american teenager

by cupidskiss

Summary:

thursday, october 16, 1969. august- also known as auggie- hilderbrandt is in his senior year of high school at mill valley. him and his friends, chuck and stella, are simply trying to make it through the year for graduation. though when auggie wakes up with a sore throat and a buried crush on his best friend, who knows if he'll be there standing side by side with them.

ps: i lowk kinda make this up as i go so it's all over the place >_< this is my first multi-chapter fic

Chapter 1: zero; welcome

Before we start, I'd just like to get some things straight with certain characters. Since, when I originally wrote this (or at least had the thing planned out), I forgot that the characters were already seniors in high school. So let's just start off with where everyone was during Halloween of 1968 (aka: during the movie) (btw all birthdays are made up).

 

Auggie: Junior year (11th grade), age 17. Birthday June 7.

Chuck: Junior year (11th grade), age 16. Birthday December 24.

Stella: Junior year (11th grade), age 17. Birthday October 1.

Ramon: Senior year (12th grade), age 18. Birthday March 3.

Ruth: Senior year (12th grade), age 18. Birthday February 18.

Tommy: Senior year (12th grade), age 17. Birthday November 26. (tbh it's what Ruth gets for dating a boy younger than her /j)

 

Now, since the book takes place a year after canon, this is where they are in the book (as of October 16)

 

Auggie: Senior year (12th grade), age 18.

Chuck: Senior year (12th grade), age 17.

Stella: Senior year (12th grade), age 18.

Ramon: Serving in the war, age 19.

Ruth: Freshman in college, age 19.

Tommy: Surprisingly, freshman in college (sports scholarship), age 18.

 

Now, there's also some other things!

A playlist, the songs I'm listening to while writing this! Songs continually get added/taken out as I add/take out ideas: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/30m8YGQ6WWve46csa03dWX?si=20f3663bc90d4821

Along with that, a pinterest board, too! (same rules apply): https://www.pinterest.co.uk/dead4poets/american-teenager-ac/

 

Now, you see, I've half-written many fics before, yet only ever finished and posted one full-length (and serious) one. Hopefully, this one will be an addition to those finished ones. Though I can't guarantee it. But hopefully I will ^_^.

 

Anyways, first chapter will be out... eventually (that is, if you're here before it's out,,, which you probably are). So stick around, we have lemonade and... bloody daisies. /lhj (oh! and tags will be added as the story progresses)

Chapter 2: one; oh no, must be the season of the witch

Notes:

chapter one, season of the witch

tw: homophobic slurs/derogatory words (towards the end) (ps: i'm lgbtq i can write them 👍)

Thursday, October 16, 1969. Begin.

 

Auggie woke up with an awful sore throat, and an even worse taste on his tongue. He brushed it off; he probably just slept with his mouth open or something. Slowly getting up, he made sure to not keep his feet too close to under his bed as who knows what could happen if he did (well, in his mind at least). His throat felt scratchy, almost like something was just stuck there. Auggie tried coughing a bit, just to clear his throat until–

 

“ Shit!” Auggie exclaimed in between coughs. He was thrown into a coughing fit, whatever he felt stuck in his throat not budging a bit. After a few minutes, though, it died down a bit. He sighed, well, that’s a great way to start his day, isn’t it?

 

Auggie grabbed a glass of water that had been on his nightstand for… how long had that water been sitting there for? He looked in the glass, it was almost completely full. He set it back down… he was not drinking that. He looked in his closet and grabbed his pretty much day-to-day outfit. A brown sweater, black jeans, and his beat up ( much to his mother’s dismay) Converse.

 

Getting dressed, he cringed whenever he swallowed. God, he needed some cough drops. He continued his routine. Brushing his hair (he forgot to put water in it. Why on earth did it fluff up so much), eating breakfast (which was annoying), brushing his teeth… You get it. Auggie went into his room and put his things together. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice crackled in through the radio.

 

“When are you guys leaving?” Stella, one of his friends, asked. Realizing she forgot, she quickly added, “over.”

 

“Now,” he said, “over.”

 

And, almost as per usual within their friend group, Chuck didn’t respond in the morning. The two of them knew he was probably either still sleeping, or distracted doing something else.

 

Auggie left the device on his nightstand, next to the full glass of water, and threw his backpack over his shoulder. He walked out the door and led his bike down onto the street and hopped on, making his way to Mill Valley Township High.

 

➽───────────────❥

 

Mill Valley was beautiful at this time of year, Auggie had always thought so, at least. Biking through the streets and passing by the small shops they had which were opening up for the day, smiling at the workers, and just admiring the slowly changing leaves he saw every year. It didn’t matter how long he’d lived there, the sight could never get old for him. Well,,, maybe all the hype about Halloween could. It was really all their town could offer when Auggie thought about it. Either way, sending a smile and a small nod to the early workers, who returned the gesture, made it a little better.

 

His lungs felt a little clearer too.

COUGH-

 

…Maybe not.

 

Regaining control of his bike (which he almost just tipped over), he reached the school. Mill Valley Township High, where absolutely nobody likes him other than 2 people. Where absolutely nobody knew what happened to him other than 2 people.

 

Last year 4 people knew what happened. Ruth and Tommy, but they’re off at the town’s university right now.

 

Auggie parked his bike and locked it against the pole designated for students and went on his way. He walked through the halls and nearly bumped into Stella, who had seemingly just appeared out of nowhere.

 

“Probably did. Damn witch,” Auggie thought, joking.

 

“Oh, hey Auggie!” She exclaimed. “Where’s Chuck? I haven’t seen him.”

 

Auggie shrugged. “He’s probably still asleep. I mean, his sister isn’t awake in the mornings to chase him out of bed.”

 

Stella laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. I can’t believe her classes start so late in the day!”

 

“That’s college,” he said plainly.

 

“I guess so.”

 

Auggie grinned as the two of them leaned on their lockers, waiting for either their third member to arrive, or the bell to ring.

 

➽───────────────❥

 

Chuck indeed ended up being late for class. Not by much, though, he had apparently showed up in the middle of zero period (though, Auggie wouldn’t know for sure. He had ASL, Chuck had Spanish). Though now they were at a class they shared together– including Stella (though technically they could’ve talked earlier, like during World History). Auggie’s sore throat only got worse as the day went on. Of course, though, they had to run during PE. Usually, running isn’t bad - for Auggie at least. But with a sore throat it was, for a lack of better term, a pain in the fucking ass.

 

“I think the mile is really what humans got in return of Adam and Eve eating the apple,” Chuck joked.

 

Auggie rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure man.”

 

“I’m serious! This sucks.”

 

As you can tell, Chuck really doesn’t like running the mile. Or running at all, really. It just wasn’t his favourite thing to do.

 

“I thought you liked running?” Auggie asked.

 

“Only when it’s, one, a small amount of time, and two, when I’m chasing someone down. Like. As a joke.”

 

“Or maybe when you’re getting chased down…” Stella mumbled.

 

Auggie’s head snapped towards Stella, while Chuck stayed completely oblivious to what she said; he hadn’t heard her. Maybe that was for the better, considering how Chuck did tend to get quite strong reactions when stuff about… that got brought up. Auggie couldn’t say anything, though, he was the same way, just about different things.

 

Silence filled the space between the three of them, except for Auggie’s futile attempt to stifle a cough, which just caused more to come. Chuck giggled (or should I say, Chuck chuckled. Haha, hilarious.) at him, in which he received a glare from the blond.

 

Auggie really hoped this cough would go away soon, quickly, too. It was starting to get really annoying. And hurt. Usually he never got bad coughs.

 

➽───────────────❥

 

It struck him completely out of nowhere. One minute, he was sitting in his final period, AP English, taking notes, and the next his head was pounding. He tried to just ignore it, continue listening to the teacher and finish the class. But for some reason his focus was not wanting to hear about A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He put his head down for a second, willing it to just go away.

 

Of course, it doesn’t work like that, though. He brought his head back up and raised his hand, upon being noticed, he asked to be excused. Once given permission, he got out of his seat and left the classroom.

 

The hallways were weird empty. They were eerie, even. Completely quiet other than the tapping of his shoes on the linoleum and the faint sound of teachers–or students– talking in the classes around him. Auggie continued to wander around the halls, although he didn’t know how long he’d be allowed out of class. He looked closer at a few of the posters plastered on the walls he’d never been really able to look at before, peeked into a few classes (and of course waved at Chuck, who was currently having the same class he had earlier– Anatomy and Physiology, specifically. Why Chuck was even taking that class, Auggie didn’t know. Though, what he did know, was that Chuck was failing that class. Miserably.)

 

Auggie hadn’t been paying attentioned when he accidentally bumped into another student.

 

“I’m so sorry-” Auggie said immediately.

 

The girl shook her head and smiled, fixing her bangs out of her eyes. “No worries.”

 

Auggie looked at the girl. She looked like someone he knew, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her before, though, which was the weird thing about it. Shoulder-length light brown hair, deep brown eyes. Something about her was just familiar.

 

She must’ve sensed his confusion. “Lily Milner. You probably know my brother, Tommy.”

 

That made sense. Wait. Tommy? He had a sister?

 

“Milner has a sister?” Auggie voiced aloud. She nodded. “I didn’t know that…”

 

She laughed. “Yeah, he doesn’t exactly like me very much. He’s like four years older than I am.” She paused, realising she never said her grade. “I’m a sophomore, by the way.”

 

Auggie nodded. “I’m August, I’m a senior. Your brother didn’t like me very much either.”

 

Auggie didn’t assume that Lily already knew about the severe bullying he’s been through, but he wouldn’t exactly be surprised if she did. He probably talked about it when he was at home, but even then that’s a long shot thinking the guy actually even talked about the kids he picked on.

 

“Oh, I know. I’d hear him making plans for Halloween every single year. It was honestly entertaining hearing him come home in the middle of the night and getting yelled at.” She laughed a bit, but then her demeanor changed almost completely. She tugged softly on her braided hair. “Never thought he’d go missing that night.”

 

Auggie tensed. He didn’t like Milner, at all, but he still felt sympathetic after the fact. When he returned to school he seemed so, so different. Auggie remembered seeing him and noticing just how tired and detached Tommy looked. It honestly terrified him.

 

“Oh yeah, how’s he doing?” Auggie said.

 

Lily shrugged. “Fine. I guess. Barely home anymore, thank God.”

 

“He was ever really home in the first place?”

 

“You’re right. Hey, how do you know him better than I do?!”

 

Auggie laughed, and she joined soon after.

 

“Ah, well, I’ve got to get back to class. See you around?” Lily said.

 

“See ya around.”

 

She nodded and started walking back down the hall, he watched her go. He figured he should probably do the same. Their conversation had made him momentarily forget about his dreadful headache, but it quickly came back full-force once he was alone again. He walked into class and sat back down, someone had done notes for him. He quietly thanked the person and lazily continued on until the end of class.

 

➽───────────────❥

 

Auggie sat at the counter of the small bookshop doing his homework. He hadn’t been yelled at by his boss yet about doing schoolwork on the job, so he wasn’t planning on stopping anytime soon. The shop was mostly empty, other than a few highschool-or-college-aged kids roaming around viewing their catalogue. He didn’t pay much attention to them, only looking up when he heard the small bell ring at the entrance.

 

“Hurry up, pick whatever you want,” a gruff voice said. Auggie looked at the new customer. Dirty blond hair, a piece of hay in his mouth and a college jacket that was from Mill Valley University. Quickly, he realised, it was none other than mister Tommy Milner himself.

 

Tommy attended MVU as a business major. He also played baseball for their varsity team. He was rarely around anymore, though, probably usually hanging around his campus or home. Auggie quickly hid his face at the sight of him, though, he wasn’t sure if Milner had changed or not (which, Auggie assumed, probably not). The 19-year-old followed begrudgingly behind the girl he was with, who walked swiftly around the store. Auggie tried to peer around the shelves to see who it was, but it was no use. He figured he’d see her anyway when they came up to pay.

 

Tapping his pencil on the counter, gearing his eyes back onto the assignment, he pondered the next question. Calculus was one of his… less favourable classes. He’d failed it the year prior due to, well, rather undesirable circumstances and their effects on his health, so unfortunate he had to reatake the class.

 

Find the derivative of f(x) = 6x^3 - 9x + 4.

 

He scribbled some things across the paper, and then the answer down, he never took notice until now how messy his handwriting was, maybe he’ll fix it eventually.

 

f^1(x) = 18x^2 - 9.

 

Auggie continued the other problems, a lot more slowly than he would’ve liked. Eventually he saw someone– sorry some people walk up to the counter. It was none other than Tommy Milner and..

 

“Oh, Lily! Hi,” he greeted. He looked at the book she put on the counter. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov. “You sure you’re allowed to read this?” He asked in a half-joking tone.

 

“Hey, August. Yeah, I don’t think my parents will mind,” she said, returning the same energy.

 

Tommy stood there, he looked between Auggie and Lily. “How do you know him?” He asked, directed toward her. He glared at Auggie as he said it, though. Auggie looked down and silently rang up the book.

 

“Oh! We met today in the hallways. We bumped into each other and just had a conversation– about you, actually,” she said.

 

Milner didn’t seem impressed. He turned to Auggie. “Hey, creep, stay away from my sister. She’s not into you.”

 

Auggie looked up, dumbfounded. “Yeah, I wasn’t really trying to go for tha-”

 

“ Sure you weren’t, Hilderbrandt, ” He spat spitefully. A smirk went on his face. “Unless you’re a little queer? I think I might’ve just cracked your code, fairy.”

 

Auggie didn’t even know how to respond. He glanced around, they hadn’t gained any attention from other patrons. He sighed, coughed, and spoke. “Your total is sixty cents.”

 

Tommy set down the money, staring weirdly into Auggie’s eyes. He felt majorly uncomfortable by this whole situation. Lily stood there just as awkwardly, she didn’t know exactly what to do either.

 

“Are you gonna deny it, queer?”

 

Before Auggie could respond, Lily spoke up. “Can we uh… Can we leave now?” She asked awkwardly. She gave Auggie a sympathetic look, as if to apologise for her brother’s actions. Tommy looked away from Auggie and snatched the book off the counter and tossed it carelessly at the girl. He grumbled a few, most likely derogatory, words as he walked out.

 

Lily paused for a moment after her brother left. She turned around and looked at Auggie. “See you tomorrow?”

 

He breathed in, still taking in… whatever just happened. “Yeah. Uh. See you tomorrow.”

 

Well, this was surely an interesting day, not just at work, but in general. Gosh, he needed a nap…

 

➽───────────────❥

Notes:

thanks for reading! if you have any questions or anything then lmk!! i'll be sure to answer them if/when i can :) (also if you notice any grammatical errors or anything please, also, let me know.)

- adam

Chapter 3: a/n

Summary:

ermmmmm

hey guys ummmmm,,,,,,, so the laptop i was writing this on broke so i couldn't cont. the "new" chapter >_<!! and i have a PERSONAL vendetta against writing on my phone (i tried & raged). so umm,, yeah

sorry to those who read this, ily all <3

new chapter??? maybe??? idk??? i'm kinda busy???

Chapter 4: two; if i didn't tell her, i could leave today

Summary:

church episode /j

Notes:

chapter two, california dreamin'

(ps: this chapter sucks sm it was actually so bad to write that's like half the reason this story like died in april lol)

sunday, october 19, 1969. begin.

 

Bright and early, Sunday morning, and probably one of Auggie’s least favourite times per week. He didn’t exactly hate going to church, it’s not like that at all, he just really didn’t feel like sitting for over an hour with the same guy repeating the nearly same stuff every week. He looked down and played mindlessly with his tie, the pastor’s words blurring together into nothingness. At least it gave him an excuse to dress nicely, which was never a bad factor in his book. Though his outfit was simple; a plain white button up with matching black pants, tie, and shoes.

 

Auggie feels a sharp tap on his shoulder. He glanced up from his lap to see his mother staring at him from the corner of her eye.

 

“ Pay attention, ” she whispered sharply. Auggie sighed and let his tie drop flat onto his shirt.

 

He followed the pastor for a few more sentences, which were completely out of context for him. Auggie didn’t like days like this, where it was harder than others to pay attention. He wondered if this is what Chuck felt like. Auggie thought it’d be unbearable living like that, maybe that’s why Chuck had to take medication for it. Auggie let his mind wander again, what was it called again? Oh, right! Hyperkinetic Reaction of Childhood , or something like that. Auggie thought that they should rename it to something else, as that name sounded pretty bad.

 

Speaking of Chuck, Auggie looked at him from across the room. He was sitting next to his parents and sister, Ruth. Chuck quickly caught him looking, as if he were begging for some type of distraction too. Chuck smiled at him, and he smiled back.

 

“ How long has it been?” Chuck mouthed to Auggie. He checked his watch, it’d been around 45 minutes already. Chuck rolled his eyes, that meant they were sitting there for around another 15.

 

Chuck went to mouth something again, but his head quickly turned as Ruth hit him– probably not softly judging by his reaction– and he turned around. Auggie tries to hold back a small laugh, but it quickly turns into a cough.

 

Oh, right… THAT.

 

The metallic taste in Auggie’s mouth made him scrunch up his face just the slightest bit. He’d woken up that morning feeling absolutely awful. A bloody tang in his mouth and waves of nausea. Neither have died down in the slightest yet. He remembered coughing that morning into his pyjama shirt and seeing spots of blood. He freaked out, obviously, but there was absolutely no way he was telling his mother– or worse– his stepfather Jeff. So he just went along with his morning, got ready and left for Church, not a single word spoken about the small blood spots on his sleeve resting on his bed.

 

He’d been having the weird cough for about a week now, and it’d been getting progressively more annoying as it goes on. Auggie thought it was sort of painful at the start, but little did one-week-ago-Auggie know about what was to come for him now.

 

➽───────────────❥

 

Fresh air, the blue sky, brown leaves, and green grass. It felt amazing being outside finally. Through the crowd of people Auggie tried to find Chuck. Many people, adults and children alike, stood in groups chatting about their past week, what they were going to do in the days following, the sermon, or anything in general. Auggie cut between in search for the head of wavy, black hair. Eventually he was found, standing beside his sister only half-engaged in a conversation his parents were having with the others around.

 

Auggie jogged up to him. “Chuck!” He exclaimed as he ran, catching the boy’s attention. Once he got there he smiled and nodded towards Ruth. “Uhh, hi Ruth. Good morning.” It was odd actually talking to her, considering he hadn’t seen her in a while.

 

She smiled back. “Auggie, good morning to you too.” Ruth returned to her conversation with the others around her.

 

Auggie moved his attention back to Chuck. “Do you wanna go?” He gestured to the side, just meaning anywhere but within the crowd.

 

Chuck nodded. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

 

Auggie had half the thought to let Chuck’s parents know, but the other boy didn’t seem to. He just walked right off, quickly at that, leaving Auggie to have to catch up with him. They walked around the scenery together; their church was one of the nicer ones around the area. Brown, orange, red, and yellow leaves rest upon the green grass; some in raked piles and others lying scattered. Auggie took notice of Chuck's outfit. It was similar to his own. A plain button up, a light-coloured tie, pants which were probably the only ones without any type of holes or stains in them, and nice, dark shoes. Auggie always thought it was weird seeing Chuck dressed so nicely, in his mind these types of outfits lacked the Chuck in Chuck. It made him Charles, maybe Charlie instead.

 

They walked in relative silence, Auggie looked ahead of him while Chuck looked at his feet, hands in pockets. It wasn’t very windy, though there was a slight breeze through the air that made him shiver a bit. Chuck looked up and glanced over near the lake behind the church. He stopped and pointed to a girl standing on the lake’s edge, camera in hand.

 

“Is that Stella?” He asked. Auggie looked over too. He squinted his eyes and nodded.

 

“Stella!” Chuck shouted immediately, Auggie cringed and looked back to see if anybody else was paying attention to them at all. When he looked back Chuck had already started running over to her, once again leaving Auggie to run and catch up.

 

“I didn’t see you this morning during the sermon, where were you?” Chuck asked, starting a conversation as soon as he reached her.

 

Stella’s eyebrows furrowed. “I was there. I saw you, and I waved to you, you waved back. What, did you just think I was some random person?” She started laughing. Her camera was still held in her hands; it was the one her dad had bought her for her birthday.

 

Chuck’s head tilted as he racked his memory from that morning. He shrugged. “I guess I did…” Chuck admitted.

 

Stella shook her head jokingly. She fixed her glasses and held up her camera to show the others. “Oh, I was taking pictures to send to Ramon with my letters to him while he’s away. Want to see them?”

 

The two boys nodded. She took out a few pieces of film from her bag and held them out. It was pictures of the landscape; the leaves falling, the trees becoming bare of their colour, and the people around. Even a few pictures of her that she’d managed to take herself. Auggie smiled as he got an idea.

 

“Can you take a picture of me and Chuck?” He asked, Chuck perked up immediately, he thought that was a good idea.

 

Stella took back the photos. “Yeah, of course!” She stepped to the side slightly. “Here, stand in front of the lake, in front of the trees.”

 

The boys moved to do as she said. Chuck suddenly jumped up onto Auggie’s back, sending him stumbling forward a bit. He regained composure and scolded Chuck for not giving a warning, to which he laughed. Stella giggled as she held the camera up to her eye. They stood there for a moment, staying for a few moments after even though they heard the camera click. Auggie dropped Chuck as soon as he was sure the picture wouldn’t be messed up.

 

Chuck, not prepared to be let go, landed flat on his butt, and he kicked Auggie in the leg as he laughed at him. Chuck grumbled and grabbed a handful of fallen leaves. Before Auggie could react, he stood up and threw them into Auggie’s hair. Auggie was stunned for a moment before hearing Chuck’s laughter.

 

“Oh you did not- ” Auggie grabbed some leaves from another pile and threw them back at Chuck.

 

This went back and forth, the two grabbing leaves - and some grass - off the ground by the handfuls and throwing them at each other. They didn’t bother messing with Stella, in fact, they forgot she was even there. At the moment, it was Chuck and Auggie, and the battle of the fallen leaves. Amidst the chaos, they couldn’t hear the few pictures being taken by their forgotten member.

 

With leaves in their hair and grass stains on their nice, white shirts, they laughed, completely out of breath. Chuck threw one more handful of torn grass at Auggie for good measure before–

 

“BOYS!” They heard a woman yell. Their laughter cut short as the three teenagers turned around at the voice.

 

The woman stormed over to them. Chuck leaned over and whispered “That's my mom's friend.” to Auggie. Stella stood there awkwardly– she wasn't technically in trouble, as she wasn't called upon, but she wasn't just going to leave the two boys alone. Once the woman reached their group, she began scolding Chuck and Auggie about their reckless behaviour and how they've ‘ruined their clothes!’ and how ‘your parents are going to be so disappointed in the two of you!’. Stella took all of it seriously, despite how she wasn't even getting yelled at, but Chuck and Auggie looked to be on the verge of laughter. Auggie couldn't help but notice how red her face was, and Chuck just stared at the giant mole on her forehead.

 

All it took was Chuck to begin snickering at her for her to stop shouting. Her face managed to turn even more red than it was before. She turned around and grumbled as she stormed away back to where she came from. As soon as she was a little far away, Auggie and Chuck burst out laughing, Stella joining in a little after. A mixture of choked out ‘ did you see that look on her face?!’ and ‘she was so mad!” filling their fits of laughter. They glanced back to where the lady would be, and there they saw her, talking hastily with her (assumed) friends (which, luckily, wasn’t Chuck’s mom).

 

Soon enough, Auggie’s mother called out to him. Auggie’s heart almost dropped when he heard it, as by then they’d long stopped paying attention to that weird lady. Chuck and Stella stopped talking, too, and listened.

 

“Auggie, it’s time to go!” In unison, the three of them took a sigh of relief. “Say goodbye to your friends!”

 

“Aw man,” Chuck complained. “Are you free to hang out later?”

 

Auggie shook his head. “No, I’ve got to study. ACTs and all that..”

 

“Come on, Auggie. Loosen up a little. You barely hang out with me anymore..!”

 

“Um, h ey, I’m here, too,” Stella added, with fake offense.

 

“Oh- uh, yeah. My bad.” Stella rolled her eyes. Chuck looked back at Auggie in a way of saying ‘girls, amirite?’

 

Auggie ignored it. “I hang out with you– both of you. Like, I’m hanging out with you guys right now,” he said while they started their way toward his mom.

 

“ This doesn’t count, though!”

 

“It doesn’t?”

 

“No!” Chuck exclaimed exasperatedly. Stella chuckled at his reactions. “We all used to hang out together all the time , now it seems like neither of you have the time!”

 

Stella stopped laughing. “Wait why am I getting dragged into this?”

 

“You’re always busy writing and sending letters to your little boyfriend.”

 

“I thought you liked Ramon?”

 

“Not when he’s literally tearing our friendship apart without even being here!”

 

Stella scoffed. “Oh come on, now you’re just being immature.”

 

Auggie stayed silent as the two of them went back and forth. Auggie hadn’t really ever realised it before, but Chuck was right in a way. They didn’t hang out as much as they did before. Without realising Auggie had started to push everyone away after the incident. He didn’t mean to, in fact he loved having his friends around, they made him feel safe and at home. Auggie supposed his subconscious didn’t agree, and declared it didn’t like them and only reminded him of bad, danger, bad, bad, bad!!!!

 

Stella had soon given up, Chuck going on about their falling-apart friendship. She’d gone off with her father when they had ended up in the less-packed crowd of people. So, together, Chuck and Auggie walked to the car.

 

“I’m sorry, Chuck, but maybe later, okay?” Auggie said when they’d eventually reached his car. His parents sat inside, the engine roaring to life.

 

“Yeah, sure. Whatever,” Chuck said passively. He was upset, Auggie knew exactly why but at the same time didn’t. It wasn’t like he flat-out said no. “See you later, Auggie.”

 

The blonde watched as Chuck walked away, presumably to find his own family. He sighed as he leaned against the car door. It was Jeff’s way-too-fancy blue ‘67 Cadillac Eldorado. He could hear his parents chatting idly in the car, his mother most-likely going on about the town gossip she ‘gathered from her girls’ (as she would say).

 

Auggie, once again, felt ill. The feeling from earlier that day swiftly returning. Chuck’s words came into thought again. He felt guilty, he never realised what he was doing and how it hurt Chuck. He didn’t even realise anything changed in the first place. Maybe Chuck was a lot more observant than a lot of people knew, or maybe Auggie was just too clouded in his thoughts to realise. Or it was both. Auggie’s stomach churned the more he thought about it. He tried to urge the waves of nausea away before he actually got sick.

 

His mother rolled down the passenger-side window. “Are you just going to stand there? Get inside, boy.”

 

Auggie nodded and muttered a quick, “yes ma’am.”

 

Jeff drove around the parking lot a bit, finding the exit. They drove past the Steinbergs, where Auggie caught Chuck’s eye. Chuck looked away almost immediately, and the feeling in Auggie’s stomach multiplied. He gagged a bit, nothing came up. Jeff and Auggie’s mother kept their eyes in front of them, paying the boy no mind as they drove onto the main road and through town. Just like in the church, he felt light scratches in his throat, quickly growing by the seconds that ticked by. He tried to suppress it at first, but ultimately he coughed into his hand, a few splatters of blood resulting on his palm.

 

Auggie felt a spike of panic go through him. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t wipe it on his clothes, that’d ruin them, and they didn’t have any napkins in the car. Jeff was very adamant about every speck of trash leaving his car, so that was off the list.

 

So he sat there, for the rest of the drive home, shaking with red-rimmed eyes and a bloody hand, waiting to be able to wash it off. He prayed neither of the people in the front would turn around or even talk to him. He looked back out the window, distracting himself from the uncomfortable, drying, red stickiness in his right palm.

 

What the fuck was happening to him?

Notes:

im just gonna shamelessly plug the pinterest again (https://www.pinterest.co.uk/dead4poets/american-teenager-ac/) it's honestly fire check it out 100%
also i forgot to ask this at the end notes of last chapter but like do you guys like lily? should she be a character that comes up commonly or nah? bc i mean i like her but yk

also ty eifie for church insight vv helpful 👍👍 /gen but pls don't bash me if it's inaccurate i've never been to church, but i felt it was important to keep it in bc religion was crucial to american society esp in the 60s due to the war. if you have any extra tips for writing stuff like this please, lmk!!

on that note, any criticism (within reason)/tips/grammatical corrections are always welcomed + highly encouraged! thank you for reading <3