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The pair sat silently in MePhone’s office, Balloon glaring daggers at Nickel. MePhone was sitting at his desk, hands clasped together as he contemplated what to say.
“I am very disappointed in the two of you, graffitiing the bathroom walls. It’s the first day of your senior year, and I already have you in my office,” He lectured. “I would like for you both to explain yourselves.”
Balloon spoke up first. “I wasn’t helping him! I just happened to be standing in the bathroom while he was doing it, I swear!”
MePhone sighed. “Uh-huh, sure. You’ve been caught doing this before Balloon, you have a reputation.”
“But-!” Balloon started.
MePhone quickly cut him off. “Enough Balloon. Now Nickel, why were you doing that?”
Nickel grumbled a response. “Felt like it.”
“Yeah, that’s what I expected. Now for your punishment… A week’s detention, since those walls were just deep cleaned like a week ago.”
“A week?! You only ever gave me a day!” Balloon protested. Nickel scoffed and turned away.
“It’s gonna be two if you don’t shut up. Now I’m sure the both of you are well aware of where the detention room is. Now get out of my office.” He waved them out of the room.
As soon as they left the room Balloon started yelling at Nickel. “I wasn’t even helping you! Why didn’t you tell him! I was barely even in the bathroom!!”
Nickel shrugged. “If I tried to bail you out he wouldn’t have believed me. Probably would’ve gotten a longer punishment.” He unraveled his earbuds from his pocket and plugged them in, walking in the opposite direction of Balloon.
Balloon shoved his hands in his pocket and stormed off to his class. So much for a fresh start this year.
The last bell rang. He packed up his stuff and started walking toward the detention room. He should probably text his dad to let him know he’d be staying after. How is he gonna pass off a full week of detention? Extra help doesn’t start until next week, and there aren’t any clubs. Maybe he could convince him he started a sport and then dropped it the next week. Or maybe- oh. He’s here.
The door was still locked. Whoever has detention duty today probably didn’t expect anyone to be in here on the first day.
He leaned against the wall next to the door, watching people in the halls walk by. Maybe next week He could start ‘being better’ like he promised himself.
“Oh Balloon. Back again already?” He looked up at whoever said his name. Oh, MePad. That’s not bad.
“Yeah. I was standing near some kid doing graffiti so they assumed I was helping him.” He explained as MePad unlocked the door.
“Mhm, I’m sure. Now go sit down. You’re here for two hours so you might as well do your homework this year.” MePad sat down at the front desk.
Balloon rolled his eyes. “I will.” He sat down and started sifting through his bag.
“Oh hello Nickel. Why are you in today?” MePad greeted him as he walked in.
“Graffiti.” Nickel dropped his back next to the farthest back desk and slid into the seat, marker in hand.
“Don’t draw on the desks. I have paper if you want it.” MePad scolded without even looking up.
“Ughh it’s no fun like that though.” Nonetheless, he pulled out a sketchpad and started doodling on it.
They all sat in silence for a while, working on their respective things. Then, MePad’s phone rang. MePad answered it, listened for a moment, then covered the speaker. “I need to step outside for a minute. Behave while I’m gone.” He shut the door behind him, and Nickel immediately started drawing on the desk.
After a few minutes of MePad’s absence, Nickel spoke up. “Is he coming back?”
“Probably something important. He doesn’t usually leave the room during detention.”
“Pff. More like he’s bored of sitting here for two hours watching us do nothing. I know I am.” He dropped his pen on the desk and leaned back in his chair.
“Mm. Yeah.”
The conversation dwindled into an awkward silence, Nickel going back to doodling and Balloon staring into space.
“Hey, I’m uh, sorry about getting you in trouble for no reason. I was pissed cause I got caught.” Nickel blurted out.
“Oh, yeah it’s… fine I guess. It’s not really your fault, more my reputation.” Balloon shrugged.
“Ye-” Nickel was interrupted by MePad walking back in.
“Stop talking, I can hear you from outside.” He sat back down, and Nickel covered the graffitied desk with his sketchpad.
The next hour and a half of the detention passed unbearably slowly. Working on homework and staring into space got incredibly boring after a while.
“Okay kids, it’s four o’clock, you can leave now.” Nickel immediately grabbed his stuff and walked out the door, gone almost as fast as he could blink. Balloon lagged behind, texting his dad to explain why he was late while grabbing his back and walking out of the room. “See you both tomorrow.” MePad waved as they left.
The next day Nickel was already waiting outside the room when Balloon got there. He gave a small wave and took out his phone, aimlessly scrolling through Twitter.
“Hello, you troublemakers!” Toilet walked up to the pair, with his keys in hand. He unlocked the door and let them in, following behind. “Sit down! And no talking!” He then made a big show of looking behind him to check for anyone and whispered, “Just between me and you, I don’t care if you talk, just not too loud.”
Nickel was already walking toward the back of the room, pen in hand.
“Oh, thanks.” Balloon shrugged and sat down next to Nickel. Nickel glanced over at him for a second, before going back to drawing.
“So uh, what’s with you and graffiti? Couldn’t you just draw on paper.” Balloon asked, trying to start a conversation.
Nickel looked over at him, a bored expression on his face. “It’s washable. Writing on walls is fun.” He twirls his marker around and continues drawing.
“Oh, yeah fair enough. I did my… fair share of graffiti last year.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “That’s why MePhone assumed I was helping you, by the way.”
“Yeah, I figured. I’m guessing that’s what you meant by ‘reputation’?” He did air quotes with his hand.
“Uh, yeah…”
“What did you even do that was so bad that you have a reputation for that stuff. You seem fine.” Nickel looks up at Balloon.
“Oh. Remember when the entire front entrance was covered in graffiti last year?”
“That was you? I thought it was some kids from another school.”
“Yeahhh. My friend bet me I couldn’t do it in time so I did. Rushing it meant I wasn’t as careful aand yeah.”
“Wow. It looked super good though dude.”
“Thanks. That’s actually the only time I got caught. Usually, I only did it at night, so nobody saw me.” He shrugged.
“OI! STOP TALKING ABOUT ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES BACK THERE!!!” Toilet yelled, interrupting their conversation.
“Oh, sorry.” Balloon turned away from Nickel and put his head down on the desk.
Nickel grumbled and went back to drawing.
After a few minutes of silence, Nickel tapped Balloon on the shoulder, dropping a piece of paper on his desk.
“Can I get your number?” He gestured to the paper. Balloon gave a thumbs up and quickly jotted down his number and handed it back to him.
“Thanks.” He grinned and stuffed the paper in his pocket.
They sat in silence for the rest of detention, watching the clock tick by painfully slowly.
“Ok, kids it’s four pm! You are free to go!” Toilet stood up and stood by the door, waiting for them to leave.
Balloon stood up with his bag, “See you tomorrow?” Nickel responded with a nod. He waved and walked out, checking his phone every so often as he walked home for a text from Nickel.
Once he arrived home he got one.
Unknown Number: hey is this balloon
Balloon: yeah! whats up!
Nickel: walking home hbu
Balloon: im home already
Balloon: wheres ur house? maybe ur near me
Nickel: like just off glacier rd
Balloon: oh im just down the road from there
Balloon : we should hang out tmrw!
Nickel: oh cool
Nickel: yeah im down
Balloon: ok! see u tmrw :)
Nickel: u too ;)
Nickel: :)* sorry typo
Balloon walked up to the detention room, finding a few people already there. A few seconds after he got there the teacher arrived, Mr. Grodin. He unlocked the door without a word and sat down. The students waiting outside slowly started to trickle in, sitting down.
A few minutes later Nickel came in, sitting down next to Balloon.
“What’s up with all these kids today?” He asked as he sat down.
“No idea, they're probably all together though.”
As he said that Mr. Grodin started speaking. “Okay, welcome to detention. No talking, obviously. Just work on homework or whatever.”
They all sat in relative silence, with a few whispers being exchanged between people.
Balloon was working on homework when he saw a piece of paper get tossed at his desk, and fall on the floor. He looked at Nickel, who grinned awkwardly.
The note read “wanna hang out after this?” Balloon looked back over at him.
“Nickel, you know you can just ask me right?” He whispered.
He shrugged. “Didn’t wanna get caught.”
He snickered, “Of course we can hang out, by the way.”
“Hey! You two in the back, no talking.” Mr. Grodin yelled from the front.
“Whoops, sorry.” Balloon apologized.
“I told you soo.” Nickel teased.
After about an hour Balloon finished his homework and went to put his stuff away. After he zipped up his bag he noticed Nickel staring at him with his head in his arms.
He cocked his head, “Uh hey, what’s up?”
He snapped out of the daze he was in and sat up straight, face red. “Oh, was I staring? Shit uh…”
“It’s fine.” Balloon chuckled.
“I just uh, spaced out. I wasn’t really looking at you.” He ran his hand through his hair nervously.
“No, I get y-“
“Nickel, Balloon. Quiet .” Grodin called from the front of the room.
They both shut up immediately.
Balloon glanced at the clock every minute, the last few minutes dragging by slower and slower.
“Okay kids, it’s four pm, you’re free to go.” The second they heard that, the rest of the students immediately dashed out the door. Leaving just Nickel and Balloon packing their stuff up.
“So what’re we doing?” Balloon asked as they walked out of the building.
Nickel grinned. “Graffiti.”
“What?!” Nickel grabbed his hand before he could protest and dragged him away, walking towards the back of the school.
Nickel stopped at a secluded section of the school, shrouded in darkness. “Nickel, I'm not doing graffiti anymore.” Balloon took a step back and crossed his arms.
“There’s no security cameras. It’ll be like it never even happened. If we somehow get caught I’ll take the fall.” Nickel took a few small bottles of spray paint from his bag and held one out to Balloon.
Balloon hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether it was worth it. After a few more seconds of thinking, he took the spray paint.
Nickel smiled. “Cool.” He shook his own can whilst walking toward the wall.
Balloon looked over the can. “I don’t usually paint on brick.”
“Well, I guess you’re trying something new today.” Nickel started painting, drawing small shapes in a pattern.
“This is the last time I’m doing this. I’m only doing this because you want to.”
“What was that?” Nickel paused for a moment to face Balloon.
“Uh- nothing.” Balloon smiled nervously and shook his can, uncapping it and starting to paint.
They painted in silence for a while, occasionally asking for paint or stopping to watch the other paint for a moment.
After about half an hour Balloon stepped back to admire his finished painting. Once he stepped back to look at it he noticed the setting sun, turning the sky pink and orange.
“Oh, Nickel, the sun’s setting.” Nickel also stopped to look at the sun.
“Yup it sure is.” He started to go back to painting before Balloon grabbed his wrist.
“Cmon! I have a good place to watch.” Balloon dragged him away, picking up Nickel’s bag on his way.
“What, watch wha-“ Balloon cut him off by shoving his bag into his arms and continuing to drag him towards wherever he was going.
They walked in silence, Balloon never letting go of Nickel’s wrist. Eventually, they reached an empty cliff, facing the ocean.
“Uh, where are we?” Nickel asked as Balloon pulled him to the edge of the cliff.
“Oh, ah. This is just a place where I usually watch the sunset. Thought it’d be fun.” He grinned sheepishly.
“Yeah. Yeah ok, sounds cool.” He nodded.
Balloon sat down, crisscrossed, and patted the ground next to him. Nickel sat next to him, legs dangling off the cliff face.
The sun slowly sank below the horizon, melting the sky from blue to pink and orange. The clouds started to light up and the sky behind them darkened, the brightest stars and planets starting to appear. As the colors started to turn dark and disappear, leaving just the deep pinks and dark blues to illuminate the sky, Balloon looked over at Nickel, who was staring in awe at the shifting colors. The last bits of sunlight lit his face with hints of pink. Balloon stared at him for a while, lost in a trance, before snapping out of it.
“So, uh, was it as good as you thought it’d be?” Nickel looked at Balloon, staring in silence for a moment.
“Oh, yeah, yeah it was cool, uh-” He cut himself off with a yawn, “pretty.” He nodded as if to convince himself.
“Yup.” Another moment of awkward silence lingered.
Balloon looked back at the sky, watching the last drops of sunlight dip below the horizon. After another few minutes of silence, Balloon heard a yawn from Nickel and a sudden weight on his shoulder. He looked over and saw Nickel sound asleep on his shoulder. He sat, stunned, face tinted red.
He poked him lightly, hoping he would wake up, but Nickel only grumbled and continued to sleep.
Balloon poked him once more before giving up, pulling his phone out and playing with it, hoping Nickel woke up before the moon started to rise. After a few minutes Nickel started to lean forward, and before Balloon could stop him, fell directly into Balloon’s lap. He groaned and buried his face in his arms. Great.
He uncovered one of his eyes to look at Nickel, who was still peacefully sleeping in Balloon’s lap. He looked so different sleeping than he did whilst awake. He brushed the hair off his face, and started to run his hands through Nickel’s hair, before he realized what he was doing. He jerked his hand back, eyes wide. He sat in silence, wallowing in the embarrassment for a bit until he grabbed his phone again and continued scrolling, stealing quick glances at Nickel every once in a while.
After a while, when the moon just started to peak over the horizon, Balloon’s phone went off. He answered it as quickly as he could, and tried to face away from Nickel.
“Balloon, where are you? The sun set half an hour ago!” His dad yelled.
“Sorry dad, I’m hanging out with a friend.” He replied, as quiet as he could without whispering.
“Well I can see you’re still at the cliff, so come home now with them or without them. Just don’t stay out any later after dark.” His dad hung up before he could respond.
Balloon sighed, and looked back at Nickel, who was now half awake.
“Wassup.” He asked, blinking his eyes open.
“Good morning. My dad wants me home now, you gotta get up.”
“Wha?” Nickel looked around a bit, quickly realized where he was, and stood up almost immediately, eyes wide. “Ah! Ugh, did I fall asleep on you?” He ran his hand through his hair, “Man, sorry about that.”
“Uh, yeah. Well I gotta go home now, my dad’s mad.” Balloon stood up as well, starting to walk away.
“I’ll go with you. My house is that way anyway.” Nickel jogged a bit to catch up to Balloon, and they walked in relative silence as they made their way to Balloon’s house, hands brushing against each other every once in a while.
Balloon stopped in front of his house. “This is my place.”
“Oh, ok. See ya tomorrow.” Nickel waved over his shoulder as he started to walk away. But before he could get far Balloon ran after him and stopped him.
“Wait!” He grabbed his shoulder; and spun him around. Nickel gave him a strange look. Balloon breathed in and out deeply, trying to encourage himself.
“Just wanted to, uh.” He leaned in, pecked him on the cheek, and sprinted away into his house.
Nickel stood on the side of the road, in shock.
Balloon yelled just before he shut his door, “SEE YOU TOMORROW!”
Nickel pressed his palm against the spot Balloon kissed him.
“Oh.”