chapter four: reality rat
song: stfu by mansionz
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"You really didn't have to take me."

"Well, I do not think taking a nonliving contraption you call your 'closest friend' should be given a ride out to school."

"...It's called a motorcycle, mother." Wally corrected harshly, continuing to slump down in the passenger seat as they passed more buildings and more buildings on the way.

Mary West, who was already dressed up for work and taking occasional sips from her coffee, continued to train her eyes on the road, not caring -nor in the mood to hear- about her son's complaints.

"Wally, I will not let you drive such a thing if it's nearly on the verge of no gas!" She scolded as they stopped at a red light, "Plus you could be almost late right now!"

Wally was furious as she had just reminded him of the reason why he ended up in her car in the first place.

If it wasn't for his dad to just spill out that he checked 'Wally's motorcycle last night and saw that it needed some more gas' in the midst of Wally about to yank the front door open and leave the house, then he could've just walked to school instead without his parents finding out.

But no, his mother (being the usual annoying woman she was) had settled on the fact that Wally was going to be driven to school by the devil herself.

It was true, Wally did forget to fill up the tank after finding that out over the weekend on Saturday while on a drive around town, but his backup plans were always just walking and smoking a few cigarettes instead.

"Fuck you." He mumbled under his breath quietly as he eyed the time on his phone, pausing his scroll through Instagram of some of his dumb classmates that were excited that school began, cringing at how fake captions & comments were.

Nobody thought of each other or missed them while on a summer break, if you missed each other why would you cry about it instead of seeing each other ASAP?

7:52.

Class was going to start at 8:10 sharp.

He had plenty of time, whether or not his mother dropped him off early.
He was already dreading the first day of school.

It only proved how much Wally West was a notable prick to everyone without doing a single thing.

All he hoped was that his mother wasn't going to pick him up after later, he wasn't in the mood to see her face after this sudden offer.
God really should hear his prayers more often.

"I'll pick you up after."

Never mind, God can go back to helping some elderly woman on the verge of her dying days get to heaven.
But then again, he should've expected that the devil would be taking him.

His dad even mentioned that his mother could drop him off last night!

He didn't answer her comment, as she soon took a quick whiff of her son before making a disgusted face.

"You reek, Wally. Are you sure you took a shower?"

Yeah, he thought, I reek of cigarettes.
Wally had a quick morning smoke in his room before running downstairs to escape his home.

He didn't even get the chance to take it all in; he had to immediately toss it out the window when he heard his parents start their morning argument from the kitchen.

"Wally?"

He blinked back in time to answer his annoyed mother.

"Yes, mother." He answered quickly, half-relieved when they pulled up to Justice High.

Wally's mother stopped the car and unlocked it as Wally immediately let go of the seatbelt and rushed out.

As he turned to look back at his reflection through the car door, he caught her staring up and down at him.

"What?" He asked, annoyed by her face still full of disgust.

"It's just... Why do you dress like you're one of those... street rats?" His mother asked.

Wally looked down at his getup.

His black leather jacket.
A gray worn out 90s rock band logo tee.
His ripped black jeans.
His black sneakers.

And his dark navy blue backpack.

"I don't think I look like a hobo?" He informed, "Maybe, mother, I like this 'getup' that I'm wearing. It's not like it's the first time I've worn this type of outfit."

Wally always dressed like this.
Of course his mother doesn't notice that.

Basically Wally's closet involved colors of white, grey, black, brown, maroon/dark red, and dark blue.

Nothing else except dark hues.

His mother gave him a scolding look.
"Can I just go now?" He asked, exasperated by her presence.

"We'll talk about your manners issue when you get home today. Can't pick you up." His mother huffed before driving off to work.

"What? No 'bye sweetie'?!" Wally asked in a sarcastic tone, waving his hands up in the air to cause a scene.

Wally rolled his eyes and marched up the stairs, knowing that some students were already training their eyes on him.

And you know how he could tell?

These dumbass high schoolers can't seem to lower their damn voices, that's what.

"Oh wow..."

"That's him!"

"He hasn't changed a single bit...."

"Wow, he looks like he did something again!"

"They said he fought someone again outside, think it's true?"

"People have been saying he's gotten more tattoos on his chest!"

"I think he's hiding his new piercing!"

Wally rolled his eyes at the rumors.
The teenager didn't have any tattoos.
The teenager didn't have any piercings.
The teenager didn't know how to fight someone, or has he ever fought one of these idiots.

All he had was some "interesting" clothing choices that in the eyes of his mother made him look like a complete street rat... or as the term goes, "REBEL."

So no crap he hasn't changed, he's the same snarky Wally he's always been.

He trudged past the looking peers and directed himself to the office, asking for his new locker for the year and the schedule. The office assistant didn't even give him a second glance before handing him the slips of paper wordlessly before moving onto the next student behind him.

As he exited the office, he look a quick skim at his schedule, rolling his eyes.

"Dumb Honors AP classes.." he grumbled as he found his locker in just a few seconds, only to see a few sophomores (formerly freshmen) crowd around it to do a dumb reunion.

Wally took it as an opportunity to see if they were still freshmen, secretly sneaking behind them.
"Ahem." He coughed, immediately getting wide eyes staring at him, their mouths hanging wide open.

"I believe you're standing near my locker, ladies... Toodles." he said, and in a flash the now fearful girls had rushed to their first class, him chuckling in the background.

"Dumbasses." He commented before turning away to do his combination.

He didn't know why or how he was named the school bad boy when all he did was smoke and wear his dark clothes.

It was the same old, same old.
People judging him, him unintentionally scaring others.

He didn't even have a friend group, he just had a few... acquaintances.

...Special acquaintances, you could say.

For Wally West wasn't excited for this new year.
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