Chapter Text
It was a beautiful day outside. The sun glistened through the trees, and people walked around the lake with their kids. People were playing frisbee, others were finding love, some were swimming. Kids ran out of their door, squealing, as they chased each other into the water. It was paradise, you could say.
A life in paradise to many, at least. How oblivious they were. How stupid. Luisgamercool23 clenched his jaw, his hand going up to adjust his sunglasses. He sat in a lonesome tree, feet dangling far above the ground. With a small pair of binoculars, he was people-watching, you could say. Gazing upon the families of noobs, the kids playing a stupid taco song, flaunting robux like they actually had any… god, it pissed Luisgamercool23 off. He lived in a town of noobs. He breathed the same air as these annoying bastards.
It was a simple fact, but it enraged him. It set off a deep fire in his chest. He clenched his binoculars tighter, pulling him down from his eyes.
There was one noob, right under the tree he was sitting in. He had greasy bacon hair and a black flannel with a blue shirt. The noob sat all by himself, yet he still had a blank smile as his head leaned against the tree.
Luis blinked, his expression hardening.
He took a deep breath, saying snidely, “Ummm, do you have any friends, noob?”
The noob flinched, looking around wildly, trying to see who said that.
“I’m up here, noob.”
The bacon-hair looked up. His brown eyes landed on Luisgamercool23’s. Now that Luis could see him clearly, he noticed that the noob had a blank smile on his face and warm, cheerful eyes. A small dimple was on his left cheek.
“Does you want ot be my friend?” the noob asked.
Luisgamercool23 rolled his eyes, but the noob could not see the motion through his sunglasses. Luis’s face scrunched up into a scowl.
“Umm, who are you?”
The noob stood up, his smile unwavering. Perhaps he did not understand what Luis had even said, which irked him.
“I’m Su Tart!” the noob exclaimed, a goofy grin crossing his face. “What sit youre name?”
Luisgamercool23 didn’t respond for a moment. He clicked his tongue, shifting on the tree branch. Narrowing his eyes, he debated on whether he should give this noob his name.
“I’m…” he paused. Su Tart stared at him with wide, unblinking eyes, greatly anticipating his name. “Well, I’m kinda famous. Um, do you really not know me?”
“Nope!” Su Tart smiled.
“Ummm, well, you really should. I’m, um, I’m a super famous youtuber? Luisgamercool23.”
“Hi, Luis. That’s a cool name.”
“Of course it is. It’s my name?”
Su Tart nodded. His brow furrowed; clearly, the noob was deep in thought. The conversation went silent for an awkwardly long time. It was the type of silence that made you fish around in your brain for something to say.
“Can I come up there too?” Su Tart finally asked.
Luis bristled at the question, his lego hands digging into the branch’s bark. Seriously? He thought. A noob, asking to hang out with me?
“Whatever, man. I, um, I don’t care?”
A goofy smile spread across Su Tart’s face. It was genuinely annoying to look at. Why was this noob happy?? Noobish noob. Stupid, nooby noob.
So for the next five minutes, Su Tart was struggling to climb onto the tree. The bacon-hair grunted as he hoisted himself up onto the first branch. He was out of breath just from that. Su Tart collapsed against the branch and sighed, trying to catch his breath.
“Hhh– hhh, how can you— how do you…” Su Tart didn’t finish his sentence. Luisgamercool23 rolled his eyes. Part of him wanted to climb higher, just to make Su Tart work harder.
“Um, I’m just strong like that? Not like a noob would understand.”
It took about ten minutes for Su Tart to reach Luisgamercool23. Honestly, Luis was surprised the noob could do it at all.
“Whew..” Su Tart leaned against the tree once he finally got onto the branch. “That was a serious workout!”
“Uh… huh…” Luis replied incredulously, scooting imperceptibly away from him. Su Tart reeked of bacon grease and sweat.
“I’m glad you let me hang out with you. People are usually so mean to me. All because I’m a noob…”
How are you bullied for being a noob? Luisgamercool23 thought. Literally everyone but me in this town is a noob.
He felt a bit bad for Su Tart. Wait– bad? God, no. He didn’t feel bad. He bullied noobs all the time. He hated how fake and annoying they were. Luis shifted, feeling a little awkward now. He tried to focus on other things– like the leaves rusting in the wind, or the faint laughs of a kid in the distance. But nothing really made Luis ignore how Su Tart was bullied.
“That… um. That sucks,” Luis finally said after a minute of silence. “You don’t– um, you don’t seem too bad, anyways. Anyone who bullies you is the noob.”
Luis froze. Why the hell did he just say that? Su Tart was a noob. A noobish noob. Why was he– why was he COMFORTING the thing? Self disgust broiled up in Luisgamercool23’s gut. He crossed his arms, looking away.
“My mom left because my dad and I ware noobs,” Su Tart said. “I never really understood why.”
“Uhm–” Why was Su Tart trauma dumping on Luis?? He didn’t know what to say. Luckily, Su Tart kept talking.
“It’s like… why am I less of a person because Im a noob? It’s not fair. Not fair at all.”
“...”
“But I doubt you get that.” Su Tart looked away. “You’re– well, you’re Luisgamercool23, right? God, I wish I was born with cool in my name.”
Luis couldn’t look into Su Tart’s eyes. He stared at the ground, which was a couple feet below his dangling legs. An old, unknown feeling was starting to replace his self-disgust. He couldn’t name it. His chest tightened, like his lungs were being squished together by a pair of invisible talons.
Stop thinking too hard about it, Luis, he chided himself internally. It’s just a noob.
A noob with the sweetest smile, the kindest eyes, the biggest heart–
Shut. Up.
“Yeah, I’ve always been cool,” Luis finally said, looking over to Su Tart with a cocky smirk. “Too cool to be bullied, ya know?” He ran a hand through his blond hair. “Anyways, um, I should probably be going now.”
“Oh, oka! Bye, Luisgamercool23! I’ll subscribe to you on youtube.”
“Pfft, you, um, you better!” Luis swung off of the branch, sliding down the trunk like it was a fireman’s pole until he hit the ground. Leaving Su Tart up in the tree, Luisgamercool23 walked home.