Chapter Text
It was a beautiful day in Hometown.
Kids were playing in the streets, neighbors waved as they passed each other on the sidewalk, and the sun’s steady rise had finally reached a high point in the sky.
Raising her hand to block out the rays as she ran down the track, Noelle adjusted her sweatband, as it had started slipping down her forehead in time with her strides.
"Woah-ho! Nice form, Noelle!"
Jockington perked up behind her, which nearly made her jump considering she had at least a two-minute head start on him. That, along with the fact that he didn't have any legs.
"Are you kidding? With how fast you caught up with me, I should be the one complimenting you!"
"Ah, pushhhaw."
He shrunk his body downwards to convey an expression equivalent to a shrug.
"I still don't get how you can keep like that, much less go faster than me."
His beady eyes were obscured by his ever-present sunglasses, but it was still obvious he had a glint in them.
"It all started on hula-hoop day, Noelle! Being EXTRA aerodynamic gave me my love for movin' fast and breathin' hard!"
Noelle chuckled, slowing her pace to match Jockington's. "Well, that's why we put it on our advertisement flyer!"
She sighed halfheartedly.
"Maybe if more people join the Cross-Country team, we can make up for the lack of interest in any of the other clubs at school."
"Yeah, I hear ya."
Knowing Jockington, Noelle highly doubted he did in fact, "hear ya", but she just swallowed and pressed on ahead.
Suddenly, a small persistent alarm buzzed a familiar chime from her back pocket.
"Well, that's time!"
She slowed her pace down to a walk and then stopped, bending over on her knees to catch her breath.
Jockington bounced to a halt, swinging his neck back to twist his cap to the other direction.
Strangely, he kept going toward the gate to leave.
"Wait.”
He stopped and turned his neck to face her.
“We’re walking home together, right?"
"Nah, Catti’s waiting for me by the gate! Me and her, every Wednesday baby!"
Oh.
Her heart sunk a little.
It's Wednesday.
It had suddenly occurred to Noelle the mistake she had made. It was a small one, but one that felt big enough to her that it put a damper on her perfect day.
On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, Jockington would walk her home from practice, but on Wednesdays, he would go home with Catti, who was off that day from working at QC's Diner. Normally, this system worked, but something today must've been distracting enough to make Noelle forget something as simple as what day of the week it was. She even forgot to ask Berdly to walk with her, and she always remembered.
It wasn't like her and Jockington were all that close, but having someone there, to talk to or even just enjoy the silence with on the trek home was something she valued—almost needed.
Anxiety began to build up in her chest as her eyes darted every which way to find someone, anyone around who could accompany her.
She looked straight ahead, hoping to catch Jockington's tiny silhouette moving alongside his best friend on the sidewalk ahead, but he was long gone.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to just brave it alone, for what must've been the first time in forever.
Hometown wasn't especially dangerous. Altogether, it had a decent track record for nothing out of the ordinary occurring, at least in recent years.
That didn't stop Noelle from feeling as if something was watching her every move as she strode through the tree-lined streets. Even though the day was pleasant and the sun was out, all the neighbors who were once outside, walking, laughing, and chatting had shut their doors, leaving the atmosphere to chill as if an unseen storm was ready to strike.
The lull in the air felt like torture. Every step stung the bottoms of her hooves like the ground was covered in spikes.
The minutes ticked by just the way they did when she did planks during practice, the pressure building up in each limb to the point they began to shake ever so slightly.
After a few more hellish moments, it suddenly hurt to stand still.
Her thoughts raced.
Why is this happening? I swear things had gotten better. I'm just .... walking...by myself.
Pausing, the pain from ceasing her movement shot up her legs.
She took the opportunity to close her eyes, quicken her pace, and focus on repeating the same few words, just like her dad always said.
Walking....by ...myself...
She gritted her teeth, taking deep, long breaths as she kept going.
Walking...by....myself...
With each step, the tightness in her chest and the stiffness in her joints caused her pace to quicken and quicken, until...
She was now running.
The second she broke into a sprint a sigh escaped her lips.
Any feelings of uncomfortability, pain, or tightness seemingly evaporated in an instant.
Anyone else would be in full-blown panic mode, but for Noelle, a run was much-needed therapy.
The wind brushed past her coolly, instilling in her the primal urge to run.
Euphoria poured from her center into every cell in her body, and as a smile unconsciously crept up her lips, she allowed herself to enjoy that unmistakable runner's high.
Her legs felt weightless, going one in front of the other and so on without as much as a thought.
This was why she joined the Cross-Country team all those years ago. That incredible joy, that wonder. That bliss that could only come from running as fast as you can, with no time limit and no destination. It was for that reason, as well as the fact that Dess was in sports as well and needed a buddy.
Those were the days. They went by like seconds, each memory permanently stamped in a corner of her head to pull out and revisit like a book of family photos.
Noelle always imagined that one day, when she had a family of her own, she'd have a scrapbook filled with a bunch of odds and ends, cataloguing the experiences she'd have with them, and their interests.
After all, the best way to make sure you never forget a moment is to keep it somewhere—
It then quickly occurred to her that her eyes were still closed, so she opened them slowly, one-by-one.
She rubbed them for a few seconds, letting them adjust back to the light, before realizing she didn’t recognize the foliage which surrounded her.
The trees above her curved inward, their leaves a sicklier shade of amber than the ones in the main area of town. The breeze halted completely, letting the sweat that had beaded on the sides of her forehead drip down her face.
She turned around in every direction to look for any recognizable landmarks, but she couldn’t find any.
Taking a sigh and fixing her sweatband once more, Noelle figured the best way to go was back the way she came.
The dead, fallen leaves congregated in piles surrounding the asphalt, crunching as she walked through a couple of them on the side of the road. Although it was the middle of the afternoon, the sky darkened around her for a second, as the sun hid briefly behind a cloud overhead.
She was suddenly very cold.
Rubbing her hands up and down her arms, she shivered in a way uncharacteristic of the season.
Maybe she was coming down with something?
It was all a bit unclear, but she made sure to avoid the sparse scattering of puddles on the ground, just in case.
After a good ten minutes of walking, a soft suggestion of footsteps began to sound behind her, although she was certain she was alone. Anyone else would have turned around to see if anyone was there, but for some reason, a persistent voice in the back of her head repeated the same thing.
Don’t look behind you.
Great. How totally not terrifying is that? It wasn't like an axe murderer was tiptoeing behind her, holding said axe above their head, ready to cleave her skull in two.
Her backpack and its contents began to jostle a bit as she picked up the pace, going faster and faster as the footsteps behind her grew louder and louder.
Then, she froze.
Something small had fallen out of one of the first pockets of her bag.
Did she dare turn around and retrieve it?
Before she could even begin to consider her options, she stood up in fear, feeling a large scaly hand on her shoulder.
Now she HAD to turn around.
Right as she turned to take a look at who had been following her, a voice spoke in a low, raspy tone.
"Uh... I think you dropped this."
Like magic, the fear that had been building in Noelle turned into a different kind of terror, as she was now standing in front of her crush.
Susie, the owner of both the scaly hand and worrying footsteps stood, holding a pencil with a Christmas tree eraser on it in one hand, and the other tucked nonchalantly in her jacket's pocket. Though her eyes were usually obscured by her mop of dark hair, she clearly wore a bewildered expression.
"You... uh....okay?"
The Earth had returned to Noelle, who seemed to snap back into place as her mind snapped back into reality.
She took the pencil from her hand so fast you'd think she thought Susie was getting it dirty just by holding it.
"YeahI'mfine! Thankssosomuchforpickingthatupforme!"
Her cheeks stung as she laughed a little bit too long, but the other girl didn't seem to find anything amusing.
"Anyway....uh, goodbye!"
Susie did not say bye back.
Noelle turned around and kept walking, but only a few seconds passed before she realized that Susie's footsteps continued behind her.
Awkward.
It wasn't like she was gonna say anything more to her after all of that.
Maybe she'll turn at some point?
She did not turn.
The two girls kept silently walking, Noelle a good few feet ahead of Susie, who seemed to be muttering something unintelligible to herself under her breath.
Noelle decided to count her blessings. That warm blush that filled her cheeks the moment she recognized her still remained, staining the moment with a tinge of joy.
How often is it that I'm this close to her? I should be happy that I got this chance, even if the interaction itself could've gone better.
She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of Susie trudging behind her, imagining that they were right next to each other. In her mind, she was able to catch a glance of the reptilian girl's eyes as her bangs moved out of the way briefly. They were a deep gold, focused and striking, yet she had surprisingly long eyelashes to the point you'd think she was wearing mascara.
The concept of Susie wearing makeup was pretty silly, though. Maybe she could pull off an edgy, more punk eyeliner look like Catti. God, the thought was just too glorious.
She was so cool, and mysterious, and terrifying in this endlessly captivating way. She could be really loud and boisterous, but also silent and intimidating, which always gets people shaking in their boots.
But when she was walking, a couple paces behind Noelle, she was just....her. Just a person, walking to a place. She wasn't loud, she wasn't mean, she was just.....real.
The lights of Hometown flickered around a block away, and as the main road diverged, Susie finally turned away from the path to take some shortcut through the woods.
Noelle wasn't going to follow her home or anything, but it was a bit telling that Susie really didn't want anyone following her there.
She started to wonder if she could ever really know what went on in her head, or if anything she did was really just for the sake of being mean and starting trouble.
Following that familiar path homeward, she began to mindlessly fiddle with her hair, her golden locks bouncing behind her back. It immediately occurred to her upon turning the bend toward her house that her family’s gate was firmly locked as usual, and also as usual, she had no key.
It was just as strange for her to forget that the most locked gate in all of Hometown would still be locked, as it was for her to forget to ask Berdly to walk home with her.
Or that it was a Wednesday.
They even had that system set up for years, without fail! What could’ve possibly been so distracting that it upended years of routine?
Her phone started to ring.
Noelle grimaced.
Please don’t let it be Mom, please don’t let it be Mom, please don’t let it be Mom...
She checked the caller ID.
Berdly’s smug face graced her screen.
Phew.
She answered, trying to sound as chipper as possible.
“Hey, Berdly, what’s up?”
Berdly’s nasally voice chirped back.
“What’s up, is that the BOTH of us had to walk home ALONE, today, Noelle!”
She cleared her throat a little before replying.
“I know, I know, it was weird of me to forget, but I’m alright. Are you doing okay?”
He seemed to squawk on the other end in shock.
“Uhhh…NO??? No I am NOT doing ‘all correct’, thank you very much.”
“Berdly-"
“Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh, I’M NOT DONE!”
Noelle pulled the receiver further away from her ear as to avoid going deaf.
“You need to REMEMBER these things, Holiday! You’re my Player 2, for a reason!”
She rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, I got it.”
“ANND another thing!”
“Huh?”
“I CANNOT be forced to make gamer-talk with Snowy of all people, I will NOT STOOP TO SUCH A LOW AGAIN!”
Noelle couldn’t tell if it was on purpose or by accident, but Berdly hung up.
She gave the biggest sigh of relief she could muster and slid to sit on the ground outside the fence.
It wasn't worth waiting for her mom to get home, since she'd definitely get an earful about not being on time to get home. It also wasn't worth hanging out with her dad, who still needed to rest in the hospital. Hanging out with Catti and Jockington was out of the question since the both of them would be entertaining each other for the rest of the night.
The only thing left to do would be to get a jumpstart on her homework.
Noelle pulled out her notebook and a pencil.
That pencil.
She could swear it was still warm from being held earlier.
She needed to focus but her thoughts kept drifting.
Drifting to a familiar place.
Instead of going over her notes, she daydreamed while sketching in the margins, just like she used to do with Kris when both of their families would get together.
Eventually, the form of a girl with sharp teeth, scales, and maybe a tail was all over one of the pages.
"Gosh, you sure are useless, Holiday." she muttered to herself.
She shut the book, not before ripping out that page and crumpling it and putting it in her pocket.
Homework obviously wasn't going anywhere.
The sun still left room for one more activity outside.
But before she could even think to imagine the idea, she was already running again.