Chapter Text
Typically, the first day of school was only dreaded by the children who had to return to their torturous sleep schedule only to go to the “group prison cell” for eight hours five days a week. However, on a particularly warm August morning, Lone Ridge High School’s new secretary, Virgil Sanders, was trying to make the tough decision to either sacrifice his new job in order to have a few more hours of peaceful sleep or get up and begin his day. Of course, he chose the latter. Partly because it was dumb to sacrifice a well paying job for three extra hours of sleep, but also due to the fact that if he didn’t get up right then, he would miss his bus and then he’d have to walk the five and a half miles across town to get to work. That sure as hell wasn’t happening, so in a matter of minutes he was dressed and running out the door while gnawing haphazardly on a granola bar. When he was finally able to stop running and catch his breath, he took his seat on the bench in front of the bus stop, just in time for his morning panic.
Did I make sure I locked the door? Did I turn off all the lights before I left? Oh god, my electric bill’s gonna be insane if I left the lights on-
He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of shouting and something hard making contact with him. The next thing he felt was something splashing all over his once pristine gray shirt. After a moment it fully registered to him that what had crashed into him as a person, who was trying to recollect himself.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! I’m not usually clumsy like this, I’m just in a rush to get to work this morning.”
It was a couple more odd seconds of the two trying to stand and clean everything up. Once that was in order, and the stranger had made his apologies quite evident, the awkward silence that followed was almost deafening. Finally, the strange man cleared his throat and began to speak.
“I’m Roman. Roman Prince, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” There was a brief pause from the other, who was still trying to figure out his debacle about his shirt considering it was his first day at a new job and he was terrified of first impressions enough without a giant stain on his shirt, but finally managed to respond soon after.
“Uh...look, I could accept your apology and exchange formalities all day, but I start a new job today and I don’t really wanna start it off with a coffee stain the size of Antarctica on it, so if you’ll excuse me-”
Roman paused to catch a glance at the awful stain he had caused, and proceeded to rummage around in his messenger bag at his side. It was then that Virgil noticed that Roman was wearing rollerblades, which was most definitely the reason for the collision that had just taken place. Suddenly, a dark red shirt was being thrust in his face. He looked up and saw how the other was holding the shirt out for him to take. “Here. I always keep an extra in here, just in case.”
“...In case what? You crash into a random stranger and spill coffee all over them?” Virgil asked sarcastically, smirking a bit to indicate he wasn’t angry.
“Well, mostly in case anything happened to me, but it works if it helps a damsel in distress.”
“Wow, you’re really taking your last name seriously, aren’t you?”
Roman cracked a smile. “Always.” A beep snapped the two out of their slight staring contest and Roman sighed loudly before silencing his phone. “I’ve got to go before I’m late to work...I never did catch your name.”
The bus pulled up at perfect timing for Virgil, and he decided to be playfully snarky as he boarded. “I didn’t throw it.”
**
After finally arriving at the school, Virgil quickly ducked into the restroom to change his shirt before anyone could see him. Thankfully, the shirt fit him almost perfectly, and honestly didn’t look bad on him. That Roman guy had pretty good taste. Well, good for a guy who rollerblades to work and crashes into guys who are still half asleep and spills lukewarm coffee all over him.
Wow, this morning was weird.
When he walked into the office a few minutes later, he was greeted by a man leaning against the counter with a file in his hand. He was wearing a light blue polo shirt, with a gray cardigan wrapped around his shoulders and a pair of glasses resting on his face. When he caught sight of Virgil, his eyes lit up like he had just discovered the best thing in the entire universe.
“Oh, hi! You must be the new secretary! I’m Patton Hastings, but you can just call me Pat! I’m the school counselor here, and I love making new friends, so don’t be afraid to stop by my office at lunch or whenever you have free time! A couple of the other teachers usually eat lunch with me in my office because the teacher’s lounge can be too much sometimes, and you're absolutely welcome to join!"
Virgil softly introduced himself and listened as the other talked to him, trying to stay focused but the realization hit him that somebody was trying to befriend him and it felt as though his entire being completely shut down. He had no idea what to say or do, so he simply nodded his head and waited for Patton to say his goodbyes and leave before he sat down at his new desk with a sigh. He began to sort through the various forms and files to begin his job, and answered a couple of phone calls before a new face appeared in the office. This man looked similar to the last one, only taller, with a shorter haircut, and a black shirt and tie rather than the other’s previous, more laid-back style.
“Oh, hello. I assume you’re our new secretary? I can also assume that you’ve also already met Patton as well? He was waiting for you to get here. He’s a very...friendly person.”
Virgil just laughed awkwardly and nodded, setting the papers he was sorting aside to once again engage in a conversation with someone he didn’t know. “Uh, yeah. He’s very uh...different, huh?”
“Yes, I believe that’s an accurate description. He is very kind though, and although he wears his heart on his sleeve, he know when it’s time to be serious. He’s very passionate about his job. Oh, where are my manners? I’m Mr. Roberts, but since we are co-workers, you may call me Logan. I teach Trigonometry and AP Biology.”
“I’m Vi-”
The door opened again and someone walked in with a large stack of books in his arms. “Someone please help me out here before I drop these! And let’s face it, they’re for the arts, so we won’t get replacements anytime soon.”
Virgil was able to stand up and help the poor guy, but the voice sounded way too familiar and by the time he figured it out, Logan had already started to help him.
“Roman, why on Earth would you try to carry all those books at once?” he asked, setting the books onto on the of the nearby chairs.
“I needed to get them all to Ms. Razner before second period. She’s starting the new school year by making her students copy down vocabulary terms. I think she’s hungover or something. Who knows?” Roman joked, a wide smile on his face until he turned his head and locked eyes with the man behind the counter. “Hey, coffee guy!”
Logan looked at the two with a perplexed expression and crossed his arms to further display his confusion. “Wait, you two know each other already?”
A slight smirk appeared on Virgil’s face as he nodded slowly. “Yep, he spilled coffee on me earlier today.”
“On accident! I don’t just go around pouring coffee on every guy I see. I’m not some kind of coffee stain slut.”
Virgil had to bite his lip to hold back a laugh, and obviously Roman just had to take notice.
“Ha! You laughed! So you DO have emotions!”
Logan decided this was a good time to leave and said his goodbyes before slowly making his way out to the group of tired and already bored teenagers.
“Of course I have emotions. I’m not a robot,” Virgil mumbled, sitting back in his seat and grabbing the papers he had set on his desk earlier to finally put them into their respective files.
Roman walked over to the desk, but the bell that rang prohibited him from saying anything he wanted to. “I’ve got to get these books to the choir room, but I’ll see you later.” He made his way towards the door with all the books now once again stacked in his arms yet more stable than before. “How long do I have to wait before you tell me your name?”
Virgil chuckled softly before answering just as the bell rang again. “You’ll find out soon enough!”
Oh my god. This year is gonna be insane.