Chapter Text
This was a mistake.
Grian felt sick as he carried himself to his classroom, his stomach all knotted and his heart pounding in his ears. It felt like only yesterday he'd been dropped halfway across the world with his wings clipped. Stranded, by choice. Here he was again, feeling like a forgotten life raft, all by choice.
When he went home, he'd be greeted by his sister Pearl and their cats. Gods, he had a sister, a real biological family. Maybe against his better judgement, he refused to let anyone except Taurtis know why he'd left or where he'd even gone to.
England was different to Japan. It was always grey, and in the September weather, the trees were all bare. The fluorescent lights of the school hall made him feel unwell like something was crawling under his skin.
In his classroom, he sits in the back at the only empty table. Every other two-person desk was filled, and Grian mentally catalogued where everyone sat and what they all looked like.
A boy with messy brown hair with a green streak and a slight beard made eye contact with him. He and three others sat together with desks haphazard and pushed together. Instinctively, Grian scowled at the boy who was now whispering to the other members of the table (a girl with pink hair, a boy with blue hair and a blonde boy.) The pink-haired girl slapped the boy's arm for what he said, but the other boys chuckled.
Grian turned away, pursing his lips tighter and kitting his eyebrows together in discomfort. The blonde took his seat, beside the window in the back corner. He assumed this desk had remained empty all year. A person with black hair and a piercing look in his eyes glanced at Grian and then at the empty seat between the two of them. He had a good moustache, definitely not the moustache of a sixth former.
Whatever.
Grian was just determined to make it through the rest of school, only two years until he was able to go to university and maybe by then he could make new friends, or take down his tall barriers and learn to trust people again. He would just keep his head down, make no friends, make few enemies and leave no reminder of his existence once he left.
Grian kept scanning over the classroom from his seat as the teacher took attendance, connecting a face to each name he heard. The moustache boy was named Mumbo, the green one was Joel, the pink one was Lizzie, the blue one was Scott and the blonde one was Jimmy. Surprisingly, they seemed to have a full class as the roll call came to an end.
Finally, the teacher brought her attention to him. Gross.
"We have a new student joining us today. Would you like to introduce yourself?"
Exhaling through his nose, Grian lifted himself from his seat and spoke. He cocked his hip and rested most of his weight on his left leg, crossing his arms and doing his best to seem unapproachable and uninteresting.
"I'm Grian... I used to live here, then I lived in Japan. Now I'm back." The teacher looked at him somewhat hopefully, like she wanted him to give something more than just his name and where he was from. He just raised a confrontational eyebrow, "Is that it?" he sat down before waiting for an answer, instead focusing his attention on leaning back in his seat just enough to seem nonchalant and unbothered (he was very bothered by the eyes burning into him, but that didn't matter.)
"Right well... today's announcements have just arrived so-"
"Uh, Miss Watcher, is Scar going to be back in today?" The moustache boy- Mumbo asked, sounding the tiniest bit desperate.
Imagine missing someone. Couldn't be Grian, that's for sure.
"No, he'll be back later in the week, his doctor has confirmed he's okay to return." Miss Watcher smiled a bit, in a patronising way that made Grian want to punch her.
He wasn't violent anymore though. He couldn't risk it. No matter how frustrated he got.
Towards the end of the tutor period, Grian and Jimmy were asked to stay behind. Jimmy's friends seemed to be taking jabs at him, only to receive a light scold from the blonde. The group were too far from Grian for him to make out what was said, but there seemed to be something going on about a sheriff and Woody... Grian didn't think he'd ever want to know what that meant.
The pair of them were left sitting at their desks, some kind of mutual frustration at their position. Miss Watcher smiled that stupid smile to the pair of them and explained. "Grian, this is Jimmy, our school hall monitor and student council representative. He'll show you around and make sure you get to all of your classes safely."
"Thanks but I think I can manage." Grian huffed and stood, now noticing Jimmy's friends waiting outside the door, teasing Jimmy through the thin glass window.
Jim huffed. "Come on, Grian. We can get the tour done sooner if you stop pretending you're too good for it."
"Oh, I'm not pretending." Grian gave a malicious grin, falling into his mean teasing persona sooner than he'd intended. Oh well.
The look of shock and embarrassment on Jimmy's face was priceless, enough for Grian to cut him a little slack. He began leaving, his bag over one shoulder. "Come on, let's get this tour started... Timmy, was it?" Grian left the classroom.
"W-what!? No, my name is Jimmy!" He rushed out after Grian, attempting to keep up.
"Howdy, howdy, howdy. Aren't you gonna introduce us, Tiny Tim?" Joel appeared beside Jimmy, who was now only a foot behind Grian.
"Please Joel, I told you to stop that. This is Grian." Jim rubbed his temples in frustration at his friend's antics.
"I can speak for myself, Tiny Tim." Grian looked over his shoulder to share a mischievous smile with Joel.
Now that they were all standing, it was easy to see Joel standing just over a head taller than Grian and almost two over Jimmy (who was about half a head shorter than Grian himself.)
He wore his white school shirt untucked with a few undone buttons and his tie almost comically short. Atop the shirt, he wore a leather jacket, decorated with badges, studs and patches. Other than white and black, everything else he wore was either green or golden. He had a golden wallet chain, a simple necklace with a green gem, many golden rings (a few with green details) and two golden sphere earrings. He wasn't necessarily cool, but he certainly wasn't boring. His hands were calloused and scarred under the jewellery, and his fingernails were chewed to nubs and his cuticles looked like Grian's during an episode. He generally walked with an aura of cockiness and if it weren't for his group of friends Grian was pretty sure he'd be a jock dickhead.
Jim wore a much more correct uniform. His shirt was only half untucked and his school sweater vest was decorated with the school's emblem and a few badges representing being the hall monitor, member of the council and a few in-school competitions he'd won. In the same place that Joel had his chain, Jimmy had a blue neck scarf.
Weirdly, they looked like they were supposed to be together.
"Hey, we're gonna go to class, okay?" Scott explained as Lizzie kissed Joel's cheek. "Have fun with your tour, Jim. And Joel, try not to mess with him too much, you know he has a short fuse." Scott let out a laugh as he and Lizzie rushed away down the hall, leaving Jimmy shouting after them.
Sighing, Jimmy rubbed his nose bridge in exasperation. "Right, let's start the tour off at the science building and then-"
"Boooring!" Joel interrupted, wrapping a large arm around Grian's shoulders, "Grian, was it? Let me show you around!"
"I don't even wanna do the tour, so might as well pick the fun one. Sorry, Tim." Grian shot Jimmy a grin like a Cheshire Cat that sent a shiver up the other's spine.
Joel began leading Grian away, Jimmy's sounds of frustration fading out.
"So, why are you here?" Joel asked after a few minutes of walking in silence.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Grian sassed, deciding he didn't want Joel to know he was a total mess. That surely wouldn't be fun.
"Fair enough." Joel seemed content with not knowing, which shocked Grian. The taller boy continued talking, "Me, Jimmy, Scott and Lizzie all joined after our old school was burnt down. There's a lot of people here from that school but uh we tend to all keep to our different groups... When the school burnt down, they were convinced it was a student but they never found out who so we all kinda... stopped interacting with each other."
"That's depressing."
"Yeah... literally. It was traumatic for everyone." Joel looked far off, his emotions indecipherable. Then, the pep in his step returned and he beamed at Grian. "Oh well! Come on, let's start the tour. This is the cafeteria, it's mostly just younger students who eat in here. They have really good brownies on Thursdays, you should try them. And then over there we have..."
Joel's tour was certainly interesting. He was shown most classrooms and subject blocks, but also the best places for skipping class or hiding from people. Grian also found out that Joel, Jimmy, Scott and Lizzie (and occasionally some other students from Empires Academy and a few who shared their classes) sat by a tree. It was a four-metre blossom tree. Or well, apparently it blossomed in the Spring. Right now it looked just as barren as most other plants this time of year.
Grian found his lessons with relative ease. It turned out, he and Joel shared a woodwork class first lesson. Joel had half-lied to the teacher to avoid any repercussions for arriving halfway through the lesson, claiming he'd been helping Jimmy show Grian around. He confirmed that Joel had said and was told to sit beside Mumbo. Oh, the guy from his tutor class.
Notably, Mumbo wore his uniform in full correctness: a tie, jumper and blazer along with his sixth-form ID card. Most members of the school ditched the blazer by year nine, not one member of the sixth form (including Grian) followed the dress code so perfectly.
"Hey, I'm Grian." He introduced himself, keeping his voice hushed as their teacher continued his lesson.
"Mumbo Jumbo. Nice to meet you." The moustache boy smiled, offering a handshake. Grian gladly accepted it, giving Mumbo a small smile.
Over the rest of the lesson, Grian and Mumbo had been talking about a few little things like their favourite subjects, shows they liked and similar interests.
For the next two lessons, Grian hadn't had anyone to talk to. He did notice Lizzie and Scott were in his English lesson before lunch, but they didn't seem to want to talk to him. He was sure a few of their whispers were about him though, but that didn't matter.
When he made his way to the cafeteria, he realised Joel hadn't been exaggerating about only younger students using it. The only person in year 12 seemed to be Mumbo, who seemed very lonely in his little corner.
"Hey, can I sit here?"
Mumbo looked up from his sandwich and blinked for a second before nodding. "Yeah, sure. I mean you don't have to if I just look lonely and you're just being nice. I am lonely but that's because my friend who I usually sit with isn't in at the moment."
"Oh well, fun. Do you two usually sit in here?" Grian sat across from Mumbo, taking out a box of strawberry pocky from his bag.
"Only when it's really cold, it can make Scar's pain flare up. Plus it's just not very fun sitting out in the rain or cold." Mumbo explained, his sandwich now finished.
"Oh, fun. Are you in here because you're, like, lonely without Scar?"
"I guess. It just isn't as fun sitting on my own." He shrugged.
"Would you like to sit outside with me?"
Mumbo thought for a moment before nodding.
"Hmm... That tree looks like a nice place to sit, doesn't it?" Grian went to the barren blossom tree and hoisted himself onto one of the branches, now about three metres above the ground.
"Oh uh, some other students sit here."
"Okay? And?" Grian gave Mumbo a smug grin, perching happily in the tree.
A group of four walked over towards Mumbo. "Hey, Mumbo! Do you want to sit with us?" Lizzie asked kindly (a genuine kindness, not the kind teens use to make people feel insecure and crazy. Grian made note of it.)
"Oh, well, no but uh..." Mumbo just pointed towards Grian in the tree.
"No. Not him!" Jimmy sounded distraught, but there was a slight laugh in his voice.
"Hello, Tim." Grian grinned wildly, "Joel showed me this tree on his tour. Is it okay for me to sit with you all?"
Joel agreed before Jimmy could complain too much, hoisting himself onto a different branch of the tree with ease. "Of course. Mumbo, you can stay too if you want."
Grian finally got a good look at Scott and Lizzie.
Lizzie wore a skirt, slightly shorter than the school allowed. A top of her uniform shirt and tie, she wore a blue hoodie with some lighted blue ribbons decorating it. Her socks reached above her knees and followed the same colours as her hoodie. With the lack of red, Grian honestly would have suspected her to be from an entirely different school. In her light pink hair, there were a few small plaits and tiny cat clips, matching her cat earrings and necklace. She liked cats and Grian could relate.
Scott had the regular school shirt, trousers and tie all on correctly. However, his outfit also looked nothing like the school uniform. His shoes were black boots with painted multicoloured swirls covering them and rainbow laces. His coat was an amazing array of different coloured fabrics, asymmetrical and mesmerising. Grian wondered if Scott had made it himself. There was a feather in one of the chest pockets of the coat, matching the white feather adorning his teal hair and feathers painted on his boots.
Grian genuinely appreciated how they all made their uniforms so unique. He also made note that the school did not care how to correct the sixth formers' uniforms in comparison to the other year groups.
The group were easy to talk to and Grian soon found that he was able to joke with them as if they'd all been friends for many years. Overall, this whole school day was a lot less daunting than it had seemed.
When he left his history classroom, ready to return home, Lizzie and Joel seemed to apparate beside him. "Hey, Grian! Wanna walk home with us?"
"Oh uh sure." Grian gave a small, practised smile to the pair. After the long day, despite the relief of it going well, Grian didn't feel like being as loud as he had been. He just hoped that this wouldn't come across as rude.
As the group of them, now joined by Jimmy, Scott and Mumbo, walked through a park on their way home they all exchanged numbers, mostly so they could organise walking to school together as well as potentially hanging out on weekends.
When the conversation lulled, Joel easily took the lead. "So, Grian, you moved here from Japan? Do you have family there?"
Grian tensed, the strap of his backpack now being strangled in his fist. "Oh uh no... I lived in America as well, for a little while. Uh then I was in Japan and now I'm back here. That's all there is to it."
No one in the group seemed satisfied with that answer, but before that familiar anxiety could begin gnawing at any confidence Grian had left, Joel responded. "Cool! Do you have a favourite place you've lived?"
"I dunno... Sorry, I know I'm not giving you very much, it's just that it isn't as interesting as it seems." Grian looked towards his feet, afraid that the group would realise just how nervous and awkward Grian was... but they didn't. Or, if they had, they didn't mention it.
"Ah, okay." Joel pursed his lips for a moment before bursting into conversation again. "I'm so glad we're studying Ancient Greece in history! It's so much more interesting than whatever it was we were learning about in year 11."
The group fell into the easy conversation once again, and soon enough Grian was turning down his street and returning home to Pearl and their cats.
"So, how was school?" Pearl asked over dinner, the pair of them now sat across from each other on an awkward round table.
Grian perked up from where he was picking at his food. "It was amazing! I've some friends... I think they're friends."
"Oh, that's good to hear! Work was boring before you ask." The sibling laughed heartily, and for a moment it felt as though they'd not been separated for the better part of ten years. "Uh, so do you... do you feel like you can trust these people? They aren't acting anything like S-"
"No. They're nice. They're not like him."
And suddenly the air was cold again, and their round table was just awkward Grian's fork scraped against his plate as he does anything but eat because he felt sick to his stomach again, for what felt like the 100th time that day
Grian cleaned his plate and went to his room without saying another word.
That night, for the first time in years, he did feel at least a little hopeful. Perhaps he could do well in this school and could make strong, healthy friendships and maybe he'd be able to make his own family, of Pearl and their cats and the friends he'd made that day.