Dae exhales as another classmate scurried to get out of his way. Leilani cocked her head at him, raising a questioning eyebrow. "What's going on? You've been huffing about all day with that 'woe is me' look on your face..."
"What look? There is no look." Dae laughed despite himself, "This is just my face."
"Liar!" She nudged her shoulder into him as they stopped at her locker, "so tell me what's really going on?"
"I don't know if it's just the leather jacket or the stint in rehab, but for some reason, everyone seems...terrified to even look at me." Dae leans against the lockers and watched as people went out of their way to avoid getting close to him...
But suddenly a flash of red hair crosses his vision with a familiar smirk accompanying it. Evan kept his distance in the halls, but Dae could tell from the look on the redhead's face that he was amused by everyone's hesitance towards Dae. And when their eyes met, Dae smiled hoping that Evan would close that distance between them and show the world that there wasn't anything wrong with him.
Evan, however, shook his head with a smile that matched Dae's but then slipped into the chaos of the hall, weaving in and out of people without drawing any attention to himself. Dae watched in awe as Evan maneuvered through people with the ease of a phantom--never once interrupting their flow--a soul wandering freely. And Dae couldn't help but be a little jealous...
Suddenly a hand rapidly waved in front of his face, shaking Dae from his daze. He turned to see Leilani on her tiptoes, a strange look sat on her face. "Earth to Dae...Are you sure you're okay?"
She glances towards where Evan was but doesn't stand a chance of seeing the boy who was now long gone. Dae smiles sadly to himself before regaining his composure and heading towards his locker with Leilani in tow. "It's just...There's a new kid, and my drama seems to matter more to everyone. Where's the high school cliche that the new kid is the center of attention?"
"We have a new kid?" Anthony, Leilani's boyfriend, stepped up next to them, throwing himself into the conversation without hesitation. "Is she hot?"
Leilani gave him an incredulous look, while Dae's eyes informed him that whatever joke he was trying wasn't funny. But Anthony just waved them off, "What? I'm asking for Dae. Obviously! It's been a while since he's had a good time."
Leilani looked uncomfortable for a few seconds longer before she melted fully into Anthony's half-ass embrace. He slung an arm over her shoulders as if they were friends and nothing more. She shook her head, trying to hide her hurt, but focusing on Dae instead. "I'm pretty sure if Dae was into her, he wouldn't need any help from you. He never has, before. What does she look like anyway?"
"Well, he's--you know what? Never mind." Dae looked away slightly flustered--due to having to think about Evan again, combined with the way his friends spoke about his sexual past so freely.
Granted, before rehab, he already had sort of a reputation as some kind of playboy who got whoever he set his sights on--because it was mostly true. Dae usually tried to express to his partner that he just wanted a good time--to avoid hurting their feelings. However, some of the people he'd slept with seemed to want more. And he'd never been able to offer them that...
"He? That sucks, dude." Anthony deflated, ignoring as he so often did, that Dae's fluidity has never been a secret. "Maybe next time you can call dibs?"
"So, you're just gonna leave it at 'never mind..?'" Leilani ignored Anthony's questionable comments and stared at Dae with one of those signature looks that threatened to break down his walls completely.
Dae felt warmth spread to his cheeks, "Look, I'm not part of the student council. I'm not required to give all the details on the new kid. Besides, I don't know much. Just that he started this year, moved in some time while I was in rehab, and is named Evan...The rest you can ask him yourself when you see him."
Leilani's eyebrow quirked at Dae's defensiveness, and he instantly knew she suspected something. Thankfully, though, she threw her hands up in fake surrender and smirked, "Okay, okay. You're right. We'll ask him. Plus, you would be terrible for the student council. You don't have the right...look to represent the school."
Grateful that she didn't inquire further in front of Anthony, Dae playfully continued with his own banter. He responded with a chuckle, "You mean to tell me that a non-white, pansexual, recovering drug addict with anger issues and broken family life isn't the vibe they're going for? Their loss! I'm lucrative for every demographic!"
Despite Leilani's hearty guffaw, Anthony tightened his grip just a little, before leaning close to her ear and not-so-subtly whispering, "As fun as it is to have Dae back, we gotta go. First period's gonna start."
"You guys are in the same first period? Lucky. I doubt I'll have anyone to talk to-" Dae spoke, shutting his locker, but was interrupted by a kiss on his cheek from Leilani.
"No. Ant just doesn't want us to be late," Leilani said quietly, before hurrying down the hall to catch up with her boyfriend, who wasn't even trying to wait for her. As she hurried to catch up to him, she called over her shoulder. "I love you, Dae! Be good! And I'll see you later!"
"...Yeah..." Dae muttered under his breath before making his way to the first class of his first day back to school. Unfortunately--and unintentionally feeding the reputation he'd already gotten--he ended up being late, but even the teacher refused to say something about it.
As he sat down in the back of the class, he prepared himself for a day full of people ignoring him. But was completely surprised when the girl next to him--who looked like she had to be an underclassman--started looking over at him. " Hey. You're Dae, right?"
A nervous fluttering traveled through his body; she had asked without any fear or hesitation, and he wasn't used to that yet. He nodded in response and readied himself to reply before any hope he'd had came crashing down quickly.
"Any chance you can...hook me up?" She asked, flashing money folded tactfully between her fingers.
Dae's fingers tightened into the usual white-knuckled grip, and he tried to focus on his breathing. It was only his first period back and he was already getting solicited for drugs.
"Look," Dae spoke through deep breaths. "I'm not a dealer."
He knew he could shout his case from the rooftops--but it would be no use. The moment you go to rehab, you're suddenly labeled as a lot of things. A loss cause; a dealer; someone bound to relapse. But Dae had decided that he only wanted one stay in Hearth Haven, and he's going to continue trying his best to remain on that course.
He didn't even wait for a response and just zoned out until the bell rang. Once it did, he's the first one out the door. Trying his hardest, to run from his past. Trying to be invisible--and a little jealous that Evan could do it so easily.