Chapter Text
cuilenanbar: Hey, sorry if this comes across rude or something but I’ve always wanted to ask something…
cuilenanbar: And don’t get me wrong, I could totally be misunderstanding something!!!! But I just want to ask if you’re ok? Today you jumped when I arrived with one of the girls’ pumpkin decorations and it didn’t seem like you were able to calm down after that
cuilenanbar: That was totally out of line and I’m sorry. I won’t do that again
cuilenanbar: Is everything alright at home? I’m sorry for always prying. Do you have a pumpkin phobia like Miss Lisa, or is something going on? As your friend, I want to help you
Collei was starting to sweat. She isn’t sure if this was the right call. After pondering for several hours, talking to her family about the problem, receiving guidance on what to text in response, she has finally sent all of her feelings out to the boy. Her classmate, Freminet, seems to have been acting strange today. This caught her eye, sticking out like a fiddle.
She wasn’t sure if she was being too nosy. After all, Freminet is extremely introverted, arguably more than her. She isn’t sure where to start. When did it all begin…? Where did it begin…?
Well, it all started during the start of the school year.
“Alright, we will now begin the entrance exam.”
… Hm? Huh? What?!
Collei jittered in her seat, shocked and confused. Her teacher, Ms. Clorinde, had just announced a test that was currently taking place at this very moment. On the first day back too. Did all 2nd year students have to bear with this? 1st year students did entrance exams way before they entered the first day of school. And here Collei is, unaware of this fact.
Everyone gets out their pencils, erasers and their A game. And Collei is freaking out. Her face almost turns red, like she’s about to cry. Cyno and Tighnari didn’t inform her of this fact, as if they had forgotten. But it’s understandable, considering that those two haven’t been in high school for a very long time. She had to research all of this on her own. It’s not their responsibility to help her all the time.
Which is why she’s so incredibly red right now. She didn’t know they were going to have exams the first thing during the day, therefore, she did not bring her pencil case. She has no writing utensils in her bag or anything of the sort. She’s too afraid to raise her hand and ask for one either, as she is unsure if they’re allowed to.
“Remember, if I see you conversing or interacting with another student in some way, I will take your paper away. Is that clear?” Ms. Clorinde states, her voice demanding as usual.
“Yes…” The class responds.
Now, Collei is almost going manic in her seat. Swirls form in her eyes, her vision becoming dizzy. The back of her neck is glowing hot too. As if things couldn’t get worse for her, a girl with anxiety.
Wahh… What should I do…? I don’t have anything to write with!
“Are we ready?”
Ahhhh! And now she’s counting down! It’s too late to ask questions! I want to pull her aside, but my heart won’t let me! No, no, no… She didn’t even say anything about borrowing pencils!
“Set…”
It’s over… I can’t do my test… Ahhh, what a start to the day… I… I can’t do anything. I-It’s fine, Collei. Everyone will do the test without you and you can just suck it up and admit that you came to school unprepared… You can always do the test tomorrow, Collei! Yeah… You can just go home… and let all of this go by--
Tap tap…
A light pat behind her leads her eyes to her right shoulder. Her gaze fixed on the person behind her, leaning in discreetly so that the teacher didn't notice. It was a good thing that they were seated at the very right corner of the classroom, sitting by the windows. The boy behind her darts his eyes down, purposely avoiding her gaze. He’s holding a spare pencil in front of her.
“... Ah--”
She quickly takes the pencil before the teacher notices her. And with that, the boy lets his arm go and focuses on his desk once again. She turns around and she notices just how cute the pencil was! He lent her a light blue mechanical pencil with a cat eraser on top of it. So adorable!
“Start!”
The exam starts and Collei’s heart flutters just a little. This small act of kindness helped her get through the entire test with no problems or issues whatsoever.
Thank you, kind person who sits behind me! Thank you…!
The hour goes by, slowly and slowly, getting slower each minute… Tick, tock, tick, tock… And finally, the hour is over. The teacher tells everyone to put their pencils down and most of the students groan, exhale and lean back into their seats. They’re finally able to talk freely with each other now after a long period of silence and writing. You could hear everyone complaining, saying “That was too hard!” or, “It was too easy, I almost fell for it.”
Collei is sitting straight, as usual. But this is mostly due to her anxiety. She wants to thank the person sitting behind her for the pencil, but her heart keeps pounding out of unexplained fear. Nonetheless…
I must get over my fear… Otherwise, I’ll never grow! I can’t keep relying on Tighnari and Cyno for help! So I have to go thank him!
The girl slowly turns around, startling the boy behind her. His face is laying on the desk, squishing his perturbed expression. He immediately gets up, facing her head on. With a gulp, she takes out the pencil,
“H-here! Thankf you!” She ended up biting her tongue.
Her face turns red. Trying to ignore the slip up so that he doesn’t offend her, he nods with a light smile. A smile so bright, it nearly blinds her. “Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to return it, s-so… You can keep it.”
“A-are you sure?!” The girl is still unsure. “It’s so cute though!”
“Oh, thank you…” Now, it was his turn to blush. Unconsciously, he takes out his pencil case full of adorable pencils and erasers. “You don’t have to worry, really. I have a lot…”
“So cute!” She unexpectedly swoons, gawking at the cute pencils. “Sorry for staring! And talking…”
“... You don’t think it’s weird?”
“Huh?” She’s taken aback. This means that someone must’ve said that to him before. “Not at all! Who’s saying that?! Your collection is amazing! The one you’re holding right now has a penguin eraser, right? No one thinks that penguins are weird!”
“...!”
She got that really wrong…
Freminet almost wants to laugh. It seems that Collei has missed the point, but her words… How encouraging they are. It brought Freminet close to tears, he almost regrets being so emotional all the time. Freminet has always hid his pencil case solely because he was afraid of a bunch of other boys browbeating him and his weird collection of cutesy items. This included his pencils, erasers, pencil case and keychains. He rarely attaches his keychains onto his bag anymore for this reason.
How nice it was for Collei to be so encouraging on the first day. He only lent her the pencil because he noticed how red the back of her neck and ears were flaring. He then realized that she was most likely suffering through a saga of panic due to her having nothing on her desk compared to the other students who at least had a pen in hand.
Her compliments… were the best kind of repayment ever.
The two became friends afterwards. Collei was worried that she wouldn’t be able to make many new friends, considering that her best friend, Sucrose, graduated two years back. Now, it’s just her, Fischl and the rest of her friends. She had little to no expectations on what to expect, but she’d never thought she’d be able to get another best friend. Indeed, for the rest of the months, Collei and Freminet remained as quick best friends.
That was until… She started noticing that Freminet was acting a bit off during the last few days of September.
It was beginning to look a lot like autumn. Leaves are changing colors, trees are stripping bare, coffee shops are booming their businesses and the air is getting colder. Not only that but…
Houses are starting to decorate for Halloween. It was then that she noticed that Freminet’s behavior would drastically change each time they would walk home together. He wouldn’t look at the houses, his eyes would be blinded by the orange and purple lights and his entire body would shake. Collei has seen this before in herself. Is this a trauma response?
Worried, Collei finally received the blessings and courage from the Gods (And Cyno) to text Freminet back and ask what’s wrong. Thus, she returns to the present.
It’s been an hour… He’s probably busy. But now the anxiety is eating at me! I understand that it sometimes takes days for Freminet to answer some messages, partly because he tends to see the notification for the message, slides it away and forgets to check on them again. I know that well.
B-but… I really hope he responds and that nothing bad is going on.
DING!
“Wah!” She yelps, turning around on her bed and snatching her phone once again. She unlocks it and clicks on the red notification hanging by her messages app. Freminet responded at last.
Pers: I’m so sorry for the trouble Collei
Nooooo! It’s okay! It’s not your fault at all! I’m sorry for even prying on the matter! Forgive me, Freminet!
Shocked and exhausted, Collei drops her phone on her face. It hits on the center of her nose, causing her to squawk. She feels guilty that she couldn’t say anything in person. Texting is much more anxiety-inducing. Nonetheless, she feels more vibrations from her phone. The boy is texting back a whole ton of messages. She grips onto it in fear. Sighing, she lifts the screen up in slow motion.
Pers: I have something I have to admit to you
Pers: Please don’t laugh
Once or twice, Collei blinks. She takes the time to reply back another message to follow that one up.
cuilenanbar: What’s wrong?
She’s worried. Things are about to get serious, she concludes. Whatever Freminet is about to admit, she must help him no matter what. She cannot back down and ignore it. He’s done so much for her during the semester, she might as well give him the equal amount of assistance he needs. Gulping, she awaits for his follow up response.
Pers: I hate Halloween Collei
Pers: I’m serious
Pers: The decorations, the stories, the movies, the everythingggggggg
Eh?
cuilenanbar: What do you hate about it exactly that has you so worked up?
Pers: They’re scary
“Pffftttt---” A ton of spit comes out from Collei’s mouth as she chokes. That was certainly not an answer she was expecting. Sure, Freminet is still in touch with his childish side based on the amount of fairy tales he still believes in, but she was certainly not expecting the stoic and quiet Freminet to be afraid of anything Halloween related. “Why is he so funny?”
Pers: A long time ago I was traumatized because of Lyney
Pers: When I was four he took it too far with the decorations and he’d occasionally come into my room in the middle of the night with a pumpkin head on
Pers: He’s the worst seriously I started hating this time of year because of him
cuilenanbar: Lol that’s so funny
Pers: It’s really not and now I can’t see pumpkins or any Halloween themed stuff the same ever again
Pers: Oh but don’t get it wrong this is nothing serious. Sorry if I bothered you Collei
Although it’s funny, I’ll admit, that’s pretty harsh from his brother. I bet he’s apologized to Freminet over and over again, but now, the damage has been done. How does Freminet put up with this month then? If his siblings decorated the entire house, does he just stay in his room? That’s… kinda sad.
Freminet is quite the character, alright. What everyone has noticed is that he is, in a way, similar to Collei. This is why they got along in the first place. Although they are both introverted, they will do anything to convert to change. They both want to try harder and advance. They want to overcome their flaws.
Knowing this, it sets a fiery flame in Collei’s heart. Freminet has done so much for her during these past few months after knowing each other. Just his company was enough to help her get through the semester. And using the knowledge of what she’s learned from Freminet, she desperately wants to help him. But how else should she propose this?
cuilenanbar: Why don’t I help you?
Pers: Wdym
cuilenanbar: Do you remember the festival that the town is holding by the square?
Pers: Yeah my siblings are performing magic there
cuilenanbar: !!!!!
cuilenanbar: Are you going to be busy the entire month?
Pers: Not really. We did our exams last week so
Pers: Why?
cuilenanbar: I’m going to try to book tickets to a book fair. Is that ok?
cuilenanbar: If not that’s totally fine but I also want to have fun with you
Uwah, that sounds so cringe… How do I unsend..
Pers: That’s ok! I like reading books anyway
Wow! He really said yes!
B-but… I’m sorry, Freminet.
cuilenanbar: After school then, right?
Pers: That’s fine. Can’t wait
Pers: happy:penguinsticker
cuilenanbar: Then it’s settled! See you!
cuilenanbar: laughing:catsticker
I’m sorry, Freminet, but…
Little did the poor Freminet know, this girl is about to drag him to every single Halloween related event. Anywhere around town, located at whichever part, they are going there for every day that remains until Halloween. They’re going to have fun every single day.
Although it was unprecedented to Collei (and Freminet), the events that are planned to happen are: The Book Fair, the Halloween store, the school festival, horror movie watching, the downtown parade, apple picking and finally, the Downtown Square Festival.
Emphasize on the word, unprecedented. Collei only planned two or three events. The rest were not planned. Not at all.