Chapter Text
“Come on Rhys, we’re already late.”
Clothes littered the hallway, bathroom and turned into an endless overflowing mess within Rhys’ bedroom. Vaughn didn’t dare trying to get through it all and sat at the end of the hall looking back towards Rhys’ room as he paced, tripped and tried to get ready for the last party of freedom, named rightly so as this was the last day of their summer vacation.
“Everyone is always late to the party Vaughn. Okay, last one I swear.”
Vaughn groaned and turned his head to see Rhys with no pants and instead holding up two pairs,
“Black skinny jeans or red?”
Vaughn shrugged, “Does it matter?”
“Yes it matters. Seriously, does the red say, wow this guy’s cool or is it too much? Maybe the black will say I’m a chill guy but I’m also not afraid to show my emotions?”
Vaughn was stunned, “How in the hell do you get that from a pair of pants?”
Rhys threw the black pair to the side and began struggling into the red skinny jeans,
“You’re right. Red’s more my colour.”
As Rhys finally stumbled out of his room, he flung his black and yellow Hyperion University sweater on, and pulled the sweater tight over his right arm, holding it firmly with his right hand. Vaughn noticed and sighed,
“Dude, everyone knows about your arm by now.”
Rhys shrugged and pushed past Vaughn,
“Doesn’t mean I don’t feel eyes on it, like, all the time.”
Vaughn stopped for a moment as Rhys gathered last minute items like his phone, shoes, some booze and keys before realizing Vaughn was staring at him. He sighed and grabbed his friends arms,
“Just… forget what I said okay? Get a couple drinks in me and the sweater will be off anyways. Last chance at freedom, right?”
Vaughn sighed and smiled, “Guess so.”
As they left the apartment and found their way outside, Rhys immediately regretted the sweater but pushed through. They decided to walk the twenty minutes it took them to get to the party because the last time Vaughn drove, someone broke into Vaughn’s car and had sex in it. Rhys giggled to himself thinking about it. As they rounded another corner, the mansion that was Vasquez’s place stood out at the end of the road. They could clearly hear the music from where they were and began walking faster to enter the craziness one last time. As they approached the gates, Rhys pushed the button. It took a moment but Vasquez’s voice rang through and was shouting over the crowd,
“Password?”
Rhys coughed, “Blow me.”
Vasquez laughed before buzzing them through. As they approached the doors, Vaughn grabbed a beer from the bag and tossed it to Rhys, popping it open and immediately taking a swig, Vaughn cracked open a can and opened the door,
“Let’s get this show on the road.”
Rhys had about three beers and too many shots to count by the time his sweater was eventually pulled off by others. Rhys and Vaughn had completely lost each other in the crowd. Rhys ended up running into his ex, Sasha who had a new boyfriend, August hanging off of her arm. Rhys attempted not to feel jealous as he missed Sasha but they had a falling out and August was the guy she cheated on Rhys with. He tried not to sound angry but the booze didn’t help. He pretended that he had to go talk to someone and ventured off towards a group of people that he only ever saw at these parties. It brought back all of the other times Rhys had gotten sick at the parties but this time around felt good. He wasn’t drunk enough to make him sick but he wasn’t sober. The perfect balance. As he stumbled onto another crowd dancing, Rhys felt the music, closed his eyes and swayed along. He felt hands fall on his waist and smirked to himself, swaying along with the person until they began grinding up against him. He pushed lightly and turned to find Vasquez, beaming a devilish smile. He immediately laughed and hugged Rhys,
“Glad you could join one last time.”
Rhys smiled and patted his back,
“Glad I made time.”
Vasquez looked around, “Where’s your buddy? And Yvette?”
Rhys bit his lip, “Pretty sure Vaughn found his own adventures. And you know Yvette. All work no play.”
Rhys felt guilty for not forcing Yvette out to the party. She was their best friend and other roommate after all. However, she was so wrapped up in last minute summer assignments that she barely had time to breathe. Her VFX makeup course did not take things lightly and because it was her last year, they would assign big projects even during the summer. Rhys checked his phone quickly and texted Yvette just in case she changed her mind last minute.
The music went silent for a moment until Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day came on. The group of them gathered tightly in the room and sang along. At the end, Vasquez paused the music as everyone cheered and begged for a speech,
“Okay okay. Shhh. I’m talkin! Thank you all for comin’ out to get shit faced before we all have to make way into our fields of study. I know this is the last party of the summer, but don’t think it’ll be the last time this year we’ll celebrate. Another party will happen after midterms to celebrate our failures and our passes or to simply get drunk to feel numb. Anyways, for some of you, it’s your last year. Others, it’s your first. Congrats on making it to a big boy party. And the rest, we are continuing our journey. We’ll grow, we’ll learn and most of all, WE’LL GET FUCKED UP!”
Everyone cheered as the music came blasting back on. Rhys cheered until his voice stopped working and joined the others in bouncing to the music. Vasquez’s eyes followed Rhys and began jumping along side him. He stepped closer and Rhys could tell he wanted to say something and tried to lean in but they ended up butting heads,
“Ahh.. sorry.”
Vasquez laughed, “Nah it’s fine! Want another drink?”
Rhys looked at the time and felt his heart leap, “Uh, it’s almost 4am. We gotta head out.”
Vasquez immediately looked angry, “Oh come on. Barely even saw you tonight!”
Rhys shrugged and immediately began looking for Vaughn,
“Like you said, not the last party! I don’t wanna already screw up my sleeping pattern and feel like death at school. I’ll see you around man! Thanks for the invite!”
And with that, Rhys pushed himself out of the crowd and down some halls until he stumbled onto a locked bathroom with a line. His stomach fell when he heard his friends voice coming from within. He sighed and knocked on the door,
“Bro? You in there?”
The door swung open and Rhys got pulled in. Before he had a chance to ask what was wrong, Vaughn leaned over the toilet and continued to puke. Rhys sighed, grabbed some water and rubbed Vaughn’s back,
“You know it’s a good night when one of us is sick. Guess it was bound to happen.”
Vaughn paused for a moment, “Whhyyyyyyy.”
Rhys laughed and gave the water to Vaughn,
“Come on man. We gotta get home. The sooner we get there, the better you’ll feel.”
Vaughn groaned, “Nooooo. Moving sucks.”
Rhys chuckled and practically carried Vaughn off the ground,
“Come on, buddy. Some cool air will do you some good.”
As soon as they left the front door, Vaughn hiccupped and immediately pushed Rhys to the side. He fell to the ground and began puking in the garden. Part of Rhys burst out laughing but the other part felt bad for his buddy. Usually Rhys was the one getting sick but for once, the night was in his favour. When Vaughn grew quiet and gave Rhys a groaning thumbs up, Rhys pulled Vaughn back up and they took a long, slow walk home.
The sun was rising through the apartment as they stumbled in. Vaughn gave Rhys no time to settle as he ran to the bathroom and barely made the toilet as he continued to puke. Yvette stepped out of the room, shook her head and leaned against her door frame,
“Guess it was a good night?”
Rhys smirked and couldn’t help but chuckle, “For most, yes.”
Vaughn’s puke became louder. Yvette immediately covered her ears and locked herself back in her room. Rhys stepped into the bathroom and saw Vaughn practically in the toilet.
“Bro, how much did you drink?”
Vaughn groaned and gagged, “Enough.”
Rhys chuckled and put away his keys. That’s when he noticed his bare mechanical arm and looked around,
“Shit, I forgot my sweater.”
Vaughn laughed, “Maybe Assquez is snuggling with it.”
Rhys forwarded his eyebrows, “Uh what?”
Vaughn giggled to himself as he leaned over the toilet bowl,
“He has been crushin on –hic- you for the pa- hic – st year now. You ever gonna – hic – give the guy – hic – the guy a chance?”
Knowing Vaughn was drunk and was just speaking his mind with no filter, he thought Vaughn might just be vomiting words and didn’t really know what he was saying. But even Rhys knew Vasquez was crushing on him and hard. Rhys never found him attractive. He was a solid guy, the life of the party and always wanting to have fun but he was a rich guy and he flaunted that while constantly boasting about it. That was something that turned Rhys off.
The sound of the toilet flushing brought Rhys back. Vaughn walked out and presented his bare chest,
“WHEN DID I take my shirt off?”
Rhys snorted, “You’re holding it bro. Probably just took it off cause you were hot.”
Vaughn looked and dropped his shirt. Rhys sighed and walked over to his friend. He carried him into his room, brought the garbage closer just in case and fed his friend a few Advil. Before Rhys had even left the room, Vaughn was already snoring.
The calls of the morning birds signaled Rhys that he needed to sleep as well. As he lay in bed, completely restless and still a bit buzzed, he realized within that moment that summer was over and that classes began in less then 24 hours. It was his third year of university and he was finally breaking into the more advanced work in his program of Engineering in Robotics. Yet, he had no clue what to expect work wise, let alone how his elective courses were going to go. His first class that week would be his elective to begin with. At least it would be an easy sweep and a nice ease into the new year. Rhys pictured himself taking photos of the birds outside as he dozed off and was slightly excited but anxious about his first school day back.
Every year, the students of Hyperion University got hassled into breaking pace and taking on elective courses or minoring in other courses. Every year, Rhys picked the hardest of the easier courses to do and it just so happens on his third year, Rhys found one of the easier sounding courses; photography. In no way did Rhys feel to be a creative type. He had done photography as a hobby throughout high school and continued to take photos at weddings. He got the basics and from what he heard, knowing the basics was all you needed for this elective. It was a bird course and Rhys was going to rock it and this would allow him to focus on his actual program. Even though he was excited about his classes beginning up again, he was just as excited and ready to have it all over with.
Rhys watched his alarm as it ticked closer to going off. He hovered his hand over the alarm and just as it was about to go off, he immediately turned it off. Within seconds, Rhys was packed, cleaned and ready to go. The only thing he couldn’t remember where he put was his sweater. Then it dawned on him that he forgot it at the party and had to put on his old program sweater. He tucked the right sleeve just slightly more over his arm as he always did to hide his fake arm. Before he knew it, he was racing through the same halls he had been journeying down for the past two years now. Rhys checked his schedule again and found himself going to a higher and further area of the school. By the time he got to the physical class, most of the students had arrived but thankfully, the teacher was not in sight. He took a seat off to the side but closer to the front as he always did in his regular classes. Rhys looked around and barely recognized anyone. There was one other person from his program, Wilhelm, who was sitting with another group of guys and one girl, Nisha. Not engaging with any of the conversations blooming around him, Rhys took out his laptop and began going through some of his programs course load.
Before he had time to delve further, the door opened and in walked their teacher. He strode in with a brief case, wearing thick black sunglasses, darker jeans and converse. He had broad shoulders, he was definitely built and slightly older then Rhys. Rhys felt a smile appear on his face and immediately felt good about this teacher. The teacher had a toothy grin as he took his computer out and looked around his class,
“Look at all you jackasses.”
A few students chuckled but the class continued to quiet down as they awaited their teachers instructions.
“Weird silence. Anyways, Hi. Thank you all so kindly for taking photography. Names Jack Lawrence. Jack works fine. I’ll be your annoying and weirdly handsome teacher for the next four months.”
A couple of the girls giggled as Jack winked and ran his hand through his hair. He grabbed his glasses and tossed them to the side.
“To get started, I want to know, what is the definition of Photography? What does it mean to you all?”
One student yelled out, “To take a still image in time.”
Jack chuckled, “That’s more so a definition of a photo. Photography. What does it mean?”
Rhys raised his hand and Jack pointed at Rhys to go. Rhys immediately felt his face grow hot,
“Uh. Photography is more or less forcing your perspective and showing it to others.”
Jack hummed, “Getting closer but still not what I’m looking for.”
Wilhelm tried to answer, “The art or practice of taking and processing photographs.”
Jack glared at Wilhelm, “And that is a Google definition. Nice try, but no. Photography is bigger then that. Photography is taking that extra step. It’s showcasing a story and a moment in time that will never be duplicated ever again. You are capturing life. Now, within this course, we will be studying and doing different types of photography, along with testing your skills and putting what you learn to the test.”
Jack quickly went through the course load, schedule per week and made it aware that they had the class every Monday and Thursday. With a week off before reading week and a week off after reading week, to allow the class to worry about their regular courses and to allow them to work on a bigger photography assignment later on. Jack stood in front of his desk, leaned against it and looked around the class.
“So, with all that bullshit out of the way. Why are you all here?”
For a moment, the class was eerily quiet. Everyone looked around until Jack chuckled,
“I want to know honestly, and no, you won’t get in trouble if you are here because you believe this class is easy. I just want to know so I can grade accordingly.”
Jack pointed at one of the students, “Why are you here?”
They laughed, “Honestly, as you said, I’m just here to get another course out of the way.”
Jack smirked and gave him a thumbs up, “Great. And we’ll work with that. I help you, you help me. At least come to class. You don’t, I will fail you. Let that be warning to all of you. Next, you.”
Another student stuttered out, “I’m an artist. I just want to be able to better improve my drawing and to grab more attention to positioning of subjects in light.”
Jack looked impressed, “That’s awesome. You’ll notice later on how much you improve even in shadow. It’s a great beast, shadow. Next. You.”
Jack pointed at Rhys and he looked around but Jack chuckled, “Yes, you princess. Why are you here?”
Rhys felt slightly embarrassed getting so worked up, “Uh. Mix of both I guess. I believe this class will be easy but uh. I also want to have fun with a hobby again.”
“Honesty, I like that. And that’s the point right there. Having fun. I want all of you right now to make note that I want this class to be fun and something you get excited to come to each week. This class will help you express shit you never dreamed of. It’s going to be amazing and you’ll realize just how incredible our minds can be when we push for something a little more detailed. NOW, I’m already giving you all your first assignment.”
There was a general groan from around the room, which caused Jack to look offended,
“Excuse me for being curious. I promise it’s nothing insane. All I ask and want to see is a recent photo you yourself have taken that is your favourite or a photo you generally took that you enjoy. That is all I want. Bring it to class Thursday and we’ll go through them together. Sounds pretty simple?”
The clock struck and students began gathering their things. Jack did the same but continued to shout directions about the project,
“And don’t be smart asses and take a photo today or tomorrow. I want something real and genuine that you took, and that you clearly put thought into.”
Rhys chuckled at the sassy tone in Jack’s voice and immediately skipped out of the room. He found himself smiling to himself all the way home. Vaughn questioned his mood but Rhys didn’t hear him and continued to make himself a meal. Vaughn snapped his fingers,
“Hellooo? Anyone in there?”
Rhys shook out of it, “What? Sorry. Slightly distracted.”
“Clearly. Jeeze, I was just asking what’s got you all jumpy today?”
Rhys frowned and blushed. Realizing he felt amazing because photography was going to be his favourite. Only day one and it was already a blast, easy and a great way to blow off steam but also, it had an amazing teacher who Rhys would be okay staring at all day. He swallowed those words and tried to steady his thoughts,
“Uh. Let’s just say a great first day.”
Vaughn sighed, “Okay. Who’d you meet?”
Rhys crossed his arms and huffed, “What do you mean? Can I not have a great first day!”
Vaughn shook his head, “No actually. Usually you mope around for like… five hours before finally realizing it’s just another year and falling into autopilot like the rest of us."
Rhys acted appalled by Vaughn but immediately laughed and leaned in,
“Okay, so let’s just say my teachers hot.”
Vaughn groaned, “Gross. You do realize they’re probably twenty years older, right?”
“Well, by a quick Google search, turns out he’s only eight years older. Thank you very much.”
Vaughn smirked, “So your teachers a he. And why do you find him, dare I say it, hot?”
Rhys finished up his meal and brought it over to the living area. He fell to the couch and put his head back,
“I don’t even know. He’s handsome as hell, he’s got a great personality. He’s smart, funny, sarcastic, creative, and holds power in every single word he speaks.”
Vaughn seemed impressed but immediately switched back to serious,
“And what do you plan getting out of your teacher?”
Rhys sighed and bit into his food, “I don’t know. Maybe it’ll be a crush or maybe I’ll cause a scandal and get us both kicked out of school.”
Vaughn chuckled, “I’d love to see that. Wait and see. Who knows, maybe you’ll hate em’ by the next class.”
“I doubt it. Still got my actual program to get through too.”
“And that’ll be a blast…right?”
Rhys looked over at his buddy, “And what about you bro? How was day one?”
He shrugged, “Accounting can be boring at times but at least we know I’ll be making money.
Yvette bursted in the door and plopped herself beside Rhys. She closed her eyes and rubbed her head. Rhys nudged her,
“Bad day?”
She moaned, “Terrible.”
Vaughn laughed, “It’s only day one.”
“And I’ve already been assigned two projects. How can they except to jump at these projects when we literally have been sweating about the summer one?”
Rhys filled his mouth with food and responded, “Guess it’s 'cause your last year, right?”
Yvette sighed, “Maybe. Anyways, I’m starving.”
Yvette grabbed the food out of Rhys’ hands, stood and immediately locked herself away in her room. Rhys sat there, stunned as Vaughn chuckled,
“Clearly needs help.”
Rhys crossed his arms and felt is stomach yell at him,
“Such a ninja that one.”