Sora glanced at his watch, realizing that last period was already half over. Riku had left a while ago, and Sora had found himself in a thoughtless daze. A thought would slip into his mind, and then quickly be replaced by another that had no relation whatsoever. When he would try to recall the first thought, it was long gone. He stood up and headed over to the door. Clicking it shut behind him, he slowly walked down the stairs back to his classroom. When he walked in late, his teacher raised an eyebrow, but gave no other outward sign of acknowledgement.

Neither Kairi nor Riku were in this class, so he sat back in his usual desk, at the far end of the room, and dozed on and off. What class was he in anyways? History? Maybe Science or English…

Whatever. Doesn't matter anyways… he thought, drifting off.

…He was startled awake in what seemed to be a few moments later by the bell and kids scrambling out the door. Sora casually got up and followed them out.

"You do know that that's another detention, Sora…" he heard his teacher, a shy female for this class, call from behind.

Sora waved a dismissive hand towards her, not even bothering to turn around as he said, "Yeah…just let me know on what day…" He yawned. Not that he'd be bothering to go.

Out in the hallway, he routinely slipped his arm around Kairi's waist and waved to other kids who were worthy of it that day as he wandered towards his locker. He grabbed his bag from some freshman who prepared for him everyday after school. Not that Sora really did much of his homework, but it was nice to be able to have things ready to go. He didn't even have to pay the kid; the boy said that 'hanging around him a bit' was more than enough. Whatever.

He and Kairi stepped outside. Most of the other students were standing around and talking to each other while they waited for parents or friends to come pick them up. The typical buzz of the courtyard was easily ignored, though it completely disappeared when a flash of black and silver walked by, a finger ever so slightly and unnoticeably running down his arm. Everything moved slowly as Riku's eyes flickered to Sora's face as he walked by, his aqua eyes meeting with Sora's cerulean ones, the smug smirk Sora had anticipated plainly sitting there.

Shaking off the feeling he confronted Riku. "Where are you walking off too?" he spat out almost hostilely, determined to stop the cocky gothic boy and get his full attention. He didn't like being toyed with.

Riku kept walking and shouted over his shoulder, "Downtown."

Sora frowned. Brushing people off and being above all else was his role in this school.

"Forget him Sora. Wanna go to my house?"

He looked down at Kairi, contentedly snuggled into his chest. Apparently, his frustration was a bit too obvious; Sora didn't' like his emotions to show like this.

"Actually…" he began carefully, "I have a paper to write today. Tomorrow?"

She looked at him skeptically, delicate brows furrowing. Like hell he did. The only time Sora wrote a paper was at the last minute and only if he could in some way offend a teacher by doing it. Today, all they had for homework was a quick math assignment.

"Sora, we-" ahe began, but he cut her off with his lips and gave her a smile.

"Don't worry about it. Tomorrow, I promise," he said quickly, before giving her one last deep kiss and heading off to his car.

He didn't bother to look back at Kairi. Doing so would only make him feel worse about the whole ditching and lying shit he'd pulled on his best friend, so he quickly unlocked his car, running a finger up the silver body of it as he came to the door. He hopped over the door and into the driver's seat of the convertible and started the engine, throwing on a pair of aviators in the process. Pulling out quickly and whipping around the parking lot's circle, he revved the engine as he sped down the street, leaving the high school behind.

He toyed absentmindedly with the radio as he drove into the downtown strip of the city. Well, it was more of a town actually, filled with tourists and coffee shops. Which is where Riku might be….

He pulled over on the street in a rare open parking spot (hard to find with all the damn tourist traffic) and walked up towards a small alleyway. If there was one place he would think to find Riku, it was here.

Turning down the dark alley, he easily found the small café. Pushing the door open, he stepped into the familiar atmosphere. On one side there was a staircase where upwards lay in infamous room…the sweet, beckoning smell of cannabis drifted from behind a deep purple curtain at the top of the spiral. Laughter was clearly audible over the chill music (Dredg, Sora thought) that filled the room. In the center there was a café and bar where coffee was sold by day, alcohol and other illegal substances by night. On the side of the room opposite the curtained staircase was a huge room where many large couches and pillows were scattered on the floor. It was divided by sheer curtains of red and purple into smaller more private areas with a common center section. Some kids were smoking tobacco from hookahs, though many others were satisfied with their cigarettes and notebooks at the few low tables scattered about the comfortable mess. Some were writing poetry, others sketching the scene, though most of those present Sora would stereotype as goth, punk, emo, hippie, or any mix of the four.

Just then, Sora spotted the familiar silver hair from a corner tucked away near a grimy window. He walked over and sat down in front of Riku. The turquoise eyes flicked up towards him.

"You moved."

"…What?" Sora asked, confused. Then he glanced at what Riku was working on. There was a sketch of a figure standing with a cocked out hip, lazily dressed in a white button down worn untucked over dark, tight jeans. Besides that, the fact that the figure was standing at the door was a dead giveaway as to who exactly it was. Riku had finished the basic sketching of everything except the face. There, only a few lines indicating a lost and confused expression had been placed. Amazing, what a few gesture lines could convey when the right artist was drawing them….

"Sorry I-" he began to apologize, but was cut off gently.

"Just don't move…"

Sora sat perfectly still, though his heart beat fast as Riku quickly finished the drawing. Riku would glance up from time to time, though after the last pencil stroke and a pause, his gaze would linger on Sora, causing the brunette to blush. Much to his dismay, he could see Riku noticed even in the dim light.

"So why did you come here anyways?" Riku asked after a moment, amusement audible in his voice and tone.

"Bored I guess," he said, nonchalantly.

"Doesn't seem like Kairi's offer sounded boring," Riku said. Sora's eyes narrowed. How had he overheard that? Sora was about to give a sharp retort when Riku added, "Or are girls just getting boring for you?"

Sora flushed a deep scarlet as he said a little too loudly, "I'm not gay!" When the surrounding artists, smokers, and druggies glanced at him (at least some of which he was sure were something other than heterosexual), his blush deepened.

Legs crossed and arm propping up his chin from his knee, a pleased Riku asked, "So tell me then, why are you here, Sora?"

For once, he didn't have an answer. Riku took a drag from his cigarette, but his eyes never left Sora's. The spiky haired brunette was about to panic; he seemed to be stuck in some weird emotional trap of Riku's. What the fuck!

Just as he was about to stammer out something about how he didn't need to answer to Riku, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Whirling around angrily, he snapped, "What?"

The guy, who was obviously blazed beyond belief, took a slow step back. He looked at Sora hard then, his eyes scrutinizing. He burst out laughing a moment later and said, "Here, man, you seriously gotta chill out," and held out a large joint to Sora. He took it slowly, considering. The man with dreads walked back upstairs to his friends behind dark purple curtain. One of them mumbled something and a moment later the group was laughing in a marijuana-laden way. Sora turned back to Riku, still staring at the rolled weed between his fingers.

"Hey," said Riku, causing Sora to look up at him, "If you aren't gonna hit that…"

Riku reached for it, but Sora pulled away and asked defensively, "What makes you think I don't?!"

Hands held up in defense, Riku shrugged and said, "No need to freak. Hell, seems like you need it a lot more than I do…"

Sora's attention went back to the joint. He's only smoked pot once in his life, and then he hadn't gotten shit off the entire eighth; maybe just a bit of numbness. With a shrug, he took a hit and deep inhaled, forcing himself to keep the smoke down a moment longer before exhaling.

"Hey! All substances are used behind-curtain only!" shouted the bartender.

"Better go…" said Riku, smiling as he stood up and took Sora's arm, pulling him towards the life upstairs.

When the fabric was pulled back, Sora's eyes widened. Never before had he seen so many druggies (or drugs, for that matter) in one place. He heard a casual "hey!" and saw an arm wave in the air. Spotting the guy with dreads from before, Sora and Riku headed over to join their circle.

"Back for seconds?"

Riku tossed a twenty dollar bill towards the center of the circle, and it were quickly snatched up by the man who was packing another bowl.

"That's Karthik. He doesn't talk much, but he's got greeeeat shit man…" introduced the dreaded guy. "And I'm, ah, Rai." He seemed to have lapsed on recalling his own name; the thought of him lying about it seemed unlikely.

After that, Sora couldn't seem to hold on to much of a thought. His cheeks hurt from smiling and he kept having to take big gulps of Rai's water….though the entire feeling of being high overruled anything else he was feeling.

After a time, he felt Riku tug on his arm. "You're gonna be gone most of the night….Let's go back to my place. Your parents will freak otherwise."

Sora burst out giggling at the thought, though allowed Riku to lead him out of the room and to his car.

"Keys?" Riku asked, holding up his hand. The silver haired boy had taken a couple hits in the beginning….but according to Sora's radio's clock, that was over 5 hours ago. The time blared nine o'clock, which was still early for both of them.

The drive to Riku's house was short; only ten minutes by the clock, though it seemed more like two…They were in a fairly nice neighborhood (though not as nice as Sora's) and there didn't seem to be any nosy neighbors peering out windows. What a luxury…

Before Sora could blink they were up in Riku's room. It was dimly lit, like the café, though had a very comfortable atmosphere. In one corner the floor was splattered with paint and canvases lay around, mostly unfinished, decorated with Riku's amazing artwork. The next corner held his king sized bed, which was covered in a soft, warm, black comforter. A black light lit up another corner, where the wall was covered with highlighted drawings and magazine cutouts. Art, again. Sora collapsed onto the bed as Riku lit a stick of incense.

"This is tight, man…" Sora slurred out, a smile cracking on his face again. He could focus on his thoughts better though.

"It's alright if you crash here?" Riku asked. It seemed to be more of a statement than a request.

"Yeah. My mom won't care. She's probably fucking my dad…" he laughed at the ridiculous of this, though the thought was one that disgusted him on a day to day basis. Trophy wives…

Riku frowned, "Well at least you know what they're doing."

Sora was quiet for a moment before asking, "What about yours?"

"Dad's long gone. I never really know where the fuck my mom is…or what she's doing. It's a wonder that we can afford to live here; I'd think she would forget to pay the bills, but it all works out somehow."

That shocked Sora. Riku's family was surprisingly more fucked up than he thought. Most of the kids he'd seen like Riku acted and dressed that way because they wanted to be scene…but this guy seemed to have honest issues. It excused him, in a way.

"Whatever."

Sora's train of thought was broken. He looked up to see Riku pull off his shirt, revealing several marks up and down his arms.

"…What're those from?" Sora asked, though in the back of his mind, he already knew the answer.

Riku glanced at his arms and almost seemed embarrassed for a moment, as if caught red-handed at some crime scene, but the expression was gone a moment later, the cool demeanor returned.

He reached in a drawer and pulled out something thin and small.

"This," he said, tossing it to Sora. It glinted in the soft light before landing lightly in Sora's outstretched palm.

Sora held the razor in the light and Riku walked over, sitting down beside him. Sora's blue eyes wandered over to Riku's arm, his hand soon following, roaming over the shredded skin.

"How can you do that?" Sora asked, almost feeling the pain.

Riku took a hold of Sora's wrist delicately in one hand, the razor in the other.

"What me to show you?"