Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

January Sixth

Year 201M2020 BC.

Volcaldera Bluffs

Today the weather is as cold as Yeti's Nuts.

It's my first time living this close to the ocean.

The idea of living in a new 'marine environment' rubs me the wrong way.

The heavy fog that seems to permeate the area makes it difficult to find my way to my new school. I can't even see my own feet in front of me. I almost tripped and fell on my ass because of a pinecone that had fallen on the sidewalk. If I didn't swerve to avoid it, this could have become an even shittier morning than what it was.

It’s my first time having to walk to school too. The apartment my father got me is in a particular spot of town. You already know it's bad when not even the city bus has a singular route through that part of town.

The thought hit me again in my mind. 'It's my first day at a new school.' I'm starting again in the second half of the first semester of my senior year.

I had six more months left at my old school. I can't even fathom the idea of trying to ride out the last six months at my old school…

But this... this feels so sideways to me.

Having to restart again... No friends to hang out with, no parents to greet me when I get back home from school. It’s all so sideways.

It could be... It could be way worse....

Feeling around inside of my pocket I’m greeted by the comfort of my old pocket knife. It used to be my dad’s knife back when he was in the service. Thanks to its added history, I feel I can rely upon it. Nothing like a nice added sense of comfort.

Volcaldera Bluff is nothing like I would imagine. One would expect the hot sun glistening down on your back. Or the locals packing the beaches. But it's more like New Rex City.

Damn how far is this school….

Pulling out my cellphone I click on 4chan. Nothing is like a simple pastime to make a long walk appear shorter. After a while I found two threads to message under. I could bait the oblivious poster about spoilers to Sextor. Or spread misinformation about the next GNAG game.

I’ll do the first one. After posting my response I watched the shit storm roll in.Nothing like multiple people being enraged over the little things in life.

After a while I finally see the school in the distance. Volcano High…

It’s nothing like what the grungle reviews said it would look like. The school looks amazing. The moss surrounding it gives a nice prehistoric look, almost as the school was taken over by nature. Forgotten by time.

Eventually I got close enough to notice the stairs. Uhh not the fucking stairs. Looks like I’ll be getting my cardio every day.

Walking up the stairs I hear the milling of my classmates around me.

“What's up Josh, it's been a while!”

“Nothing much Jake.”

I get a few odd glances every now and then, but nothing too serious.

“Woah is that a human…”

Great here it comes.

“Yeah, it looks like it. Maybe he’s just lost…”

“No way a human would attend school here right?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey where’s his spear?”

“Must have left it at home.”

I wonder if I look like a freakshow amongst the cereal box crowd.

Not even a cup of promethazine could make this colorful batch seem normal…

Hmm… I should write that down. It would make for an amazing chan post. As I continued to write that down on my notes app, the talking and the looks seemed to have stopped.

That’s something I didn’t expect. Maybe I might be able to go unnoticed afterall.

Hmm maybe I can take this moment to peep around the friend group circles and admire something that I know I won’t be able to enjoy at all.

?

I continued to ascend the stairs and then I noticed her..

Ghessh talk about standing out. One of the two looks like she's straight out of a black and white 90s cartoon. Although she does differ from her multicolored peers… Albeit in the worst way possible.

Great, she's staring at me… with that look.

Fucking hell.

Has this broad never seen a human in her life? I’m starting to hate that fucking look.

A stare full of contempt, judgement, and unwarranted hatred. Every single person that has stared at me with that look turned out to be assholes.

Almost as if she's ruling me out for being ANOMALY, yet deep down she’s just as miserable as everyone else that attends this school.

She’s probably no better than me, miss, “my snout is so big you can land a B17 on it.”

Go back to looking at your friends.

Huh… She did.

As I continued to walk my knees felt weak and my arms felt like jelly.

I continue to walk around the students looking for somewhere else to be.

?

Straight ahead of me was another strange sight. A female student just gossiping away with her friend. Yet she’s laying on the floor. With what appears to be a skateboard behind her tail…

As I continued to stair it hit me. She’s staring right back. I watched as she started to wave me over… Maybe I should go say something to her. Fuck it why the hell not. I made my way over to the meeposaurous. As I got closer I started to get a better look at her. Damn those spikes on her back mean business. Remind me to never get on her bad side.

“Hey…”

“Hey I’m Erin. I saw you walking up the stairs, you new here?”

“Yeah I’m starting my first day today.”

“Meep!”

Huh. What the hell… Did she just meep?

“That’s soo cool! There has never been a human that attended Volcano high.”

“Huh I didn’t know that… So that makes me the first?”

“Yes it does. Hey Theressa Do you mind taking me a photo with the human for the yearbook?”

“Yeah girl, but don’t you think it's rude to refer to him as human?”

I watched as her partner turned over to me.

“Hi, I’m Theressa, and you are?”

“I’m Anon. Anon Y Mous.”

“Well Anon, do you mind taking a photo with me?”
What did I get myself into? Taking a photo with a complete stranger on the first day?

“Sure.”

I watched as Theressa pulled out a very expensive looking camera out of one of Erin’s bags. Erin pulled herself closer to me as we took the photo together. Waving goodbye to the duo, I started to walk away to the soggy grass as I looked somewhere else to be at.

Making my way over to the side of the building something catches my eye. Walking over I see a hidden garden of sorts… no a sanctuary undisturbed by the student’s milling around. The pavement is cracked all over and the shrubs are clearly overgrown. Weeds mill around all over the flower beds and the bench had cracked paint on rotting wood. The place just screamed abandoned. Perfect.

I plop my ass down on the bench and I’m instantly greeted with a CRACK. My heart drops as my chest tightens and my lungs struggle to bring in air. Instantly I fell on the floor.

Shit. I get it now. This all was too perfect.

Here I am, alone in a new city. I’m spending a year in some dingy rundown apartment. All on my own.
Three weeks…

It took me a day to want to leave the hell hole that is my old school and three weeks to make it happen. Now I’m stuck here for the next year until I graduate highschool.

I started to think about my old man’s ultimatum.

“Once the lease is done Anon, college or service. I do not care which.”

Looking at my feet, I noticed as two shadows appeared in front of me.

“Excuse me, would you happen to be Anon?”

I look up. In Front of me is another duo.

“Oh my goodness are you okay?”

I watch as the pink parasaur in front of me dawns a chin eating smile.

I groan…

“Never been better…”

Without even thinking about it, I apply my ‘chill guy fasade’. I can’t let these two strangers see how uneasy I am today. I noticed a hang over my head. In a state of confusion fueled by my pain, I reach over and shake it.

“Naser!”

“Right, Right”

The hand tightens around my own hand. It instantly pulled me up, before I realized the force had lifted me onto my two feet. The force was more than enough to pull my arm out my body.Geesh ever heard of being sensitive.

“Uh… sup?”

“Your Anon right?”

“I’m glad that we found you!”

“Who are you guys??? Why do you know my name?” I look at the duo in front of me with confusion.

“Where are my manners… I’m Naomi, I will be your student council president and your official tour guide for today.”

“It’s my pleasure to make your acquaintance Anon!”

“We’re your welcoming committee”

“Oo-kay then…” I’m just left in bewilderment. Why would I need a welcoming committee? What’s so special about me? Is it because I’m a human?

“I had this prepared just for you!”

Naomi makes her way over to me. Once she was close enough, she handed me a brochure.

“Volcano High and you: A New Beginning to Adulthood…”

Fuck I can see where this is going. I gotta find a way to get out of here quickly.

“Babe, I got something to take care of.”

I watch as Naser heads off to help a raptor and a triceratops carry off some speakers from a van into the building.

“I’ll see you at lunch right Naser?”

“Yes my little munchkin.”

I watched as the duo made their way into a sweet embrace. The sight starts to make me gag. But seeking this as my opportunity, I slip away from the two and make my way back to the front of the building. Looking at my phone I noticed that class starts in 10 minutes.

Wait… where’s my schedule. Don’t tell me I left my schedule at home. Fuck! The first day of school and I lost my schedule. Maybe the school's principal can help me out here.

As I continued to walk around the school I realized how large it truly was. The school was like a labyrinth with infinite twists and turns. I started to increase my pace to help me find the principal's office before it was too late and the bell rings.

Taking a corner too sharply I ended up bumping into a student.

“Owww.”

Shit it was a girl too. My social battery is too far gone for this.”

“Sorry about that. I was trying to get to the principal office and I got lost.”

“Oh, it's okay… Wait, are you a human! OMG OMG I have never seen a human before!”

I watched as the stegosaurus started to bounce around in front of me. Great another problem.

“Yeah I’m a human. Can I please get going? I really need to find the principal's office.”

“Oh what luck, I’m heading over there right now. Come on, I’ll take you to him.”

Does this girl ever take no for an answer?

The green Stego takes hold of my hand and starts dragging me down to the principal's office.

AAAAAAHHHHH, ALERT ALERT!! DEATHCON LEVEL ONE, FEMALE MAKING PHYSICAL CONTACT.

DO NOT PANIC

DO NOT PANIC SOLDIER!

GET A GRIP ANON!

THIS IS JUST A RANDOM PERSON TAKING YOU TO THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE.

WAIT THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE. I’ll Be safe…

Okay, Okay, I just need to be silent. As long as I don’t attract too much attention everything will be alright.

Holding onto to this green Stego’s hand I realized something… Her hand its just so soft, scalie and smooth.

How Lewd ;3

It’s only been a singular day and I’ve already slumped as low as hand holding with a stranger.

“Here we are. This is the principal’s office. He should be able to help you with whatever you need.”

“Thanks…. Stranger.”

“Oh yeah I completely forgot to tell you my name. Well it’s Stella for future reference.”

“Ah I’m Anon.” Great now she knows my name…

“Well then Anon-kun, sayonara!”

I watched in complete awe as Stego sticks her tongue out at me and leaves with no shame…

She’s so cool.

This is always the worst part… I've always hated having to speak to principals. Slowly making my way to the door, I can feel the sweat start to drip down from my smooth head.

Gently, I slowly started to knock on the door.

“WHO IS IT?”

“Umm, I’m the new Student Anon… I was wondering if I could get a copy of my schedule?”

“COME IN. HURRY UP I DON’T HAVE MUCH TIME… THERE’S A STUDENT I HAVE TO DEAL WITH.”

I opened the door to the cramped office, expecting to see a gruff cave of a workspace; instead, I was surprised by a neatly decorated office with cabinets and photos.

“Are you planning on standing there forever Anon? Come on and sit down. I’ll print out your schedule and send you to class.”

“Thank you principal uhh.. (looking at the nameplate on his desk I read the name SPEARS) Spears.”

Walking over, I take a seat on the well worn chairs that line the Principal’s office. The chair shifts and fits to my comfort, must be one of the perks of being human I guess.

“Punctuation I like that.”

“Thanks sir.”

“Alright Anon, here's your schedule. I recommend making your way over to the cafetera since lunch is about to start.”
“Thanks Principal Spear.”

Standing off my seat, I make my way over to the door but before I could leave, the Principle starts speaking to me again.

“Also Anon… I don’t know the reason for your transfer here nor do I care… I understand everyone has their own problems and I expect you to be caring to others. Other than that, have a good day.”

“Thanks Principal Spear.”

Closing the door behind me I see the flash of pink and orange in my peripheral vision…

Fuck my life.

“Hey Anon, I didn’t see you slip away. Come on Lunch is about to start!”

I watched as the parasaur slowly made her way over to me.

“Alright let’s go Naomi.”

Following Naomi’s lead, I made my way into the Cafetera. Looking around I see different cafetera lines selling high quality meals. Meats and vegetables of all kinds lying around to be prepared into meals.

Pulling out my wallet I see that I’m down to my last $15. Great… All the good stuff is well outside my price range. Taking one more look around, I found a free section with a salad and some sort of Pseudopizza.

Choosing the latter I made my way over to an empty table. This pizza looks like it could become a pizza if it’s left alone for too long. Feet away from the table disaster strikes.

I watched as Naser grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. Instantly the pizza flies out of my plate and lands onto the shirt I’m wearing. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

“Woah there, my bad Anon.” Naser looks at me with disappointment in his eyes. Fucks his problem.

“Yeah, thanks…”

“Wanna sit with us?”

“What?” I’m having a feeling that I’m not going to get away with a no…

“Wanna sit with Naomi and Me? I mean you're the new kid after all.”
He points over to a table where the living pink ball of sugar rush is waving.

‘God damn it.’

I really don’t want to make a scene with all these people around.

“What did you say Anon?”

“Sureee…”

I followed Naser over to the table where Naomi was waiting for us.Before I even had the chance to sit down the barrage of questions began.

“SO Anon, what do you think of Volcano High? What about your classes ....”

Nodding along, I slowly started to disinterest myself from whatever Naomi was saying.

“Are you looking forward to the rest of the day?”

“Not really.”

“It's just all these introductions you know… And meeting all these new people.”

“Yeah, I get you Anon. It’s hard to talk to people you don’t know huh.”

“Something along that line.” (Anon.)

“Hey Anon, do you have enough money for food today?”

What the fuck did she say? I watched as a trio of people approached the table that we were sitting at.

Before I could even say a word, the mint green petro from earlier interrupts us.

“Hey Retard-wing, is the auditorium ready for our performance today?” (???)

“Yes Fang. Please don’t say things like that when I’m trying to do my job.”

“What the fuck your talking about? I don’t see any new students… oh.” (Fang)

“Yeah Fang please watch your tone!” The pink sugar rush goes to defend her boyfriend.

I watch as she stands up and makes her way over to the female Petro.

“Naomi, what the fuck did you just say to me?” Now pretty much yelling, the Petro draws everyone’s attention over to our table. Shit.

“Alright Fang… come on now… You know she meant nothing by saying that. Can you please not fight here?” Naser looks extremely desperate for the whole thing to end. Damn I feel bad for the poor dude.

Fang just looks at Naser. She seems disappointed in her brother. “Alright Naser… once you're done eating, meet me at the auditorium.”

I watched as Petro turned around and made her leave. The power duo follow suit. Turning over to look at Naser, I can visibly see the vitriol in his eyes. There’s something going on in between this disasterly duo, but it's not my place to pry.

Before I could utter a word Naser took control of the situation.

“Hey Anon, sorry you had to see that. I ask that you forgive my sister… They are going through some problems.”

Wait did I just hear this man right… he said ‘they’

“Yeah you confused about it Anon?”

“Huh?”

“I heard you mumbling Anon, Yes I said they. Fang has been using this whole pronoun thing, and they really freak out if someone uses the wrong pronouns. Just a little heads up.”

“Yeah but I think it's silly sweetie. The poor gal’s just probably confused.”

“Honestly it could be whatever type of case they want it to be. Ultimately I’ll support my older sister in her decisions. Now if you guys need me I have some matters to attend to.”

Naomi and I watch as Naser goes to leave. After throwing away his tray the Petro makes his way back to us one more time.

“Hey Anon.”

“Yeah?”

“I almost forgot, but youre invited to Fang’s concert later today. You don’t have to come, but I feel like it would be a great way for you to meet others.”

“Thanks Naser.”

“Don’t sweat it. That's what Bros are for.” I watched as Naser attempted to shoot me with his finger pistols. The sight of it was extremely cringe. Naomi in the background can be heard giggling. God I fucking hate her.

Damn it, the realization hits me like a brick. I’m stuck with Naomi for the last ten minutes of lunch. I watched as the Pink Parasaur moved to the seat right in front of me. Well the least I could do is attempt to make some small talk.

“Hey Naomi…”

“Yes Anon?”

“What type of music do they play?”

“Music.”

“Music?” That doesn’t even answer my fucking question at all.

“Yes.”

“Well what kind of music?”
“The kind you listen to.” What’s that supposed to mean?

“Wh— Well what's the genre of music?”

“The good kind?”

“Wait Naomi let me guess, you don’t know do you?”

“Nope”

“But hey at least they will have some free pizza over there.”

“Really, that's good to know Naomi.”

“Yeah I’ll make sure to let Naser know to give you the extra. I’m sure you could use the food.”

God this fucking bitch. Does she have no sense of conversational direction? Or is she just fucking with me on purpose.

Looking down at my pizza I noticed something was wrong. I tested the pizza with my plastic fork and watched as it melted into a pile of goop. What the actually fuck is in this pizza.

Looking at Naomi she looks at me with a look of terror.

“You know Anon, I really think you shouldn’t eat that.”

“Wow what made you think that.”

“Because it disintegrated your fork.”

“It’s sarcasm Naomi.”

“It’s fine Anon, we can split my vegan TLT!”

Looking at the sandwich in front of me, all I could do was shudder. Tomato, lettuce and more Tomato to top it all off. What have I done to deserve this god?

She tears the sandwich in two and hands me the larger half.

“Thank you Naomi.”

“Your welcome Anon.”

With that out of the way the two of us dig into our meals. Honestly the sandwich wasn’t that bad, maybe I was being too much of a hater. Once we finished eating Naomi and I opted for silence for the last few minutes of Lunch. She chose to work on some papers she had with her, and I chose to doom scroll through Rockagram.

. . . .

Afterschool

. . . .

My classes after lunch were the same as before. Before I knew it I had already rehearsed an introduction that would please the teachers enough for them to leave me alone. My classmates couldn’t care less about me and honestly I preferred it stayed that way. All I have to do is deal with this concert and worry about dinner. Then today will be over.

Naomi saw me leaving my last class for the day and decided she was going to walk with me to the auditorium. As we got closer I saw Naser outside waiting, it seemed he was checking his phone for messages.

The second Naser notices Naomi and me, he starts waving.

“Guys over here, the show is starting in a bit.”

Naser shows me his phone.

Jan6th

Fang
Piss off.
Is the pizza here?
You can have a slice?
But afterwards you gotta GTFO
FWR

“FWR?”

“Fucked-wing retard.”

“Why does she call you that?”

“Fangs…”

I waited for him to continue…

“Well um… I mean, its clearly because my wings fucked up?”

‘I’m so fucking glad i’m a only child…’

Wait, why is Naser looking at me like that?

“Fang’s still family.”

Shit

“Ah sorry. Just saying that’s all.”

I watch as Naser slowly deflates…

“You're good, Anon. I mean I know they’re family, but I guess there is a limit right?”

“Yeah right…”

“My bad Anon, I didn’t mean to crash the mood.”

Finally the doors swing open. Instantly I’m hit by the smell of pizza.

“Alright Naser and Anon… Let's go inside and get good seats.”

I watch as the principal holds the door open for everyone.

“Anon!”

“Right, I'm coming.”

“Wait” (Principle Spears.)

The principal guides me over to the side away from the overlooking crowd.

“Not to bother you with much small talk Anon… But how are you enjoying our lovely school Anon?”

“Pretty good… I like it so far. It’s definitely cleaner than my old school.”

I watched as the principal guffaws and slaps his chest.

“You can thank your fellow peers for that. They work hard to cherish and preserve the condition of the school. Now go and enjoy the show Anon.”

“Yes sir.”

“Also come by my office tomorrow, I went through the trouble of getting your lunch card for you.”

I nodded and slowly made my way over to where Naomi was sitting.

Looking over where Naser was I saw a foyer that was filled with tables and pizza stacked taller than me.

“Hey Anon, Naser said you could take some boxes with you afterwards okay?”

“Who ordered all the pizza’s anyway Naomi?”

“Naser did.”

Standing up, I made my way over to the foyer and took a box for me and the Noomer to share. Looking at the logo on the pizza boxes, it said ‘Dino-Moe’s pizza?’ Must be a great place.

Making my way back to Naomi, we both get ready for the show. I started to munch on a pepperoni pizza while the lights started to shut off.

–Nother shitshow–

–She’s so stupid–

–They even bothered–

–Bunch of losers–

Every single person seems to have a similar opinion. Is the band that bad? If that's the case, then why the hell did they even show up for this show? Naser finally comes over and takes a seat in between me and Naomi.

“Hey Naser, what's with all these people?”

“What do you mean Anon?”

“The crowd. They all had negative things to say about your sister’s band.”

“What!!!”

I watch as Naser starts to shake violently. He starts to mutter swears underneath her breath.

“Whoa Woah calm down Naser.”

“Yeah sweetie please don’t make a show at your sister’s performance.”

I watch as Naomi gives Naser a passionate kiss. She slowly starts to hug Naser and rub his hair. This is what love must look like. After a while Naser slowly starts to deflate back into his chair.

“Sorry Anon, I brought these people here so my sister would have an audience.”

“Oh…”

—RING RING RIIINNNGGG—

Naser’s phone starts to write.

“Sorry guys, I gotta take this call.”

“Alright sweetie I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Bye Naser.”

We both wave Naser off and get ready for the show in front of us.

The lights finally fully dim and the curtains can be heard opening.

Onstage I see the trio of people. The drummer seems to be a raptor of some sort. Then there's a trigga on Bass and Fang. Fang seems to be the main front woman.

Getting a better look at Fang I’m just left confused. Shes clearly a woman for fuck’s sake. Yet what's with her whole confusion over her sex?

The band doesn’t even bother to introduce themselves. I watch as the purple one instantly starts to hit her bass.

It all went downhill from there…

I watched as Fang attempted to riff her guitar yet the melody that came out was too heavy. Instantly my ears are assaulted by a fret buzz… You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, is the front woman using a bass guitar?

I watched as Fang opened her mouth, instantly screeching sounds emanating from the whole auditorium. It was like a brutal mockery of heavy metal. Looking at Naomi, I’m struggling to fight the urge to cover my ears.

Looking around I can clearly hear the mix opinions of the crowd.

“PPPFFFFFFFFTT THEY STILL FUCKING SUCK” (????)

“THIS IS THE FUTURE OF MUSIC??” (???)

“REMOVE THEM ALREADY!” (??)

“This is another extinction event!!!” (???)

The crowd instantly starts standing and laughing and jerring with whoever just said that.

More words were said but between the laughing and the music it was drowned out…

Wait what happened to the music?

Looking back to the stage I saw the trio looking panicked. They clearly didn’t expect this negative outpoor. I watched as the drummer slowly made his way off stage. The purple bassist fell onto the floor and looked like she was on the verge of tears. Meanwhile the frontwoman stood her ground.

“FUCK YOU” (Fang)

She threw her bass aside to the ground. It broke with a loud snap, instantly she raised both of her hand and started to proudly display her middle fingers to everyone in the auditorium.

“FUCK ALL OF YOU. YOU WOULDN’T EVEN KNOW GOOD MUSIC IF IT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!” (Fang)

“NO ONE WOULD EVEN WANT TO FUCK YOU BITCH!”

Oh shit… That one struck a chord with her. I watched as Fang took her broken bass and grabbed the purple one. She rushed off to the backstage to regroup with the punk drummer.

Watching in horror I couldn’t just take this. It’s like what happened to me all over again. The laughter, the jerring it's all too much. Before I knew it my breathing started to become slow and labored. Everything slowly started to become blurry. I tried to swallow my saliva but my mouth just felt dry.

Turning over I see Naomi looking at me confused, but I can't. I just can’t do it.

THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK

My heart starts to beat louder and louder. My skull felt like it was being crushed, I can't, I gotta go. My vision slowly continues to decrease until I’m left seeing fish eyes.

Instantly I stood up from my chair. Rushing down the aisle, I started shoveling all the students that were in my way. Escape, all I gotta do is escape. Once I made it to the auditorium doors I slammed them open. Principal Spears, and a few of the teachers started to look at me with confusion but I couldn’t care. Bolting down the hallway I looked for some sort of escape… somewhere where I could hide till it all calmed down. I ran past the empty classrooms that filled the first and second floor.

Then I saw my escape. On the second floor I saw a staircase with ‘roof access.’ Instantly I ran up there and threw open the door. There slowly grew a notion inside me. Something wanted to escape from me. The sounds all came back to me. Instantly I heard everything all over again.

Climbing up a set of ladders I tried to make my way over to a higher peak. All I want is to escape the feeling that’s trying to come out.

Then I saw her. It was that girl from earlier, the one that asked me for the photo. There she was sitting against the fence while reading a book. It took her far less time than it took me to realize she was there.

“Anon, why are you crying?”

“Huh?”

Instantly I stopped what I was doing and rubbed my cheek with my right hand. She’s right… I was crying

“Anon , are you okay?” I watched as she stood up from where she was. Erin looked extremely worried. I must look like shit.

“Come up here and sit next to me. Come on Anon…”

I watched as Erin reached her hand out slowly to me. Staring at it I was left confused. Should I, could I trust her enough to take her hand… Am I brave enough to do it? What if she laughs at me like the others.

As I reach out for her hand I slip on the metal ladder. Shit is this how I go down? My life amounts to a slip and fall? Oh well I closed my eyes and get ready for the impact yet nothing happened.

“ANON PLEASE GRAB THE LADDER!”

Opening my eyes I see Erin using her hands and tail to hold me up. Without a hesitation I grabbed the ladder and made my way to the top.

“Thank you Erin… you saved me.”

“You're welcome. Anon what happened to you? Rough first day?”

‘Ha that's one way to describe it.’

“Oh… That sucks… Mooorp…”

Did she just morp and why did it sound so sad?

“Well my day actually was going pretty well, Erin. It was the end of the day when everything went downhill.”

“Ah what happened?”

“Fang’s concert. It ended pretty bad actually. Next thing I knew I ended up here.”

I tried to calm down my breathing and relax yet nothing was happening. Before I could even realize what happened I felt something warm clinging down on my body.

“Erin wha—”

“Shush you just need a hug right now.”

“Okay.”

We just stand there in silence. After a while my breathing became normal and my heart slowly started to return to its regular rhythm. I felt relaxed…

Meeep meeep

Listening to this odd sound, it reminded me of a cat purring. Yet it seemed relaxing to a degree. Lowering my hands I reciprocated Erin’s hug back to her.

“Everything will be alright Anon.”

Looking down at Erin this feeling was odd. She actually cared, it's either that or she’s really good at faking it. But why, why is she doing this for me when I’m nothing more than a stranger to her. What makes her so different from those other students in the auditorium enough to care.

“Come Anon, let's sit down.”

I follow Erin as we make our way over to the fence where she was once sitting.

“Look this way, doesn't the city look so beautiful from over here?”

Looking over the fence I was left in awe. A city so filled with life stood in front of me. The vastness and harmony was soothing. As the sun slowly started to set, the whole beauty stood out. It simply was amazing.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I know, this is my most favorite spot in the whole school, Anon.”

“I can see why… It’s so— Special”
“Special”

“Yeah”

We sat there watching the city in its entirety. The screen in front of me was pure bliss. The two of us acted as one, enjoying the moment that lied in front of us. At this moment it seemed the whole world didn’t exist around us.

BWING

Hearing the door open the both of us instinctively hid behind the RTVU (RoofTop ventilation unit.)

“WHO’S HERE!” (Principal Spears)

MEEP!

Principal Spears voice booms over the entire area. It causes Erin to let out a shrek but I quickly cover her mouth. She can’t get in trouble for this after all I’m the one who caused a big deal running up here. Turning to Erin I whisper to her…

“Stay here I’m going to go to the principal, I’m pretty sure he thinks I ran up here after leaving the auditorium.”

Erin whispers back to me. “Okay”

“It’s me, Principal Spears.”

“Anon everything okay son? I saw you running out of the auditorium.”

“Yes sir… well actually no. I think I was having a panic attack, I just needed to escape.”

I slowly made my way down the ladder. When I got to the principal he just looked at me with a face filled with pity and concern.

“Do you need me to call your parents to pick you up Anon?”

‘No sir. I’m about to head out right now.”

“Good, well then I’ll see you tomorrow. Please make sure you visit my office in the morning, okay?”

“Yes sir.”

“Alright well then goodbye Anon and have a good evening.”

I watched as the hulking beast of a man opened the door and slowly made his way down. Once I was sure that he left, I started to call out for Erin.

“Erin”

“Yeah?”

“The coast is clear.”

I watched as Erin emerged from the RTVU and slowly made her way down the stairs.

“Meeeeep, I was so sure that I was going to get caught again.”

“Again?”

“Yeah the first time the Principal caught me up here, he made me do garden beautification for a week.”

“Garden what?”

“It’s nothing much really, it's more accustem to community service if anything. Come on Anon, let's head down before the Principal comes back.”

“Yeah.”

The two of us make our descent from the rooftop. All I could do was stare at Erin. Why, why did she choose to help me? A dozen other questions were running through my mind but I tried my hardest to suppress those thoughts.

We continued walking down the flight of stairs until we made it to the base of the first floor.

“Hey Anon…”

“Yeah Erin?”

“Do you mind coming with me to my locker real quick?”

This really isn’t what I need nor what I want to do right now… there has got to be a way to escape this situation. Maybe I could try talking it down?

“Couldn’t you do that by yourself?”

“Yeah I could but I don’t want to!” I watch the tiny dinosaur in front of me. For some reason she was pouting at me.

It's kinda cute, I never thought I would think that about anyone or anything. Yet maybe it's not my place to think about it.

“Fine, I'll go with you. Lead the way Erin.”

I watched as Erin skipped away in the hallway. She moved as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Looking at her back I realized something that I’ve never realized before. Her back from her neck down is filled to the brim with spikes. They go all the way down to the very end of her tail. I wonder why she has that, if it’s for defense or was it for attacking other creatures.

Ehh that doesn’t matter.

As we continued down the hall I saw a familiar face. It was that green stego from a while back… I think her name was Stella? As we walked past her, she noticed us but walked past us. It seemed she was in a hurry somewhere.

“Alright Anon, we’re here.”

Looking at her locker, it was covered with different passages from pieces of paper… books maybe?

‘I didn’t expect her to be a reader, I thought she was more of the airhead type.’

“Hey I heard that Anon!”

I turned around and stared down at the little dinosaur. She clearly was taken back by the commit.

“My bad, I didn’t mean to say that out loud Erin.”

“What do you mean by that Anon?”

Oh shit I think I fucked up now haven’t I? How do I save this?

“I was surprised, that's all.”

“If you say so Anon. Alright, we can go now.”

I watched as she pulled out a couple of books. Inside the stack something stuck out to me. No way… is that the latest book for Saturnia?

‘Saturnia…’

Oh shit no way I said that out loud. It's Joeover…

“Oh you found something you like Anon?”

“Yeah… I mean the title sounds interesting.”

That’s how you do it Anon. Play down the whole situation. She can’t figure out my power level. It’ll be like my other school all over again.

“It's a pretty decent book series Anon. If you want I could lend you some of the books sometime…”

Should I take her up on that offer? It’ll definitely save me some money in the long run.

“That would be wonderful Erin, of course as long as you're okay with it.”

“Alright then it’s a deal.”

The two of us continue walking down the hallway. We made our way over to the exit of the school. I’m surprised that I am enjoying my time with Erin. Although it was short, it was pleasant to say the least.

“Well Erin, I think this is where I take my leave.”

“Aww… you’re sure about that Anon?”

“Yeah I want to get home before it starts to turn dark.”

“Okay…” I watch as Erin looks down on the floor with disappointment. One part of me feels bad.

“Promise me that you will hang out with me again Anon?”

No, I don’t want to be put in this type of situation…

“Yeah Erin I promise.”

Waving goodbye to her, I started to make the track back to my apartment.

Chapter Text

— One week later —

Waking up to my alarm all I can do is sigh. I’ve already started to get accused of my schedule for the week.

Press the alarm, dodge roll off of my bed, and run straight to the shower.

Thanks to the simplicity of it, I’m able to accomplish it with much success. It’s like my old man said, “Make good habits, not bad ones. They’ll get you killed…” Hmm maybe not so much of the last part.

Speaking of which, I'm surprised they haven’t bothered to call or text me. Maybe they have already moved on and accepted that I won’t be a part of their life. If that's the case then oh well.

It was nice that my father paid the lease on my apartment, but I can’t really live off of that alone. Last time I checked my fridge was almost empty, plus I can only get so far off of the food at the cafeteria… Maybe I oughta get a job somewhere.

Ha Anon Y. Mous with a job, I know that would have been a sight my old man would have wanted to see.

Then again that’s him and I’m me and that's all what matters. I refuse to be like him in any means.

Exiting the shower, I made my way over to my closet. It held the same outfit in at least twelve different pairs. Sure it was cheap to get at the moment, but I really don’t want to be dressing the same way every single day. I’ll just have to figure something out along the way.

After I finished getting dressed I made my way over to the fridge. Opening it I was greeted by one strawberry yogurt and two white Monsters. Damn I really need some food. Maybe I’ll ask Naomi about somewhere I could work, then again I don’t know about that.

Knowing her she’ll try to make it out to be some sort of charity case and that’s something I really don’t want to deal with right now.

Gulping down my yogurt, I chucked the empty container in the trash and grabbed a White Monster for the road.

Ooh oooh ahh ahh ooh ooh

Huh what was that? I must be hearing things.

The walk to school was the same like always. Look straight ahead and avoid looking at the beggars and they won’t bother you. If things get too dicey I always make sure to have some $1 that I could throw to distract them.

After Skin Row things become a cakewalk. I can take my sweet time heading over to school. One thing I can say is that Volcaldera Bluffs has to be one of the most beautiful cities that I’ve ever lived in. Definitely way better than 8 miles Rock Bottom.

Pulling out my cellphone I started to surf through the 4chan threads. After a while of looking I decided to give up. Surprisingly there wasn’t much to interact with today. Probably because it's a Monday. All I know is I hate monday, what’s to say some weirdos from the internet don’t hate it as well.

Eventually I see the stairs of doom in the distance. This might be the only part of the day I truly hate, other than English class with Naomi. I can’t stand that bitch. She’s always so bubbly and fake, honestly I don’t understand why or how Naser can stand her. All I will say is that Naser is one hundred percent a better man than I can or ever will be.

As I slowly started to ascend the stairs I saw her again. It’s that Meepasaurus. I think her name was Erin? I’ve talked to her a few times since the first day of school, but if memory recall I’m pretty sure I share World History with her.

Ehh it wouldn’t hurt to talk to her. Plus I still got another fifteen minutes before class starts anyways. I made my way to her and saw that she was way entertained reading a book called, “An honest Triceratops” , definitely an interesting choice. All I knew was the temptation was way too high. Before I even realized what I was about to do, I ended up putting one of my hands on her shoulders. The sound that emitted from her caused everyone to look our way.

“MMMEEEPPP!”

“Erin, it's me Anon.”

“Don’t scare me like that Anon!”

I watched as she started to pout at me. Honestly, that face is kinda cute.

“Sorry Erin, I just wanted to surprise you.”

“Hmm okay… if you say so.”

“Are you ready for class to start in a bit?”

“Yeah, I finished my essay and everything.”

“Essay?”

“Don’t tell me you seriously forgot that we had an essay due Anon… Mr. Onizuka is going to scold you again.”
“Shit… yeah I’m screwed alright.”

“You’ll be alright, if anything he will most likely make you clean up his classroom or attend Campus beautification.”

“Yeah you're right. Campus beautification can’t be that bad. I know Stella wouldn’t overwork me.”

“What Anon?”

Turning around I see Stella with Theresa. Definitely an odd sight to see. Normally she’s either with Rosa or Sage. I don’t really recall the two of them being friends, just acquaintances that both know Erin.
“Hey Stella.”

“Hey Erin.”

“Morning Stella.” I see Erin take a step back as she attempts to reassess the situation. Clearly she doesn’t like to be interrupted when she's hanging around with her friends.

“Good Morning Anon. Now what were you saying?”

“If I end up in Campus Beautification, I hope you don't end up making me do too much work.”

“You're right we won’t. Rosa is still mad about how you crushed her rare flowers last time. Plus the mess you made with Fang… Knowing her she’ll probably assign you to reorganize the shed all over again.”
“Better than manual labor.”

“Your acting like they work you like a slave Anon.”

“Yea your right Erin… Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit.”

“Most definitely” (Both Stella and Erin say the same thing.)

“Wow thanks for throwing me under the bus you too. Anyways this is where I take my leave, class is about to start soon and I want to see Naser before class starts.”
“K Sayōnara Anon-kun”

“Goodbye Anon.”

“Goodbye Erin and Stella. I’ll see the two of you later.”

Departing from the friendly duo, I continue to make my way over to class. Looking down at my watch I noticed that I still had a couple of minutes left before class started. If my memory serves me correctly, I’m pretty sure that Naomi is part of the student council. Maybe she’ll be in the council room.

Taking a sharp right turn at the hallway, I continued my track to the council room. As I walked through the hallway, I noticed some odd looks every now and then. I guess the ‘new guy’ appeal is still surrounding me. Nothing I could really do about that.

Making my way down the hall I watch the other students continue to mill around their day to day life. Looking at everyone in their groups, I just feel lonely. Maybe it’s just because of the cards I have been dealt with but I just feel lonely.

I continue my trek over the student council room. Even if I can’t fix myself socially I still can attempt to help my at home situation. All I gotta do is figure out how I will accomplish my goal?

Eventually I arrived at the student council room. Pulling out my cell phone, I noticed that I had fifteen minutes left before class starts. Well let’s hope that Naomi doesn’t keep yapping all day to me for the next fifteen minutes. All I need to do is worry about getting this interview scheduled if she can help me with that and getting out of her way for the rest of the day.

Knock Knock Knock…

“Coming!”

All I hear are heavy footsteps as Naomi slowly comes into view on the door’s window.

“Yes Anon?”

“Morning Naomi… I was wondering if the school had any possible employment options for students?”

“Employment options… well the school doesn’t employ students straight up Anon. Are you looking for a job?”

“Yeah…”

“Ah okay well that’s a different story. Do you have a resume at least Anon?”

Shit I didn’t even think about that. What type of idiot goes looking for a job without a resume?

“Nooo…”

“How about a suit to use for interviews?”

“I don’t have that either Naomi…”

I watch as the Parasaur looks at me with both confusion and a bit of disappointment?

“Hmm well lets see. I can help you make a resume that's no problem at all. Now the suit is a problem you would have to figure out yourself… Maybe ask your father if he could let you borrow one?”
“Yeah I’ll do that…”

Would my own old man even help me out with that? I mean knowing him he probably wouldn’t/ couldn’t care a damn about me.
“Everything okay Anon?”

“Huh?”

“You’re crying… Anon.”

Before I could put my hand on my cheek to confirm, I felt a tear drop land on one of my fingers. Drop after drop kept on falling down. Why, why am I crying right now? Why am I feeling this way over someone who couldn’t give a damn about me?

Wiping my tears away from my face I turned around and faced Naomi.

“Sorry, I don’t know what happened. I guess I was thinking about something… Can I come in during lunch to work on that Resume Naomi?”

“Sure Anon, but are you sure you're able to go to class in that condition?”

Looking down at my hands they still seem to be shaking a bit.

“Yeah I’ll be fine. Thank you Naomi.”

Turning around I slowly made my way back over to the door to exit the council room. What is this feeling? Why? Why is this happening to me now?

Twisting the knob, I exit the council room and take a sharp left at the hallway. Pulling out my phone again to check the time, reveals that I only have 7 minutes to make it to class. As I continued to walk away I heard Naomi yelling something at me…

“Anon Wait! Here's your pass back to class.”

Turning around I see the Pink Parasaur in front of me. She’s surprisingly fast for a parasaur…

"Here Anon, you're going to need a pass back to class… You know you don't need to go back to class. We can stay here and talk about what just happened. Maybe you'll feel better."
"Thanks for the pass Naomi, but I'm not in the mood to talk about it."

"Alright Anon.." Naomi sighs and slowly starts to droop her tail before she turns around and walks away.

I'm sorry I had to disappoint you like Naomi, really, but I don't need anyone to know about what happened in my other school. I can't, no I won't go through that again.
Heading over to class, I see Professor Fernsworth waving to me.

"Anon my boy, please hurry to class I have to shut the door soon."

"Coming Professor!"

I ran over to Professor Fernsworth class. The imminent second I entered the classroom he shut the door behind us.

"Alright class today's lesson is about the Estrus Season. I expect all of you to be mature in listening to the subject matter ahead."
The class slowly erupts into giggles and snickering as the professor slowly shakes his head in disappointment.

"Come on class, the exam will be at least Twenty-five percent of your grade."

"Psst Anon?"

I feel an elbow ram its way into my gut.

Turning around I look to see Fang trying to get my attention.

"Yes Fang?" I responded to her in a whisper as to not draw the professor's attention.

"This has got to be the stupidest thing ever lol."

"Why are you saying that Fang?"

"Because obviously we know how our bodies work. You see something you like, you get hard duh."

I didn't expect Fang to be this crass.

"Yeah duh everyone knows how estrus works for humans. But you Dinosaurians are a different story. For all I know you could lay a fucking egg Fang."

"Buah ha haa! I know you did not say that Anon!"

I watched as Fang busted out into a loud laughter. Immediately Professor Fernsworth turns around and looks at the both of us.

"Anon outside my classroom right now."

Shit… Shit… Shit… Here I am getting in trouble. I hope it isn't too bad.

"Sorry dude…"

"Yeah thanks Fang…"

As I stood up to exit the classroom I noticed as the other students started to Snicker and point at me.

'Look at the skinnie.'

'He's over there trying to rizz up the they/them huzz.'

'Doesn't he know she's gay?'

"SILENCE CLASS!"

Exiting the class I turn around and look at the Professor.

"Alright Anon can you tell me what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're talking to Fang in class instead of paying attention. Now I know you're new and all but I can't have you slacking in class."

"Yes sir. I'm sorry, I'll try to pay more attention in class."

"Thank you. You'll have to attend garden beautification afterschool today, Anon. I'm sorry but I can't let you go scot free and if this keeps up I might have to call your parents."
"Parents?"

Instantly I felt my mood go down. The same feeling that first appeared when I was with Naomi slowly started to creep up. I feel my throat tighten and my veins boil with anger.
"You're alright Anon, you're starting to look a little pale…"

"Yeah I'm fine Mr. Fernsworth."

"Alright then let's get back to class. I need to go over the estrus cycle of a triceratops "

Huh this will be interesting.

As the two of us entered the classroom again, I made my way over to my seat next to Fang.

"Thanks a lot Fang I got detention thanks to you."

"You're welcome Anon, I hope you have fun." (Bleep) I watched as she stuck her long tongue out at me and gave me the birdie.
"Fuck you Fang."

"You're too much of a coward to do it Anon."

Instantly I started to feel my blood boil again. She's really starting to test my patience.

“You know what, you’re right I may be too much of a coward but at least I don’t have to deal with this shit in class.”

Fang watched in complete dismay, as I stood from my chair and made my way over to the professor’s desk.

“Anon what’s going on?”

“Professor Fernsworth, I would like to switch my seat.”

“Oh dear… I had a feeling something like this would happen eventually. You know you’re not the first person to ask me this Anon.”

“Yeah and I won’t be the last person if ‘they’ keep it up.”

“Alright my boy, how about you sit next to Stella?”

Stella, the weeb stegosaurus. I think I’ll be fine with that. After all she seems similar to me in many ways.

“Thank you Professor Fernsworth.”

As I walked back over to my seat, I watched as Fang’s face changed with a myriad of facial expressions. She looked confused, distraught, betrayed and arguably worst or best of all angry.
“What did you do Anon?” Fang said to me in a low voice. As she spoke I could tell there layed a certain amount of vitriol.

“Nothing much Fang, I just swapped my seat.”

“Why?”

“Because I got fed up with dealing with you.”

“But An—”

“But nothing Fang. I’m sorry but I can't understand you and your extreme aggression towards others for no reason. I’ve only been here a week and you’ve already pushed me away, I can’t imagine the effects you’ve already had on the countless other individuals in your life.”

“I’m Sorry…”

“What?”

“I’m sorry Anon…”

Instantly I watched as the waterworks started rolling down Fang's eyes.

“Fang—”

BRIINNGGG

Instantly once the bell rang Fang leaped out of their seat and took off. I watched as they turned a corner and disappeared in between the crowd of students.
Shit… what the fuck just happened?

“Anon?”

“Yes Professor?”

“Can you please find Fang and talk to her?”

“Yes Professor Fernsworth… I’m sorry about what happened in class.”

“It isn’t entirely your fault Anon after all not everyone are as strong as they seem.”

“Yet do you think I was too harsh on her?”

“Harsh yes… But if it wasn’t you someone else would have done it at some point. They may have had the same reaction, or they could have reacted in a worse way.”
“I see…”

Leaving Professor’s Fernsworth class I’m left with the weight of a new responsibility that’s been trusted upon me.

As I continued down the hall I saw a familiar face. It was that purple triceratop and she looked pissed. Then again when has she not looked pissed?
“Trish!”

“Huh who the fuck is calling me?”

I watched as the purple triceratop started looking around the area trying to identify who (me duh) was calling her.
“It’s me Anon. I was at your concert.”

“Anon… ah it's you the skinny”

“Skinny? Actually nevermind I don’t want to know. Trish, do you know where I could find Fang?”

“Why what did you do Anon?” Trish started to look me up and down with suspicion.

“We had an argument and I just want to apologize to her.”

“Argument? What the fuck did you do Anon!”

I watched as Trish started rapidly exhaling air out her nostrils and slowly lowered her head. Is she going to try to impale me? That wasn’t on my bingo list of ways to go out.
“TRISH CALM DOWN!”

After yelling at her the purple triceratop slowly calms down and starts to look at me with this look of worry and confusion.
“Please Trish think of anything, anything would help…”

“Have you checked the restricted access areas? You know, like the IT Room, Storage closet, Roof,etc. I know during our freshman and sophomore year we would go over there to smoke Carfent every now and then.”

“Thanks… Alright Trish, I'll see you later.”

Three options, IT Room, the storage closet or the roof. No way I would have access to the latter two… Maybe I should start at the roof.

RING RING

Great, now I’m late for music class. Can this day get any shittier? At least now I don’t have to worry about how much time it’ll take to find Fang.
Turning left at the stairs I slowly made my way to the roof.

Making my way to the final set of stairs, I see that the door was left cracked open with what appears to be a Kurami wallet… Fang’s a Kurami fan, didn’t expect that lol.

Pushing open the door I see her there. Fang stood upon the second crevice of the roof surrounded by her silver feathers. Blood layed scattered on the ground slowly drying and filling the area with a metallic smell. Her Amber eyes glowed as the sun’s light reflected off of them. Her tears slowly ran down her face ruining the Petro’s mascara. Fang looked utterly devastated.

“Fang…”

“Anon??! What are you doing here?”

“I came to apologize to you.”

‘Remember Anon everyone is fighting their own battles.’

“I shouldn’t have lashed out at you like that in class. I know you were probably just trying to joke around and make conversation.”
…
She’s just looking at me… Why? Climbing up the ladder, I take a seat right next to fang and look out at Volcaldera Bluff… It’s such a beautiful sight. A distraction from everything that has happened today… no that has happened so far.

“You ever…”

Maybe it's my turn to be silent.

“. . .Do you ever feel like you don’t matter to anyone Anon?”

Turning to face Fang, I just see her staring out at the vista of Volcaldera… Her eyes are pale and hollow.

“You know Anon I just feel like no matter what I do, no one will ever see ME and I’ll never be able to make something out of myself.

I try to interact with you and the others… but no one likes the way I come off… They would rather ignore me or hurdle insults into my character.”

Fang slowly starts to growl .

“I’ve put so much effort into VVURM DRAMA and not even one compliment has come from it.”

Fang slowly started to cry again. Her voice became raspy and her shoulders were quaking.

“No one has ever said I love your music or can I get a copy of your latest CD! All I receive are insults and slurs. Even my reputation is shit!”

Fang start to aggressively shake and they curl their hands into a fist. Slowly her nails dug deep into their palms causing blood to trickle down.

“You tell me Anon what do I have to do, how much harder do I have to try to get people to notice, to understand me!”

Fang slams her fist onto the concrete beneath us.

“You know how it feels to even have your parents hate you? Whenever my father looks at me all he sees is a lost cause!

‘Oh, Fang is the scene teen, better focus on the one that ISN’T broken so we don’t screw up again!’”

Fang slams their fist one more time out of frustration… After a while they uncurl their fist, revealing the bleeding grooves their sharp nails have left behind…

As I sit here watching her break apart my chest slowly starts to ache. The pain increases at a rapid pace as I realize I’m just like her…

“Why can’t I be as popular as Naser, Anon?”

“....”

“He doesn’t even have to try at all! As a cripple he just breezes by… he always gets the straight A’s, our parents attention, and all I’m left as is our parent’s burden…”

Fang grabs their knees and buries their face into their lap.

Afraid that something may come out of me, I continue to stay silent and listen to Fang…

“And the worst part is that he can’t even hate me. You want to know why??? Because it was meee… I caused his wing to get messed up telling him that we could fly…”

“He’s a constant reminder of my mistakes, my sins, and my inability to change Anon… As long as he exists I’ll serve to live under his shadow.”

Fang reaches inside their pants pockets and pulls out a lighter and a set of menthol cigarettes.
"....You want a smoke?...."
"Sure I could go for a smoke right now."
I take the lighter and Cig from Fang's hand and light my cigarette for the first time. Fang shoots me a look of approval.
Taking the first draw of the cigarette and it's almost enough to numb out the throbbing pain inside of my heart. Almost as an escape to having to take responsibility and face the reality that is laid out right in front of me.

"You seem to like those."
"Yeah..."
"You should get around to buying your own Cigarettes instead of having to take mine."
"Yeah I will start buying my own when they sell cigarettes to minors…"
“So until then you're going to keep taking my Cigarettes?"
"That's the plan!"
We laugh together and Fang shifts closer to me, hugging me with her wings.
“Anon, thank you for listening to me… I’m sorry for kinda being a dick to you.”

“It’s alright Fang… let's finish this cigarette and get the hell out of here.”

The two of us bump our fists together and take turns passing the cigarette.

“One more thing Fang… You're not a failure. In a way you're kinda like me…”

“Ha! I know you didn’t say that Anon!”

I watch as Fang slowly erupts into laughter.

“Hey I’m being serious here!”

“My bad, my bad. Alright let's get the hell out of here.”

The two of us slowly made our descent down the roof. After a while we chose to split up and head to our last classes of the day.

“Anon you’re late!”

“I know Mrs. Scaler.”

“You know you’re getting beautification for this right?”

“Yes Ma’am…”

“Alright take your seat so I can start class…”

Heading to the back of the class I took my seat next to Theressa and laid my head down. Everything surprisingly felt quite heavy. I watched as the shadows around my eyes grew even bigger until everything faded to black.

Chapter Text

“Anon… hey Anon…”

I hear a feminine voice slowly calling out to me.

“Anon… class is over come on.”

“Five more minutes please…”

Everything was still foggy from my nap.

“Come on Anon class is over for the day.”

I can feel someone’s hand fall onto my shoulder. They slowly start moving it up and down my back.

“Fine, I'm getting up.”

Lifting up my head, I am greeted by the sight of Theressa. I completely forgot that we were in the same class together.

“Finally you’re up Anon. It’s been over fifteen minutes.”

Shit…

“Hey Theressa, could I get in even more trouble for showing up to Garden Beautification late?”

“Not really, Rosa is pretty nice as long as you show up and do the work.”

“What type of work?”

I watched as Theressa rolled her eyes….

“Well Anon… as the name implies you will be helping others in making the school’s garden beautiful. Such as picking up weeds, etc.”

Dang what's with the sass.

“Alright thanks for the rundown Theressa. One more thing, can I get the answers to the homework assignment?”

“Fine here, take some photos quickly I got something to do.”

After taking photos of Theressa’s answers, I started to gather all my belongings, so I could leave for my detention.

“One more thing Anon?”

“What Theressa?”

“Erin is looking for you. I think she wants to ask you something…”

“Thanks for the head’s up. I’ll see you next week.”

Exiting the classroom, I noticed how lively school really is. Students are milling around, and teachers are swarming together to gossip about their day’s.

“Scuse me.”

I feel someone smaller than me run past me and make their way over to one of the club rooms. The small flash of red hair and green puppets instantly stood out among her peers.

“Hey Schizo watch where you’re going, you could get hurt.”

“Sorry Glowie!”

“Stop calling me that Wendy!”

Instantly she stops in her tracks. I watch as the troodon turns around and sticks her tongue out at me.

“Bleh!”

Schizo slams the door behind herself… The noise was loud enough that it caught the attention of everyone in the hallway and they ended up staring at me.

“Sorry!”

I felt as my face got red as a pepper. Shit why am I always drawing attention to myself? Definitely not the way to stay “unnoticed” like I wanted to.

Taking a turn at the hallway I continued to walk freely to the exit on the west side of the building, until I was interrupted by a familiar face.

“Anon…”

“Yes Naomi?”
“You’re sure you’re okay?”

Not this again. Why can’t she just let me be?

“Yes Naomi… I told you I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“I know but… I can’t just watch a student cry in front of me and just not do nothing about it.”

“Yeah well I’m telling you to leave it be.”

“Why?”

“Why??? Maybe because whatever it is that I don’t want to talk about still hurts me to this day…”

“Anon if something is bothering you, there are support groups and programs offered by the school to help ai—”

“Naomi, stop just stop it. Some things are just best left unspoken… can you let me be, I got garden beautification to attend to.”

“Really Anon, detention? It’s only been a week in school and you're going off to detention? What did you do?”

“Nothing Naomi, now if you don’t mind me I got somewhere to go.”

Walking past the parasaur I hear here let out a pretty loud sigh as she stomps away. Honestly I don’t understand how Naser could even put up with her behavior… god bless his heart.

Exiting the building, I am instantly greeted by the bright Volcaldera Sun.

“God, it's bright!”

“I know—”

“WAH”

Instantly I felt my soul leave my body as I turned around to greet the perpetrator that snuck up on me.

“You scared me Erin!”

“Sorry Anon! I really mean it.”

Looking at Erin I realized she wasn’t sporting her usual outfit… Instead it was replaced with a white tanktop and black sport pants…

“It’s alright Erin… Wait, why are you here?”

“Umm maybe because I’m in the gardening club lol.”

Duh Anon… why would anyone willing be here other than for club activities or detention…

“Why are you here Anon?”

“I got detention…”

“Why?”

I watched as Erin looked at me with a gentle glaze. It wasn’t anything similar to Naomi’s forceful attempt at prying an answer out of me, but more of gentle curiosity.

“I got into a pretty heated argument with Lucy… I mean Fang.”

“Ah I see. Well don’t blame yourself too hard now. They’re going through some hard times, you know?”

“Yeah…”

“Hola Erin, ¿dónde estás???”

“I’m over here Rosa!”

Erin yells over to Rosa. Instantly the Anky makes her way to us holding a pair of clippers and a ladder.

“Ah speak of the devil there you are Anon. I was about to report you as a no show to Principle Spears.”

‘I’ll have to thank Theressa for waking me up next time I see her.’

“Buahhh hahahaha!”

Confused at the sudden burst of laughter, I turned over to Erin.

“Ah that's why you made it here so late Anon… you were sleeping in class!”

“Yeah…”

I shrugged and slowly ran my right hand up and down the back of my head… This is really embarrassing.

“Alright enough playing you two. We got work to do.”

“Yes Rosa.” the both of us respond in unison, causing more laughter to emerge from Erin.

“Okay I just want the two of you to focus on trimming the bushes and cutting the vines today.”

“We got it Rosa.”

Rosa looks at us with concern in her eyes before deciding to finally pass us the tools.

“Okay Anon, how about we start at the Bushes first then go to the vines?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

After a while of walking we finally arrived at the bushes Rosa wanted us to cut. Apparently we need to make them look like squares or cubes for them to be in some sort of regulation.

“You ready Erin?”

“Yeah Anon. ;3”

I started over on the left side and Erin went to the right side of the bush. Honestly I’m kinda surprised at how fun this is. After a while of cutting away at the Bush the two of us were both completely drenched in sweat. Yet the Bush looked like a perfect square. Looking at the cut bush left me with a sense of pride in my work. I guess Erin feels the same way.

“Meep! Anon we did such a good job!”

“I know right… too bad we got 5 more to go.”

“Five!?!”
“Yeah you thought Rosa was just going to send us to trim just one Bush?”

“Mooorp…”

“Don’t worry we’ll get this done in no time.”

After taking a much needed water break the two of us get back to work. I watched as Erin trimmed her bushes with such elegance and precise technique. She really must love working in the gardening club.

Once the two of us were finished with the bushes, we heard Rosa and Stella calling everyone back to the shed to group.

“Alright everyone, you guys did such an amazing job today!”

“Sí, todos trabajaron muy duro y hicieron mucho and for that I have to say thank you everyone.”

I watched as the other students gave each other fist bumps and small compliments on their work.

“You guys are free to go and have a great weekend everyone!”

With that I went to take my leave, but before I could get too far away from the group I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Hey Anon?”

Looking down I see Erin.

Oh yeah Theressa did tell me Erin wanted to ask me something… Wonder what it is.

“Yes?”

“I wanted to ask you if you were down to hang out during the weekend?”

Huh did I just hear that right? A girl asking me to hang out?

“Ummm what would we be doing?”

“Well Stella and her boyfriend Chet were planning on going out on a date and she wanted to invite me to attempt to make it a double date… But I really don’t talk to many boys besides you and Naser…. And I just felt like going on this date with you would be a fun idea. Even if it's just friends.”

Date? DATE!

WARNING DEFCON LEVEL FIVE INITATED! A WOMAN HAS ASKED ANON OUT ON A DATE!

“Sure I’ll be down to go with you Erin.”

“Perfect Anon, let me give you my number so I can text you the details later.”

I watched Erin dig inside her backpack until she produced a Dango Family notebook. She tore out a page and wrote her number down and slid me the sheet of paper.

“Thank you Anon, you're the best.”

“You're welcome….?”

I watched as Erin started to walk away. The entire time she couldn’t stop wagging her tail from side to side.

‘Adorable’

“What Anon?”

“WAH!”

I jumped again this time bumping into the person in front of me and falling onto the ground.

“Come on Anon, I'm not that much of a monster.”

“Fang… What are you doing here?”

“I got detention for skipping music class.”

“That makes sense.”
“Hey!”

“Sorry…”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Fang’s misfortune.

“I saw you hanging out with Erin.”

“Yeah so what?”

“So what? Come on Anon spill the beans… What did she ask you?”

“So we’re just gonna be buddy buddy now Fang?”

“I mean I don’t see the problem with it.”

“Yeah… I can definitely tell… Fine don’t tell anyone but Erin asked me to go with her on a double date.”

“SKREE-ONK!!!”

“FUCK MY EARS!”

“Sorry Anon. Still can’t believe someone asked the skinnie out on a date. Especially someone like Erin.”

Huh why did she say it like that…

“What do you mean by that Fang?”

“You wouldn’t think someone with some popularity like her would ask a completely weirdo like you out. Not in a million years lol.”

“You know you’re not helping your case out at all Fang.”

“My bad… So you decided what you’re going to wear to your date?”

“Yeah, my usual outfit.”

“No way… Why would you do that to yourself?”

“Hmm what do you mean by that?”

“Well don’t take this too harshly Anon, but with that outfit you look like a bum…”

Did she just call me poor…?

“So what am I supposed to do about that?”

“Obviously we’re going to go clothing shopping for you!”

“We’re?”

“Yeah I’m going to get Trish and Reed to help me out.”

“I can see Trish but Reed?”

“Yeah… you got a point… okay fine Trish and my mom.”

“Uhhh okay…”

“Trust me it’ll be fine.”

“Alright when are we going?”

“In a bit she’ll be here soon to pick us up. Give me a few minutes to call her and let her know what's going on.”

“Alright Fang, I’ll meet you out front by the carpool lane.”

With that I wave goodbye to Fang as I make my way around the school. Shit I didn’t even think about how much this is going to cost me… Reaching into my pocket, I opened my wallet to see that I only have $85 dollars left…

Man, I really need to get myself a job soon…

After a while of sitting down on the curb, I could hear Fang and Trish’s voice slowly approaching me.

“We really gotta go out with that Skinnie… I thought this was going to be a girl’s trip.”
“Come on Patrisha, you this is going to be fun.”

“You're right we could dress him like a Ken Doll.”

I watched as the dastardly duo started laughing at Trish’s joke. I’m so cooked aren’t I?

“Hey Skinnie!”

“Hey Trish…”

“Come on, you're acting like you didn’t want to see me or something…”

‘No duh…’

“I heard that!”

“My bad… So what's the plan?”

“What do you think, we're going to take a trip down the mall and go to Pangaea Eagle.”

“Isn’t that primarily a woman’s store?”

“Yeah, but they got some clothing for men… Trust me Anon I know a thing or two about fashion.”

“I’ll see about that Trish.”

After a while Fang’s mom pulled up with her Cadillac Escalade. Shit they're loaded.

“Fang sweetie I’m here.”

“We’re going mom.”

The three of us make our way over to Fang’s mom. She opened the truck allowing us to load in our bags.

“Fang, is this the Anon you were talking about?”

“Yes mom.”

“Well nice to meet you Anon… you can call me Samantha.”

“Hello Mrs. Samantha.”

What do I even say in this situation… I haven’t really bothered to learn how I should interact when meeting other people’s parents. I guess I’ll just stay silent for now…

“Awkward…”

“Fang sweetie, be respectful.”

“Yes Mom.”

With that we took off. The ride to the mall was overall pretty silent. Fang and Trish talked in between themselves and Mrs. Samantha just listened to music on the radio while driving. Maybe fifteen to twenty minutes into our ride Mrs. Samantha started to ask me questions.

“Hey Anon if you don’t mind me asking, how long have you been in Volcaldera Bluffs?”

“Maybe two or three weeks by now ma’am.”

“Oh that's not long at all. Where did you move from?”

Shit I was trying to avoid this from happening… I could always lie but what if the truth comes out later on? Well I don’t think Fang and Trish would use this tad bit of information against me…

“I’m from Rock Bottom…”

Instantly the second that I say it everyone becomes silent. Like I just spoke of some sort of cardinal sin. I already knew this was going to be a bad idea…

“Ah well you’ve accustomed to being in Volcaldera Bluffs Anon?”

“For the most part, yes ma’am. Although looking for jobs is kinda hard…”

“What makes you say that Anon?”

“Eh, like when I look on those job websites I don’t really seem to find any actual results.”
“Oh Anon you don’t know dear… This town is old school, you want a job, you have to walk into an office and talk to the manager.”

“Wait, really it’s that easy, no fighting for job opportunities against others?”

“Yeah?”

“Huh I didn’t know that… I’ll definitely pay attention to that in the future.”

“Good, if you need any help with a resume, I’m sure my husband would be very helpful for advice.”

“Mom Ripley will gore Anon alive.”

“Fang! Show some respect to your father!”

“Yes mom.”

Both me and Trish tried our hardest not to laugh at Fang getting scolded by their mother.

“Mom, how long till we get there?”

“Well if you weren’t on your phone the entire time sweetie you would have just realized I just pulled up to the parking lot.”

Huh she’s right.

“Alright sweetie I’ll come back and get you and your friends in a bit. I’m going to go get my hair done.”

“Yes Mom.”

“Thanks for the ride Mrs. Samantha.”

“Yeah.”

With that we take our leave. This was my first time inside the mall and I could say that I’m pleasantly surprised with the variety of store options. There’s definitely a few stores that catch my eyes for entertainment to say the least.

“Alright we’re here!”

Trish runs up to the entrance of the store with pure excitement. Clearly she really wanted to come here for something… What exactly is anyone’s guess.

“Come on Anon!”

Trish grabs my arm and drags me to the back of the store. Inside I see a couple pairs of jeans and a men's turtleneck. They range from a variety of colors.

‘There’s no way I could afford this…’

I turned and looked at Trish. She just stared at me for a second before leaving off to grab some clothing.

“Alright Anon I think this should be perfect for you.”

I watched as she handed me a pair of black jeans and an orange turtle neck.

“Trish isn’t this going to be expensive?”

“It's alright Anon, I’m using the Band’s credit card for this..”

“The what?”

“Every club gets a credit card from the school that they are allowed to use as long as it stays under a certain amount…”

This has got to be bullshit.

“That's nice of you Trish.”

“Hey Trish, can I talk to you while Anon tries that on?”

“Sure Fang.”

Trish and Fang step aside. Taking my cue I head inside to try on my outfit.

Heading inside the fitting room I look at the tags for the clothing… $50 for the shirt and $45.95 for the jeans… Damn, that's expense.

—Trish Pov—

“Yes Fang?”

“Come on Patrisha, you know we do not have a club credit card…”

“So what… I’m allowed to use my credit card on whatever I want.”

“Yeah but…”

“But what! Fang this is my money. Don’t take my home situation into account, I know what I got to work with.”

“Fine it’s your money Trish, don’t go asking me for anything if you're in a pinch later on.”

“Fang I know you did not just say that!”

I watch as Fang lower their wings. I guess they must feel somewhat guilty…

“Your right Trish that was out of line from me. Let's go see if Anon’s done already.”

—Anon Pov—

Huh this actually looks really nice on me. If only I had a beanie over my bald head. Running my hand through my head, I can’t believe my father had Hypotrichosis and didn’t say anything about it…

“Anon you’re done?”

“Yeah I’m coming out right now!”

As I walked out the dressing room I saw the duo waiting for me in front of the dressing room. Trish just stands there wagging her tail as she eyes me up and down and Fang looks at me slightly impressed…

“Wait, it's almost perfect Anon, let me get something.”

I watch as Trish disappears into the clothing store again. This time she returns with a pair of black loafers and a black beanie.

“Trish you guys don’t have to do this…”

“Hush it’ll look perfect.”

“Thanks…”

Putting on the combination of clothing I start looking at myself in the mirror. Trish is right, I actually look pretty good in this outfit.

Shutter click

Huh what was that… I look at Trish and Fang… standing behind them is Mrs. Samantha with her phone out.

“This will look good on my Facebook page. Thank you sweeties!”

“Mom you’re already done?”

“Yeah I just got my hair curled that's all.”

Looking at the older petro, she was correct. Her silver hair was in curls around her body. The style of hair looks surprisingly good on her.

“Alright come on everyone let's go home. Anon, where do I need to drop you off?”

"Near the school is alright. I can walk the rest of the way to my house from there.”

“Perfect, let's go.”

I got dressed back into my old clothing. Carefully folding the outfit I handed it to Trish and she took it over to the cash register to pay. When Samantha asked her what she was going to pay it with, Trish told her the same thing she told me.

The ride to school was pretty smooth, nothing much happened overall. Fang’s mom dropped me off in front of the school like she said she would. After I finished waving goodbye to the trio I started my walk back home.

Chapter Text

What can I say… the walk home is just like any other. The divide between Skin row and Volcaldera is apparent as gold is to silver…

It’s just a reminder of this that are, yet I could find my way around this right? I mean it isn’t always going to be like this… it can’t.

After a while of walking I finally arrived at my apartment. Making my way to the lobby I noticed that the elevator was broken…

Great, now I gotta take the stairs. Not that I hate cardio, it's just the stairs have this dimmed yellow light that’s annoying as can be… Plus the whole area reeks of mold and mildew.

After a while of walking I noticed my breathing became heavy and I was starting to build a little bit of a sweat…. God I hate walking up stairs.

Entering my room I’m greeted by an odd sight. My computer was already running….

Normally I wouldn’t leave it on, something must be wrong. Putting my backpack down, I grabbed my copy of the Ultimate Edition HD Planetarium book compendium and braced myself to attack the intruder.

“Who’s there?”

“Me son….”

I watched in utter confusion as my father walked out of my kitchen eating my last bag of potato chips.

"Nice piece of hardware you got there Anon…”

“Thanks dad….”

“Now I know you must be wondering what I am doing here, but I promise I won’t be sticking around for long.”

‘Doesn’t surprise me…’

“What did you say Anon?”

“Nothing…”

“Okay as I was saying, I decided to bring the rest of your stuff from home here. Normally I would have pawned everything and got some cash, but your mother barred me from doing so.”

“Thanks I guess… where is everything?”

“Downstairs in the lobby, go ahead and start getting it to your room. I’m going to start heading back home.”

With that my father took his leave. As he left down the elevator, I rushed down the stairs to the lobby to see if my stuff was still there. All that was left was three boxes, one labeled clothes, another labeled hobby stuff and the last one labeled books. At least they didn’t get to my Manga…

“Wow Anon, looks like it took you too long. Almost all your shit is missing.”

Looking at my dad, all I see him doing is sporting that stupid grin of his, while he grabs a cigarette to go and smoke it.

Without hesitation, I use up all the strength my lanky arms can muster and attempt to drag my three boxes to the elevator. Yet my feeble attempt didn’t get me far, before I knew it I was exhausted and not even halfway there…

“Yo skinny you want a hand with that?”

Turning around I see an orange baryonyx waving at me.

“Uhh yeah that would be amazing thanks…”

Before I knew it the baryonyx closed the distance in between us.

“Names Evelyn by the way.”

Evelyn so she’s a chick huh.
“Anon…. Thanks again for the help.”

“No problem plumb, quick question… is that you’re daddy outside getting booked?”

Turning around sure enough, I see my dad arguing with an older officer as he’s put into the back of a cop car. Wonder what he did now…

“Yeah… let’s just let that be.”

“Fine by me, what floor are you on?”

“The third one, my room is the second one near the flight of stairs.”

The two of us walked in silence to my apartment. I followed close as the Baryonxy walked up the stairs. Pushing all the weight of the box I was carrying, I checked my pockets for my knife confirming it was in its place. It might not do much against her but better be safe than sorry.

“We’re here.”

“Do you want me to just set them outside or put them inside your apartment plum?”

“Outside is fine Ma’am thanks.”

“No problem, well I’ll be going now. If you need anything to holler at me, I’m only four rooms down.”

I watched as she walked to her room and sure enough she lived close to me. This was the first time I saw someone else from my floor. Sure I knew it was a possibility for dinos to live in Skin Row but I couldn’t believe it.

Dragging my boxes inside my room, I shut the door behind me and take accountability of my belongings.

Nothing’s like seeing my old clothing all folded up nice and neatly, I gotta thank mom for that… Looking inside my other boxes, I see all my manga and my video games. Pulling my Rockbox out of its protective wrapping some memories come running back. I remember playing L4D with my little cousin.

Man things really were simpler back then. Grabbing my Rockbox and it’s spare cables, I made my way over to the TV and started plugging in all the cables. Trying to start it all, what I am greeted with is TV static and a Red Ring…

Oh nooo. Not this I’ve remembered reading about this on 4chan, but I didn’t think it would affect my series model of Rockbox.
Well that was a short lived experience, maybe later on I could attempt to find a repair shop that could fix it.

Pulling out my cellphone I check my messages.

MISSED TEXTS 3 - Mom

I hope you have fun and enjoy the rest of your highschool experience Anon. I understand things weren’t everything that you hoped for over here but now you will have a chance again to restart. This time take advantage of everything that you can and make a life that you will actually enjoy. Just be careful not everyone has your best interest at heart. 3/28

Hey Anon Sweetie your father should be coming over soon to drop off your stuff 4/12

Alright Anon he’s leaving today. I’m sorry I couldn’t go with him to see you… Ill try to make it up soon! 4/13

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Shit I didn’t even know that she had messaged me. Knowing her she probably waited for a response the entire time and here I am being the asshole son not messaging her back.

RING

RING

RING

Looking at my phone I see my dad calling me… Ignoring the call I let it go all the way to voicemail.

“Anon, those dino communist scum got me locked up in jail like I’m some sort of animal. Bring me the cash in my car and bail me out!”

Great… looks like I got an errand to run. Grabbing my backpack, I slide my Rockbox and its power cord in there. Just maybe there might be hope for it.

Exiting my apartment I head over to my dad’s old F250. Of course he left the doors unlocked. I remembered him going on about the good of human nature. If only he knew the horrors of Skin Row.

Opening the glove box I see $1600 in cash inside of a money clip. Without a second thought I pocket the money clip and made my way over to the Volcaldera Metro Police department.

Making my way over to the station I passed by a familiar looking pizza place… Papa Trig if I’m correct. As I walked past the building I heard the sounds of a lone bass guitar coming from inside. Whoever’s playing it seems to have a decent understanding of how the instrument works. Just in cue a drummer joins into the fray. The duo knew how to compliment each other extremely well.

Yet I couldn’t stop to listen to them play, as I had an ‘urgent’ matter to attend to. A couple of minutes later I finally arrived at the Police station. Opening the front door I am greeted by an older looking Pterodactyl. His crest seemed to have a huge hole in it and he gave off an aura of experience… Every single primal urge was telling me to leave.

“How can I help you boy?”

Looking at the Pterodactyl his rough voice seemed to express curiosity and urgency. Almost as if he didn’t want to be here right now communicating with me.

“I’m here to bail out my dad. He was arrested earlier today.”

“Name and location of arrest please?”

“Pseudo Mous and at Skin Row near apartment complex 8.”

“Public disturbance and public intoxication…?”

“Yeah that seems about right for him.”

“Sounds rough, kid. His bail is set at $1200, will you be paying cash or check?”

“Cash.”

Upon the mention of cash I watched the older man raise his eyebrows at me… Handing him the cash I watched him stand up and go get a black and yellow marker.”

“Alright, all I have to do is confirm the legitimacy of your cash.”

After a while the markers revealed no change in color.

“Well you’re all set to go… if you wait here I’ll bring you all of his belongings and he will follow shortly after.”

“Thanks officer…”

“Ripley, Officer Ripley kid. You and your old man get home safely alright… don’t do anything stupid.”
“Yes sir.”

I felt Officer Ripley stare me down down, can my old man hurry the fuck up?

“Uh, I feel like fucking shit… Anon where are you?”

“Here dad.”

My dad turned around to look at me. He eyed me up and down as if he was confirming that I really was here.

“Come on dad, let's get you home.”

“Fine with me Anon, I’m already fed up with this shitty city.”

Feeling the tension in the police station slowly rise, I grabbed my father’s arm and dragged him out of the station.

“Anon, how much did my bail cost?

“$1600”

“God damn it that was all of my cash…Hey got some spare cash you could give me for gas?”

“Not really dad… But I was going to pawn out my old Rockbox if that’ll help…”

“Yeah… You see why couldn’t you be like this back home. Always trying to be rebellious, playing games and not listening to your old man… You know everything you got is because of me right?”

“Yeah…”

After a while we arrived at the pawn shop.

“Dad, please just wait outside right here. Don’t try to start any trouble.”

“Alright Anon, hurry up so I can go home.”

Making my way inside the repair/pawn shop I was greeted by the older ankylosaurs manning the counter top.

“What can I do for you today son?”

“Was wondering how much it would cost to fix my old Rockbox.”
“Well what’s wrong with it kiddo?”

“When I boot it up the console starts correctly then a red ring appears. The full ring flashes red…”

“Hmm that could just mean your cable is faulty. Lucky for you I got a couple of spare. It'll be $20 for a new cable.”

“Thanks…”

Pulling out my wallet, I give the man one of the spare $100 dollars bills. He carefully lifts it to the light to examine the bill.

“Alright, the change is $67.33.”

The older man opens his cash change and pulls out the spare change.

“Well then son I hope that solves the issue if not come back and I’ll see what I can work out.”

“Thanks, have a good day man.”

Making my way outside the store, it calms me to see dad there. Not causing an issue or getting arrested. He’s just there.

“Alright dad, here's your gas money to get home. Come on, let's get back to the Skin Row before it gets dark.”

“Fine, let's go Anon.”

The two of us walked in silence. The trip itself, although not long, wasn't without its loss of peace.

“Hey dad, why did you come back?”

“Huh?”

“You come all the way down here to visit me after weeks… All I want to know is why?”

“Why? Why does a father need a reason to visit his own son?”

“Simple because you never had one before…”

“Well if you want to know the truth… This is it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“This is the end of the line Anon… I’ve agreed with your mother to pay till the end of the year for your lease but that's it.”

“Thanks I guess.”

“Thanks… yeah thanks…you know Anon some people would love to be in your position. The ability to reset and live a new life away from your sins. Not everyone gets that chance.”

“Both you and I know that's not the case.”

“Yeah… too bad you're too much of a disappointment.”

“Thanks dad…”

We finally arrive at his car… the end of my torture is here…

“Hey Anon before I go… I got one more gift for you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s my old suit, the suit itself has helped me a lot growing up and I hope it helps you out in some way… It has a stain near the end of one of the sleeves, but it shouldn’t be too hard to remove.”

“Thanks dad… this means a lot to me…”

“You’re welcome Anon…. I guess this is goodbye.”

“Yeah… goodbye dad.”

Chapter Text

Hey guys this isn’t much of a chapter but more or less a status update of myself and kinda an excuse if I’m being honest. It’s like 1:20am and I really wanted to just get this out the way. I’ve been busy with my military life and my college life. Things have been up and down and I’ve had to separate myself from communities to focus on regrouping my financies and making sure I was alright. I do plan on continuing this fan fic but I need to regroup my thoughts and decide what direction I want to continue. Thank you guys for enjoying this work and staying around for the hot mess that’s me. After all we are all united by our love of the meeper.