Chapter Text
Noelle silenced the alarm at her bedside, alerting her that she had two hours until class started. She went through the motions of her morning routine: brushing her teeth, showering, making breakfast. The household was quiet, as it often was on a weekday. Her mom was already at work, her dad was still in the hospital, and Dess...
By the time she was finished with morning preparations, it was around the time she usually left for school. She liked to get there early to help Ms. Alphys prepare for class, alongside Berdly, who sometimes got there even earlier than she did. She didn't mind Berdly's company, of course, he was one of her best friends, but... sometimes she wondered if this was just how it was gonna be for all of high school. Wake up alone, go to class, come home and do homework, go to sleep, repeat. She often spent her weekends on her computer playing games or updating her blog, which was her main source of entertainment during her free time now. Just a few years ago, most of her free time was taken up by hanging out with Dess, Azzy, and... Kris.
Noelle lost track of the number of times she contemplated going up to Kris and begging them to be her friend again. They had become so distant since Dess went missing, and she couldn't really blame them for that, but god, did she still want to have that connection with them. She at least hoped they'd reach out when Azzy went off to college, but no. They just stayed in their house all day doing who-knows-what, and came to school only to sleep through class. She didn't understand what was preventing them from just talking to her, asking to hang out, or doing anything other than give her a passing glance.
But she knew she couldn't just tell them that. Noelle knew that Dess' disappearance had been hard on everyone, not just her, and it was selfish to expect Kris to react the same way she did. So while it hurt her heart to not have someone to talk to who was almost as close to Dess as she was, she respected their decision. That didn't stop her from staring at them in class, though. Sometimes, she would drop her pencil on purpose, just to see if they'd take the bait and hand it back to her. But they never did. She couldn't understand why her brain compelled her to take up so much of its space thinking about Kris, when that only ever made her feel worse. But she couldn't help it. She was drawn to them, and whether she knew it consciously or not, she couldn't imagine her life without them in it.
The only person who had an inkling of an idea of how much Noelle thought about Kris was Berdly, who only really had a surface-level understanding of what her relationship with them was like. Well, what it used to be like, anyway. He sometimes teased her for this, asking if she had a crush on them or something. That idea was just absurd, though. She had known them for so long, it was weird to think that she could ever feel that way about them. Sure, her parents often made jokes like this when they were younger, talking about how they were going to get married someday. But that's just something parents do, it didn't really mean anything. Besides, Noelle wasn't sure if she had ever had a crush on someone before. Maybe a couple characters from cartoons she watched as a kid, but no one she knew in real life. So, she dismissed the idea of having feelings for Kris outright.
As if on cue, Kris walked into the classroom, and Noelle snapped out of her thoughts, realizing that class was about to start. She was actually surprised to see Kris there that early; that is, not at least five minutes late. She gave them a little wave and a smile, to which they replied with a small nod before going to their seat. She sighed quietly at yet another small, but failed attempt to reconnect. She prepared for another typical day of class, chatting with Berdly about the latest gaming news he was so passionate about, when Ms. Alphys came up to the front of the class with a nervous expression on her face. Well, even more nervous than usual.
"G-Good morning class! Um... we actually have... a new student today! She just moved here, s-so... Everyone, please give a warm welcome to... Susie!"
Alphys gestured towards the door, which remained shut. She blinked a couple times and laughed nervously. "Ahem, Susie! You can come in now!"
And with that, the door slammed open, and in stepped a tall, purple lizard girl, apparently named Susie. Noelle's eyes widened at how tall she was, and she had a seemingly stern expression on her face, slightly obscured by her hair in her eyes. She wore jeans with tears in them, an old, raggedy jacket, and worn-out grey sneakers. Noelle figured she must be a skater or something like that.
"Hey," Susie said nonchalantly. Alphys looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to say anything else.
"Um... Susie! Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"
Susie stood there for a moment. "I'm Susie. Can I go now?"
"O-Oh," Alphys muttered, looking taken aback. "Um, no, haha... class has just started. Why don't you take a seat?"
"Bummer," Susie replied, going to sit in the empty seat behind Kris. She put her hands in her pockets and pulled out something that looked like a small rock, and started... chewing on it? Maybe it was rock candy, or a piece of gum.
"Alright, well... let's get started with class then! Um... e-everyone open your books to page 45." Alphys went on to teach that day's lesson, often shooting worried glances in Susie's direction.
Well, Susie seemed like she might be a little rough around the edges, but Noelle was excited to have a new classmate! The town was so small, and her class was even smaller, so this really was a big change. Maybe she could even make a new friend! Then maybe she wouldn't have to be in her house alone so often...
After class ended, with Kris naturally having fallen asleep, Noelle decided to take initiative. She noticed that while everyone else was scribbling notes down, Susie had just sat there doing nothing, so Noelle figured she didn't bring a pencil. It was the perfect opportunity, because Noelle always brought a surplus of pencils with her, just in case. She shuffled through her pencil case for a moment before settling on a cute candy cane one.
"Um, hi... Susie?" Noelle walked over to her, still lounging in her chair after everyone else had left the classroom. "I, um... I noticed you didn't seem to have a pencil for taking notes, so... I figured you could have one of mine? It's fine if you don't want it, just... I thought you could use it, for the future."
Noelle held up the pencil to her, avoiding eye contact. Why was she so nervous? Sure, Susie was a little standoffish, but she was never usually this nervous introducing herself to others. Maybe it was just residual nerves from note-taking, she had written an awful lot, after all. But then again... she never usually had a problem with note-taking, either.
Susie inspected the pencil for a minute, before grabbing it from Noelle's hand. Noelle let out a small yelp as she felt their hands make contact, but smiled as she saw Susie actually take the pencil from her. She held it up to her face and... sniffed it? For some reason?
Susie finally spoke up, "Heh, thanks, I guess..."
"Y-You're welcome!!" Noelle gripped the hem of her shirt in an attempt to calm herself down. "Um... see you in class tomorrow!!"
Susie smirked. "Yeah, see ya."
Noelle immediately booked it out of the classroom after that interaction, feeling herself relax once she stepped outside. She still couldn't understand why she had felt so nervous all of a sudden, like her face felt warm and her hands were all clammy. Oh no, maybe she was coming down with a fever? She immediately ran home to check her temperature, leaving Susie alone in the school, still holding the pencil.