Chapter Text
Your name is [Y/N] [L/N], and you were relatively average. Growing up, you were the child that blended into the class, quiet and unassuming, easily passed by your classmates and elders. You performed average in school, in your opinion; you got mostly A's and B's, but never tried for more advanced classes. Your social life was average, as well. Although you were considered part of a rather large friend group of nerdy and artistic kids, only a few of them were truly your friends. Even when you got invited to parties, you ended up feeling out of place, spending the later part in a corner with your drink and petting the host's pet, or leaving early. Like a lot of teens, you spent your high school years working a part-time fast food job, although, you certainly felt the place's occasional violent and creepy customers earned it a "not so average." Your family was somewhat average. Your parents were not horrible, or abusive, but they were not great, and you were still chomping at the bit to get out of that environment. You were at a lost when it came time to apply for colleges, and just ended up halfheartedly applying to a bunch of random, out of state colleges, along with the more popular ones in your state. You weren't even sure if college was what you wanted!
Looking back, the seeds of your rebellion were planted subtly and early. You felt the need to make yourself different, in small ways that were easy to hide from or explain away to disapproving parents. You began to seek out music you thought would be edgy, the kind of stuff the stereotypical goth or punk kids in movies would listen to, as though listening to it would make you cooler. You were drawn to the beat up, tattered book of Poe's works that you found in a pile of your father's books. You started getting into art, desperately seeking some sort of outlet for your creativity, nurturing and growing the hobby into a passion. Although it has since petered out somewhat, you had a pretty strong witchcraft phase, too. You collected more books on the occult and supernatural over the years than you would care to count. You even collected some small animal bones that you had stumbled upon on walks.
It was only a matter of time until you couldn't stand living a quiet, average life anymore. So, when you got mail from a college in some small, podunk, mountain town in Colorado, offering you an full tuition scholarship, you didn't need much convincing. You barely recognized the name "South Park," but, looking back on the app's you sent in, it had been among the group of random colleges you applied to. You would still need to cover stuff travel and room and board yourself, but you were able to find a rather cheap apartment, and you had just enough money saved from your job and gifts to get yourself there and survive for a month or so while you job searched. The pros of moving to in podunk town, huh?
As you drove along a long, country road, you caught sight of your reflection in the window. One of your "fuck you, I'm starting over!" moves included a new hairdo, most noticeably bleaching out and dyeing your hair [favorite funky color]. It was a silly, cliché move, but, oddly enough, it was a insane confidence booster. A small U-Haul was hitched to your old, second (maybe even third) hand car. Although your apartment was set to come with basic future, like a bed frame and a small, crappy couch, you took it on yourself to scour the streets for furniture that was being thrown out, but you could still get some use out of. You stuck to things that you could reasonably move in and out of the U-Haul by yourself.
The road trip a relatively easy one, although pulling the U-Haul for such a trek was something you were initially worried about. A strange thing you noticed once you hit the one-hour-away mark was that the weather kept getting colder and colder, you could swear you even saw a few patches of slush and melted snow. Although what little non gossip or trashy information you could find online about the town mentioned unseasonably cold weather, snow in late summer was absolutely unexpected!
As you pulled into the lot of your apartment building, you were now 100 percent certain that there was snow and slush on the ground.
What the fuck? What kind of alternate dimension is this where there's snow in August!?
You pulled on the jacket you had in your passenger seat, and stepped out and into the cold, your shoes crunching on the salt and slush that coated the concrete. Pulling a set of key out of the envelope your landlord mailed you, you made your way through the building and up to your apartment. The building had a small elevator, which you took up to your floor. The ride was slow and clunky, you would probably just take the stairs once you moved everything in. You exited the elevator on you floor and walked to the apartment you had been assigned, unlocked it, and walked in, taking in the somewhat crappy apartment.
Well, not crappy, it was actually a good size for the rent, just not pretty. You had a kitchen, a small living area, and two small bedrooms. The second room would make a perfect, little studio. After you documented the damages, you returned to your car and U-Haul to start the move in.
Other than a couple big items, it was mostly just boxes you had to unload. In several back and forward trips, you awkwardly maneuvered the big things through the building and into your apartment. Thankfully, you had plastic wrapped them, so they were safe from the slush on the ground. Then, with the heavy hitters done, you moved onto your boxes. The place had been relatively empty, so you were surprised when a small voice spoke up from behind you, as you dragged boxes out of the U-Haul.
"Hey, um, do you need help... or whatever?"
You whipped around to see a small, goth girl, who looked to be in her young teens.
"Oh, hi! God, I would love help, I just have some boxes left, nothing too big. Thank you, I'm [Y/N]," you introduced yourself to the girl.
"I'm Karen. My sister and I live in the building, so I guess we're neighbors," she told you, as she reached for a box, and followed you to your apartment.
"Ohmygosh, you're almost right across from us, that's s-" Karen exclaimed when you got to your door, before clearing her throat, the "correcting" her tone, "I guess that's kinda cool, or whatever."
You stifled a laugh as dropped your box off in your apartment. It was cute how hard Karen was trying to be cool and goth.
I can't blame her, I could see my younger self doing the same thing, if I had the bravery, back then.
With Karen helping, it was not long before all the boxes were in the apartment. As you two worked, Karen's goth exterior was chipped away, to reveal a sweet, kind teenage girl. She seemed to crave attention, and was especially excited when she realized that a number of your boxes were books and art supplies. You two chatted as she looked through your more "spooky" books, which you offered let her borrow.
"My sister is into art, too, but I don't think she's gonna try to make a career out of it, or anything. She's just working a lot of odd jobs, and at the gas station. She just wants to make sure she can take care of the two of us, right now, I think," Karen mused, pulling out the books, as you started unpacking your art supplies.
"That's starting to sink in, for me," you responded, "I'm gonna go around and job hunt tomorrow, after I turn in my U-Haul."
Karen looked up and moved a strand of dyed hair out of her face, "Oh! I think the coffee shop in town is hiring, you should check them out!"
She paused for a split second, before hastily adding, "Don't drink their coffee, though."
"What? Why not?" You laughed.
"It just tastes super-duper bad," Karen explained, before pulling out another book, and changing the subject, "Oh, wow, this Poe book so beaten up, ugh, that's so goth!"
"I know, right," you smirked, "I snagged that from my dad when I left home. Its, like, really old."
"Can I borrow this one, too?"
"Of course!"
Karen's face lit up, "Ohmygosh, thank you so much! You're almost as cool as my sister!"
When it began it grow dark, Karen made her exit, a large stack of books in tow. You lost a decent amount of unpacking and organizing time, but you didn't mind. Karen was such a sweet, little girl, and had a lot of fun visiting with her. However, after the driving, and moving, you were absolutely wiped. You barely moved car and the U-Haul and made your bed before you collapsed onto it.
As far as drastic fresh starts go, you thought yours was going pretty well! As you lie in bed, you made a mental note to check out the local coffee place, before you drifted off to sleep.