Lucas

I was laying in my bed, with my left foot crossing over my right. I am just watching some good 'ole Gordan Ramsey. There was soon a knock at the door. I groaned and got off the bed. I opened the door to my bother crossing his hands. "Don't you dare groan at me," he said.

"Oh shut up, what do you want?" I asked.

"What are you watching?" Clause asked.

"Nothing."

"You fucking donkey, it's fucking raw," Ramsey said on the TV. Claus looked at me. I just cleared my throat.

"Just tell me what you want," I said.

"Mom said we need to go to the mall to get our suits."

"Why?"

"We're graduating high school next week, and we're going to that party after it."

"We actually got invited?"

"Well, I did, but you'll be my plus one."

"Great, very good." I lowered my head. He placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Ness will be there."

"'Course he will, but what're my chances with him?"

"Pretty good."

"Bullshit." I walked in and sat on my bed. "Why do we even need suits for a night party."

"Well, the suits are for the after school graduation." Claus walked in and sat at the foot of my bed and turned off the TV. "You won't have a chance to be with Ness if you don't make attempts to talk to him."

"I won't ever have a chance with him, he's the popular kid. He's got all the girls over him, and his boys are his bodyguards."

"Damn, but you never know. He could like you too." I glared at him. "Yea, I'm aware that's highly unlikely. But it's worth a shot." I sighed.

"Fine, let's go." I stood up. I put my shoes on and joined my mom and dad in their car. We drove to the mall and upon entering everyone split up. "I thought we were all going to get a suit." Claus turned around and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Payday and we're making good use of it," he said. I rolled my eyes and my dad came back and handed me some money. He winked.

"Don't spend it all at once," he said.

"You're the one that does that," I say.

"It's not my fault this place has the best things in history."

"Right, whatever you say, dad." He jumped and ran away and I walked toward the escalator. I soon found my way to the clothing shop. I walked in and a boy rushed to me. He looked like Ness but wasn't.

"Hello, I am Ninten and I will be helping you with your shopping today!" Ninten said very fast I didn't even recognize what he said.

"Uhhh, yea," I chose to say.

"Ugh, Ninten, you need to stop getting hyper before work," a very familiar voice said. Ness soon came around a shelving unit. He had a uniform on, so I assume he works here. He pushed Ninten away and sighed in front of me. "Sorry 'bout him pal, he likes to eat very sugary things before work." He tilted his head. "I recognize you."

"Names Lucas," I say reaching my hand out, I'm surprised I didn't stutter. He took it and smiled.

"That's where I know ya from, you're doin' that speech in front of the whole damn school."

"Sad, but t-true." And there is it, goddamn it all.

"Tough man, all I do is call people up." He then shook his head. "What can I do for ya?"

"I'm looking for a suit."

"Ah, for graduation." I nodded. "Stupid how the school is makin' us buy our own suits for it."

"Definitely."

"Here, follow me and I'll show you one I feel fits ya." I nodded and walked behind him. I turned my head around and saw Claus giving me a thumbs up. That asshole knew he was working here. I mouthed a fuck you and he just gave me a wink. I soon bumped into Ness' back and Claus scurried away. I looked to Ness.

"Sorry about that."

"No worries, here it is." Ness pointed to a grey tux with a black tie. The pants are plain black, and the shoes sold with it are clear and a nice black. I looked at him. "It'll go great with your yellow hair."

"Thanks."

"How do you even get it like that?"

"It's a secret," I winked. He smirked.

"You'll have to teach me that someday." I smiled.

"For sure." He handed me the suit.

"Go try it on." He pointed to a small room and I nodded. I walked in there and put it on. I looked at myself in the mirror and smirked. I then walked out of the room and saw Ness leaning against the wall. "Thera ya go, you're looking damper."

"Thanks."

"Oh wait, one sec." He walked closer to me and fixed my collar. He then looked me in the eyes. You comin' to the party?"

"M-my brother is taking me as a plus one."

"You didn't get invited?" he asked still close to me and his head tilted.

"No, but I didn't really expect anything else." He looked away for a second and snapped his fingers. I ran away to get something and then came back. He handed me a ticket of some kind.

"What is it?"

"It's a plus one ticket, you'll be my plus one so your brother can have someone else."

"A-are you sure about this?"

"'Course, you seem cool. Now change back so you can pay." I nodded and ran back into the changing room. I walked back out and he asked for some money. Ninten walked back there with him.

"Wassup Icecream man, can I have a strawberry soft serve," Ninten said in a drunken tone.

"Did you sneak in booze again?" Ness asked.

"No," he said. He instantly gave a hiccup

"Yea, that's believable. Now get back there before the boss come back." Ninten nodded and entered the room. Ness handed me the suit. "See ya later."

"Yea." I saw him wink at me which added a little blush to my skin. I walked out and bumped into Claus.

"OOOOH, you love puppy," he said.

"Love, puppy?"

"Yea, he thinks you're cute." I rolled my eyes.

"Yea, but I'm taller than him."

"By only like half an inch."

"Which is clearly the size of your dick." I moved away.

"Ouch, that stung." He soon ran off and I waited alone in the food section of the mall. I sat with my eyes closed and hands behind my head. Soon I heard someone sit in front of me. I opened an eye. I saw Ness. He had a tray of food.

"Mind if I join?" he asked.

"I mean you already did," I said. He chuckled.

"Yea. Guess I did. So whatcha doin' here?"

"Waiting for my family to finish their shopping. They go quite the distance for it."

"Yea, my family is the same." I looked around and grabbed a wrapped sandwich. I tossed in front of me. "Take it, you look hungry." I grabbed it and looked at him. He smiled and opened his sandwich.

"Thanks." I bit into the sandwich.

"You know, I'm glad you'll be at the party."

"You are?"

"Yea, I've seen you 'round school and kinda wanted to talk to ya for a while."

"Why?" When I asked this he seemed to blush a little. He looked down at his food and started to pick at some fries.

"It's complicated, I was going through some stuff and well you looked like someone who would help it."

"I don't quite understand that, but I'm here if you need anything." He looked up and smiled.

"What do you think I should do about my love life?"

"Um, I guess just follow your heart. And if you're scared just take the jump and talk to the person in which you want to talk to." He smirked.

"Thanks." I looked around and saw Claus walking my way.

"Oh fuck." I try to shield my face from him and Ness looked confused.

"Oh hey love birds, Lucas, I forgot to give you the plus one ticket," Claus said handing me the ticket. I was going to try and retort the fact he called us lovebirds but then was cut off by Ness.

"No need to do that, umm," Ness started.

"Claus," Claus said.

"Claus, Lucas is my plus one, so you can choose someone else." Claus looked at me and smirked a lust-filled and lewd smile.

"I see." He said this in a way like he knew this would happen and seemingly thinks me and him are doing something. I noticed my mom and dad at the entrance. I stood up instantly, blushing wildly now.

"You ok Lucas?" Ness asked.

"S-sorry Ness, but we gotta get going. I'll see ya at graduation." He smiled and nodded.

"I can't wait." This only made me blush more. I grabbed Claus' hand and ran to our parents. They didn't ask any questions and grouped us in the car. Claus was shooting glares at me the entire car ride home. Upon coming home I ran into my room and tossed the tux in the closet. I fell face-first onto the bed and turned onto my back. I hadn't noticed that Claus walked into my room.

"He totally likes you," Claus said.

"No he doesn't," I shot back.

"You shoulda seen his blush." I then picked my head up. "Blush?"

"Yea, he seemed to be blushing more than you, just hid it well. But I have a knack for that kinda stuff." I looked at the tux and smirked. I shook my head. Claus knew what this meant and walked to the door. "Sleep on it, and you'll see."

The final week had gone by and the one day I was waiting and dreading came. Graduation. I was in the preparation room, which was just an art room, overlooking notecards of my speech. Ness soon walked in. I've talked to him a few times after the mall. Each time it'd go on for hours. He even introduced his other friends, and the person who I thought was his girlfriend wasn't. I had thought Paula was his girlfriend, but she was just his best friend. She seemed to have had her eye on someone. I could also tell she knew something private about Ness and tortured him about it. Ness sat next to me, but I didn't pay him any mind.

"That your speech?" Ness asked.

"Yea," I said. I could see in the corner of my eye that he was looking me up and down.

"I forgot how good you looked in that. I'm sure everyone'll be all over you." I rolled my eyes playfully. Ness then grabbed the notecards from my hand and tossed them in the trash.

"Hey, I need those."

"No." He shook his head. "This speech should come from your heart, not from some paper. You may stutter for not knowing, but that'll make it more genuine."

"What if I don't find the words?"

"Just look at the person who gave you the inspiration to write that speech, I'm sure the words will flood out your mouth." I looked away thinking, then smirked. I looked back and nodded. Ness then heard the school chorus finishing up. "Oh, this is my cue, you're up soon. Good luck." I nodded as he walked out of the room. A few minutes later I heard my cue to come out. I walked on stage and saw everyone in the school in their tuxedos and dresses. Strangely, we are in these formal clothes instead of the cap and gown, but whatever. The audience is massive, the most massive I've ever seen. I got to the mic and look to my mom and dad. I looked back and saw Claus. I gulped and looked at the crowd.

"I like to compare people to braille. We each have bumps, but these bumps add meaning to our life. Me and my fellow classmates have just gotten over one of the biggest bumps. We have many more to go over, but as I said, this'll make our meaning different than anyone else. But this bump we all can share." I started to run dry of words a few seconds this was all said. I kept stuttering over "ums" "ers" and "Uhhs". I decided to follow Ness' advice. I looked at Claus. Then I moved my gaze over to Ness. Despite my stutters his eyes were so filled with wonder. A wonder that made me want to enter his world, enter what he goes through, his adventures, his brain, his heart. I turned back to the crowd. "Our lives have yet to begin. High school was just the audition, and we're now in the shooting process. Most of us will never see each other until the reunion, but some of us will stay together 'till the movie comes out. So what else can I say than, let the shooting begin." There was an explosion of applause from the crowd and the students behind me. Ness walked over to me and hugged me. While in the hug he pulled his mouth my ear.

"Meet me passed the pool at the party," he said. He then let go of me and I walked back to my spot. An hour or so later and the graduation process is finally over and we arrived at the part. I entered without needing to show any form of an invitation. I looked around at everyone having the time of their lives. I even saw Claus talking to Ninten, and I swear I could see some faint red in his cheeks. I exited the house and found the pool built into the ground.

"Lucky sons of bitches," I say to myself. I then heard some screaming and turned around. Ninten was rushing at me and pushed me in. I picked my head up and saw him and Claus laughing.

"There, now where's my money?" Ninten asked.

"I'll pay you at dinner," he winked. Ninten seemed surprised but nodded. Claus walked to me. "Sorry to ruin your suit, but I think it'll help."

"I'm sure there would've been better ways," I said.

"Probably, but this was more fun." He held his arm out to me and helped me out. He then patted my back and walked to the door.

"Hey." He turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Go get him, Claus." He smiled and shot me a salute. I walked passed it, very wet and cold. I soon saw Ness laying on the ground looking up at the night sky. I joined his side and he felt the wet cloths.

"What in tarnation happened?" He asked concerned.

"My dick of a brother," I answered.

"Damn, sounds tough."

"Nah, but I love him." We lay back down, with our hand underneath our heads looking at the shiny night sky.

"Thanks for coming."

"'Course."

"And thanks for using me as inspiration."

"You're always my inspiration." He looked at me and looked me up and down them smirked.

"I dunno why I would." I shook my head. He looked back up.

"You're the popular kid, you're able to be yourself without fear of others. You're able to just talk and let the problems of the world stay behind you. You're so strong at being able to clear your head and allow yourself to be yourself. And, well, you act just like how your eyes look. Amazing." There was a moment of silence between us.

"That's what it looks like." He spooked me slightly when he said this, it caught me off guard. "I can't be who I want to be, I'm just who I expect others to like." I looked to him, and he soon looked back. Our eyes meeting.

"What do you mean?"

"Paula and Ninten are the only ones who know my true self, my family doesn't. My other kids in school see me as this saint, this person who has all the girls on his dick and hasn't a care in the world. But I'm nothing like that, I have many problems, many doubts." His eyes broke the chain our eyes shared by looking down.

"Well, II apologize."

"No, it's not you. You're just caught at the tail end of it." He looked back up to me. Rebuilding the chain more gently. More gently and more genuinely. "The truth is, I like boys, and people expect me to like girls. It may sound stupid, especially this day and age, but the stress of the world is more on me than off." I smirked.

"Well, it looks like we're in this boat together." He looked surprised.

"R-really?"

"Yea." I then looked back up. A shooting star, how conveniently perfect. I then felt and saw some hand around my body. I looked to my right and saw Ness' face resting next to me. "N-Ness?"

"I'll help dry you off." I smirked when he said this. "You know how you told me to follow my heart." He had his eyes closed, a faint blush, and a smile.

"Yea, what about it." I contained my stutter better than I ever thought I could. He then opened his violet, shimmering eyes up at me.

"I was wonderin' if we could chat together, alone, at dinner. I'm sure you don't want to prevent me from taking your advice." My eyes widened and my mouth fell open ever so slightly. I then fixed both and looked at him.

"I'll hold you to that." He smiled and closed his eyes.

"I'll be the one holding you." I chuckled and closed my eyes. Wouldn't you know it, he likes me back. Well, looks like I need to pay Claus after our bet, fuck, now I'm out ten bucks.