Chapter Text
The bell rang, and everyone picked up their bags to leave. Class was finally over— for a moment, 8p9 couldn't believe it was only Tuesday. His teachers always managed to blab on and on for hours on end, and today he'd barely managed to avoid falling asleep. Making sure he wasn't the first or last to leave, he made sure to not look too groggy. Not like anyone cared, but still.
"And remember," his teacher said, "work through and finish page six by Friday!"
Someone barged past him, but all he did was stumble. He'd learned to keep his footing, even when pushed by someone almost double his size. Trip, then stand properly again; it wasn't too hard. Someone yelled his user, but he didn't bother to slow down. They usually gave up getting his attention quickly, especially after he 'stopped caring'. His poker face was really good, apparently.
118p9 slipped through the gaps between taller and older students. The quicker he was away from everyone, the better. Worst case scenario, someone tripped and grabbed him. Last time that had happened, he'd recoiled from the touch and gotten a weird look.
Walking through the school halls, one of his 'friends' called his user, and he looked over, going to them on the side.
"Hey." he said, letting a small smile creep onto his face.
"Got anythin' going on?" The robloxian was a bit older than 118p9, but not by much. He was only in the year above by a few months' difference, and he used to play with the others anyway. 8p9 had never bothered to learn his name...or he had, and kept forgetting.
"Not...really. I dunno yet, though."
"Nice." He rummaged in his bag, and 8p9 heard paper rustling. Of course. His smile dropped. "I'll give you a tenner if you do the maths for me."
A pause. "Why?"
"I don't wanna do it. Besides, you're smart."
"I'm in year 6, dude. I'm not doing comp maths." 8p9 raised an eyebrow.
"Come ooooon! I'm giving you ten whole bux!"
"And what do I do with ten whole bux? My mum'll ask questions, you know."
"So you spend it so she doesn't know!"
"I'll rat you out!"
"You wouldn't dare."
118p9 bit back the urge to groan. It's like...Sid? Seb? ....Seth– no, it couldn't be Seth....did his display even begin with S? Had to, right? He wouldn't forget that. ...even though he'd forgotten the other 90% of the name.
"Ten quid or a sock in the jaw."
"Fine."
The paper was placed in his hand with a smug smirk, and 8p9 took a moment to scan the page. ...he didn't know what half this shit was. Letters, numbers....it was very wordy.
"I want it tomorrow. And I'll pay you tomorrow! Bye Pence!"
"Whatever." he muttered. He was never getting that tenner.
Moving further out of the way, 118p9 skimmed the paper again. He'd probably find a way to mess up the questions so it looked like....ugh, what was it?! It had to start with an s....or a th....? Was it a word or two? Gibberish? Leetspeak?! He was drawing blanks, so decided to just crumple the page and put it in his bag.
Just like always, he hung around near the front for everyone to leave. On the plus side, all the chavs pushed through the crowd to go home first. He wasn't waiting for anyone, his 'friends' always pushed through too. He just wanted less people to see the path he took to get home. Putting a random playlist on shuffle, he put his headphones on, crossing the road at the first chance he got.
The road was the same as it always was. A quiet side road, not covered by anything, with a park on the hill he needed to walk up. Sometimes he stopped there for ten, twenty minutes, just to look at the cars passing under him. It made him feel tall.
---
The park was never empty anymore, he thought with a scowl as he reached the fence. Not many parents went out of their way to climb the hill, so normally it was just 8p9 up there. ...at least, it was just him. Now that girl was always here.
Sometimes he looked out of his history class's window and saw a small speck of pink on the top of the hill. (How his eyes could do that was beyond him.) He never saw her in school, never saw her anywhere. Just in the park on top of the hill, always on the swing, facing the world. He paused his music, slipping his headphones around his neck. ...he didn't want to talk to her, but she'd eaten into time he could be by himself. It was annoying.
The gate squeaked as he pushed it open, and both flinched. The girl looked over (he thought), her eyes closed in a squint, and 8p9 winced at the attention. "....hi." he mumbled.
"Hi...?" she answered back, scanning to check for anyone else.
8p9 had never heard her voice before. He wasn't...fully expecting her to know how to speak, to be honest with himself. Hesitating, he came a bit closer, leaving his bag by the slide, but stayed standing.
"....why're you always by yourself?"
The silence drew out for too long to be comfortable.
"Cuz."
....
"....why are you by yourself? Don't you have friends?"
8p9 shrugged. "Not really."
"Oh."
Another pause. 118p9 hesitantly sat on the swing to her left.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"118p9. Um...that's my user. I don...I don't have a display." he paused. "What's yours?"
"m1l3je. ....I don't have a display either."
8p9 nodded slightly, not sure what to say. "...do you go to school?"
m1l3je sighed, like the topic was something that deeply bothered her. "No, my mapa doesn't let me."
"What about your mam and dad?"
"I don't have a mom."
"...oh."
"Or a dad. I have a mapa."
"Oh, okay." A pause. "Why doesn't your mapa let you...-?"
"I dunno! Something about my blood? But I'm not sick or whatever at all, it's so dumb!"
"I don't think you wanna go to school, anyway. It-"
"I do! I wanna go to school, and...I dunno, go to the store after like I see everyone do- well not you, I guess."
(8p9 whispered 'store', trying to mimic how she spoke.)
"I think you're lucky. You get to go there and see people and go to claass...." m1l3je pushed off the floor, swinging forwards. "And then afterwards you get to go to your friends, and they're like 'ohhh that stunk do you wanna come over mine this weekend?' and you're like 'yeah i'll show up at four' and then you stay up 'til past midnight and you're just talking about how much you hate the teachers and the homework and waking up early and everything..."
118p9 was starting to get the impression that maybe she just wanted to make a friend. He couldn't think of any fathomable reason why else she'd want to go to school.
"I can talk to you about it."
"Really?"
"If you want, yeah. Mam's not expecting me home 'til half past."
8p9 saw m1l3je's gaze widen, her gaze locked onto his face. She dug her shoes into the floor, the wood chips bunching at the heel as she forced her swing to stop. "YES."
"Oh, um....okay, uh..." He took a second. "I have double homework-"
"Double? Why?"
"Because my teacher gave us homework, and my stupid friend gave me his! He always wants to skip it, and he gives it to me because I'm 'smart' or whatever! He owes me...I dunno, a hundred bux?! And- THOBY, DAMN IT!" He whacked the side of his head, dropping his face into his hands. "That's what his name was....uuugh...."
m1l3je didn't say anything for a while.
"He sounds like a jerk."
"He is a jerk....I dunno why we even hang out with him."
"...but you said you didn't have friends?"
Ah. "I said 'not really'-"
"Which means no! So why are you calling him your friend!" m1l3je tilted her head at 118p9, eyebrows furrowed slightly.
...he realised he wasn't sure. To be honest with himself, 8p9 just hung around with them because they were bigger than him. His friends were all in his year or the year above, and their friends were usually older, so he was usually pretty safe from anyone wanting to pick at him if a friend-of-a-friend was around. If he was alone, yeah, he was almost easy pickings, but the bullies usually lost interest in him pretty quickly. He was safe in his circle of bulls.
He just shrugged. It was a good enough response for m1l3je.
"Are you gonna do it? His homework?" she asked, shifting to sit cross-legged on the swing.
"I have to." 8p9 groaned. "He's bigger, if I don't do it he'll eat me."
"And your hundred bux?"
"I'm never getting it. I don't think he even has ten."
"So mess it up!"
"I'm gonna." 8p9 pushed the swing back slightly, but didn't let go of the ground. "His maths has letters in it. It's weird."
"Ew, math has letters?"
"Thoby's does."
m1l3je pushed off the floor again, swinging lightly at 8p9's side. "Well his math is gross! Tell him to stop giving it to you!"
"I can't, though. Besides, he owes me money." He'd swing too, but wasn't feeling up to it.
The two stayed talking for a while. m1l3je kept looking at the sky, watching the sun trail down the sky. "Hey, what time do you hav'ta go?"
8p9 checked his phone. "Mam wants me back before duskhour, so I'll probably be going in...ten minutes? I dunno, I have an alarm."
"I gotta go before duskhour too! My mapa says it's 'dangerous to be out alone' and 'I can't get you if I'm not in the same realm' and allat."
m1l3je swung one final round, before jumping off the swing. She flinched as she landed on the wood chip flooring, but didn't stumble.
"If you're leaving, I'm gonna leave too."
8p9 shrugged. "I guess I'll see you, then."
"Are you gonna be here tomorrow?"
m1l3je had the look on her face that told 118p9 that she really wanted that to happen.
"Um...yeah! Are you?"
"Yep!"
"Cool!" 8p9 raised his hand in a fistbump. m1l3je hesitated, then bumped her hand against his.
"Welp," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "you're my friend now, so you better show up!"
I'm your friend? 8p9 thought, unable to stop the smile on his face. "I'm gonna ditch, just 'cause!"
"Nooooowuh!"
The two laughed for a bit as they walked to the gate. m1l3je held it open for 8p9, and he gave her a nod of thanks.
"Seeya!" she said, waving as she started to walk off.
"Bye!"
---
The walk home was boring compared to his music. A heavier song queued up with a soft one he'd only recently put in his playlist, but no matter. He saw a bug on the way home, and stopped to stare at it for a few minutes.
Quickly checking his phone to make sure he wasn't home too late, 118p9 paused outside the door. Taking a second to wipe some mud off his shoes on the side of the stairs, he opened the door and stepped inside.
"Hi mam!" He called out, putting his house key on the rack with all the others.
"Hello!" His mum called out, in the middle of putting some fabric on the radiator to dry. "How was your day at school?"
"Pretty good." He hung his coat up, before deciding to just bite the bullet. "Um-"
118o8 turned around.
"I've got homework, so...I'm gonna... do that." Holding his bag by the hanger strip, 8p9 gripped it a little tighter.
"Oh, a'right." His mother smiled. "I'll call you when tea's ready, okay?"
"Okay, thanks."
118p9 only started going upstairs when his mother had turned back around the corner, minding his volume as he went upstairs. The moment his bedroom door closed, though, he flopped onto his bed to stifle a groan. Right. Now he had to actually do Thoby's stupid maths.
...at least he had something to look forward to in the morning.