I felt like a zombie as I walked into the common room at my school. It was empty apart from one boy sitting at the edge of the room with headphones on. His music was so loud that I could hear it from where I was sitting. I stopped for a moment and listened. Fall Out Boy. I sat down into my usual spot and pulled out the Geography work I had due first period. I was sure that what I was writing wasn't the best quality but I just had to get it done. I didn't care if it was completely illegible and off topic: I just needed to hand it in. I didn't have a single excuse for my procrastination and I was already failing the class. I couldn't risk getting kicked out of sixth form.

It was about ten minutes later that my friend entered the room and dropped into the seat beside me. "Hey, dude," He muttered and I simply nodded, continuing writing at such a speed that my handwriting wasn't anything but a messy scrawl. "You alright?"

"Yep. Can you just... leave me alone until I've finished this, yeah?" I murmured and Hunk, my best friend, let out a soft laugh. He leaned over and peered at my work but I'm sure he couldn't understand it.

"Lance? Not wanting to talk? Have you been replaced with someone else or something?"

I bit my lip, ignoring my friend. I was desperately trying to remain in the right mindset to do my geography and not start getting annoyed at my friend for some stupid insult that was meant to be taken as a joke and nothing more. I was concluding my essay and was so very close to the end. As soon as I had written the final word, I dropped my pen and let out a relieved laugh. I probably sounded like I belonged in a mental asylum but that wasn't important. What was important was that I was finally going to be able to hand a piece of homework in on time for the first time in something like a millennium.

"Dude, what drugs did you take this morning?" I turned to face Hunk who was watching me with an amused expression on his face. His eyebrows were raised high and he was smiling ever so gently.

"None. Well... I had a cup of coffee." I rarely ever ate breakfast because I couldn't stomach much in the mornings. I usually had a cup of coffee just to keep me going until break time at school when I could have a snack.

"Okay..." Before Hunk could ask any more questions, Pidge walked in the door with a wide grin on their face. They practically shoved the door open so that it slammed shut and echoed around the room. Pidge's real name was Katie but no one ever called them that; not even the teachers. No one really knew where the nickname had originated but everyone just went along with it.

"Guess what!" They yelled so loudly that the few people in the room turned to look at our small group. "Matt's coming home!" Pidge wasn't exactly one to project their emotions so much but you could definitely see their excitement. Their face was as bright as the sun and they were yet to sit down, just hovering over us and jumping up and down. I wasn't sure how someone could have so much energy so early in the morning.

"That's awesome!" Hunk replied at an equally loud volume. For once, I seemed like the quiet one.

Matt was Pidge's older brother. He was currently studying astrophysics at university and hardly ever came home because he lived in the other end of the country. Hunk jumped up onto his feet and engulfed our other friend into a long hug. I eventually joined in, squishing Pidge in between us. They were the smallest so I'm sure they were suffocating between me and Hunk but we left it at least 60 seconds before we parted. When we did, Pidge's eyes were glistening with tears. "Oh, Lance is on drugs by the way."

"I am not on drugs!" I exclaimed, making Hunk shake his head. I sent him a quick but extremely harsh glare.

"He totally is. He has hardly talked all morning."

"Dude, did you take coke again? You know what happened last time." It was Pidge's turn to receive a glare because of that smart, satisfied smile on their face.

"I never took cocaine and I haven't taken anything this morning. If you want me to start talking again then-"

"Hell no. Peace and quiet is nice every once in a while."

"Yeah, right because I'm annoying."

"The most annoying person on the planet." Hunk punched my shoulder lightly to remind me that it was only a joke. Despite being aware of this fact, my heart still dropped to the floor and I couldn't help the frown that formed on my face. Even if they were joking, I still knew they were right.