Chapter Text
“I just have one of those faces! B-But just the one! The normal amount of face.”
“What a coincidence, me too! If you ever need a tour guide, hit me up.”
Weird kid. They thought it was a bit strange that the green haired kid would joke like that with someone who they just met, but… Masha Griffin could hardly fault anyone for being weird! They were weird themselves! They could do some great tarot readings, were into cosplay, had some bizarre taste in foods according to their friends (it didn’t matter what the other said, they still thought caramelized carrots were good), and admittedly knew far more about the history of old Gravesfield than most teens her age did.
They’d been sent to a “Reality Check” summer camp because their parents thought they were too weird, for goddesses’ sake!
The cabin mates they were stuck with for the entire summer, who they later became friends with, were also pretty weird. Clara was a skater girl, knew some sick tricks and could recite the entire Greek alphabet from memory. David, meanwhile, never wanted to wear anything other than his prized flip-flops on his shoes, was a math geek, and was convinced of the existence of cryptids, though unlike a certain man who believed in demons, David wasn’t a creep about it.
And of course, the last member of their Cabin 7 crew, Luz. At first glance one would think that the girl was the most normal out of their team, but Masha knew her better. During camp she would always be asking about the most basic of stuff every human on the planet would know. She seemed to be unsure about how to use her phone at first. And, like, she lived in the US all her life and didn’t know what pizza was? What were her parents feeding her?
Some of her reactions to stuff honestly made Masha wonder if Luz’s home life was abusive or something, but when they met her mother, the woman seemed to be quite a loving parent. …of course, thanks to their many repertoire of television shows, they knew that some abusive parents might pretend to be loving when in front of other people, so not long after, they enlisted the rest of the Cabin 7 crew for a late night steakout intervention.
And if the group found something, they’d film it and go straight to the police. They were smart enough to not try anything on their own, and hand it over to the proper authorities.
Thankfully… Camila Noceda seemed to be completely genuine in her care for Luz. Worried about her daughter, definitely, but trying her best to be a loving parent.
Camila reminded Masha of their own parents: not quite being able to fully understand their children, but still always willing to support them. Masha’s parents were surprised when they came out as non-binary to them some months after camp, were worried what this meant for Masha’s future, and still struggled a bit with the correct pronouns, but they could see their parents were trying. And the Cabin 7 crew all agreed, Camila was also trying. Thankfully, it seemed that the supposed abusive reactions Luz had were all in their head. The girl was just shy and skittish.
So, Masha put this issue to rest: after coming clean and apologizing for what they did the next day, Luz was pretty mad at the group. She had nothing but great things to say about her mother. Though since the crew only did this out of worry, it only took a couple of days for Luz to forgive them and go back to hanging out with the crew.
Until suddenly she stopped.
Something had definitely happened with Luz.
She always turned them down when they asked her if she wanted to hang out.
And the one time when Masha had seen her at school, she seemed so different than before. Gone was the Luz who attempted to present as a prim and proper teen, while still having some weird inside her. She looked like a full blown war veteran: a scar across her eyebrow, longer, messy hair, a gloomy disposition, and a face that looked like she had stared death in the eye. But that was impossible for a 14-year old, right?
So, Masha had done the only thing that came to mind: talk to the friend she hadn’t spoken to in weeks, currently struggling to open her locker.
“Hey girl, how’s my favorite underclasswoman going? Been a while since the gang has been able to hang out, what’s keeping you so busy?”
“Hmm?” The girl only seemed to notice their presence when they started talking to them, “Oh, you’re Masha. You’re V- I mean, hello. You… I’ve been fine! Better even, great! Just… very busy. With stuff.” She finally managed to get that door open.
That girl clearly had something going on. They put a hand on her shoulder.
“Luz, I’m not a fool. You’re clearly going through something. Now, I know I can’t wrangle whatever it is from you, but… you know you can trust me, Clara and David, right?
If there’s anything you want to tell us, you can count on us to listen. And if you want to, we’ll do our best to help you with it.”
The girl’s face didn’t move an inch. “Thanks,” She said with the most neutral expression ever, “but I’m fine, really. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“That just makes me more worried, girl. If it really is just stress, I know an online store that sells some great bath bo-”
“Look.” the girl forcefully said “Just… If you really care about *e, then please leave me alone.”
And then she walked away, school books in hand. Masha really hoped that she was correct, that everything was fine… or at least that Luz had everything under control.
Wait, what did she say in that last sentence? ‘If you care about me’, right?
Masha was concerned, but there was nothing they could do but respect their friend’s wishes to be left alone.
That had been over a month ago. Now, it was almost Halloween. Green haired teen and their friends seemed to have an interesting puzzle rebus in hand, though of course, right when it was starting to get interesting, the backroom phone started ringing.
And when Masha came back the group had already left the building. Great.
They didn’t even ask Green their name or pronouns. The way they acted reminded Masha a lot of how Luz was back at the camp: doing their best to appear normal while having no clue whatsoever what that meant.
Hey! Maybe if they met again Masha could convince them to meet Luz and help her out. If they really were birds of a feather, they’d definitely find something in common, which might cheer their girl up.
Though Masha couldn’t really leave their post at the moment. The best they could do was ask around after their shift at the GHS was done.
The job was partly boring, partly great. On one hand, Gravesfield History! Access to backrooms and info that a non-staff member couldn’t see! They dug this kind of stuff. But the actual job pretty much just involved some busywork setting up exhibits, moving boxes and sitting around at a desk for a couple of hours a week to direct visitors. At least it was only part time.
But it would definitely be worth it. Their pay was going to help fund their Halloween costumes and the awesome Haunted Hayride idea some folks at Gravesfield High were making.
This was going to be an awesome Halloween.
Halloween had been awesome!
All the group’s plans had gone off without a hitch. The Cabin 6 gang - “It’s Cabin 7 - 1 member” was David’s rationalization for the name. Masha got it, but thought it iffy since they hadn’t actually stayed in Cabin #6. Thanks to Clara loving the name, they were outnumbered, and it stuck - plus the rest of the Haunted Hayride members managed to make quite an attraction.
The entirety of old Gravesfield was fully decorated with fake bats, carved pumpkins, witches hats, plenty of hay bales - it was the Hayride - and even a plastic skeleton they managed to get permission from the school to use!
The night had truly been spooky and plenty awesome!
Clara, dressed in an old-timey costume, complete with a top hat she found goddess knows where, was in charge of driving the tractor they managed to get for pulling the ride wagon.
David, dressed as a bigfoot, and yet still in flip-flops, was behind the scenes working on some of the rides' special effects alongside Bridget and Mike, and the rest of the crew.
Masha, dressed in a full classic witch ensemble complete with pointy hat and pointy shoes, being the history buff of the group, had volunteered to be the guide on one of the wagons. They were to tell the story of the Mystery of the Brothers Wittebane to anyone who dared step foot on the ride!
There had been a lot of groups wanting to go on the ride, and they did over 15 sessions during the night.
Yep, the haunted hayride had officially been a success.
Masha had kept a lookout for Green to see if they showed their face on the hayride, but there was no sign of them the entire night. Dang, they really hoped they would get to talk to Green again.
Why’d Masha even feel such a need to meet them again? They had just been one of many visitors to the Gravesfield Historical Society. Even with their rad as flip look with the cool contacts and the dyed green hair shouldn’t have that much of an effect on them. They hung out with plenty of goths, hair dyed in weird colors was normal!
Sure, most people didn’t say they only had the one face, and didn’t seem to be familiar to Masha while still not being anyone they met before, but still… They just couldn’t figure out why they kept thinking about Green so much.
At the very least, Luz had been in one of the groups, alongside four other folks Masha was pretty sure didn’t go to Gravesfield High. She seemed better than the last time they had seen her, that was a relief. And she was holding the hand of purple hair, could they be her significant other? Hopefully she found a person who made her happy, and helped her in a way Masha didn’t know how.
Though during their ride Masha didn’t really have time for any small talk: they just did their job telling the story and hamming it up as much as they could.
Another group came by for the ride as soon as Luz’s had disembarked, and by the time that group’s ride was done, Luz’s had left, so Masha didn’t get the chance to talk to her again.
Perhaps it was for the better: last time she had just told them to just leave her alone. And the fact she was with friends and a potential SO was good for the girl.
The rest of the night went by quickly. It was great.
After everyone closed the Haunted Hayride for the evening, they went out for pizza to celebrate. A large group of people, having fun, eating pizza. Masha wasn’t exactly the kind of person who tended to go to large events, but they had to admit, this event was a good one. Life was pretty good right now.
That put them in a good mood. Masha was positive for the future: they knew that Luz would manage to get past whatever moment she was going through, and they had hope that they could meet Green again, and finally figure out why they were on their mind so much.
The future truly was bright.
A week later, Masha was hanging out alone in the local park.
Autumn was in full swing already, with trees everywhere already having their leaves brown. The closer it got to the end of November, the more and more they saw trees with their branches already completely barren. It was somewhat chilly today, so Masha made sure to wear out a sweater and long pants to avoid getting a cold.
The best part of this sweater was that it was striped with the colors of the enby flag: if people knew, they knew, and Masha might get to meet new LGBTQ+ folk or supporters. If they didn’t know, they didn’t think anything of it, and left them alone.
Beside them, a cup of piping hot coffee from Robin Roast, the best coffee in this part of town. It really warms you up inside. In their hands, a book about the old days of Gravesfield, back before its witch hunting days when it was still a quaint farming village known as Edgefield.
There was something just cozy about being outside bundled up with a hot drink and a good book- well, for now, at least. When it starts snowing and the temperature truly drops, Masha will probably be pining for the great indoors and a heater.
They were just reading some fascinating facts about how in the 1650s, Edgefield prided itself on its gourds when they noticed something turning around in the corner of their eye.
Turning their head left, they noticed it was a dark skinned, green haired person, rather robotically trying to sneak off for some reason. Wait, was that? It was! That was Green!
Masha couldn’t let this chance go to waste, so with all the speed and finesse of a human being who had just gotten cozy on a bench, they stood up and ran after Green.
“Hey, you! Green hair! Wait a second!”
They let out a tiny adorable squeak while they jumped back in shock, however they did stop walking off and turned around.
“Hey! Sorry about this, but do you remember me? From the Gravesfield Historical Society. I work there, and you and your friends came by a while ago. I don’t know why but you stood out to me and I never asked you your name or pronouns. Oh, I’m Masha Griffin, they/them, by the way.”
“Y-yeah, I remember you from th-the, the plaque in the museum! Umm,” Green seemed to be trying their hardest to sneak their head inside their pine-tree patterned turtleneck. “I’m… I’m Vee. She/her. Nice to, heh heh, nice to see you again.”
The poor girl seemed to have an incredibly flushed look to her face. Was it that awkward to talk to Masha? They seemed to be shy, but that was way too red.
“Are you ok? Your face looks kinda… beat colored.”
“Nononononono, everything’s fine, p-p-perfectly fine with me.” Masha couldn’t quite parse their expression. “Just- You just caught me by surprise. A lot! A lot of surprise! N-no, I mean-”
Masha couldn’t help but be amused by the incredibly shy girl’s attempts at sputtering out words. They quickly shoved down that feeling and tried not to laugh, it wasn’t nice to make fun of people for that “Sorry about calling to you all of a sudden. I just… I have been wanting to talk to you ever since I met you that day. I don’t even know why, but… I want to know more about you.”
“Y-y-you’ve been wanting to t-talk to me? Ever since the museum?” The color on Vee’s face rose from beetroot to tomato on the redness scale. Masha had only seen such a face on sick people. They hoped the girl didn’t get a cold or something of the sort.
“I-I-I-I-I-I,” Vee was having quite some trouble stammering out a sentence.
“Why don’t we go somewhere more closed and talk from there? The wind seems to be picking up, and neither of us would want to catch a cold. Or more of a cold.”
Vee managed to at least give a nod to them in response. Unheard by Masha, Vee whispered the words “More of a cold?” in a very quiet voice.
The two decided on hiding from the wind inside a bakery close by. The place was quite warm from the ovens that were being used. On the shelves plenty of baked goods and sweets were on display. They all looked so scrumptious. Masha wasn’t obsessed with sweets, but when they looked that tasty? They had to get one.
Mousses, creme brulees, many different slices of cakes, tiny one person pies, cinnamon rolls, chocolate-filled breads, and of course, a small assortment of donuts with a variety of colorful glazings. Choices, choices.
Oh, was that a carrot cake? Maybe they’d pick th-
“I- I really shouldn’t be here.”
“What? We’re treating ourselves to something sweet, why not? Unless… oh no, are you allergic to gluten?”
“N-no, that’s not it, it’s just-” Vee was trying her hardest to not look at Masha’s face. The floor seemed like a good candidate at the moment. “I really shouldn’t be with-” The last word died in the girl’s throat.
“I want to… But I can’t… Argh, why does my life have to be so complicated?” The green haired was breathing heavily, and her words seemed to be directed to no one but herself. She seemed on the verge of a panic attack, and Masha had no idea what was happening.
“Umm, maybe you should sit down?” Masha had heard of people who didn’t do well and panicked when in crowds. Could Vee be one of those people? The bakery wasn’t completely packed, but there were definitely more people than there had been in the park. “O-or, maybe we can go somewhere else with less people, if you prefer?”
Vee’s eyes were damp, like she was about to cry: “D-don’t. Stop being so nice to me. Y-you can’t be interested in me in that way. In any way. W-we should be talking to each other, we can’t be friends!”
And then she ran out the door, leaving a kinda hurt, but mostly just confused Masha behind.