Chapter Text
The sun rose, and with it, an alarm ringed, awakening a gentle boy, who loved fantasy.
Max rised from his bed, his sleepy eyes opening, his red irises adapting to the sunlight.
He rubbed his white hair gently, and grabbed some clothes from his drawer, together with his round glasses.
He got into the bathroom, and took off his pajamas, turning on the warm shower.
He bathed, ready for another day enduring bullies, and staying with his only friend.
He put on his white shirt, his black city shorts, and his red jacket with hood.
He ate pancakes for breakfast, courtesy of his mother.
"Well, i have to go.
Have a good day mother!" Max said, hugging his mom.
"Have a good day too Max." She answered, retributing the hug.
He grabbed his red backpack, and walked out to the streets, ready for school.
But, before that, he had to get someone very important to him....
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Melody woke up in a hurry, a piece of toast in her mouth while she shoved books in her backpack.
Her sister, Harmony, turned off her alarm, making her wake up late.
She quickly closed the backpack, and grabbed a white dress from her gigantic closet.
She got out from her bedroom quickly, clothing over her shoulder.
She swallowed the rest of the toast in minutes, and quickly brushed her teeth.
Taking clothes off carefully was not a choice, as she threw her pajamas on the dirty clothes pile.
The bathtub filled up quickly, and she laid into it.
Washing her black, long hair, she really hoped Max wasn't at school already without waiting for her.
After she was done with her bath, she put on a white hairband, together with her white dress.
As she went to her bedroom to grab her backpack, the Mansion's doorbell ringed.
"Uh, Melody?
Are you ready?" Max asked through the door.
"I'm getting there!" Melody said, grabbing her backpack, and quickly running downstairs.
She opened the door, and gave Max a hug.
"Heya Max, hope i didn't make you wait too long." Melody said, letting go of him.
"Oh, no, i just got here some minutes ago, and even if you did take long, i would wait any length of time for my best friend!" Max replied.
"But, i must ask, you normally are waiting for me outside your house, what happened?"
"Harmony happened.
That little zit turned off my alarm!" Melody replied, making a pout.
Max slightly chuckled at Melody calling her sister a zit.
"Well, shall we go?" Max asked.
"Sure!" Melody replied.
It was a mostly silent walk, Max and Melody trading glances, the sun bright in the sky.
The two best friends, that knew each other since childhood, had developed a crush on each other over time, with it already lasting two years.
They had no idea the other party reciprocated the feelings, so, they mostly stayed silent about it.
And them being constantly bullied didn't help.
Max was too timid.
Melody was too afraid of him being bullied more if she confessed.
They also both had the fear of being rejected and abandoned.
For now, all they could be is...friends.
Best friends, but friends.
"Do you think today they'll be nice?" Max asked.
"Oh, with Harmony helping, definitely not." Melody replied.
"I hate when they call me shorty..." Max said, slightly sad.
"Eh, they're just jerks, ignore them." Melody said, trying to encourage her friend.
"But it's true.
I am short, and i have no idea why."
"What's the issue with being short?
I think it makes ya cute." Melody teased.
Max got immediately flushed.
"D-Don't say that..."
"It's true!"
"I still wish I was tall like you though..."
"Oh, Max, you're perfect just the way you are!"
His flush quickly became a blush.
"Y-you're better...."he muttered.
Their teasing session quickly fell silent, and they walked through the park.
Summer break has ended, and as fall approaches, leaves fall from the trees, changing color.
Small children ran, jumping on piles of leaves, making them fly.
"A tear has been shed for whoever cleans up the park" Melody said dramatically, but playfully.
Melody's emerald green eyes shined in the gentle sunlight, almost throwing Max into a daze.
As they kept walking, the sounds of murmur and laughs got louder, a clear signal they were approaching their school, Trigate High.
The tall building had many students and teachers, a place only for the smartest (and the richest) people in Trigate City to study on.
Melody was both, and Max was considered a prodigy at his old school.
The trees there also showed the signals of succumbing to fall, with teenagers kicking them around, just making the school janitor's job worse.
The inside of the school was halls and halls of doors and lockers, with the school bells ready to ring in case someone forgot they had class, or to interrupt a romantic moment happening.
The blue lockers were normally bland and blue, with most students adding decorations to them.
Max opened his locker, adorned with fantasy related objects, from stickers, to books, to a full-on board game.
Melody opened hers, decorated with multiple stuff, like cats, and fantasy stickers too.
One decoration both friends had in common though, was a photo of both of them hugging, and looking at the camera.
"Science class is gonna start soon." She said, putting the other books into the locker.
"Ya ready?"
"I always am!" Max answered cheerfully.
"And on our interval, we have to look at some stuff at the Fantasy Club.
It seems my mage costume has been delivered."
"How about my feral costume?" Melody asked.
"Apparently, it's coming sometime later today." Max replied.
"Let us hope there are no issues until then."
The school bells rang loud and proud, Max blocking the sound with his hands.
"Oh dear, this is definitely going to give me a headache one of those days." He said, rubbing his ears.
"If they do, I'll skip class to stay with ya until ya get better!" Melody replied.
"Please do not.
I do not wish for you to waste your time caring about...me." he said, a small frown on his face.
"You never waste my time silly!" She replied.
"Why would ya, you're my best friend!"
"Yes, but still... don't worry about me." He said, slightly worried.
"I'll worry about you alright!" She said, hugging him.
"Let's go, we don't wanna be late!"
They walked together towards class with a smile, their time of happiness wished to be eternal.
And while Max and Melody walked calmly without a worry in the world, a mysterious boy with an eyepatch followed behind...
(End of chapter 1)
Thank you for reading the first chapter of At Our Own Rhythm, an new fic I'm making!
I would like to give special thanks to Team Polly, of which I'm a member from!
Other members are Vortex123, OtherBlue, and button_mash27
We do have other works, all of them here on AO3!
Once again, thank you for reading this first chapter, and look foward to more!