Work Text:
This was not happening. It wasn't, couldn't. Bobby wouldn’t allow it. It was awful, unprecedented.
He was out of contacts.
He was probably being over-dramatic, but he didn't care. Bobby had awful eyesight, ever since he was twelve and got his first pair of glasses. Almost immediately after he got a box of contacts, because glasses did not vibe with his style, and he had never gone back.
Well, mostly. There were plenty of times he wore his glasses around the house when he was too lazy to put contacts on. He really didn't mind his glasses, he just had a style that he liked and intended on keeping. Which was why Bobby always made sure he had contacts on hand. Except, apparently, today. He had woken up and gone through his normal routine when, as he opened the box he kept on the counter, he was met with nothingness.
“No...no no no…” He muttered, rifling through his bathroom. He had to have another box in here somewhere… right? When was the last time he had bought contacts? They had to be around here somewhere. He tore open every drawer and cabinet in his bathroom, but 20 minutes later he still hadn’t found any contacts.
“Bobby! Where are you?” Carrie yelled from down the stairs, shoot, what time was it? “We’re going to be late!”
“Just give me a minute!” he shouted back, while on his knees, digging through the cabinet under his sink. Gosh it was hard to look for something when absolutely everything blurred together.
“What are you even doing in here?” Carrie asked, now entering his (destroyed) bathroom, the raised eyebrow practically audible in her voice.
Bobby whipped around, eyes wide and frantic. “Carrie! Have you seen my contacts!?” he yelled.
Carrie rolled her eyes. “Weren’t you supposed to pick them up yesterday?” she replied. Was he? What had he done yesterday? He thought back to the previous day. He did, in fact, remember telling Carrie that he was going to stop at the store after school to pick up a box of contacts. But then, Luke had said he had a new song to try out after school at lunch and Bobby had decided he could wait until after rehearsal to pick up the contacts. They had ended up staying at the Molina’s longer than expected and Ray had invited them to stay for dinner. By the time Bobby had left the Molina’s, he had completely forgotten about the contacts.
He leaned forward, smacking his head on the counter. “Dang it.”
Carrie once again rolled her eyes. “Just wear your glasses, now come on. I am not going to be late just because you’re forgetful and over-dramatic.” And with that, she turned around and walked out.
“I can’t do that!” he shouted, startled by the mere suggestion of such a thing. He stumbled to his feet after his sister, who had entered his room and grabbed his glasses off the desk in the corner.
“And why not? You wear them all the time around the house.”
“Exactly! Around the house. I can't wear them in public!”
Carrie gave him her signature unimpressed look. “Well, you're going to have to. Unless, of course, you want to explain to dad why you gave yourself a concussion walking into a wall.”
Reluctantly Bobby took the offered glasses and shoved them on his face, though he was not happy about it.
-
Carrie and Bobby arrived at school not long after, and Bobby was still fuming. He got out of the car and walked into the school, keeping his head low and trying to weave through the crowd as inconspicuous as possible. He hated this. Bobby wasn't a super loud person, but he also wasn't a shy one either. He was the kind of guy to not say much in public, but to walk around like he knew what he was doing. Trying to not do that, sucked. He finally made it to his locker, and started shoving his books in, trying to hide his face in the dark interior.
“YO! Bobby!” Luke’s voice called. He was running through the hallway, an excited grin plastered across his face. Bobby couldn't say he was surprised, Luke always got like this after they tried out a new song. He ran up to Bobby, Alex and Reggie not far behind, and started talking a mile a minute. “Dude! So, I was thinking after yesterday that the new song sounds killer, but we really need to pick up the tempo in the second verse, and then we need to-”
Luke’s rambling continued on, but Bobby just tuned him out. There was no point trying to understand him when he got like this. Luke would explain it to them all later at practice anyway. Bobby was so caught up in the normalcy of it, that he momentarily forgot all about his glasses. That is, until Alex cut Luke off and said, “You look good in your glasses today, man.”
Bobby flushed and stuck his face further in his locker. The boys had seen his glasses before, heck, they were there when he first got them, but it still reminded him that everyone else could see them too. Alex, in a way that was all too similar to Carrie, rolled his eyes at the action. “I’m serious, you do.”
“Yeah dude!” Reggie cut in excitedly. “You look great! I don't know if I’ve ever seen you wear them outside your house!”
“That’s because you’re all lying, and I look stupid.” he huffed matter of factly.
Luke, who had been pouting ever since Alex cut him off, furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you talking about? They look fine.”
Why weren't they getting this? “No they don't. Harry Potter glasses do not go with the rock and roll style.”
Alex raised his eyebrows and said, “First off all, you could make them work, second of all, they may not go with the rock and roll style, but they do go with whatever vibe you're trying for with the suspenders.”
Bobby stuck his tongue out at Alex and promptly walked away from the absolute losers towards his next class. What did they know, anyway.
His first three classes were pretty awful. Nobody really said anything about his glasses, but it felt like everyone was looking at him, and he hated it. The boys thankfully dropped the topic during their shared classes, but they still sent him confused and vaguely worried looks. At lunch, however, was when things really changed. Since he and the guys were in the grade above Carrie and the girls, they really didn’t see each other much at school, other than lunch. Bobby had been so focused on getting away from the general population and back to the people he felt most comfortable around that he had completely spaced on the fact that Julie and Flynn hadn’t seen his glasses before. He rushed into the classroom the seven of them usually ate in and let out a relieved sigh. He at least had an hour of not worrying about how dorky he looked. Julie was the only one there, sitting at a table and pulling out her lunch. Both Bobby’s and Julie’s third period teachers often let them out early, today by almost ten whole minutes.
Julie looked up and smiled as he entered. “Hey Bobby, I didn't know you had glasses, they look good on you.” Bobby blushed and dropped his gaze. Instead of replying he sat in the chair across from her. He was so stupid, of course Julie didn’t know, and now she thought he looked stupid. Julie seemed confused by his lack of response and swallowed her bite she had taken before asking, “What’s wrong?”
Maybe it was because Bobby really wanted to talk to someone, or maybe because Julie was incredible and Bobby trusted her, but he suddenly found himself opening his mouth to explain, “I look stupid.”
“No you don’t,” she replied. It wasn't accusatory, just a statement.
“It’s just… I don't know. I got glasses when I was 12, and by then I felt like I knew who I was, and what I looked like and I didn’t want a stupid pair of glasses to ruin that. I didn’t want people to be… I don’t know, caught off guard I guess? I didn't want everyone to look at me differently. I guess I still don't. It’s why I usually wear contacts.”
Julie, surprisingly, didn’t start laughing at his stupid explanation, if anything, she just seemed thoughtful. “So you don't like your glasses?” she asked.
“Kind of… I don't really mind them, they're certainly easier than contacts, and I like wearing them at home, but they just don’t go with my style. People will think they're weird.” What was with Julie and her ability to make people bear their souls to her? It’s super unfair.
Julie gave him a small smile. “Bobby… it doesn’t matter what other people think, what matters is that you're comfortable. You don’t think I look weird when I wear my glasses, right?” At the shake of his head she continued on, “I’m not saying you have to wear your glasses constantly, or that you ever have to wear them again. But that decision should be based on how you feel, not how others feel. That’s why sometimes I wear my glasses, and sometimes I don’t. Your glasses actually look really nice on you, and they totally go with your style.” She ended with a bright smile.
“You think so?”
“Definitely. Besides, highschoolers are way too self absorbed to notice whether you wear glasses or not. I’d bet 20 bucks at least three people are trying to remember whether you had glasses yesterday or not.” Julie smirks and Bobby can’t help but laugh. He suddenly feels a bit lighter than before. Having Julie tell him he looks good in his glasses feels different then the boys somehow. Maybe it’s because Julie didn’t have any reason to lie, she hadn’t known that he was self-conscious about them, whereas the guys did. Julie did it because she genuinely likes them, and because she wanted to make everyone feel happy. She was just awesome that way. Their conversation turned to the school gossip and their classes while they waited for the others. He didn’t even care when Flynn came in and saw his glasses for the first time.
The rest of the day went so much better. He got nervous a couple of times, but instead of hiding he walked with his head held up. He saw pretty quickly that Julie was right, most kids didn’t spare him a second glance, and when he got home that day and looked in the mirror, he realized he kind of liked how he looked. So, even though he still picked up the new box of contacts, he also wore his glasses sometimes. Not because he had too, but as a style choice. Julie had once again been right (she always was), the most important thing was how he felt, not how others felt. Looking back, it was pretty stupid to worry so much about what other’s would think about a pair of glasses. But oh well, it’s like they always say,
Hindsight is 20/20.