He couldn’t take it anymore, he had to get out of there. It was the 6th time they had to stop because he was off sync with the duo. The buzzing tone in his brain that came with his curse made it almost impossible to keep up with their tempo. Everytime he fucked up it kept getting worse. Uninvited thoughts started to creep in.
When Harvey and Cornelius asked him to join the band, it was the first time in a while he told himself everything was going to be ok. The two boys seemed nice enough. He just could never shake the thought that it was a matter of time before they disliked him. Dropped him.. Let him go if he couldn’t keep up..
Lost in his thoughts he didn’t hear them give another signal to start.
“Hey! You there?” He jumped to look up and see them both staring at him. He couldn’t read the expressions on their face but it translated to annoyance in his brain.
“I-I uh I’m sorry I have to get going” he turned and grabbed his belongings from the school day. Pressure started to build in his head; he wanted nothing more than to burst into tears. even his one hope was falling through.
“Wait ! But we -“ Cornelius tried to stop him but the panic made Static’s legs move faster. He was up and out the auditorium door before they could stop him.
Each step brought a new wave of guilt and made his stomach turn. Static’s chest tightened with the thought that he really was good for nothing. He started to regret even agreeing to be part of their band and getting their hopes up. The sickening tone in his head got worse. He just wanted to run from everything. From himself mainly, but he couldn’t. Static had no idea what he did to deserve to be stuck with his horrible curse. If he was gone, the noise would stop. He just wanted silence.
Static’s vision was completely gone as he blindly felt his way along the wall. Judging by the roughness and the warmth, he could only assume it was the outside school wall. His head was killing him, the anxiety mixed with a lost signal was enough to bring him to his knees. He sat shaking, alone, trapped in himself.
“Hey-“ the voice startled him enough to break through the noise. Static covered his face in fear. He always tried to avoid people seeing his abnormal features. Too many times had he been tormented by his peers over his peculiar nature. He froze hoping if he didn’t respond they would leave him alone.
“Are you ok?” Static heard the voice faintly again, it sounded familiar. He tried his hardest to filter it. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Static flinched and blocked himself in fear .
“Calm down. It's just me. Just tell me what’s going on.” Hearing the soothing voice now at his level, he knew who it was.
The skinny boy in the checkered hoodie kneeled beside Static. He coaxed him to stop hiding himself. Static panicked and tried to mess with his dial to find a better frequency. “I’m fine I-I got it.. it’s just uh a bit of a headache” his voice was shaking trying to lie to his new friend. Trying to speed search for a signal made it worse. Cornelius took note, watching him.
“Do you want me to help you?”
The question surprised him. No one had ever tried to help, well, it’s not like he let anyone get close to begin with. “I-“ Static was at a loss for words. Just a few minutes ago he was picturing how this person probably hated him.
“Here, Lay back” Static didn’t have a choice, he felt Cornelius coax his body to lay down. He felt nervous as Cornelius made him rest his head in his lap, body resting on the soft grass. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this close to another person. Static didn’t have time to think about it too much as the droning noise persisted in his brain.
He could feel Cornelius’ hand gently brush his long bangs out of the way. Slowly, he felt him turn the dial, going alittle then stopping to ask how Static felt. Turn alittle again. It felt.. nice. Cornelius was guiding his signal so patiently. Static closed his eyes, a warm feeling started to grow in him… was this.. peace?
He could’ve laid there forever. Something about the situation started to arise, the feeling of comfort he hadn’t felt since….the thought disappeared. Something was different.
Static could hear noises around him. The cars passing by the main road, the wildlife, the wind outside. The fuzz in his brain was so quiet.
Opening his eyes he looked up to see Cornelius watching him. He could’ve swore it was a dream. The warm afternoon sun shining down on them caught his auburn hair as he leaned over. Static hadn’t seen him so close and clear before.. he had more freckles than he could count. There was something almost too charming about his features. His sharp jaw but tired, gentle eyes balanced his face perfectly.
Focusing on his face, he realized he was trying to speak but it was in slow motion.
“Static?”
Static snapped out of it. “Hu-yeah??”
“I asked if you felt alright.” His smile was so warm, even warmer than the sun beaming over them.
“Oh - yeah actually..” he sat up even though something wanted him not to. “This is the clearest it’s felt in a minute..” he looked around, taking in the afternoon around him.
“I’m glad I could help. Do you want to go back inside or did you need to head out?”
Cornelius said standing up, he reached out his hand to Static to help him off the ground.
“I - well.. I guess I feel better..” Static took his hand and stood up.
“We’d love to have you stay, please don’t feel bad about messing up. You must not have heard how many sour notes I was hitting myself.” He let out a friendly laugh “we’ll figure something out,. It’s all just practice. All that matters is you’re having fun, you know?”
Cornelius’ words weighed heavy in his chest. Static couldn’t help but break a soft smile. “Thank you for helping me..”
Cornelius gave a little thumbs up. His bandaged knuckles caught Static’s eyes.
He doesn’t look like the type to get into fights ..
Harvey showing up broke his thoughts. “You guys coming back?? Come on the beats getting cold!” He joked, sticking out his tongue before he disappeared through the auditorium door again.
Cornelius gestured for them to head back inside and smiled back at Static again. “Please don’t be scared of us…and I er-“ Cornelius stumbled over his words. There was a moment of silence. “Just know you can talk to me if you aren’t feeling ok.” Cornelius awkwardly put his arm around Static and gave him a light pat on the back. He felt less like a stranger.
Something sparked in his heart making Static feel like a human again.
“Let’s go back in” as they headed back inside, the tugging on his hand made him realize Cornelius was still holding it. Static felt his heart beat harder in his chest.
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