Jongin was waiting by the gates as usual; surprisingly he wasn’t surrounded by girls for once.

“Luhan why are you so late!?” Jongin yelled as Luhan sprinted towards him.

“Sorry, I got held up in art class I was cleaning stuff away” the doe eyed boy replied between deep breaths.

“You’re so late even the girls are gone, oh well I forgive you because you’re my best friend but I hope your mother doesn’t freak out you know what she’s like when I get you back late” Jongin sighed as he rushed Luhan back to the car.

“Thanks yet again old friend” Luhan thanked his friend as he sat down in the car careful not to scratch the expensive leather seats.

“Dude I told you already it’s no problem” Kai laughed fastening his seatbelt and starting up the engine.

Luhan stared out the window in silence, he admired the houses in Maple Hills town, they looked like they were home to royalty compared to the dump of a town he lived in. Trees waving goodbye in the cool breeze, a day like any other, or so he thought.

“So did you get to talk to Oh Sehun?” Kai asked breaking the awkward silence between the two, making sure to keep his eyes on the road at the same time and not get distracted by the conversation.

Luhan sighed, earlier conversations with Oh Sehun didn’t turn out very well, Sehun had only ever said one thing to him and then left him, otherwise Sehun just shows cold ignorance towards everyone, it’s like he’s in a world of his own all to himself and no one is allowed past the walls into his territory. His mysteriousness just made Luhan more and more curious about this boy, it was only day one anyway and he was sure he’d open up a bit in a few days.

“Uhh yeah I did but I think I must have startled him or something, I’m sure he’ll be more talkative soon” Luhan replied trying to stay positive.

“I still haven’t had the honour of meeting this guy yet, Taemin says he’s good looking, I need to know if I have competition or not” Kai chuckled, “Do you think I’m more attractive than him?”

“Of course you are Jongin, why else would all of the girls be following you everywhere?” the doe eyed boy reassured his friend.

“I guess so, thanks Luhan” Kai smiled.

After that the silence returned and Luhan was back to looking out the window, closer they got to back home the more everywhere looked like a dump, he hated going home and dealing with his family problems, it wasn’t that he hated his parents though, he just hated how life was for them now. Alcohol, money and abuse. He hated it all. Jongin knew nothing of this; he just thought he was doing his friend favour by driving him to school every day because Luhan’s parents were ‘working’.

“You tired Lu?” Jongin asked realising his friend’s silence “Anything wrong?”

Of course so much was wrong, he had to go back home, back to his problems. As much as he hated school it was his escape from home life, he had to go to work in a few hours to get some money to pay this month’s bills as all their money seemed to go towards alcohol and the little food they had, he worked in an old convenience store at the corner of town, the store owners were a nice elderly couple and sometimes gave him some of the dented and old stuff that wasn’t suitable for the shelves anymore and along as it was still edible Luhan would gladly take it. Sorting out shelves or manning the cashier wasn’t too bad either for the pay he received.

“Everything is fine, why wouldn’t it be” Luhan suddenly blurted out.

“Okay… if you say so” Jongin replied slightly surprised by his friends answer.

Luhan realised his mistake in blurting out what he just said “I’m sorry I’m just tired haha”

The black Ford halted as it reached the once white memorial statue which was now stained a dark gray.

“We’re here” Jongin announced as he stepped out the car and opened the door for his strangely quiet friend.

Luhan got out the car with some help from his friend “Thanks again Jongin, thanks for being my best friend, I know I say this too many times”

“It’s okay, you want me to walk you