Rotxo sat down hard in the seat beside him. "Hey, man," Lo'ak said, grinning at him. Rotxo nodded in acknowledgement, not looking up at him. Lo'ak's brow furrowed in confusion. Rotxo didn't seem the type to give his friends the cold shoulder. Lo'ak tapped him on the shoulder. "You good, man?" Rotxo sighed. He slowly tilted his head to Lo'ak. "Holy shit," he breathed, grinning. "Shut up," Rotxo mumbled, blinking hard. His eyes were completely bloodshot. "Bro, what even-" "I have anxiety. Really bad. Like, I get shakes and rashes. I smoke to calm down," Rotxo cut him off, whispering sharply. "Oh," Lo'ak mumbled awkwardly. "I couldn't this morning because I was driving Reya. I thought I would be okay all day, but..." he trailed off, staring down at the floor. Lo'ak eyed him nervously, unsure what to say. "I'm sorry..?" Rotxo snorted. "Nah, it's fine. I'll be fine. Just... can I copy your notes after school?" In truth, Lo'ak hadn't planned on taking notes at all. "Of course," he answered, riffling through his bag for a pencil. "Do you have paper?" he whispered. Rotxo's chin rested against his chest. He jolted awake, blinking heavily. "Yeah, I- do you not have paper?" Rotxo looked around Lo'ak into his bag. "Do you even have anything in there?" Lo'ak grinned. "I have my lunchbox," he answered. "And, apparently a pencil," he finished, holding it up in front of Rotxo's face. The boy scoffed, handing him a piece of notebook paper.
Tsireya, Ao'nung, big bro, and 2 others:
(Rotxo) Neteyam why does ur baby brother only have a single pencil in his backpack rn
(big bro) What? Dad took us back to school shopping like a week ago
(Lo'ak) he forgot to wake me up in time
(Kiri) LMAOOOOOO
(Rotxo changed the group name to "the group🌺🏊🎸🎨🏄🏽♂️🥍)
Lo'ak glanced up at him. He giggled, displaying his screen to Lo'ak. "An emoji for each of us! Flower for Tsireya, swim for me, guitar for you, paint for Kiri, surf for Ao, lacrosse stick for Neteyam." Lo'ak squinted at him. "Why guitar for me?" "Your lock screen is you playing a guitar," Rotxo answered. "Duh." Lo'ak snorted, nodding.
the group🌺🏊🎸🎨🏄🏽♂️🥍:
(Tsireya) we have supplies in the front office if you want some
(Lo'ak) On my way! (Lo'ak) omw*
"Dude, are you actually-" "Yep," Lo'ak answered, getting up from his seat. He snuck out into the hall, jogging towards the front office. "Hey," he heard someone call. He looked over his shoulder and saw the same light-haired boy he had seen yesterday. "Who even are you, bro?" Lo'ak asked, slowing to a walk. "Lyle," he called, getting closer. "Lyle?" Lo'ak asked, grinning. "What's funny about that? It's my name. I didn't pick it." Lo'ak scoffed. "Yeah, I guess not." Lo'ak turned away from him, picking his pace back up. "Where are you going?" the boy called after him. "Up your ass," Lo'ak muttered, grinning at his own joke. "Huh?" "Front office," he answered, louder.
He lost Lyle somewhere in the halls. Lo'ak fixed his necklace before he entered the office, making sure it was displayed. Tsireya was seated behind the desk, wearing a pair of clear-framed glasses. "Ms. Kogoya?" Lo'ak asked, watching her eyes snap up from her computer. She grinned as she saw him. "Mr. Sully, are you skipping class?" she asked, eyes squinting slightly. "Might be," he answered, grinning. "Here's your supplies," she said, handing him a small stack of notebooks. "Thank you. I didn't know you wore glasses," he offered. "Oh, they're not prescription. I wear blue light glasses because the UV rays from the screens are very bad for your eyes." She looked him dead in the eyes. "You should wear some, too." Lo'ak nodded, making a mental note to ask Neteyam to find a pharmacy. As he was heading for the exit, he remembered something to ask her. "Do you know why Rotxo would be so... stressed?" Tsireya looked up at him with a confused expression on her face. "What?" "Yeah. He said he gets anxiety shakes and he is currently... very, very high," he whispered, cupping his hands over his mouth so no one would be able to read his lips. "Oh. Well..." she blinked thoughtfully. "I mean, it could just be school. Or, something with his grandparents. They were recently put in an old folks home, and he has no one else to stay with. Other than us." Tsireya suddenly winced, eyes wide. "Lo'ak, do not ever tell him I told you that," she said sternly, getting to her feet. "Never, ever tell him I said anything about any of that." she neared him, eyebrows knit angrily. Lo'ak's stomach felt funny. "Uh, I... I won't," he stuttered, backing away slightly. "Promise?" Her tone was calm and stern. "Yeah, I promise." Her expression cleared instantly, a bright grin spreading across her cheeks. "Great! Thank you for stopping by," she said, raising her eyebrows and heading back to her desk. Lo'ak stood there clutching his notebooks for just a second, frozen by whatever emotion he felt floating around his stomach. He left without saying goodbye, blinking rapidly in confusion the whole way back to class.
"What took so long?" Rotxo hissed, grinning at him. He seemed to be much more coherent. "Nothing. I ran into that kid in the halls again." "There are a lot of kids here, Lo'ak." "No shit. The one from the halls yesterday, the corny one." Rotxo's smile faltered. "The one with the light hair?" Lo'ak nodded. "Lyle," he offered, seeing his friend's face sour. "What's his problem, anyways?" Rotxo shot him a glance. "I told you. He liked Tsireya, and made her uncomfortable." "No, I know, but it feels like there's more than that." Rotxo sighed. "No, not really. His cousin is my age, and he's in your grade. He lived with his cousin and in middle school, we were all on the same swim team. Then, he made Tsireya so upset one day that she came home from school crying, and Ao'nung's hated him ever since." Lo'ak nodded. "Mkay. Well, I'll send you the notes tonight," he said, putting his new notebooks in his bag. "Yeah, sure. Are you guys coming to the beach tonight?" Lo'ak nodded. "Yeah. I don't think Neteyam wants to." Rotxo shot him a strange look. "Why? Did Ao'nung do something?" Lo'ak blinked. "No, I don't think so. Neteyam probably just thinks that it's overstepping on you guys." Rotxo grinned. "Bro he is so nice and, like, respectful. I just know people's mothers love him." Lo'ak smiled. "Yeah, they do." "Tell him it's not overstepping at all. If anything, I've gotten bored with Tsireya and Ao'nung." He laughed at his own joke. "But no, actually, we like you guys, and some variety is good for us." Lo'ak nodded, grinning. "Oh, for sure. I'll be sure to tell Tsireya just how bored you are of her."
The bell rang and Rotxo and Lo'ak waited by Neteyam's car for their group to get there. Ao'nung took one look at Rotxo's eyes and immediately demanded that someone else drive him. "Dude, I'm fine, I'm like, basically stone cold right now," he protested. Ao'nung glared at him. "Rotxo, your eyes are so red I can practically feel how dry they are just by looking at you." He turned to Neteyam with pleading eyes. "Neteyam has to stop by our house before we go to the beach," Kiri quipped. "I've gotta change." Lo'ak scoffed. "Shut up, you're in black jeans, idiot, you also have to change," she snapped, glaring at her brother. "Well, can they come with you?" Ao'nung begged, staring down at Neteyam with wide eyes. Neteyam sighed frustratedly and ran his hand through his hair. "Fine, fine. It'll be a tight squeeze, but fine." Lo'ak let Kiri take the front seat. He tossed Tuk's booster seat into the trunk, hoping that Tsireya would sit next to him. He grinned as she set her bag down on the floor, one leg inside the car. Suddenly, Rotxo lept in front of her, practically body slamming Lo'ak. "Oh, sorry, didn't see you there," he laughed, eyes sparkling. Tsireya stared at him, face full of annoyance. "Cmon, Reya, I saved the bigger seat for you!" Lo'ak glared at him the whole way home, ignoring how Tsireya laughed at the two of them.
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lo'ak? maybe? something about the eyes and expression idk
