Chapter Text
“Kel! Up!” Mom’s voice was muffled by distance, but was still clear enough for the tired teenager to hear. Kel groaned and slowly pulled himself out of his bed. He then promptly fell onto the carpeted floor with a small “oof” . Hero chuckled from his side of the room.
“The tradition of the dramatic first day of school, acted out live by Kel,” he teased.
“Shut up,” Kel mumbled into the carpet. Hero rolled his eyes (Kel couldn't see him do this, but he still knew for a fact that he did) and walked over to Kel.
“Come on, dude. We shouldn’t be late on our first day!”
Right. New school. Halfway through the year. Now, why exactly his parents wanted to randomly move to the middle of nowhere, Kel didn't know. They had been here for about a week (which was conveniently also spring break) and took that time to settle in. Kel had gone exploring with Hero one day—and the new town they were in, Faraway, was about as basic as he had assumed. Church, park, schools, shopping plaza. The only thing that really stood out to him was the beach.
“Earth to Kel,” Hero said, snapping his fingers with a small smile on his face. “C’mon, I’ll make bacon for us.”
Suddenly, Kel was Sonic. Even if he decided not to pursue it as a career, Hero’s cooking was still better than anything Kel had ever eaten. That might just be bias, though. He grabbed a hoodie and threw on some jeans and ran to the bathroom and brushed his teeth and ran down the stairs (his dad lightly scolded him as he hit the bottom) and skidded to a stop in the kitchen.
Hero, who had made his way there in a peaceful manner during Kel’s frenzy, laughed and gestured to a pan full of bacon on the stove.
“They’re almost done,” he said. “Hey, while you're waiting, could you grab my beanie? I think I left it on the table.”
Kel nodded, and turned to the living room. He quickly spotted the blue beanie that Hero had worn since he got it for his birthday last year. Kel had no idea that you could wash hats before Hero fell in love with that thing, but he should have known.
He returned to a fresh plate of bacon on the table, with Hero sitting next to it and chewing on a piece. Kel walked up to him and stuffed the beanie on his head, messing up his hair.
“Jerk,” Hero laughed. Kel smiled.
Kel went through all the bacon in exactly 2 minutes. If Hero hadn't seen this before, he would have been worried, but this was Kel. Hero was about to make another plate when their mother came in and started rushing them to get out the door as quickly as possible. Not enough time to feed more into Kel’s bacon addiction, then.
Hero managed to clean up and rush Kel out the door at the same time. They barely made it to the bus stop before it left, both sighing in relief as they sat down.
“Y’know, I am never late whenever I go to school on my own,” Hero commented as he caught his breath.
“Technically, we aren’t late,” Kel replied.
“Barely,” Hero said. Kel rolled his eyes.
With Kel being a freshman and Hero a senior, the two parted ways pretty much immediately once they arrived. The first few periods were spent with Kel having to constantly check his schedule and introduce himself to his classmates. It was exhausting.
A pink-haired girl wearing a goth (or alt? Kel didn’t know the difference) outfit seemed to be in every class with him so far, though. In the last block before lunch, she sat next to him. He didn’t notice, though, because he was in physics class. Kill him.
As the teacher droned on, the girl kept poking his arm. Didn’t help at all.
“What!?” Kel eventually turned around to whisper-snap at her.
She grinned. “Hey.”
“That’s it?” Kel asked, visibly annoyed.
“Yeah,” she shrugged. “I just wanted to say hi. How’s your first day going?”
“Boring as hell.”
“As to be expected. My name’s Aubrey.”
“Mine’s Kel.”
“Yeah, I knew that.”
“Wow. So proud of you.”
Aubrey opened her mouth, but was interrupted by the teacher telling the two to pay attention before she could quip back at Kel. Kel smiled and stuck his tongue out at her playfully.
When the bell rang, Aubrey grabbed Kel’s hand and dragged him out to the hallway as soon as he finished packing up.
“Dude, what the hell!” Kel exclaimed.
“I’m just being a good tour guide and showing you to the cafeteria,” Aubrey said.
“Since when were you my tour guide!?” Kel groaned.
“Since now. Come on.” Aubrey started running down the hallway, dragging a complaining Kel behind her.
Once they reached the line, Kel was panting for breath.
“God, you’re faster than me!” Kel said.
“We have to get in line early. Seniors and freshmen share a lunch block, and this year’s seniors are a bunch of assholes who think they can get whatever they want ‘cuz they’re older,” Aubrey explained. “And the cookies always go out quickly. They’re, like, the only decent food here.”
“Uh-huh,” Kel said. “You said seniors, right? My brother’s a senior.”
“Is he an asshole?” Aubrey asked, picking up a tray.
“Most of the time.”
“Seems like he’ll fit right in, then.”
Kel snorted. “Hero could befriend anyone, from Pinkie Pie to Walter White.”
Aubrey started to laugh. “No way.”
“He’s magic or something, I swear.”
After being guided through the lunch line, Kel quickly spotted his brother walking over to the picnic area with a black-haired girl.
“Oh my god,” he groaned.
“What?” Aubrey asked.
“Hero’s already charmed someone,” Kel groaned. “C’mon. I wanna yell at him.”
“Sure,” Aubrey grinned.
“Yo, Hero!” Kel called, running over to Hero and the girl standing with him. “Managed to find yourself a girlfriend in the three hours we were in class?”
Hero rolled his eyes. “She’s not my girlfriend.” He gestured to the girl standing next to him. “This is Mari.”
“Hi,” Mari said with a small wave. She was wearing a simple polo-vest and skirt, with somewhat messy hair and eye bags. “Sorry I look like a mess. Trying to fix my sleep schedule after break, haha.”
“Same,” Aubrey laughed. “I think I’ve heard of you before? My name is Aubrey.”
Mari shrugged. “O-oh, probably just… academics and stuff. They call my name on the speaker for math competitions and such…”
Aubrey didn’t look convinced, but she dropped it. “Cool. This is Kel, by the way. I know, like, everything about him, seeing as we met earlier this morning.”
“Hero mentioned you!” Mari said. “He said you both just moved here.”
“Yeah,” Kel replied.”
“Well, how’s Faraway treating you so far?”
“It’s definitely a small town. Literally nothing here.”
“You jackass!” Aubrey exclaimed. “It’s a crime to say that. You haven’t experienced Faraway until you sneak out at night to climb up the shopping mall.”
“That sounds incredibly boring,” Kel deadpanned.
“You’re boring,” Aubrey replied.
“I think you can have fun without trespassing,” Hero said.
“Now I know that you aren’t saying that, Hero,” Kel said.
“Hey now,” Hero replied.
“Do you mind if we move this argument to the lunch tables?” Aubrey cut in.
“Actually,” Mari said, “We could sit under that tree at the back of the picnic area. And… tomorrow I can bring one of my old picnic blankets.”
“That sounds great,” Hero replied.
“I haven’t had a picnic in sooooo long,” Aubrey said.
“Same here,” Kel replied. “I think our parents took us on one when I was, like, five.”
“They never did it again because sitting like that hurt Dad’s back,” Hero laughed.
Mari looked a little sad. “You guys are missing out on so much! Picnics are so fun.”
The group reached the tree, sitting together in a small circle. The lunch food was… questionable, but no worse than what could be expected from an American public school. Kel didn’t really mind, though, paying more attention to everyone talking. It was nice to find friends this quickly.
At one point, a boy with curly brown hair ran over to the four of them. He jumped up and down.
“Yo, Aubs!” The boy said.
“Hey Angel,” Aubrey waved. “What’s up?”
“Kim just wanted to make sure you were all good since you didn’t come over today,” Angel said. “Also, you need to see this cool Pokémon card I got yesterday after school!”
“I’m doing fine! I just met some more people today,” Aubrey replied. “We’re all going down to the park after school today, right? You should show me then.”
Angel gave a thumbs-up. “Sure! See ya then!”
He turned on his heel and walked away.
“Aren’t you popular, Aubrey,” Hero smiled.
“Nah, it’s only Angel and the others that deal with me,” Aubrey replied. “It’s nice, though. We’ve all been looking after each other since that kid died.”
“ What ?” Kel said, almost dropping his sandwich. Hero looked just as shocked.
“Oh, nobody’s told you? There was a boy… I think he was in my year. He killed himself last semester in one of the bathrooms.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah, it was crazy. At least it made the faculty more inclined to attempt to support the student's mental health,” Aubrey took a bite of her sandwich. “Doesn’t change the fact that they’re horrible at it anyways.”
Hero turned to Mari. “Did you know about this?”
Mari looked very uncomfortable. “...Yeah. It’s really crazy, haha.”
“Rumor has it that he haunts the bathroom he died in,” Aubrey said with a small grin. “It’s the one in the back of the second-story hallway. Nobody goes in there anymore because of him—not even the janitors!”
“You freshmen have some crazy rumors,” Mari muttered.
“I love haunted stuff,” Kel exclaimed, eyes shining. “Let’s go there right now!”
“You didn’t let me finish,” Aubrey rolled her eyes. “I’ve been there before once. Poked my head in. It’s just a filthy old bathroom.”
“Bull,” Kel countered. “I have to see it for myself.”
Aubrey shrugged. “Suit yourself, then. I won’t be able to go with you after school if you’re doing it today, and lunch is almost over.”
“It’s fine. I’ll go by myself,” Kel said.
“No, you’re not,” Hero said. “I bet you have homework and stuff to catch up on, and it’s best to start that today.”
“Hero, have I ever told you how bland you are?” Kel replied. “Live a little!”
“I live plenty. Except I know how to keep things secret from Mom.”
“Whatever. I’m going.”
Hero groaned. “I’ll go with you. If I show up at home without you on the first day of school, our parents will bury me alive.”
“Fair enough. Just don’t bore the ghosts away,” Kel teased.
The bell rang before Kel and Hero could bicker anymore. Aubrey stood up, putting on her backpack.
“Nice meeting you guys,” she smiled. “Mari, you’ve gotta bring that picnic blanket next time.”
Mari, who had been spacing out, blinked. Then, she smiled. “Of course I will.”
“Wait, Aubrey!” Kel jumped to his feet as she began to walk away. “I thought you were my guide!”
Hero laughed, watching Kel run to Aubrey. “See you later!”
After school, Hero and Kel met at the main entrance. Aubrey, who Kel ended up somehow having the rest of his classes with, said goodbye to him as she walked over to her other friends (whom he learned she calls the “Hooligans”).
“Fifteen minutes,” was how Hero greeted him.
“Hello to you too, my dearest older brother,” Kel rolled his eyes.
“You have fifteen minutes, and then we’re leaving.”
“I get it! We won’t be that long anyways. Geez.”
Hero sighed. “Look, Mari said we could call when I got home, alright? We don’t share any afternoon classes so I want to talk more with her.”
“I was so much happier five seconds ago when I didn’t know this information.”
“Un-learn it, then.”
“I’ll try my best.”
They reached the second story of the school, Kel leading the way. By now, all the students that weren’t staying for after-school activities had left, so the hallway was empty. It felt a bit creepy.
“Aubrey said it was at the end of this hallway, right?” Hero asked. “A bathroom.”
Kel nodded. He pointed down to a lone doorway at the back of the room. “I think it’s that one.”
“This is some insane horror movie setup,” Hero muttered.
Kel arrived at the door first. It was slightly ajar. He lightly pushed it open…
To reveal a trashed bathroom. Toilet paper in the toilet and on the floor, scratches all over the mirror, even some graffiti on the wall. It was ugly.
Hero peaked in. “It’s exactly what Aubrey told you it was gonna be. This was a waste of our time.”
“Oh, shut up,” Kel replied. “This could’ve been the work of the ghost.”
“Or some stupid teenagers.”
Kel walked in, finding the floor a little damp. He looked around, noticing spiderwebs on the ceiling.
Hero also noticed them. “Hell no. I’m not going inside.”
“Suit yourself,” Kel replied.
Aubrey was right. There really didn’t seem like there was any ghost here. But Kel wouldn’t give up. He peaked around the other side of the door, noticing something was blocking it from fully opening.
His eyes widened.
A single flower in a pot. It was a tulip, and it was alive. The pot wasn’t dirty either. It looked brand new, as if someone had just placed it there.
Which meant someone had been here recently. It was as if… a ghost lived here…
“Kel!” Hero’s voice broke Kel’s train of thought. “It’s been 15 minutes. Let’s go.”
“I’m coming,” Kel called back. He needed to come back here another day. Alone.
Hero gave him a look when he came out, but didn’t comment on it. He probably just thought Kel was crazy, but he always thought Kel was crazy. In reality, Kel was just lost in thought, wondering why the hell there was a flower in that bathroom. His mind was bursting with different theories, each more confusing than the last.
The only thing he knew for certain was that there was a ghost who was haunting the bathroom in his school. And he was going to find them.