h3llcat:

Ficlet for a HS AU that sparrowlicious and I have been talking about! You can see her gorgeous, hilarious art for it here. Thank you so much to @kyluxtrashcompactor for betaing this for me

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Ben pauses as he walks through the courtyard before the looming concrete building, simultaneously apprehensive and exhilarated, the buzz of excitement palpable in the air. There are clusters of students meeting up with friends they haven’t seen in months, backpacks full of new supplies and empty binders, comparing class lists, sharing stories and phone pics from vacations. He’s dreamt of this day all summer, of what he would wear, how he would act, of all the things the next four years would bring. This is the fresh start he’s needed. Standing outside of this building makes him feel like a blank slate, like he can shrug off his middle school years and rebuild himself from scratch.

He’s filled out over the summer, shooting up three inches in height, growing into his wide shoulders and long legs, no longer the scrawny thing he once was, clutching his PS Vita at the corner table in the lunchroom with his dragon printed shirt and pinstripe fedora, ripe for bullying. He feels less awkward, less gangly, his skin has cleared up, his voice doesn’t crack as insistently as it once had. He’s even considering trying out for the football team (despite Armie reminding him that the only football he’s really interested in is Madden NFL 12).

Ben is knocked from his reverie by a backpack clumsily bumping into his arm, and he falls into the steady crowd filtering through the double doors. The hustle and bustle of the start of a school day is familiar and something he’s surprised to find he’s missed, deafening chatter, the distinct scent of strawberry Pop Tarts and cafeteria french toast lingering in the air.

He spots Armie already at his locker, turning the dial carefully right, left, right again, then popping it open. He looks prim and proper as always in his pressed khakis and immaculately parted and slicked-down hair, but apparently thought that an olive green sweater vest over a white button down was suitable First-Day-of-Freshman-Year attire. Ben doesn’t even have the chance to comment as such because, as he approaches, he catches sight of it. The briefcase. The walnut leather briefcase that looks like it was pulled straight from a movie about a high powered CEO or a spy organization.

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