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[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

He's not new, not exactly. Caleb's been here maybe a month or two longer than him, but he's the latest new kid to come to the city, so he's still The New Kid. His emotions are always a swirl of hope/boredom/excitement, tinged slightly with a bitter edge, like he's constantly got a bad taste in his mouth, or something. There's more to it, but Caleb can't pinpoint it. He's furtive, distrustful, but it's not an active thing. It's always under the surface, this dark plum purple that's not fear but not suspicion, either.

Wariness, he thinks.

His name is Michael Guerin, and Caleb hates the days he's not in class. His feelings are always so easy to latch onto, because he never has to try. He doesn't stress out. Class is easy for him, but he's going to fail out if he doesn't start participating, which is why Dufresne had suggested him when she'd told Caleb he should look into tutoring.

It's not like Caleb is dumb. He's usually a pretty good student. But he's under eighteen, so he still lives at the Children's Home. He's surrounded by pubescent kids, some of whom don't know how to control their urges, some of whom never fucking sleep, which means Caleb gets, maybe, two hours a night. He goes to school exhausted, has no focus, and has stopped being able to balance the most basic emotions. So his grades are slipping. If they keep slipping, he's going to be kicked off the team, which he really, really doesn't want, so he finds himself outside the auto shop some of the music kids said Michael works at part time, staring at the door like it might swallow him.

Comments

[littleorphanalien]

Michael never pays attention in class.

He skips them to work at the shop for money, but also because it's boring. They tell him that they can advance him to the university (Barton? Or something?), but Michael keeps waiting, holding out hope that Alex might turn up, and he wants to be in high school for that. It's been months since that decision and it's pretty clear that Alex isn't coming, but he's made his bed now.

Besides, there are other interesting people here, like Caleb, who seems like he's from somewhere other than Darrow.

He'd moved out of the group home pretty early on. He remembers homes from back in Roswell and the other cities and knows that he'd rather be homeless, which is why he's been working as much as he can to keep the truck in good shape, to buy a guitar, but then the idea of tutoring for money comes up and he leaps on that, too.

What he's not expecting is any visitors at the shop today, so he doesn't have his books, working on the electrical system of an old truck, greasy and hair a mess as he does.

Party Time

[littleorphanalien]

Sure, he's at the party, but it's not like he's the popular guy or the one people want to hang out with. He chugged a bunch of acetone before he came to sort of get mentally calm, making an appearance mainly because he's bored, he's not working, and it's better than sitting in the back of his truck reading textbooks. Here, it's warm and there's food.

He's been hovering around the snack table when he hears a cheer go up nearby, his name being shouted for, and then talk about Spin the Bottle.

Apparently, he's still got that reputation from the couple of people he'd made out with, a few times by the bleachers, in an attempt to try and recapture some of that old magic, but he'd come out of those feeling pretty empty. He settles into the circle, shrugging because, why not? What's the worst that could happen?

And then, he looks across the circle and smirks. "Caleb," he greets, raising his brows with a waggle.