Where Is My Mind? •brance

and your head on the ground

"hey mom! i brought a friend over, is that okay?" bruce shouted out to his mom when he entered his house.
"of course it is! hold on im coming to meet them!" she called back to bruce. she walked in from the other room with bruces father next to her.

"soo, who is your f- oh." his mother spoke when she walked into the room.

vance stood beside bruce, looking around the house. his parents took notice of him quite quickly. they both had heard about vance and how he is. everyone in the town had. they only called him pinball vance hopper because he keeps the record at the grab n' go pinball machine.

"hun, is this vance hopper?" his mother asked bruce.
"yeah." bruce told them.
"bruce, we've told you the stories about him. you know how he is, yeah?"

"dad, i don't-" bruce started to say before his dad had cut him off.

"i just don't think you should be hanging around someone like him" bruce's dad said, looking to vance, then back to bruce.

"he's not that bad dad he-" bruce tried to defend vance, before being cut off by his dad again.

"not that bad? he carved his name into a boys arm because he messed up a pinball game. A GAME."

"oh shut the fuck up you cunt" vance told bruces dad.

"yeah, what he said" bruce told his father. he didn't dare swear in front of him, they didn't even swear themselves. bruce grabbed vances hand and ran up the stairs to his room.

"hey sorry for what my parents said to you. they aren't too fond of anyone who isn't just the same as me." bruce said to vance when they made it up the stairs.

"eh, im used to people saying that about me all the time. everyone stays away from me anyways. their all scared. but.. but you aren't. why not?" vance told bruce. he was looking around bruces room, seeing all the band and movie posters on his wall, along with many baseball decorations.

"i don't know. i know you wont hurt anyone unless they deserve it. right? i think thats why." bruce shrugged. there was another reason, but he wouldn't dare say it out loud, vance might interpret it in the wrong way. bruce feels strange around him, he always have. it's not a scared feeling, but perhaps something more complicated. such as maybe he likes him. maybe bruce likes boys. maybe thats why he never felt the normal feelings towards a girl. but just because he might like boys, doesn't mean he likes vance. vance is, well, vance.

"yeah. i guess so. but anyways, how exactly do we.. do this project?" vance asked, looking away from all the decorations and towards bruce.

"have you never done a project?" bruce asked him as he searcher his desk for some paper and pencil for vance.
"no. not that i remember." vance shrugged. bruce sighed, knowing even though he is with a partner, he would still have to do all the work.

"alright, i'll just start this off." bruce said to vance. bruce gave him a piece of paper that said everything he needed to do on it. he figured vance wouldn't get much done, so bruce wrote the same thing on his page too.

"hey, you stole my paper, before class, why did you take it?" bruce asked him suddenly.
"your bag was half open, i saw it sticking out. you didn't have your name, i took it because i could." vance spoke with his usual blank tone.

"i spent all night on that!" bruce said in defense.

"nerd" is all vance said. the two continue working on the project for another 2 hours before bruces dad called out that it was time for dinner.
"well, you should probably leave now. how much did you finish?" bruce said. putting down his pencil and stretching out his hand.

vance moved his paper in the direction of bruce, showing that he had 2 full pages done.
"jesus christ, you did all that?" bruce asked shockingly.
"yeah, im smart, even if i don't go to school often." vance shrugged. he folded the pages into fourths and shoved it in his pocket.
bruce led vance down the stairs, feeling his parents disappointed stare burning into his skull.
"see ya at school bruce" vance said, giving a small wave, in which bruce returned. vance turned around and walked off his porch, and into the street.

bruce shut the front door, memorizing how vance had said his name. bruce. it sounded so different coming from him. bruce loved the way he said it. vance was driving him crazy. bruce barely knew him, just the stories.

he walked over to his dining room snd sat down where the food was placed in front of him.

"bruce, you better not turn out like that boy. we have been trying to raise you right, we can not have him ruining your future." Bruce's dad spoke up again. he always has something to say about everything. especially about vance. this isn't the first time he has spoke rudely about him. bruce always found the boy quite.. endearing. no, not endearing. just interesting. exquisite. what? no, that that either. interesting. vance was just interesting. in a good way.

"what do you mean, like him? i told you, he's not all that bad" bruce spoke, attempting to defend vance.
"you know what i mean. the kid smokes, and he hurts people, real bad bruce. i don't want you to get hurt."

"i agree with your father. we are only trying to protect. we want you to stay away from him." Bruce's mother told him. bruce knew they were wrong. he only hurts people who has it coming, bruce hasn't done anything to have that coming. besides the gum thing, but he didn't have to know it was actually him.
"you can't stop me from seeing him." bruce told his parents, chewing on a piece of chicken.

"it is for the better." his mother continued to tell him. bruce ignored his parents once again. they really couldn't stop him. he finished his dinner and ran back up to his room.
he needed some time to think on things. mainly vance.

bruce hated how vance made him feel so confused. he hated how he might actually like him. pinball vance hopper. he has heard of love at first sight, but he always thought it was dumb to like someone after knowing them for like a day. he shouldn't say anything about it though. not like vance hopper could like a boy like bruce. or even a boy in general. bruce eventually fell asleep from his confusing trail of thoughts.

—

hihi its the author again yippe, second chapter!! yayayayay i know i know im kinda rushing their feeling but they dont actually get together until like they know eachother for 2-3 months (i plan on doing a timeskip because of a certain series of unfortunate events), so yk bare with me here !!! 🏃‍♀️

(1181 word.)