Sal lay flat on the floor, his arms out stretched. Larry was set up with his paints by his friend's head, Some of Sal's long hair had been purposely wrapped around the foot of the easel. The music had been turned down to a low volume, something Larry had grown accustomed to doing when the other teenager was around, and Larry would mumble along to the lyrics.
Every once in a while Sal would groan, attempting to be louder and louder until the attention was focused on him. He wasn't feeling that well, his stomach felt like it was flipping and he had the feeling of being full when he hadn't eaten anything since the previous night. Sitting on his stomach was an empty popcorn bowl that he found in a pile of Larry's clothes, though he had no intention of actually using it. He was sure he wasn't going to vomit, and if he did he'd run to the bathroom. The only thing more disgusting than his face was his face while vomiting and there was no way he was letting that be the first time he took his prosthetic off in front of Larry.
Sal looked up at Larry's face and was able to catch his eye, they looked at each other for only a moment before the shorter of the two closed his eyes and let out another over dramatic groan.
"Okay, what's wrong, Sally Face?" Larry rolled his eyes as he gave in, of course, he'd wanted to ask that question the moment Sal had showed up but he knew the other was seeking his attention so he made the decision to keep him waiting. It was funny when Sal was trying to be annoying, because his attempts were more adorable than anything.
"I'm sick, Larry Face." Sal pouted behind his prosthetic before realizing that it couldn't be seen by the other so he instead threw his arms up with a huff. Larry just laughed.
"You can't be sick, school starts tomorrow." He gently kicked the other's shoulder before focusing on his painting again.
"No, I am, really!" Sal sat up, getting caught by his hair around the easel. "What are you painting anyway?"
"Hair ocean."
"The hell is a hair ocean?" It took him several moments to untangle his hair, but he didn't receive an explanation from the other. The painting didn't really explain itself, it was in its early stages and just looked like blocks of color. Larry was the type of person to throw paint down without a plan and just see what comes of it, but he always managed to make the best paintings Sal had seen.
The blue haired boy stared at his taller friend for a few seconds before huffing in frustration once again and falling rather dramatically on the unmade bed behind them.
The two were silent, just listening to the music. Sal swung his legs to the beat and Larry started to add shading to his painting. He looked away from the canvas for a moment, to glance at his friend before going back to painting again.
"Well, it's just like a beach, with an ocean and waves and stuff, but instead of real water, it's made of your hair." He used a paint covered paint brush to gesture between the blue on the canvas and the blue of Sal's hair. "Which makes it kinda difficult that your behind me, I can't see how your hair naturally falls as easily." After a moment of examining the other's hair, he turned and began painting again.
"Oh... how flattering. Have I inspired any other paintings?" The question went unanswered as Larry had become too engrossed in his work, leaving Sal to just sit listening to the music once again. He wasn't exactly complaining, he loved all the music Larry played for him, but he still had a horrible feeling in his stomach.
"So, school. What's it like here?" It was many minutes before Sal decided to speak, surprising himself and his friend.
Larry raised an eyebrow at the other, he didn't think Sal was the kind to be nervous about school, he seemed like somewhat of a badass. "Well, it's school, I don't know what else you want to know. It's probably the same as your old school."
"I haven't gone to a small town school before, Larry. Plus! I'm new! Everyone's gonna know everyone and I'm only gonna know you."
"What, I'm not enough for you, Sal?" Larry turned, brush still in hand, only to see his friend staring at the ceiling while nervously fiddling with his hands. Larry sighed, putting his brush down. "You know Todd and Chug."
Sal felt the bed sink on his right as Larry sat next to him, their legs touching. "I know them but I don't know them." The blue haired teen sat up, pushing his shoulder against his friends.
The two had only known each other a few months but they acted like they'd known each other their whole lives. Sal wasn't afraid to be affectionate if he felt the need and Larry wasn't uncomfortable with it, both didn't seem to have a filter around the other and whenever they were having a hard time they knew the other would help in any way they could.
"Who cares who you know and don't know? You're not the first new kid ever."
"Does any other kid have a prosthetic?" Sal self consciously put a hand on the cheek of the prosthetic that was facing away from Larry. He hadn't left the apartment building much since he'd moved in, he only ever left to go to the tree house or when his father forced him to go to the store. "Because I think that I'll be the first."
Larry laughed, but stopped when he saw the look in his friends eyes. "Come on, that's what you're afraid of, man?" Sal just looked away from him. Larry, in return, put his arm around the shorter boy's shoulders. "I'm not trying to be mean, Sally Face, it's just. You're, like, really cool and I saw that as soon as I met you, I don't just see your prosthetic. So I don't think that mask really matters. If anyone gives you shit about it, they're just an asshole, I'll beat them up."
"I don't want to be a burden to you, Lar..." Sal fiddled with his hands in his lap, picking at the chipping nail polish from a week ago.
"You're not, Sal, I promise. I just want an excuse to beat someone up, really." Sal just rolled his eyes, pressing himself more against the other.
"You've got to be the good person, kill them with kindness." The room felt hot and humid, something that made wearing his prosthetic five times worse.
"That's fucking bullshit and you know it." Larry just chuckled, poking the cheek of Sal's prosthetic.
Sal fell back to lay on the bed, Larry, who still had his arm around the other, falling back with him.
He just sighed and closed his eyes, trying to imagine what it would be like to go to this new school. School pictures are what he dreaded the most, he hadn't taken one in forever, the last one from before he had a need for the prosthetic. The teachers also frightened him a little, back home all the teachers had known what had happened and never asked about the prosthetic, or told him to remove it, but he'd had substitute teachers think he was joking in some way. Now he had to go to a school where no one knew, he'd only hoped his father had told the office when he'd enrolled Sal in the high school.
He kept his eyes closed, just listening to Larry breathing beside him, feeling comforted by his friend messing with the ends of his hair.
It felt like only a few minutes had passed when there was a knock at Larry's bedroom door. Sal's jumped slightly at the sound, his eyes flying open.
"I'm home, boys. Are you staying for dinner, Sal?" Lisa called through the door, to which Sal called some sort of confirmation. He felt groggy, he must've fallen asleep. Light snoring sounded close to him and Sal became aware of a weight on his chest. Larry's arms were around him, one under his shoulders and the other across his body. His friend had his face pressed into Sal's blue hair, next to his ear, which explained why the snoring sounded so close.
Sal pushed himself up and Larry pulled his arm away, instead laying his face on his own hand. His body felt well rested for once, as his sleep was usually disturbed by nightmares. The room felt warm and Sal wanted to lay back down and sleep again but he knew if he did he wouldn't sleep at night, which would probably ruin his first day of school.
"Hey, Larry Face." Turning so he sat cross legged on the bed, Sal stretched out a leg and shook Larry's shoulder with his foot. "I'm gonna stay for dinner, I might just sleep here because I'm still feeling sick and I don't wanna be alone upstairs."
Larry just groaned and swatted at Sal's foot, not opening his eyes and curling up more. "Let's just sleep more." The tan teenager mumbled, opening one eye to grab his friend's arm and pull him back to lay next to himself. "I was comfy."
"O-okay." Sal gave in and laid down again, which prompted Larry to wrap his arms around the other once again. He was sure that Larry wasn't fully awake since he was obviously delirious, but Sal didn't mind. It was a little awkward but overall was nice, he'd never really had someone willing to be this close with him.
It felt right to have Larry's nose in his hair, but his prosthetic just made him feel awkward. He instinctively wanted to rest his face in the crook of his friend's neck but with the prosthetic it felt unnatural, so he instead just stared up at the ceiling. "We're only gonna stay like this until Lisa finishes dinner."
Larry's only response was a nonsensical mumble, it was obvious he really didn't hear, being too close to sleep to really understand words.
The world was dark, too dark, like it was surrounded entirely by dark walls, not even an outline of an object could be seen by Sal. Everything felt so foreign yet familiar at the same time, part of him wanted to stay and another part told him to run in any direction to get away. A horrible burning pain was suddenly felt in the right side of his face, it seemed to engulf him with no warning and his knees buckled beneath him, causing him to stumble to the ground. He reached a hand up to discovered his prosthetic was gone, he felt his scared flesh piled with new injuries. They leaked with what he assumed was blood, covering his hands. But it seemed too sticky, he had trouble pulling his fingers apart when they were covered in the stuff.
The pain wouldn't go away, no matter how much Sal pressed on the injuries or left them alone and he still couldn't see a thing. He was scared, his right eye was his only one that was still there, what if he'd damaged it, what if he'd blinded himself, was this what being blind was like?
Whispering started around him, first from behind him, then from in front, then all around him. They were all the same voice but he couldn't figure out who it was. They seemed to be giving him all sorts of different warnings, they sounded worried, emotional, but he couldn't decipher any of them properly. He felt so confused and scared, he didn't want to hear them anymore. He grabbed the sides of his head, the pain in his face intensifying but he didn't care, he had to block out the noise. He squeezed his head but it didn't do a thing, if anything the voices got louder, they were shouting now.
But then it suddenly all stopped, all at once, the pain, the noise. It confused him, his hands no longer felt sticky and when he tried to touch his face, his prosthetic was on once again, but he still couldn't see anything.
He thought it was over so he attempted to stand, reaching out in hopes that here was something around, but then he heard it, right in his ear, a whisper.
"They're going to die."