Sunset Nights and Midnight Highs

One: New Beginnings

"New beginning."

"This is a new beginning."

"New beginning my ass."

Despite the drastic change in Quinn's life, he could not bring himself to think of any of it in a positive light. The move, the city, the school, the...everything.

He had been moved from his small, quaint, tiny town in the country, to this...

this...

Shithole was the word that came to mind. Looking down the streets provided him with a view of trash, homeless people begging for scraps, and the traffic-bustling roads crowded with annoyed people. Quinn disliked every aspect of moving, despite not having any connection to his hometown.

"Even that was better than this."

At least he had places to go. Areas of the forest he had claimed as his, stores where he could go to just walk around, places to escape.

Here was new.

Here was uninviting.

Here was scary.

He had arrived no less than two hours before, and he already had his whole room unpacked. His tiny bed occupied the cramped corner, the small window above it shining light onto the maroon sheets. A small bookshelf resided on the opposite wall, next to the doorframe. Thick, worn books adorned the squat shelves, psychology scrawled on the spine of every single one of them. Crowded around the shelf and spread out across the floor was an unthinkable amount of art. Tubes of unfinished oil paint, stacks of watercolors, various sizes of canvases, paintbrushes scattered on the floor, pencils in an unorganized pile; just the way he liked it. The only thing coating his grey-blue walls was the occasional Yungblud poster; one of the only artists he listened to. Turning to face the closet, he looked at the only organized part of the room. Hangars of dark, baggy sweaters crowded the gloomy closet, colors ranging from maroon to indigo. On the shelf above, light skinny jeans were folded neatly, on top of which was a midnight ball of fluff.

Turning his lips up in the slightest smile, Quinn reached up for the small feline perched above him. Yowling, the cat whirled to face him as he grasped at it.

"Oh shut up you dumb cat, it's just me," he replied to the insistent meowing, hauling the pet down and holding her to his chest.

Looking up at him with pale yellow irises, Quinn smiled as the hissing ceased and purring slowly took its place.

"You're the only good thing about this place Moony."

Scratching behind Moon's raven ears, he plopped down onto the small bed and sprawled his lanky legs across the sheets. He sighed and laid the cat across his chest, closing his eyes.

"I'll at least try."

"Try to think of it as... a chance."

"For a new beginning."

He shook his head in dismay as his mind drifted to next week.

The week his new life began.

High school was starting, where a hellhole of jocks, hipsters, nic addicts, shady people, and stress resided. Unfortunately, he wasn't used to people. The only ones he talked to were his parents, and they hardly counted as people. More as his forced guardians, checking in every once in a while just to fulfill their own sense of good parenting.

At least, that's how he viewed it.

All in all, they provided a steady home for him, sufficient food and water, and the freedom to do what he pleased. Except drop out of school. To anyone else, this would seem like a great home. It was better than most, Quinn was well aware of that. Yet..he couldn't handle it. Something about it was stifling, smothering, like he had to put on an act as soon as he walked through the door.