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Chapter Text

The hushed whispers and stolen glances cast Avery’s way didn’t bother her. At this point, almost one and a half years of them had hardened her into apathy and a glazed stare. And most, if not all of her fellow students ever cared to look past it. They would only bother her, and she would coldly tell them to fuck off before she knocked the wind out of them.
They carried her all the way to the cafeteria, and it especially fell into whispers when she passed the Normal Boots table. She continued until she reached a corner booth and sat down, where their regular conversations started back up again. No one had acted out against her, so she had no reason to care about the other students. And like she did every day, she took out her phone, plugged in her earbuds, stuck them in, and started playing music. Sure, she was alone, but it was for so long that it hardly affected her.
Near the front of the room, while the rest of the Hidden Block table was lost in their own banter, Wallid was switching between eating and stealing glances at Avery. He didn’t want to catch her attention–in the words of Caddy, he would probably get beaten up behind the cafeteria–but at the same time, he was intrigued by her. Eventually, once he was done, he stood up and tossed his tray, but didn’t head back to his table like he normally would.
“Uh, Wallid, where ya going, bud?” Jimmy asked, cocking his head at his classmate.
“Over to Avery’s table.” Wallid shrugged, seemingly not knowing the implications of what he just said.
“You do realize that’s like a death sentence, right?” Ian questioned. “She’ll punch you in the face if you try.”
“First time for everything.” He turned and walked away. The Hidden Block table all seemed to be collectively holding their breath, and as other students noticed, so did they. He tried to ignore it, but it was a little difficult. Surely just checking to see if someone wasn’t lonely wasn’t a cardinal sin at Asagao, right?
Avery didn’t seem to notice when Wallid first sat down across from her at her booth. She seemed too absorbed in her own world to notice. He was a little confused by this, but didn’t want to prod her, so he just sat there, waiting for her to notice someone new had joined her.
Eventually, she stopped eating, and she looked up at Wallid with confusion. “You must be lost, buddy. Stay here longer, soon you’ll be proclaimed a war hero.” Avery rolled her eyes and took out her earbuds, instead choosing to scroll through her phone.
“Really? I just wanted to see that you weren’t lonely.”
Avery met Wallid’s eyes, hardened light blue staring into inviting dark brown. Her gaze then turned to confusion. “Your friends have guts for pulling this prank on me. Why don’t you go back with them?” It has to be a prank. No one, not even a first year like him, would try to do this out of a genuine want to sit with me.
“Not really. I chose to.” Wallid laughed, albeit nervously. “Um, you’re Avery, right?”
Something about the way he said it was…strange to her. Maybe it was because he didn’t say it with either malice or fear, but she didn’t choose to dwell on it. “Yeah.”
“Right! I’m Wallid.” He stuck out a hand to Avery, and for a moment, she didn’t seem to know what to do. After an awkward silence, she stood up and grabbed her tray.
“Look, I appreciate the sentiment, but trying to be friends with me won’t help your reputation. Sorry ‘bout that.” She turned away and walked across the cafeteria, leaving Wallid hanging while she dumped her tray and walked out.
Well, what am I supposed to do now? He sighed, and looked at his hands. I can’t just chase after her, and we’re in different grades. Then again, she doesn’t deserve to be alone like that. Especially if I don’t even know why she’s so alone.

Chapter Text

Avery had to focus on her homework. She had a lot to do, and unfortunately, her mind kept drifting elsewhere. Whether it was singing along to the music (and then getting caught up in it like she was in a music video)or thinking of her own universes that only existed in her mind, she couldn’t seem to focus.
Eventually, she turned off her music and sighed, burying her head in her hands. It definitely wasn’t the other students. She had gone through the day without incident–
Right. That first year that thought she would be a good idea to befriend. Wallid was his name, if she remembered correctly. Some kid in the Hidden Block club, she knew that. How close they were as friends was admirable, even if they were a bit obnoxious about it. Oddly enough, Avery felt clashing feelings of jealousy and longing in her stomach. Did she really want to be around a bunch of boys who were constantly talking and throwing wild, often messy parties?
She shook her head, and tried to force the thoughts of Wallid and his little club out of her head. It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t be back tomorrow, with the encounter being enough to keep him out of her way. In time, he would be nothing more than an insignificant memory in her mind.
He came back the next day.
It was the same routine as yesterday, from what Avery could tell. Wallid would eat lunch with his friends, dump his tray, and then walk over to her booth. She could hear some of the whispers this time around, one common one being, “Why is he going back?” among others. He didn’t seem to mind, though, as he sat down across from her again.
Truthfully, Avery was asking the same question. Not like she would ever let him know.
This time, Wallid would just ramble on and on about various things, possibly hoping that she would join the conversation. Topics included the ridiculous stunts he and Jimmy pulled in class, what happened at the previous Hidden Block meeting, and other things Avery didn’t bother to listen to. She had her earbuds in anyway, so even if they did sound interesting to her, they were lost.
Only during the quiet build-up to the start of another song did Wallid bring up another topic: his entry in the tournament. Apparently, he was going up against Jared in a dancing game. He then turned to his strategy, but he didn’t think it was the best.
“Usually I’m getting either perfect or good scores, but when comparing them to the worldwide leaderboards, I’m really far down.” He sighed. “With that, I don’t think I’ll be competition for Jared.”
“On that game, if you attempt to do the dances your character does on-screen in instrumental portions, you’ll get bonus points. The more accurate you are, the more bonus points you get.” Avery’s tip was said with the flattest expression, but Wallid’s eyes widened nonetheless.
“Really? You know, near the top of the leaderboard, there’s this person named ‘Bis’ on there. And whoever they are, they look a lot like you.”
“Unless I’ve got a doppelganger somewhere, that’s probably me.” Avery stood up to dump her tray, but instead, Wallid grabbed onto her arm. His eyes seemed to widen in fear when she glared at him, but he stuttered out his next sentence anyway.
“Could you help me out, then?” He nervously laughed. “O-obviously you don’t have to, you’re probably really busy, I was just–”
Slowly, calmly, almost as if she was intending to torture Wallid, she grabbed onto his wrist with her free hand–tightly. He stifled a yelp of pain, and she pulled his hand off of her arm. Without another word, she walked away, leaving him with a wrist that had flushed red where Avery’s fingers had been.

Chapter Text

The doors to the auditorium didn’t always lock when they closed, Avery knew that. And yet, she still had to set aside time for piano and vocal practice. Especially if her next lessons were two days away, and she failed to practice up until this point.
The room was dark, save for the lights adorning the walkways down to the stage. There, like always, was the grand piano, center stage. Unless there was drama practice or whatever ridiculous stunt Jared tried to pull to show how ‘amazing’ he was, it was there. Avery sighed and set down her music on the bench, instead walking backstage to the light control board. She flipped a switch and a light shone down on the piano. Avery walked back to it and set the music up, choosing to start with her piano practice first.
Soft notes played through the piano, a song that, for her level, was relatively simple. It continued until she crossed her hand over and hit the wrong note, ringing out louder than any of the other notes. Avery sighed, resisting the urge to pinch or hit herself as she started the measure over again.
This went on for a few more minutes, and she eventually switched her music to a different song. The only note she played on the piano was a starting pitch, and from there, she sang the lyrics. Like her piano song, it was soft and sad, and she knew full well how to achieve that.
- According to Jeff, he’d left his political science textbook in the auditorium and, since he was working on his campaign, asked Wallid to get it. And Wallid, being the friendly and eager to please person he was, gladly accepted. Though, as he neared the auditorium doors, he froze. Avery’s voice was resonating throughout the auditorium, and parts of it bled through into the hallway. Doing his best to keep quiet, Wallid slowly pushed open the door.
Even though he saw Jeff’s textbook–resting on an arm chair in the fourth row–Wallid didn’t immediately grab it. Instead, he stayed near the back, listening to Avery sing. He had walked in during the middle of her song, but he didn’t seem to mind.
As the song ended and Avery began to pack up her stuff, Wallid stepped closer and picked up the textbook. Still wary, he walked up to the stage. “Hey, uh, that was really good! Your singing is really nice.”
Avery froze in place, and turned to Wallid. She stormed off the stage and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him down to her height. “If you’ve got any sense, you’ll keep quiet about this. Got it? I already humored you once, freshman.”
Wallid nodded, but being so close to Avery, inches away from her face, made a blush creep into his cheeks. She either didn’t notice or didn’t care, as she held him there for a while longer before letting go and pushing him away. “What the hell’s so interesting about me anyway that you keep trying to get involved in my life?”
Before Wallid could stutter out an answer, his face still flushed, Avery interrupted him. “It’s called a rhetorical question. Eventually, you’re gonna realize that chasing after me was a big mistake. With how long my witch hunt’s been going on, I’ll assume you’ll just give yourself to the masses and become another hating face.”
Witch hunt? Wallid tried to ask what she meant, but nothing came out. Avery stared at him for a few more moments before turning around and walking out of the auditorium. And, as always, her head was held high.

Chapter Text

“So, I guess you’re not sitting with her anymore, huh?” Jeff questioned Wallid as he sat back down at the Hidden Block table, having thrown away his tray. The day after what should’ve been a small incident had been consuming his thoughts ever since. It was probably better to not approach Avery like that after the scene in the auditorium.
“No, not really. Probably would be worse for both of us if I tried.”
“That’s the first time I’ve heard someone really care about Avery’s side in a while.” Luke interjected, looking up at Wallid. “‘Specially someone who wasn’t around before.”
“Before…?” Wallid gave him a questioning look. He was a first year, so if anything happened that made Avery infamous throughout the school, it wasn’t like he would know.
“It’s kinda complicated, but bottom line, she pissed off Jon when they were first years.” Luke shrugged. “I was sick that day, and it’s pretty heavy stuff anyway. I wouldn’t worry ‘bout it too much.”
Wallid looked back down at the table, tracing some unknown pattern on it with his finger. He heard Jeff try to reassure him that it wasn’t that big a deal, that she’d be graduating next year, but it didn’t help. Why weren’t they concerned about her? His friends were normally really caring, kind people (or at least, they tried to be). Why were they so content with not worrying about Avery?
“The only reason I’m not over there right now is because she wouldn’t want to see me. I walked in on her practicing and she didn’t take it well.”
“What’d she do, beat you up for it?” Caddy stifled a laugh.
“No! Well, not really…” Wallid sighed. “Why are you guys so sure she would do that in the first place?”
The table was silent for a moment, before Ian spoke up. “It’s happened before. Look, Wallid, if being around Avery’s just gonna get you hurt, I would stop hanging out with her. Besides, it looks like she doesn’t want you around anyway.”
“S-she’s just not used to it!” Wallid stood up, trying his best not to yell and draw attention to him. “I’m just…being that alone for so long can’t be healthy, can it?” He sighed and sat down again, putting his chin on the back of his hand in thought. “I just worry about her.”
Luke snorted. “Aw, classic Wallid! I don’t think you need to worry, bud. She’s gone this far.” He reached over Ian to pat Wallid on the back, much to the former’s dismay. “I think Avery’ll be fine.”
The conversation seemed to settle afterwards, the rest of the Hidden Block table delving into their usual banter. Wallid still couldn’t get the past few minutes out of his head, though. He glanced over at Avery’s table a few times, her expression not really yielding anything.
She stood up with her tray, and Wallid glanced back over at her. He felt his face growing warm as she passed by, and she glanced down at him for a split second before returning her gaze to its normal straight-forward position.
Wallid could tell he was at least slightly blushing, and he looked down. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as smooth as he thought he was.
“Well, someone’s got a crush.” Luke raised his eyebrows at Wallid. “And with the resident outcast, of all people.”
“Y-you do realize saying that just makes it worse, right?” Wallid’s blush grew deeper, and he stood up again. “Sorry, I need to go. And don’t say anything about that!” He cast a glare–or at least, as much of a glare that he could muster–at Luke, and ran out of the cafeteria in Avery’s direction.

Chapter Text

Wallid wasn’t very sure of where Avery would’ve went. A list of options ran through his mind, none of them seeming very likely: the auditorium, Azalea, the library, Primrose House–like he was gonna go into the girls’ dorms! He sighed, stepping out into the gentle breeze.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to look far. Avery had found a bench on campus and was sitting hunched over…something, her long brown hair obscuring whatever she was doing. Wallid walked closer to her, pausing every so often to make sure she didn’t see him and try to leave.
“What do you want this time, freshman?” No luck. Wallid froze, and Avery looked over at him. “Quit wasting my time and spit it out.”
“I–um–” He opened and closed his mouth several times, fishing for an excuse. “U-um, how come you’re so lonely? You’re barely a-around anyone else.”
Avery’s gaze hardened. If looks could kill, the entire student body would’ve been wiped out at this point. “I would call it more ‘alone’ than ‘lonely.’ Calling me lonely sounds like I don’t enjoy it.”
Wallid frowned and stepped closer to her, resting his hand on the bench’s armrest. “I’m sure it’s not enjoyable all the time! Did something happen here in first or second year?”
“You’re not my damn therapist, freshman.” Avery stood up and pushed him back.
“I just wanna know what happened! Ian and Jeff won’t tell me, and Luke was sick so he doesn’t know!” Wallid sighed, and tried to walk closer to Avery. She backed away the same distance. “Avery, please. I promise, if you tell me, I’ll stop bothering you.”
She was silent for a moment, and Wallid guessed she was thinking about the proposition. “Fine. But if, and only if, you get off my back afterwards.” Avery sat back down on the bench, instead moving to the left. Wallid hesitantly moved to the bench, and sat down next to her after she didn’t object.
“So, what did happen, then? Luke mentioned that you pissed off Jon someh–”
Avery let out a laugh. “Oh, that fuckhead? Yeah, uh, if you haven’t noticed, we’re not on good terms with each other.” She sighed. “Well, it was in first year, for starters. And I had a class with him and another kid. They’ve moved away, but–”
“They?” Wallid cocked his head.
“They’re not a boy or a girl. Non-binary, but I can’t remember the exact gender they went with.” Avery shrugged. “Whatever, not important. Jon thought they were just seeking for attention, but if I remember anything else about that kid, it was that they wanted anything but attention. It came to them whether they wanted it or not.”
“What do you mean?” Wallid scooted closer to Avery, feeling his face start to heat up.
“They were constantly teased in class by Jon. Got misgendered–granted, they were already out when they came here, so he only had their features to go off of–harassed, sometimes to the point of them crying in class.”
Wallid saddened. “What? That’s awful…”
“Yeah, but no one really did anything about it. One of those days, I decided I wasn’t gonna stand by and let it happen anymore. I told Jon’s ass off in front of the whole class. And he didn’t like it. Starting making fun of me too, alongside the kid.” Avery’s expression changed from unyielding to a much sadder one. “They moved after winter break due to the constant harassment, but I had to stay. I’m a scholarship student, and my parents never knew about it. If you didn’t notice already, Asagao’s horrible with bullying. All they do is sweep it under the rug and pretend it never happens.” Anger flashed in her eyes. “But honestly, that’s a rant for another day.”
“So, Jon and his friends just ostracized you?” From what Wallid knew, PBG was a fairly decent person. He wouldn’t join in on something like that, right?
“Mostly Jon, but yeah. The students who just blindly follow him started harassing me too. Up until second term, I just let it happen. The kid who got bullied in the first place was way too scared to step up and help me, and I don’t blame them. Plus, some of the upperclassmen back then would do anything to pick on a first year.”
“Some of them still do.” Wallid folded his arms.
“There’s some in every grade. But after that, I didn’t take their shit anymore. Whenever I was being made fun of, I fought back. Physically, in some cases. At one point, a third year tried to pull me behind the library, and I socked him in the gut. When he fell down, I kicked him in the face and ran away.”
Wallid’s eyes widened, conflicted between admiration and fear. “Is that why people joke about getting beat up by you?”
“It’s the most infamous incident, so probably. He was fairly popular before Normal Boots and Hidden Block were a thing, so there’s that. From then on, it just…” Avery trailed off, her expression unsure and sad. “It spiraled out of control. Thankfully it calmed down near the end of second year, but stuff’ll still happen where I need to defend myself.” She tucked her knees up to her chest. “And then it starts all over again.”
“Avery…” Wallid never saw her like this, and he was sure no one else at Asagao did. He reached out a hand to put on her shoulder, but thought better of it. “And all because you stood up for a classmate?”
“That’s what happens when you bring a popular kid down to reality.” Avery stood up as students started to file out of the cafeteria. “Class is starting.”
“Hey, wait–” Wallid tried to reply, but Avery either didn’t hear him or didn’t care, and she walked off towards Poppy Hall. No point. She said that if she was gonna pour out why she’s so lonely, that you couldn’t bother her anymore. He sighed. If she wants company, she’ll look for it. I’ll just annoy her more if I try to befriend her instead of the other way around.

Chapter Text

Wallid didn’t see Avery for a week after that. They had classes on different floors, and she either didn’t go to lunch at all, or she didn’t eat in the cafeteria anymore. He hoped for her sake it was the latter.
Despite Avery telling him not to talk to her (or bother her, in her own words), Wallid couldn’t help being worried. It was in his nature. Whenever he saw her outside of class, he could feel a hole in his heart get bigger. She was lonely, with no one to talk to…
Calling me lonely sounds like I don’t enjoy it. Wallid sighed. It would just worsen whatever connection they still had with each other if he tried to intervene. And besides, she would come to him if she was hurting. He had to have some faith in Avery.
Wallid readjusted the backpack on his shoulders, just exiting Poppy Hall after classes. He had to practice for the tournament, but then again, it wasn’t a huge deal. It was weeks away. He had tried to see Creeps before he left, but unfortunately he wasn’t anywhere to be found.
Again, not that big a deal. He did that.
Something brushed up against Wallid’s leg, and he looked down. One of the stray cats–a calico one–was purring, rubbing against his leg for attention. He smiled and bent down. “Hey, little guy! Whatcha up to?” The cat meowed in response, bumping its head against his knee. Wallid giggled and pet its head, scratching behind its ear. Over his time at Asagao, he had learned about the stray cats that wandered campus, mostly from Creeps.
Wallid watched as the cat left and trotted down towards the soccer field, where several other strays were around two figures, one of which he recognized as the nurse himself. The other figure, a student, picked up the calico just by his side, and as they raised their head, his eyes widened.
Avery hangs out with Creeps too? And with the cats? Wallid wanted so badly to join them, to see how Avery was doing. He was heading halfway down the hill when the same thought from earlier stopped him.
Calling me lonely sounds like I don’t enjoy it. Well, she wasn’t lonely if she was around Creeps. Wallid made the rest of the way back down the hill to them.
Avery didn’t seem to notice him at first. Even though he wanted her to see him so badly, it was probably for the better. Creeps noticed him, though, and he turned around and smiled.
“Ah, Wallid! Very nice of you to join us. I was just accompanying Avery while she takes care of the strays around here.”
She freezed at the mentioning of Wallid’s name, and she whipped her head over. “Wait, what?!”
Creeps blinked at her in confusion. “I’ve told you Wallid talks to me regularly.”
Now both students were tense, staring at each other like cats ready to fight. Wallid backed away slightly as Creeps stepped between them.
“Avery, why are you so scared of me trying to talk to you? I don’t get it.” Wallid broke the silence, his shoulders drooping.
“I’m not. I already told you not to bother me after you kept bugging me to say why I’m the most hated student here. And you’re still doing it.” Avery sighed. “Why are you so insistent on talking to me?”
“Because your only friend shouldn’t be the school nurse!” His yelling shocked all three people there, and he covered his mouth.
Creeps placed a hand on his shoulder. “Wallid, I appreciate your efforts, but some people prefer being left alone. If Avery wants to befriend you, she’ll let you know.”
Wallid pursed his lips, silent for a moment before giving in. “Fine. I’m sorry for yelling. I get worked up too easily, I guess.” Avery shook her head, but otherwise didn’t reply.
“Well, I should get back to the office, you two. I’m glad you could sort this out.” Creeps left, a gray tabby trailing behind him before he seemingly disappeared behind a tree.
Avery blinked, trying to process what she just saw. “Uh, did he just…?”
“He does that sometimes.” Wallid covered his mouth again, and she gave him a look of confusion.
“You know, you’re allowed to talk back if I’m talking to you.” Avery rolled her eyes and turned to pick up her backpack. “I’m going back to Primrose.”
As she walked off, Wallid waved goodbye, despite not knowing if she actually saw. Sure, the mystery of why she was so avoidant was solved, but that didn’t make it any better.

Chapter Text

Wallid took a deep breath in, looking at his writing on the thin strip of paper. Call/text me when you get the chance! - WK was written above his phone number and Discourse username.

He kept stealing glances at Avery, who still paid him no mind with a blank expression. The light of the early sunset was passing through the window and reflecting off the rim of her glasses. Her long hair hid a good portion of her face.

Before his cheeks could flush, Wallid looked back to the rest of the Hidden Block table. Caddy was sick, so that meant some of the chaos was downplayed. Luke was still trying to tease Ian about something (that he clearly wasn't tolerating) while the rest of the table just tried to finish their dinner before the cafeteria would close.

In the middle of his teasing, Luke spotted the slip of paper Wallid had behind his tray. “You still chasing her, huh?” Jimmy groaned and Jeff sighed, while Ian just seemed to be glad the teasing had shifted off of them.

Wallid tried to hide his blushing, but it didn't help. “W-well, why do you care? What if I just wanna be friends with Avery?”

“Luke, lay off him, he doesn’t--” Jeff was cut off again by Luke, who just laughed at Wallid’s question.

“Yeah, of course your interests are platonic. Every time you look at her you get all flustered, it’s adorable!” Wallid's face flushed a darker shade of red, and he crossed his arms.

Jimmy laid a hand on his back. “Wallid, I think we all know she hates you anyway. She hates everyone!”

“That's not true!” He countered. The table had delved into mild chaos, mostly jabs from Luke about how Wallid “totally” had a crush on Avery, and he eventually started ignoring them. Jeff was pushing for Luke to leave Wallid alone, and Ian and Jimmy were just trying to talk to each other outside of it.

Eventually, Wallid sighed and stood up, taking his tray and the paper slip with him. He barely acknowledged his friends--they probably wouldn't have noticed anyway--and walked to the front of the cafeteria to dump his tray.

He nervously glanced back at Avery, only to realize she was also watching the normal chaos of Hidden Block. Crap, he thought. If she heard any of that, she won't want to be anywhere near me!

Wallid looked back at the paper slip. She didn't know his initials, at the very least. At the same time, he knew she would either guess it was him or some prank Jon was pulling on her. Maybe.

He sighed and walked back once Avery had returned to her food, glad that her back was facing him. Trying to keep relatively quiet, Wallid snuck up behind her, practically slammed the paper slip on her table, and ran out of the cafeteria.

Outside, his heart rate slowly calmed, and he clapped a hand to his chest in relief. His cheeks were more flushed from the sudden exercise than Avery, at the very least.

He hesitantly glanced back in the window, eyeing her table. The paper slip was gone. She had either tucked it away for later or ripped it up and tossed it.

As Wallid made his way back to Bluebell, he could easily see either path playing out.