Chapter Text
“Damn, that guy's tall,” Johnny's eyes widened as he looked towards the entrance of the cafeteria.
“Hm?” Simon turned around to follow Johnny's gaze, “Bloody hell, he's taller than me.” It was midfall and unusual for a new student to join the school now. But here this new guy was, tall, wide frame, with a black face mask, a long sleeve shirt under a t-shirt, and jeans.
“He covers his face like you, black mask,” Kyle spoke up, “you wear a gaiter, though.”
Simon nodded, slowly turning back to face Johnny and Kyle, “Do you know who that is? I'm sure I would've noticed him by now.” Simon glanced back over his shoulder.
“Oh, yeah, he goes by… König? I doubt that's his real name, but you know, whatever. He's here from Austria,” Kyle took a big bite of his pasta. He had home-lunch more often than not, having the luxury of time to pack home lunches. Simon got his school lunches paid for by the government, and Johnny was just too lazy to wake up earlier to pack a lunch.
“Are you guys doing anything this weekend? I was thinking of…” Johnny and Kyle talked as Simon zoned out. They were adding to the buzz of constant noise in the large cafeteria.
Simon kept thinking about this “König” guy, it wasn't every day a new kid showed up, especially one who wasn't from the UK. With that height, he probably played sports and was probably not interested in theater, not even theater tech or backstage. If he wasn't going to be in any of Simon's classes, König and Simon would probably never cross paths. Probably for the better, Simon didn't need another annoying jock in his life. He scanned the cafeteria again, looking for him, König was nowhere to be seen. Simon frowned. Did he leave to eat in private? Was he protective of his face? Why did he even wear that mask? Was he sick? Insecure? Maybe he wore it simply because he liked it, like Simon. Or he could be a criminal hiding from the cops. He could've committed mur- Stop being so judgmental of people before you know them, Simon.
“Si, do you wanna come?” Johnny asked, bringing Simon's attention away from his downward spiral of ‘what-ifs’ and paranoia.
“Hm? What are we doing?”
Johnny sighed, and Kyle tsk’ed him. It was far from the first time Simon had gotten lost in thought and missed what was being said. “Do you wanna come to the mall after school today with me and Johnny? Just to wander around?” Kyle clarified.
“Oh, I have to talk to Ms Greene about me still being stage manager and such after school. And then I have work. Sorry.”
“It's all good.” Kyle shrugged.
-
At the end of the school day, Simon walked into Ms Greene's room, freezing when he saw König there.
“Oh! Simon, let me introduce you to someone.” Ms Greene beckoned Simon forward, toward König. “This is Klaus! Klaus, this is Simon, he's the stage manager for the theatre! You two are in the same year.” Well, that answered his question; Kluas, König, whatever the guy's name is, gave him a brief nod. “Klaus here was just asking me if we had ballroom dancing! He's a ballroom dancer! That's just marvellous, isn't it?” Ms Greene beamed with every word.
Ballroom dancing, huh. That was certainly an interesting hobby, or sport, I guess, “Yeah… That's cool.” Simon nodded weakly.
“Anyway, I'm sorry, Dear, but I really don't know of any place for ballroom dancing.” Ms Greene placed her hands delicately over her heart.
“It's okay, thanks anyways. Have a good day, Ms Greene, uhm, you also…, Simon.” König walked away; his voice had an accent, but it wasn't very thick, and it was higher than Simon expected.
“You have a good day too, Klaus!”
“You also…” Simon watched him leave.
König walked out of the classroom; Simon could hear his footsteps against the tiled floor.
“So what did you want to ask me, Simon?”
“I wanted to ask if I was going to be stage manager for the theatre productions this year?”
“Of course! Nobody else is quite as fit for the job as you, Simon. I'll email you about any new information about the shows, okay?”
Simon nodded, “Okay.”
“Great! I'll see you soon!”
“Bye. Have a nice day.” Simon walked off.
-
Simon was walking home from school, pulling his black zip-up hood up, and pulling the sleeves down further. It was early November and already fucking freezing. He looked up from the pavement, expecting to see the crosswalk-crossing traffic light; instead, he was met with König. Why was this guy everywhere? Simon stopped a few steps away from him, not wanting to have another unnecessary interaction.
König looked around, spotting Simon, his eyes widening. “I, uh, didn't see you there… You're awfully quiet, like a ghost.”
Simon holds back a loud exhale, “I get that.”
“Simon, right?”
“Yeah.”
“König.”
“I know.” Simon adjusts his gaiter, thankful he wore his warm, plain black one instead of his usual thin, skull one. He shivered slightly.
“Cold?”
“Yeah.”
König hummed in acknowledgement. They stood in awkward silence until the crosswalk light turned green.
“See you tomorrow, then,” König said, turning left on the other side of the street as Simon walked straight.
Simon nodded.
Despite being the one to start the conversation, König seemed… awkward. With Ms Greene, he didn't make eye contact with her or Simon, and he barely looked at him at the crosswalk.
-
“Si? You up?” Tommy, Simon's younger brother, opened the door to Simon's room.
“Yeah?” Simon lifted his head from his hand. He was currently sitting at his desk doing homework. He could barely focus on it, the words on the paper going in and out of focus, his eyelids felt heavy. He checked his phone screen, “Tommy, it's 11, you should be asleep.”
“So should you.”
“I'm not the one in year 8.”
“Whatever. Mum and Dad are fighting and I can hear them in my room.”
Simon sighed, turning away from the papers and book on his desk. “Spare mattress is under my bed; tell me if it's flat.”
Tommy pulled the mattress from under Simon's bed. Bedding was still on it; it stayed on pretty much all the time. Tommy probably slept in Simon's room or at his friends’ house more than in his own.
“Good night,” Tommy tucked himself in under the covers, “Sleep soon.”
“G’night.”