New Faces
The sound of an alarm clock rang out, filling the room with noise. It continued for a while until Hannibal finally woke up.
Still groggy from sleep, he reached over and turned off the clock. It had been a while since Hannibal had to actually wake up this early for something, and actually had to look nice.
But then again, it’s not every day you time travel and go back to high school.
Hannibal grumbled loudly in protest to waking up at such an early hour, but eventually sat up, rubbing his eyes and looked around.
The morning light already filled his room, and the warm feeling of the sun felt nice against his skin.
Hannibal swung his legs out of bed and stretched, yawning loudly before standing up and walking over to his dresser, which was finally filled with some clothes. He stood there for a while, picking through his small collection for an outfit until he finally settled on a simple navy, blue shirt and some jeans.
He quickly peaked out of his bathroom to glance at the clock beside his bed. There was still enough time for him to shower.
Good. he didn’t want his first impression on this new town to be one of a careless hobo, although chances are, those who had seen him yesterday already thought that.
He shrugged off the feeling, remembering that it didn’t really matter what they all thought of him, only Will, and turned on the water to his shower.
He swiftly stripped off the clothes he had been wearing to bed and stepped inside the shower, letting the warm water run over his body before he cleaned himself.
Finally once he was satisfied with his cleanliness, he dried himself off and started to get ready for the day.
Hannibal stood in front of the mirror, combing through his unruly hair with his hands and tried to get it to lay flat, but it seemed to have a mind of its own now that it was shorter.
Grumbling angrily to himself, he decided that he could do no better and would just have to deal with it.
New body, new face, might as well add new looking hair to the mix.
Hannibal shook his head at his reflection, still not fully believing what he was seeing but shrugged off the feeling and got dressed in his ‘new’ clothes, and brushed his teeth.
The grumbling coming from his stomach reminded him that he had missed breakfast, but he was already running further behind than he wanted and settled with stashing some chip bags in his backpack as he rushed out the door.
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The walk into town seemed to take forever as Hannibal's heart pounded in his chest. He was really doing it. He was back in highschool.
As he got closer to the school, he could see groups of kids flooding inside, all chattering away in their little clicks.
As he walked up the steps of the school, Hannibal couldn’t help but feel like everyone and their mother was staring at him. He tried to shake off nerves and focus on trying to spot Will. He was determined to make this a good fresh start, find his Will and live happily ever after.
A hand grabbed his arm and he was yanked out of his own little world.
The hand belonged to a blonde, tall girl who stood just short of Hannibal.
“My name is McKenzie, you must be Hannibal.” She looked him up and down before handing him a piece of paper. “I am going to be helping you around to your classes which you will find on that paper.”
“Thank you.” Hannibal spoke flatly. He didn't know this McKenzie person, but he was not a fan of her so far. Something about the way she carried herself like she owned the school made him think they would not get along.
“Over here is your first class, history.” McKenzie grinned, taking his hand and leading him into the classroom. “It’s also my first period class too.”
The room was filled with students who were all staring at him. Hannibal stood still in the doorway, not caring about any of the kids looking at him, but the one kid who wasn’t.
It was Will. Sitting just a few feet away from him, and just as beautiful as the day he left him.
Hannibal practically broke down into tears and ran across the room to him, but quickly stopped himself and regained his composure.
That was not his Will, not yet at least.
“Ah! I see we have a new student!” The sound of the teacher's voice broke Hannibal out of his trace and he realized he had been staring. “Well don’t be shy, come up here and introduce yourself!”
Hannibal hesitated for a second but took a deep breath, and walked up to the front of the room.
“Well, tell us your name and where your fabulous accent is from!” The teacher smiled beside him, and nodded for him to speak.
“My name is Hannibal Lecter,” Hannibal paused as Will looked up at him for the first time. “And I get my accent from Lithuania, where I grew up”
“Wow! How fascinating!” The teacher exclaimed, but it was obvious she had no idea where that was. “You may have a seat now Hannibal, and welcome to Chesapeake High!”
Hannibal smiled slightly at her and went to sit down in an open seat which seemed to be conveniently only by McKenzie.
“Great.” Hannibal mumbled to himself and sat down beside her.
“Lithuania, how fancy.” McKenzie batted her eyes at him. “I bet you had a great time there.”
Hannibal leaned back in his seat, and ignored her attempt to make conversation about his home. It was not something he liked talking about and he definitely wasn’t gonna talk about it with the likes of her.
Besides, he was completely distracted by Will, who sat just two seats in front of him.
His eyes scanned the back of Will's head, as if to memorize every curl. Taking in the raw beauty emanating off of him.
He had always found Will to be the most gorgeous treasure he had ever laid his eyes on, and maybe it was just because he hadn’t seen Will in forever. But somehow he was even more precious than before.
Will must have felt the burning feeling of eyes watching him, because he turned around unexpectedly, catching Hannibal staring.
Hannibal felt his heart stop, unsure if he should look away and pretend he hadn’t been staring at him for the past 15 minutes, but decided to hold eye contact.
Will’s eyes narrowed at him, as if he was trying to profile him as he had once done in the FBI when they had first met, but by the look on his face he didn’t understand what he was seeing.
Hannibal gave him a small smile and Will quickly turned back around.
A silent sigh escaped Hannibal's lips and he sank into his seat and pretended to listen to the teacher.
He knew it was going to be hard to befriend Will, especially since it had taken quite a while even when Will was older and a little more sure of himself, and so far his attempt at a first impression was not going great.
Hannibal quickly shook off his doubts, he was here to stay. He didn’t care how long it was gonna take.
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Before he knew it, the bell rang and everyone was running out the door to their next class, besides McKenzie who stood in front of his desk.
“We don’t have all day, come on!” she said, rolling her eyes and practically dragged him to their next class. “We have English next, get ready for the most boring class of your life.”
Hannibal took a seat next to McKenzie who insisted he sit with her and looked around the class. No Will.
“You’re right, this class is gonna suck.” Hannibal mumbled and sat back in his seat.
The class felt like it took ages as he watched the seconds tick by, wondering where Will was and what class he had.
Almost as if his prayers had been answered, the bell rang and he shot out of his seat.
“Off to art,” McKenzie pointed down the hall. “I don’t have that class with you, so you're on your own.”
Hannibal nodded and walked toward the classroom. Even if Will wasn’t here, at least he wouldn’t have to listen to McKenzies nagging voice in his ear.
The classroom looked rather depressing on the outside but as soon as he stepped inside the room burst with color. It was filled with all sorts of art, ranging from scribbles to high school level masterpieces. And to top it off, Will sat alone at one of the tables drawing what looked like chicken scratch.
Hannibal wasted no time crossing the room to where he sat and pulling up a chair across from him.
Will barely lifted his head to see who sat down before going back to his work.
Hannibal didn’t take it personally, he knew Will had always hated eye contact and sat happily across from him.
He was practically beaming in his seat just being so close to him. Even from the distance between them, he could smell the same familiar scent that Will always had and couldn’t stop himself from smiling.
“Something amusing to you?” Will asked flatly. No doubt he thought Hannibal’s smiling was to ridicule him.
“I am just enjoying all of the beauty in this room.” Hannibal grinned.
Will paused and looked up at him. For a second he thought Hannibal was meaning him but brushed it off.
“Yes, some of the kids at this school are very talented artists.”
“I can see that,” Hannibal nodded, and looked down at the scribbles on Will’s paper. “What are you working on?”
Will looked down at the paper in front of him and moved it so that Hannibal could see it.
“It’s supposed to be a river, and I'm fishing in it…” He paused and laughed. “But it kinda sucks, art definitely wasn’t my calling.”
“No, I can totally see it!” Hannibal smiled and pointed at the random blobs on the page. “I think it looks great, you could be the next Picasso.”
“Yeah right, maybe because it looks so abstract and terrible.” Will rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair. “Thanks though.”
“You’re welcome.” Hannibal smiled, and looked back at Will who seemed to be trying to profile him again.
“Why are you here?” Will asked, no longer smiling.
“What do you mean?” Hannibal asked curiously, maybe Will had figured out he didn’t belong in this time.
“Why are you sitting here? The popular kids saved you a seat over there and they clearly want you to join them.” Will gestured across the room where a group of jocks and pretty looking girls waved for Hannibal to come over. “You could be committed social suicide sitting with me.”
“Because I wanted to sit with you.” Hannibal shrugged and smiled at Will. “You just looked so inviting.”
“Funny.” Will narrowed his eyes at Hannibal. “You’re not scared, I'm gonna read your mind?”
“I encourage you to try,” Hannibal grinned. He finally understood why Will had hated his skills being called mind reading. He had been bullied about it in high school. “I think you’ll find I’m incredibly difficult to read.
Will scanned his face for a moment before responding.
“You are actually,” Will frowned. “Like one big mystery that just spawned out of thin air. What even brought you to this tiny town in the middle of nowhere?”
“You’re jaw dropping art skills, I just had to see them in person.” Hannibal winked and passed Will back his paper.
“Uh huh…” Will said in an unamused tone, but a small smile still threatened the side of his lip.
Normally he could know everything about a person just by looking at them, but Hannibal was a huge mystery. Everything about him made no sense and it scared him. But if he was being super honest with himself, it intrigued him.
A moment of silence passed between them as they sat there, Hannibal watching Will, and Will fidgeting under Hannibal’s eye.
“So do you like to fish?” Hannibal blurted out. He already knew the answer but he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Will said nothing for a minute, trying to decide if he even wanted to share anything with this strange kid. He could feel Hannibal’s eye watching him intently, and he felt as if he was genuinely curious about him. It had been a long time since anyone had wanted to actually talk to him and Hannibal seemed to be going out of his way to get to know him.
It felt nice.
“Yes, I love fishing. It relaxes me.” Will smiled genuinely for the first time since Hannibal had seen him. “Do you like fishing? Or at least some other hobby?”
“Yes, I love to fish as well.” Hannibal lied. He hated fishing, but this was a new life. He might as well give it a second chance. “But mainly I love to create art.”
“Oh,” Will said, almost shocked. He had not expected to hear art come from the mouth of someone who looked like Hannibal. Most people who were as fit as he was were into football, and working out. “Any art in particular?”
“I love to draw, among… other things.” Hannibal grinned, but did not elaborate. Which left Will interested when the bell rang, exactly as Hannibal had hoped. “It was lovely meeting you, Will. I hope to see you around.”
“Yeah… you too.” Will smiled as if he was still deciding and began to pack up his things.
“Did they not save a seat for you?” McKenzies voice pierced across the room, practically scaring Hannibal. “I told them to save one for you.”
“I chose to sit here.” Hannibal said flatly as he looked but at McKenzie who now stood beside him
“Why on earth would you want to do that?” She said in a disgusted tone and looked at Will who ignored her as he put on his backpack.
“Because I wanted to, and Will makes for excellent company.” Hannibal’s tone was sharp and McKenzie knew she had said something wrong.
She began some half-assed apology that he completely ignored as he watched Will quickly leave the room. A heavy sigh escaped his mouth. He knew he would see him again but as he disappeared from sight, Hannibal felt completely alone once more.
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Hannibal went from class to class as the bells rang, but he didn’t seem to have another class with Will in his later periods. He grumbled to himself as he sat in classes surrounded by people he couldn’t care less about and thought about his Will.
The day felt endless as he listened to the teacher crudely teach about things he already knew better than the average person, things he could have taught in his sleep.
His last class seemed to be the same until a familiar red haired girl walked into his class. She quickly spotted him and sat down beside him and proclaimed herself to be his new lab partner.
“Well isn’t this something,” Daisy grinned. “I’ve been looking for you in my classes all day, I was hoping you’d be in one of them!”
Hannibal smiled at her and made some comment about how he was so glad to see her and made some cheap small talk with her until class started.
She definitely wasn’t even close to a good replacement for Will, but she did help pass the time by. Plus she seemed to share the same opinions about the people in their grade.
Hannibal listened happily as Daisy ranted about how much she hated that snake McKenzie and gossiped about people in his class he didn’t even know existed, but he did notice she never once talked about Will.
“And Will?” Hannibal asked, suddenly more interested in what she had to say. “What do you know about him?”
She looked at Hannibal, unsure if she should say anything about Will, but she could see he was much more interested in her now and she wanted to keep it that way.
“Well, I don’t know too much about him. Mainly just rumors from around the school. He usually keeps to himself.” She started and decided to continue. She liked the way
Hannibal looked at her. “But, from what I have seen, he seems to be a genuinely nice guy who just wants to be left alone. He was nice to me as a kid when no one would play with me”
Her heart skipped a beat when Hannibal touched her hand and thanked her for telling him.
“You know, he is usually in this class. I don’t know why he isn’t here, I thought I saw him at school earlier.” Daisy blurted out. She didn’t know what made her say anything, but
something about Hannibal made her want to tell him everything about anything.
Hannibal quickly sat up straighter in his chair and looked around the classroom. A chair was empty at the lab table beside him. It must have been Will’s seat.
The sudden urge to figure out where Will was seemed to take over every thought in his mind and before he knew it, he was asking to go to the restroom.
Hannibal quickly walked the halls, with his bathroom pass in hand. He knew he could just say he got lost if someone asked him why he was wandering around, but no one stopped him. He was pretty certain that he had searched the whole school, but he never once saw Will.
He was stumped, he had no idea where he was and he had already spent too long out of the classroom to have just gotten ‘lost’.
“Well might as well keep looking.” Hannibal mumbled to himself, it was better than going back to that class.
He quickly rushed past the main office unnoticed and exited the main doors. He found himself standing at the top of the steps with no plan, and that's when he saw it. A small figure sitting beside the road hunched over something.
Hannibal's heart sank as images of Will’s body floating in the distance flashed across his mind and before he knew it he was running toward the figure.