Arson Boyfriend // Crankiplier AU

Chapter 1 - I'm Ethan.

*Ethan's POV*

I walked into the front door of my school. My eyelids were heavy as I swept my gaze across the first main hall of this hell hole. The dim sunrise from the foggy, overcast morning snuck into the school through half opened blinds as the main lights flickered. How has this place not gotten shut down yet?

I took a deep breath and began to navigate to my locker. When I got there, I saw my best friend, Mark, leaning against the locker next to mine and looking down at his cracked phone. He wore his dark, shoulder length hair into a messy half up do, so when I looked up I could actually see his eyes. He wore all dark clothing mostly consisting of blacks and maroons, but with some cool patterns sprinkled in there. Overall pretty similar to me.

"Hey." I said as I started to put in the code to my lock.

"Oh hi. You look tired today." He clicked off his phone and turned to face me so now he was leaning on the locker with his left shoulder and not his back.

"You say that every morning." I smiled slightly as I rolled my eyes and started walking to our first class which we shared.

We walked into our first class to see our teacher passed out with her feet up on her desk, drool peeking out the corner of her slightly open mouth. An empty wine bottle laid on the floor by her hand, which dangled from the chair she had fallen asleep in.

"Well," Mark looked at me and put one of his hands on his backpack strap. "Looks like we get another free period today." 

I just nodded slightly in return and walked over to our usual seats.

Some of the other people we knew slowly began to appear in the dim, dusty classroom. The class always seemed to go faster when no one was talking. This was a normal occurrence; finding the teacher in pretty much any first or second period passed out at their desks. They were mostly all alive though. They only died about once or twice a year.

After about 45 minutes the loud siren bell blared over the speakers. We all started to get up to walk out and somehow the teacher still laid there, passed out at her desk.

"How do they not wake up at the first bell? It's so loud it gives me a headache." Mark said while we walked down the hall. Our next classes were right next to each other so we still walked the same way.

"I don't know man. I guess they just drink a hell of a lot and then pass out. It's surprisingly hard to wake up a drunk person."

"Yeah I know. I've been with you when you get drunk." He elbowed me on the shoulder and we parted ways for our next class.

The next class went by slower than ever. This was at least one of my nicer teachers even though she still didn't give a fuck.

About halfway into the class, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I clicked it on under my desk and opened messages to text Mark.

Me: hey do you wanna skip after class? I'm so fucking bored

Mark: sure I'll drive

I rolled my eyes. He knew I didn't have my license and he was the only one with a car and he just said this every time just to rub it in my face.

Me: yeah ik idiot I'll cya after class

I shut off my phone and started mindlessly doodling little cartoons of random people in my notebook. There was only 15 minutes left in my class and I just wanted to go-

No. Not home.

I just wanted to go into the city and hang out with Mark. He's basically my only friend besides that dude who works at the coffee shop and the gas station employee.

I looked over to the clock on the wall. It was hard to read the time because people had made it a fun game to throw rocks at every clock in every classroom, but I had gotten pretty good  at deciphering it through the cracks.

Class ends in 2 minutes. Sweet.

I started to shove my things in my bag and braced myself for the bell.

The loud siren blared over the speakers and before the teacher could say anything everyone in the class was up out of their seats and walking into the hallways.

I walked towards Mark's classroom and saw him come out of the door. 

"Hey, let's go. I parked over here." He pointed towards the main entrance of the school and started walking towards it.

"Okay. Also you need to stop doing that thing where you say you'll drive. You've overused the joke." I looked at him with just my eyes and couldn't hide the small smile that crept onto my lips.

"Okay but I know you think it's funny. Even if it's only a little bit." He smiled and put his hand up with his finger and thumb pinching the air.

I just rolled my eyes, trying to hide my smile. It wasn't even that funny. Why did I have to fake my annoyance?

"Dude, it's actually annoying sometimes." I sped up my pace a little so he couldn't see my face.

I felt a hand fall on my shoulder, slowing me down.

"Hey, hey I'm sorry. It's just a joke. I'll stop." 

I looked back to see his soft expression.

"Are you sure you will? You always say that." He used his grip on my shoulder to turn me to face him completely, and kept his hand there.

"Yes, I will. I promise." He looked me directly in the eyes so I could tell he was sincere. 

I just smiled in return. "Okay, cool. Now let's go get some snacks and hang out. I don't like school."

I turned away and started walking towards his car to which he followed. We got into his beat up red Corolla and drove away.

(A/N) ooooooooh it's me. Keep reading I'm literally working on the next chapter rn. Go drink some water first tho ;))))