeliner and her hair laid out in black waves over her.
"Um. Emo." Ryan answered, seeming to admire her clothing choices.
"Nice. Goth here if you couldn't tell."
"I could." Ryan responding, glancing at Luke, who smiled back at her. Alex got up from the bench that was connected to the table and walked over to Ryan.
"Aww. Your a little muffin." She swept aside a strand of hair in Ryan's face with curiosity. Ryan looked a little bit confused.
"Alex don't be weird. Sorry Ryan. She's like that." Ryan couldn't help but laugh and Alex blushed.
"Your a muffin to. I like your hair."
"I like your shirt." Alex nodded in approval at Ryan's "As it is" shirt.
"Well I like your piercings." Alex looked at Ryan competitively.
"I like your fucking existence, wanna go?"
"K Alex, chill." Luke chuckled and Ryan burst into laughter.
"K yea chill you won." Ryan grinned widely at Alex, who raised her arms triumphantly.
"Nice to meet you, Ryan." Victor took Alex's place. His face was covered in makeup. He always wore a different, unique outfit every day. Today his lips were light blue and the skin around his eyes was pale white. His white hair was like snow. He had on light blue fish net elbow length gloves and a whitish blue crop top. He was wearing blue leggings with blue short shorts and light blue converse.
"Nice to meet you too. Your very... blue."
"Thank you." Victor said confidently. He gave her a respectful, majestic look.
"Your welcome. Do you do your makeup?"
"Who else would? My mom?"
"I don't know maybe..."
"Oh honey, no." Victor smiled.
"My mom can't put on makeup quite like I can. Maybe that's why she hates it." Victor smirked, not seeming to care a single bit of what sounded like a disapproving mother.
"How could you hate it? Your flawless. I don't think anyone could do makeup like that. I mean I know nothing about makeup but still."
"No no. Your right. I'm a fucking Queen." Victor struck a dramatic pose.
"You are a Queen." Ryan laughed and bowed a tiny bit.
"Thank you, darling."
"I'm Chris. I mean Luke already said that but I mean hi." Chris walked over, pushing a strand of long brown hair out of his face. He was wearing an Iron Maiden shirt, multiple studded bracelets, skinny jeans and plain black converse.
"Hi. I like your shirt."
"Thanks. You like metal?"
"Of course. Motionless In White?"
"Yup."
"Asking Alexandria?"
"A bit. Suicide Silence?"
"Hell yes." Chris smiled.
"Nice. Hey James where are you?" Chris called out softly.
"Hi." James peaked out from the back of the table shyly.
"Ryan's really cool." Chris told him.
"Oh hi. Fellow emo?"
"Hi. Yea."
"So I assume you like Mcr?"
"Of course!"
"And Alesana?"
"Yup."
"From First to Last?"
"Well kind of."
"What about Get Scared?"
"Yea. Well except for..."
"Yea..."
"That... album."
"Yea..." James made a face.
"Do you like Panic! and that... area... of emo?" Ryan asked.
"I appreciate it. But I prefer the more Metalcore and post hardcore stuff like Alesana."
"Reasonable. I love it all honestly."
"Your really cool." James smiled.
"You are too." Ryan looked over at Luke who was talking with Matt. She walked over.
"Oh hi, Ryan." Matt said and Luke gave him an annoyed look. They all continued to talk (mainly about bands) and bond. Ryan felt so apart of something. Luke was glad he could introduce all of them. It was like combining two different words. Everything felt so perfect.