Work Text:
You turn in your bed, a dark Tuesday morning. You click your phone on, your eyes quickly adjust to the bright screen. 5:48, flashes on your home Screen. You put your phone down, and turn to look through the window. The clouds are already heavy, the sun refusing to come greet the day. The atmosphere just feels gloomy, like it’s waiting for something.
As you sit up, you think about your school life. There’s really no one you can call a friend, not at school at least. It makes you think back, you remember when you had friends to follow. The waves of dread wash over you as you get ready for school. You dress yourself, before heading out of your room.
You approach your living room, feeling slightly bombarded by greetings. You wish your family didn’t greet you so early, but you wave along. It makes you think of your only true friend, she’s a taller girl, straight blonde hair, but she’s still nice. ——,you have know her since you were young anyway.
You walk to your desk, hearing the loud laughter and chatter. There have always been a few people that have stuck out to you. One, a boy chopping up erasers, laughs alongside two others. A girl with curly brown hair that hardly reaches her shoulder, and one with pin-straight hair and a shirt that reminds you of something. Finally, somewhere towards the middle of such an assortment is a girl with wavy almost black hair.
You wish you had the confidence to go talk to them, but what seems simple to others feels suffocating to you. For the most part, the day drags on normally. The clock ticks by, reaching 11:55. The teacher announces that it’s lunchtime. You get up, and line up like normal. You eat your lunch like every other day, yet something still feels wrong. The world seems like it’s holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.
You start to head to the swing set, but then the curly haired girl, ——, steals a purple hoodie and sprints off. You see Eraser-abuser, ——, chase after her, presumably to take back his jacket. You finally reach the swings, there is one that’s shorter than the rest, you have always liked this one. It’s rather unpopular, yet when you go to hop on, it’s been taken. Not in the mood to wait, you finally muster up all your courage, and walk towards the intriguing group.
Was this what the world was waiting for? Is this really the right thing to do? It doesn’t matter now, you’re too close to back out now. All six people are standing by the handball courts, in a weird jumbled circle. You aren’t too sure how to sneak into the group. One person, —— turns to face you. You greet him timidly, he responds before returning to talking with ——, and ——.
When you return home that day you pull out your sketchbook. You start to mindlessly doodle random characters you’ve made up. One of them, “Rec” starts to stand out. Her backstory has always felt unfinished, as if she too, is waiting on you. You spend the rest of your evening brainstorming, what could possibly be missing?
When you awake the next morning, the sky seems to have cleared up, the sun is already out! You check the time yet again, and it hits you, it’s 6:38, you just woke up late. You yelp, and rush to get out the door.
Your father drives you and your younger sister to school. The toddler girl tries to offer you a bag of stale Easter candy, “You want it?” being her phrase of offer. “I’m ok baby,” you shake your head “no” as you snatch your backpack and run out.
out.
As you walk out of the drop-off line, you hear the pitter-patter of someone approaching you. You hear someone call your name, and when you turn to face them, it’s Allison! She normally is with Aaliyah when you see her, but it’s fun having a quick conversation with her.
When you’re back in the classroom, the
When you’re back in the classroom, the teacher informs you, and your class, that you will be moving seats today. You silently hope you’ll be next to at least one person in your new found friend-group.
You settle your things atop your chair, as names begin to be called. “——, you’re here, ——, next to him, —— here,” your heart skips a beat, that’s half the group gone already! But then, then the unexpected happens! The teacher calls your name! You pause, thinking “This can’t be real! This isn’t my luck?” But no! It is very much true!
You stop, glance over and realize you have been drawing Rec all day. “Hey, who’s that?” —— points and questions. Well, dang! How do you explain, “Weird fox girl with no backstory!” She smiles and shows you her own drawing, “This is Leaf! She’s kind-of like a dog? But I think she can get along with that one!” She gestures to your doodle again. “Yeah, they look sort of similar. We can make them sisters, maybe,” —— enthusiastically nods, and the day continues.
Now you’ve gotten yourself adjusted to the new cycle. You wake up, and greet your parents, which doesn’t seem too bad anymore, go to school, think of more ideas for more characters, and have a genuinely good time. Every day feels just that much better, you can now confidently talk to every friend you have, not just Everly. This feeling of content bubbles in your chest, the feeling of belonging.