BUGBOY | DORBYN [DISCONT.]

03

sometimes corbyn missed his childhood, as sad as it was.

there was no doubt in his body that happiness deteriorated with age. it was much more fun to play with bugs when a greater imagination was in his mind.

all he could do was talk to them now.

and as nice as their company was, he missed when he could at least pretend to be one of them. missed how he could make up scenarios; maybe a worm was a desert monster, maybe the bees were on a mission, maybe the caterpillars were all trapeze artists, magicians, spies.

he couldn't think that way anymore, not without clocking into the real world shortly after.

his head was glued to the floor, mind painted into the butterfly garden. as much as he hadn't been bothered today, that was probably because he'd been avoiding his foe.

corbyn's beautiful daydream was shattered the moment he made contact with another student.

his head bumped into their chest, seemingly just turning from their locker. every butterfly fell out of his mind quicker than they could've flown in.

"sorry! i— i'm so sorry, i promise it won't happen again."

he didn't dare make eye contact.

"oh! corbyn, right? i've been looking for you! how's your day been?"

okay, maybe a little eye contact, but only to know who it was.

daniel towered over him quite a bit, he was intimidating, scary. corbyn didn't want anything to do with him.

"good." that was the first thought that came to mind, nothing more needed to be said. why did he want to know?

the bell rang overhead, thank the lord. corbyn sent daniel a shallow nod before stepping to the side to curve around him.

daniel stepped where he did, though. stopped him right in his tracks.

"hey! you have bio, right? mind if i walk you?" his smile was deceiving, and corbyn was horrified of it.

"yes, i do mind, actually." corbyn was blunt, lips pursing as daniel didn't seem to move, eyes widening at the answer he didn't expect to receive. "can i please get by? i'm going to be late."

"of course you won't, i'll get us there in no time."

corbyn didn't get an option.

thankfully, he and daniel parted ways due to their opposite seats, but the same thoughts recycled in corbyn's mind. what does he want to do with me?

they were interrupted by the teacher's voice, however, so corbyn's head snapped to their direction and listened as the middle-aged man called out attendance.

although, that became boring at an unbeatable speed, corbyn's name was the third to appear in attendance, so he dropped his head to folded arms and allowed his professor's voice to drone on in the background.

corbyn's eyes flickered from trees to sky and any moving figure, settling on the spiderweb just outside the window with a gentle, short-lived smile.

hello,

i hope your morning's been nice.

as much as he wished he could reach through to take hold of the gentle creature, the window screen gave him no hope of doing so.