~absent
/ˈabs(ə)nt/
not present in a place, at an occasion, or as part of something~

~brett~

"yay brett" "you can do whatever" "make sure you practice" "good, you got 96.89% in maths test" brett was constantly praised by the people around him, and he had a wonderful childhood. he had a group of friends that he loved, his parents always cared for him and made sure he did his best in everything, and he was the most popular guy in school. brett was the jack of all trades but master at none kind of guy, except he was basically a master at everything. his nickname was gary sue, these traits seemed like a cliche character in a book that they had to call him that. maths test? brett was top of class. music exam? brett got 100%. basically everything else? "well why does he get to be good at everything?" "because he's asian, but multiplied by 1000."

lots of people asked brett out, girls and guys alike. they asked to go out on dates, be partners, dance together. at the end of every year, there was a kind of formal/prom thing for each year group, but primary school version. at this time of year, he'd get bombarded with people asking him out. brett didn't have a crush for most of his primary school life, but in year six, he got a crush. then he made the grave mistake of telling some people. this information spread like wildfire, and soon the whole grade, and then basically the entire school was in on the hunt. who was this mysterious person brett had a crush on. people so desperately wanted to be the one that this perfect child liked. when formal time was coming around, people were asking brett incessantly if he's gonna ask her (or him) out. he had to then explain that the dude left one crucial bit of information out, the girl he liked was from orchestra, and she had a boyfriend already so he was kinda lucked out.

brett's life had been a wonderful, happy and chaotic time in primary. however all the attention and all the kind words, he felt something was missing, absent when it shouldn't be, like the one missing puzzle piece in a 1000 piece puzzle.

he sometimes wrote about it, in a small diary filled with everything, from quick doodles to some of the most heartfelt words written.

when will i find that piece, that piece of me that is missing? shall i feel a tug, a pull, or a warm sense when i find them? why does it feel like the missing piece from the centre of an a thousand piece puzzle? the centre would be so colourful, so unpredictable like the rest of the puzzle. will they bring the light and shine with good or will they shine light onto the bad. what if i took a different path, would i meet them sooner? what if i never meet them in this timeline? every time i ponder i feel i'll meet them, but then i don't. when will they appear? will the stars shine ever so brightly again, like when i began playing the violin, or when i got that solo?

brett mindlessly stared at his music while he practiced. it was nearing the end of the holidays, and brett was going to start his first year of high school. for whatever reason, his parents decided to move his tutoring place somewhere else. then, he'd overheard them saying "ling ling goes to this tutoring." that'd explain it.

a feeling arose in his chest when he heard he was changing to a new tutoring. brett thought it might be the chance for that missing piece to be found, but he quickly dismissed the thought and told himself not to get his hopes up. disappointment hurts more than fulfilled hope cures. he continued to practice, and realised that he'd been practicing this piece off by muscle memory. brett had no idea how long he had spaced out for, until he looked at the timer... which had been automatically turned off. seems like his practice session was long over, but his parents weren't bothered to tell him.

when the first lesson of tutoring came around, brett found a new sense of excitement within him. he sat nervously and excitedly, fidgeting in the back of the car. when he got out, the massive building dawned on him in front of his face.

and he couldn't be more excited.

~eddy~

eddy played with his pencil, waiting for the lesson to start. as usual, the same familiar faces would walk in without change. the populars would come in the rooms together and laughing about who knows what. ling ling would come in (who knows why they still do tutoring) doing extra maths. the manga and anime group would walk in, talking about the latest anime episode or the newest addition to a manga series. the bullies would then come in and shove eddy, as the loner in the class. no one would come in afterwards, it was a fairly small class, being the top class in the school. somehow, eddy had aced all those placement tests which put him in this class. there'd always be one empty table in the room, only one, and it happened to be the one right next to him.

he then heard footsteps approaching the classroom, eddy thought the teacher was early, for once, but it was a new face. "mind if i sit here?" he asked. eddy just nodded and looked down at his desk. he just fumbled with his pencil. "hi, i'm brett," he suddenly said after a few moments of silence. "hey, i'm eddy. nice to meet you," he replied meekly. the new kid-brett-tried to make small talk with eddy. then, they found themselves laughing over the most stupid stories.

when break came around, the bullies went and pushed eddy. brett snapped and shouted at them. they all looked confused, why was brett-the perfect child from school-defending this loner? eddy only heard mumbled questions and brett's shouting at them to go away. he quickly explained his popularity when he was in primary school, and eddy only looked at him in awe. he smiled and then they continued talking. eddy learnt that brett was only a year older than him, and they were quite similar. he asked what orchestra brett went to and wanted to transfer to there. why? well, he felt a click, a tug. and it was the best feeling he's ever felt.

and he was finally happy.