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Parrot bucked his shoulder upwards, readjusting the backpack slung over only one of his arms.
The halls were quiet. That somehow made it more uncomfortable; it was a horrible, brutal reminder that he was late.
Parrot was a nice kid, at least the teachers said so. He got good grades, stayed out of trouble, and his attendance streak would make a perfectionist cry out of joy. Very much unlike pretty much everybody else in this shithole of a school.
It made him count down the days till he’d be able to go to college and leave everyone behind; god, how he dreamed of that day. But for now, he was stuck here.
One more year.
One more year, he told himself the days before school even started.
One more year, he told himself as he dragged through the halls.
He was a senior, finally, after attending this school for three years, soon to be four. Yet in those three years, this was the first time he’d missed a class.
It was twenty minutes into the day when he reached the doors of his homeroom class; B7, as it said on his schedule. For a moment, he just stood outside the door, genuinely contemplating going home and making up some excuse about his grandma falling down the stairs or whatever, but he didn’t. As anyone who knew him could guess.
He took hold of the doorknob, turning it and pushing it open, preparing for the walk of shame to his seat, but nobody was really looking at him.
Everybody was in their respective groups, talking. The desk at the front of the room was empty, save for the computer and occasional paper here and there.
He took a moment to look around. The only seat that seemed to be up for grabs was in the back left, next to somebody who also wasn’t talking to anybody; their head in their hands, probably taking a nap.
He walked around the first row of seats, sighing at the lineup of people. Wemmbu, Flame, and Spoke, all in the same room. The same class, and Parrot had the misfortune of having to be there too.
Wemmbu and FlameFrags were the epitome of ‘arch nemesis’. You couldn’t count on your hands how many times they’d fought each other, either on or off school grounds.
Parrot gave them two days before they’d be swinging at each other again.
But if Parrot had to choose between having a class or that duo or Spoke, you couldn’t find a universe where the latter would be his choice.
Spoke was literally a teacher’s favorite. Not because he got good grades; no, sometimes he’d literally refuse outright to do his work and then go back to whatever he felt like doing at the time.
But he was always so charming, and knew how to persuade them into doing what he wanted. He’d always pull some shit; like last year, where he’d managed to convince an entire group of kids to, and I quote, ‘boycott’ the school system by bringing living animals into school and releasing them in the halls. Some kid brought a skunk, and you can imagine how the hallway outside Ms. Tarle’s room smelled. Or the year before that, where he’d remove the walls of every single stall in the downstairs boys bathroom, leaving three toilets that only the poor souls of the desperate would dare to use.
Parrot just wished he’d have done that closer to the end of the year, instead of the beginning; that way, maybe it’d be easier to ignore the fact that toilets always seemed to clog when a flush was needed most.
He dropped his bag on the floor next to his seat and sat down, willing the world to just leave him be.
The world said no in the form of the kid next to him raising his head, smiling and turning toward him.
“Hey!” He exclaimed, turning his body to face parrot. He leaned forward, his arm hanging off the desk.
“Hi.” Parrot responded simply, staring at his desk, running lines over the surface repeatedly. Anything to avoid eye contact.
“My name’s Theo. What’s yours?” He said, tilting his head slightly to the side. Parrot looked over to him, actually taking in his appearance.
He had blond hair, maybe even closer to yellow hair; with two black lines running below his eyes and another line cutting between his lips; a gold chain hanging off his neck. So, he was an avian hybrid as well.
“Uh, Parrot.” He mumbled, realizing only after a few seconds of silence that he hadn’t responded to him as of yet.
“Cool, Parrot. Nice to meet you! I’m Theo, I’m new here. I just transferred from Shattered. You know, the smaller school, maybe thirty minute’s drive from here?”
He introduced himself twice. Parrot held back a small smile at that. He was either an idiot, or… well, there weren’t very many other options.
“That’s cool.” He said mindlessly, already starting to zone out. Theo seemed to notice his reluctance to continue the conversation, and went back to sleep.
Parrot sighed. Finally, he could be left alone.
When he glanced at the clock again, it was only seven more minutes until their next period. Nobody seemed to notice, too busy in talking to recognize the countdown. He glanced to the hallway again just in time to see what he assumed was supposed to be their teacher returning.
He was more dark-skinned, with white hair and black goat horns coming out from the top of his head. He had some sort of purple T-shirt with a black vest around it, and a demon tail. Wemmbu had one similar, although the end of his was smaller.
He looked around nervously for a moment, unsure how to get the class’s attention. He cleared his throat once, then twice; then the room went silent aside from a few people continuing to chat. They went silent, too, once he began talking.
“Hello! Class.. you can call me Branzy. I think I’m your first period teacher, so the seating chart should be out in a few minutes.” As he spoke, Flame grabbed the material of his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. The class followed suit, grabbing their own items and beginning to leave.
Branzy didn’t stop them, honestly; he looked scared. Maybe only nervous, but Parrot wondered if he was always like this. Was he just shy, or was this his first year? He couldn’t recall seeing him around before. Whatever.
Parrot would not be the last one to exit that classroom, and clearly, he wasn’t. Spoke had stayed behind for some reason, but he couldn’t hear what he was saying. Parrot stood there for a moment, watching Spoke put a one dollar bill on the desk, sliding it over like it was a hundred.
Branzy didn’t take it, but he nodded. They both laughed, then Spoke walked away.
Parrot shook his head, exiting the classroom himself. He had somewhere to be, anyway.
Spoke will be Spoke.
>—<
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“I’m telling you bro, I’m innocent!” Spoke reasoned, backing up. His back hit the wall, and he half-smiled nervously.
“I know it was you!” Wemmbu practically shouted, not giving him space as he took another step forward. Maybe that was why such a crowd had gathered. His hands were balled into fists, his face seething with rage. “I saw you talking to him before we left. Don’t act stupid!”
“I was asking about my grade!”
“It’s the first day of school, we don’t have grades!”
Spoke let out a half chuckle, his shoulders tensing as he put his arms up in mock surrender. “No clue what you’re talking about, man, but if you’re asking for tutoring-“
Spoke’s sentence was cut off when his head snapped to the side. He stumbled a moment, before losing his balance and falling to the ground. He put his right hand on his cheek, dazed for a moment or two before he recollected his bearings.
“Holy shit, Spoke,” Wemmbu all but whined. “Why are you so fucking annoying?” He approached again, like he was going to strike him for the second time; but a red figure came out from the crowd, pushing Wemmbu a step or two back.
Wemmbu was pissed now.
“Wemmbu, calm down, bro.” Mapicc said, stepping in between the two. Spoke retained his spot on the floor, watching the exchange with a smile that could pass for cocky.
“Mapicc, step aside.“ Wemmbu muttered, the agitation noticeable in his tone alone.
“No.” Mapicc retorted, preparing for a fight. His jaw clenched and shoulders tensed.
Wemmbu was about to respond again when Egg touched his arm, not even bothering to try again when he jerked away. “It’s not worth it, dude.” He said, quietly; so much so that Mapicc almost didn’t catch what he said.
Wemmbu scoffed, looking back at Spoke for a few seconds before walking off. “Whatever.”
Mapicc just stood there for a moment, watching the two walk off, before turning around to help Spoke up.
“What’d you do this time? Mapicc asked accusingly as Spoke used his hand to lift himself. He brushed off his pants, as if there were anything there more important of the blood running from his nose.
“I told our homeroom teacher to seat him and Flame together.” Spoke responded, about to laugh at his own genius but stopping when he saw Mapicc’s expression. They just stared at each other for a moment before Mapicc smiled, though not fully convinced that was a good idea.
“That’s gonna backfire so hard, bro.” He chuckled, watching as Spoke continuously wipes the flowing blood with his sleeve. This guy had no self-preservation skills.
“It already has,” Spoke said, laughing harder this time.
The crowd around them had begun to disperse, now that they’d realized there wouldn’t be a fight. Honestly, it’d be less of a fight and more of an attack had Mapicc not been there; but Spoke wouldn’t admit that.
“Alright, let’s go.” Mapicc sighed, grabbing Spoke’s wrist and beginning to drag him through the halls.
“Where are we going?” Spoke inquired, falling into step with his friend. He didn’t respond when Mapicc simply responded, ‘the nurse’. Because that was how it was.
Spoke would do something stupid, reckless; end up getting hurt or in trouble somehow, and Mapicc would be there to either fight for him or bail him out. Honestly, Mapicc didn’t really mind. To be fair, Spoke’s antics had motivated him to become better at PvP.
If to protect somebody everyone else hated, fine; but they were friends. Best friends, even. That’s what friends do, right?
>—<
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The sun was hot. Especially so; more than Flame remembered it being at this time of summer. Maybe it was the physical excursion, maybe his body just hated him. Being a nether hybrid didn’t just mean that he’d be used to the heat, but also that it always felt ten times hotter than any regular overworld born person.
He let out another mix of a sigh and grunt, his shovel digging into the hay pile until he had another scoop full.
He could be home right now; the school day was already over. But no — he had the bright idea of signing up for agriculture afterschool to get the credit for it. Fuck the credit, no college was worth this hell on earth.
The worst part is, it didn’t even have to be this way. The truck came in fine, until the driver pressed a wrong button and the hay went spilling everywhere on the gravel path.
The person supervising the club didn’t demand a refund, just showed everybody to the tool closet and told them to get to work.
He wanted to punch somebody. Anybody, honestly.
The supervisor. The truck driver. Maybe the kid who got to the wheelbarrow before he could. Yeah, that kid honestly looked weak as hell. Flame doubted he’d even be able to fight back.
Speaking of, he looked up from the pile to glare at him.
His back was turned, so he didn’t see, but some part of Flame hoped he’d somehow feel his aura and get the jist. He did not.
He pulled out the shovel, bringing it over to the barn it was supposed to already be at. Take a wild guess why it wasn’t.
As he reached the barn, the tip of his shovel clinked against concrete as it collapsed onto the ground.
He kept it there for a moment, panting and sweating. He watched the kid scoop out the remaining wheat from the wheelbarrow.
When he finished, he stood and noticed Flame, smiling and waving shortly.
“Are you new?” Flame asked, watching while he returned the carrier to stand again.
“No, I’ve been going here all of high school.” He responded. He definitely looked like the type of kid that’d be into farming; like, extremely.
Flame hadn’t seen him around before, though.“Really?”
“I was in your second period last year. I guess you just never noticed me.”
They were silent for another moment, until Flame spoke again. “What’s your name, bro?” He was a bit quieter now. Not by a lot, but the change was there.
“Lomedy,” he answered, pushing the wheelbarrow out. Flame followed.
“Oh. Mine’s Flame.”
“I know.”
This guy was not making it easy at all. Flame sighed, a bit irritated now. The pile of hay in the middle of the driveway was lesser now, clearly everybody else contributing.
He was about to just give up on the conversation and walk off somewhere, when Lomedy decided to stop being a one-hit wonder. “So.. what classes do you have?”
Flame perked up. By how the conversation previously went, he’d thought this guy just didn’t like strangers. “Oh, for first period I got ELA, then chemistry, advisory, trigonometry, lunch… world history, PVP and then woodshop.”
Lomedy nodded. He tried to lean on the wheelbarrow, but it rolled away. He stumbled and straightened out, clearing his throat. Flame just smiled at that.
“I think I have chemistry with you, but I came in late today.” Lomedy explained, shifting on his feet as he spoke. “Why are you even here? You don’t seem like the type of guy that’s into farming.”
“Oh, just… during summer break, I wanted to lock in for college, but I lowkey don’t care anymore, bro.” Flame responded, to which Lomedy laughed. Flame smiled too.
He had a nice laugh. It wasn’t very loud, like a mix between a chuckle and a giggle. It made Flame want to hear it more.
They continued talking, and Flame was slowly starting to warm up. The only reason he’d even initiated a conversation with him in the first place was because he desperately needed more friends for the remaining time in this year.
He had a friend group, yes. But most of them had transferred schools by now, and he honestly was starting to lose patience with the rest. If he was gonna get through the year, he’d need people to talk to.
And it wasn’t even like Lomedy was difficult to talk to. Anymore, at least. It wasn’t long until somebody came out to the field again. The person who was supposed to have been supervising them. When did they leave?
“Alright, it’s been an hour,” he announced, shouting so the kids across the field could hear. “If anyone’s taking the bus, I’d recommend you go now.”
Everybody started running across the field they were there, the rest heading for their bags. Lomedy grabbed Flame’s wrist. “Follow me real quick.” He said, dragging Flame off before he could refuse.
“If you say so, bro.” He murmured, keeping pace easily.
“You like working out, right?” Lomedy asked as he dragged Flame off to god knows where.
“I mean, yeah, I guess. Is it obvious?” He inquired with a small smile. Lomedy smirked and disregarded the question.
“I mean, you don’t look as good as I do, but it’s whatever.”
“You’re like, half my size, bro.” Flame laughed.
“Not if you squint.” He remarked, stopping short of a door. Flame looked around, noting they were now in the gym. It was just a basketball court with bleachers and a storage closet across the room with balls and other games, like nine square. That was his favorite.
But Lomedy didn’t take him to the storage closet. Instead, he had led him to another door, one right next to the locker rooms behind the bleachers. He took out a key ring and looked through it a bit, before decided on one and unlocking the door. When it swung open, they both stepped in.
“Holy shit.” Flame swore, marveling at what had just been presented to him.
It was a large room, with treadmills, weights, mats, and even a small area in the middle he assumed was for PvP. In all his years at this school, he’d never once knew this existed.
Lomedy turned to him, smiling and shrugging nonchalantly. “This place used to be used in physical education and some gym club, but they had to close it down when some got hurt and sued. It’s been sitting here ever since.”
“How did you even - why do you have a key?” Flame asked in disbelief.
“My dad’s a janitor. He gave me keys one time to go to the office and deliver papers from a back room, and he kinda just never took them back. Anyway!” He changed the subject. “I lowkey need to go now, or I’ll miss the bus. But there’s an extra set of keys somewhere in here near the mats; I don’t know where. Good luck, and see ya!” He waved, running out of the room. Flame leaned forward, considering following, but decided against it. This was, for lack of a better word, awesome.
If you missed it the first time, he thought there wasn’t a gym club. It was one of the reasons he even considered transferring schools, and his gym membership was slowly but surely getting harder to pay. He didn’t leave just yet, deciding to enjoy it for as long as possible.
And he kind of wanted that key.