Chapter Text
High school in the equation playground was officially about to start. Four slowly opened his eyes to the sun shining in between his blinds. He turned his head over to his left and looked at his beeping alarm clock. 6AM. He groans and contemplates his life for a little bit before getting up to get ready for his first day.
After an hour, he’s fully dressed. His dark blue hair is combed and his backpack is ready. He takes a good look at himself in his mirror. His light blue skin feels refreshed, his hair is neat and his outfit looks good. For once in their life they’re actually ready for school on time. He heads out of his room and makes his way to the kitchen, where he meets his older sibling.
“Mornin, Four.” Two was taller and older than Four. Four was 15, Two was 17. Two is also in high school, but in their final year. Four is only in their first year of high school.
“Hey, Two. What’s for breakfast?” Four asked. Two chuckled as they replied with “The same thing you always eat in the morning.” Four looked over at the table and saw a bowl of cereal floating in a pool of milk, with a spoon resting on the side of the bowl.
Four didn’t say anything and sat down and ate. “You excited for your first day?” Four looked at Two after they asked, they were now drying some dishes. “Eh, not really. It’s always the same.” Four said as he looked back down at his breakfast. Two looked at their younger sibling confused. “What do you mean?” “I wake up, get ready, go to school, learn absolutely nothing, get home tired, sleep and then repeat. It’s been going on like this since elementary school.” Four was looking down at their bowl of cereal now. Two sat down on a chair next to him, and put their hand on his shoulder.
“Listen, mate. I get what you mean, I was nervous for my first day of high school back then. I didn’t have any friends, and then I met Eight. He was in the same class as me and he introduced me to his group of friends and now I hang out with them at school everyday. They’ve genuinely made my experience in high school unforgettable, it might seem like high school’s going to take forever but it’s only two years. Hell, i’m in my last year already! Before you know it, it’ll be the last day of high school for you and you get to choose what you want to do with your future.”
Four slowly looked up at their older sibling, who seemed to be smiling at him. Four sighed and thanked them. They made him feel a little bit better. “That’s great, bud.” They patted Fours back. “Now hurry up, the bus is supposed to be here soon.” Two said as they got up from their seat. Four ate the rest of his breakfast and ran upstairs to brush his teeth. He hated brushing his teeth. The feeling of the bristles in his mouth made him hate it. But he didn’t want to get made fun of, or have the dentist scold him again.
Four and Two were now waiting for their bus outside of their home. Two was on their phone, scrolling through posts while Four was in their own little world. The bus shortly arrived in front of their house and Two had to snap Four back into reality. They both got on, Two spotted their friends way in the back and waved. They whispered in Fours ear, “I’ll be with my friends in the back. You sit down somewhere and get to know someone, alright?” Four hesitantly nodded and Two gave them a thumbs up. They headed to the back of the bus, leaving Four standing alone in front. Four gulped as they moved one foot in front of the other.
They looked around. Most of the seats were full. Some of the other kids were quiet, but the other ones were giggling and whispering. Four was worried that they were talking about him. He found an empty seat close to the back of the bus and sat down. They grabbed their phone and earbuds and stared out the window while listening to music.
He completely zoned out the entire ride there. The only reason he snapped out of it was because Two nudged him on the shoulder when they arrived. Four quickly put his stuff back in his bag and walked off the bus. Two was already no where to be found. Four looked around the campus. The school seemed huge. So many unfamiliar faces. His heart started racing. He slowly started walking up to the building, avoiding any eye contact. He pushed the door open, and stood there. The school seemed so much bigger on the inside. He looked around, students sitting on the stairs talking, some running, some alone. He looked up at the clock, 8am. Class started in 30 minutes.
Four decided to find a quiet spot to himself and listen to music while waiting for class to start. He passed by some classes, the cafeteria and the bathrooms. He then found a nice little area in the school garden, there were a few students around but not enough to the point of suffocating. He liked it this way. Four sat down on the ground and put his earbuds in and waited.
He was slightly swaying in one place. He was so deep into the music, he almost barely noticed the bell ring. They got up and headed towards their first class. It was english. Four didn’t mind english. It was easy, but it wasn’t his favorite. He headed into class and recognized absolutely no one. “Crap.” Four thought to himself. He didn’t have any friends from middle school, but he at least wanted to know someone in his class. Well, what is there to do now? Four sat down in his seat and waited. After 2 minutes, someone sat down in the seat next to him. He glanced over and took in their features. They looked around the same age as Four, only slightly shorter. Their hair was curly and in neat buns. Their hair was a warm yellow. They seemed just as nervous as Four.
Four looked away, when not even a second later he heard someone whispering something. He looked beside him to find the yellow student talking to him.
“Excuse me! Am I in the right class?” They asked, holding their schedule Four grabbed the schedule and examined it, then looked at his. He nodded. “Yup, you’re in the right class.” He gave the student their schedule back. The student sighed in relief and thanked him. They looked away, writing something down. Four kept looking at them, then slowly turned away, facing the wall.
The teacher finally walked in, she was wearing a long blue skirt with a nice baby blue jumper. Her hair was tied up in a pony tail. She placed her books on the table and called out to the class.
“Morning and welcome class! My name is Ms. Twentyfive, this is where you’ll be for english! What we’ll do today is introduce ourselves and go through what the following semester will bring.”
Four rolled their eyes at this. Introductions? He’d rather eat his own hair than introduce himself. Thats when his ears perked up at the sound of his own name.
“Four?” The teacher called out, looking around. “Is there a ‘Four’ here?”
Fours heart started racing as they put their hand in the air. “I’m here, miss.” They said, quiet but loud enough for the teacher to hear.
“Ah! Alright then, welcome to the school, Four! Could you introduce yourself to us please?” she asked, smiling. She had no ill intentions over this question, but Four wanted to die.
Four stood up from his seat, heart still racing.
“I’m Four, uh, I like math and watching my favorite show.” Four was sweating bullets.
“Thats great! Would you like to share what your favorite show is with us?” The teacher asked. This made Four panic even more.
“Um.. Uh.. It’s kind of niche..”
“Don’t worry about it. You don’t need to share with us what it is if you don’t want to, no pressure. You can sit back down now.” Four sighed in relief at that. He slumped back down in his seat, arms resting on the table as he hid his face in his arms. His ears perked up at the next persons name.
“X?” The teacher called out. The seat next to Four skidded on the floor as the student next to him stop up.
“My name’s X, I like going outside.” Four took a peek at X. They seemed nervous.
“Great! Going outside is a lot of fun. You can sit back down, X.” The teacher said. X sat down and sighed in relief. Thats when he looked in Fours direction. Four panicked and quickly hid his face. X shrugged at this and turned his gaze away from Four. The teacher continued calling out names, and students introduced themselves.
There were around 9 students in class, including Four. There was X, obviously, Six, Ten, Eleven, Three, One, Five and Zero. Which wasn’t a lot in general, but it was a lot to Four.
Half an hour passed. Four was doodling in his notebook to pass the time as the teacher was explaining the curriculum for the semester. He was paying attention, just doodling as well. Thats when the teacher mentioned a presentation. Four froze. He hated presentations. Especially group presentations. The other person never got their work done, Four had to do everything. The bell rang and everyone got up from their seats.
“See you tomorrow, class!” The teacher called out as everyone left the room. They had 5 minutes before their next class, so Four decided to head to the bathroom.
He walked in and put his bag down on the floor. He stared at himself in the mirror. He put his hand to his face, running his fingers through his hair and cursed under his breath. 8 whole months of this. He was already tired and it was only 9am. He looked at himself in the mirror some more when the door to the restroom opened. He jumped as he saw a yellow figure walk in. The student jumped as well.
“Oh! Sorry, am I interrupting anything?” He asked. Four looked at the shorter student, barely being able to get a word out. “Uh- hrnn.. N-no?” The other student smiled. “Well, nice to meet you! You’re the guy in my class, right?” Four nodded. “Great! I’m X, you’re Four, hm?” X greeted as he held his hand out for a handshake. Four hesitantly shook it and nodded. “Well, I hope I get to see you around! You seem cool.” X said as he headed over to one of the stalls. Fours eyes widened at this, “Oh- um- Thanks.. Me too, I guess.” He stuttered. X smiled at him and went inside the stall. Four quickly grabbed his bag and ran out.
He walked through the hallways, headed towards his next class. It was physics. Four didn’t mind physics, it had math in it so thats what made Four slightly like it. He also liked the cool stuff they do in class. He sat down in his seat, and waited. The teacher walked in and introduced himself, but a certain student didn’t walk in.
Four was torn between feeling a little upset that this guy didn’t share this class with him, but also a little relieved because he felt like their whole interaction in the restrooms was awkward. And he didn’t really want to make any friends, he was fine with having no friends.
The rest of the day went by, Four and X had some classes together but all they did was share waves at each other. And by “they”, it was mostly X that initiated the waves. While Four slightly moved his hand.
Four was back on the bus, listening to music again. Thats when someone came to sit down next to him.
“Hey there, bud!” It was Two. “God, you scared me. Give me a warning next time.” Four asked. Two put their hands up in defeat while apologizing.
“So, how was your first day?” Two looked down at their younger sibling, smiling. Four didn’t do the same. He just kept looking out the window. “It was okay, I guess.” “Any new friends?” “Ew, no. I’m fine with having no friends. Seeing all the trouble you and your group get into makes me enjoy being alone.” Four admitted. Two’s jaw dropped dramatically. “Hey! We’re teenagers, we do stupid shit. You’ll want to do the same stuff we do when you’re my age.” Two nudged Four on the shoulder. Four scoffed. “As if.”
“Alright, bud. Imma head back to my friends. I’ll make you dinner tonight, sound good?” Two asked. Four nodded and Two left Four alone. Four went back to spacing out while looking out the bus window.
Two and Four made it to their house, as they were walking off the bus Four noticed a familiar student on the bus, closer to the front. It was X. He didn’t notice Four though.
Two unlocked the door and walked in, Four following behind.
Four made it to the stairs, when Two yelled across the room. They were in the kitchen.
“Hey, what do you want to eat tonight?” Four thought about it for a second, before yelling out “Are burgers good?” Two agreed and took out some patties to defrost from the freezer. Four walked up the stairs to their room, dropped their bag on the floor and turned their TV on to their favorite show.
After about 2 hours, Four heard his name being called down from the kitchen. He headed downstairs to the smell of freshly cooked burgers waiting for him on the table. He sat in his seat and started eating.
Four noticed Two at the opposite end of the table, looking like they wanted to say something. Four cleared his throat and asked, “So, uh, how was your day at school?” Two lit up. “Oh, it was great. I met up with my friends and we had so much fun. We have almost every class together, God, we’re going to be so annoying.” Two giggled at that last part. Four couldn’t help but cringe.
“Well, uh, glad you had a good day.” Four said, looking a little sad. Two noticed. “Bud, you good?” “Oh, uh, yeah. I’m fine. Why?” “Look, if you want I could ask my friends if you can hang out with us sometimes, I really don’t mind. Well, only if you want to.” Four slightly jumped at this. “Hrn, no thanks. I’m good.” He said while eating his burger. “Alright, mate. Just know the offers open if you want.” Four didn’t say anything. He finished his burger and headed back to his room.
A few hours go by. He spent these hours watching his show. It was 10pm now, he was getting tired. He turned off the TV and headed to bed. But he thought about what Two had told them. Four didn’t want friends, didn’t he? He wasn’t so sure anymore. He was at that age where people go out and have fun, but here Four was, having no friends. It hurt. Four didn’t really expect anyone to want to be friends with him, and he wasn’t expecting that to change any time soon.