Chapter Text
“Yeah, and did you hear about Sam G? Apparently he—”
“I think Lizzie started dating that gamer boy..”
“Oh, you mean—”
“…and Mr. Goodman are hooking—”
Aphmau’s feet are heavy as she walks up the steps. After a full year of homeschool, living with her extended family, being entirely surrounded by people her age feels strange, like she’s a penguin in the lion exhibit.
“Duck!” Somebody shouts and Aphmau tucks her head down for a moment. A football flies over her head and a red-headed werewolf boy rushes past.
“You almost hit me!” She squeals at him.
He stops in front of her and laughs, the first thing she notices is that his eyes are mismatched, “sorry, cutie. You’ll be alright.” He says, after flicking his eyes from the top of her hair to her shoes. The werewolf boy runs a hand through his hair, smiles at her, then jogs back to his friends. She tracks him with her eyes to a few other werewolf boys that are throwing jabs at each other and howling in laughter.
Passing them by, she sees a group of students that look older than her sitting on the wall, some familiar in a way Aphmau can't place. It’s lively, most of the students look excited. Happily hugging each other and taking selfies with grins and giggles. Some sitting off to the side, face tucked into their phones.
She pulls her shoulders into herself, walking towards the doors with shuffled steps. Everybody has somebody. A friend, she thinks seeing a group of girls all run up to each other. A partner, she muses when seeing a nerdy looking blonde girl jump into a brown haired boy’s arms. Aphmau sighs, head drooping to the ground. She slides her hand into the pocket of her skirt, pulling out her phone to send a quick message to FC about how alone she feels.
Aphmau swallows the tight feeling in her throat. She isn’t really sure who she’s going to see here, their new house is closer to the Ro’meaves, so they’re finally going to the same school. At her old house, she would’ve gone to Stargrove High, one of the many other schools in the local district. Part of her is glad that moving back to Ru’aun from Kar’nos means she attends the same school as her childhood best friends. Her brothers.
Distracted, her eyes fall to her purple shoes. She’s quite thankful that the school uniform is so expressive. It was honestly fun dressing herself up for school. Fashion has always been one of Aphmau’s interests, ever since she was little and dressed up for fun. She’s reminded of those photos in the album where she–
Embarrassment creeps up her chest when she trips over a foot and lands hard against someone’s back. Stumbling away, voice low and rapid, “Oh my Irene! I am so sorry—I didn’t mean to—I-I wasn’t looking and-and I tripped—” she covers her face with her hands, wanting to crawl into the ground and die. “Please forgive me, I—”
Laughter. Somebody is laughing at her. The embarrassment quickly grows into humiliation and spins into anger even faster. Aphmau wants to give this guy a piece of her–
“Aphmau?” A sweet, familiar voice says.
Huh? She looks up and the anger dissolves into joy. “Garroth!” Aphmau exclaims, looking up into kind, blue eyes.
He’s taller than she remembers, yet his face is still warm and loving. The spectrum of freckles dusted across his face exactly the same, but his hair a little longer. No matter that, she thinks. Launching herself off the concrete, she slings her arms over Garroth’s shoulders.
He wraps his arms around her back tightly, laughing softly in her ear. Once he spins her around—like he always has—Garroth sets her down, leaving little space between them. “Oh wow! Aphmau, you’re so beautiful! You always have been, but not seeing you for a year…you’ve grown.” Garroth smiles proudly at her, squeezing his hands on her shoulders like he can’t believe what he’s seeing.
Aphmau thumps Garroth in the arm, hard enough for him to feel it but not hard enough to hurt, face feeling red, “I’ve grown?!” She deflects, huffing, “You’re so much taller! And you let your hair grow out!” Her hand reaches up to touch it, he’d finally grown it past his ears the way she told him too. “I nearly couldn’t recognise you!”
Shaking his head to settle his hair, Garroth grins, “Well shucks, Aphie. You can hardly recognise someone if you’re covering your eyes.” He teases. Garroth rubs his arm where she hit it, then quickly draws her head into his elbow and tussles her hair with his fists. “Payback!” He proclaims.
Shoulders coming up to shove away Garroth’s arms, he lets her go and she steps backwards. Aphmau crosses her own arms over her chest and she narrows her eyes up at Garroth. “Excuse me! I got nervous!” She defends, squinting where the sun gleams over his blond tresses. “It’s my first day of high school and–”
He beams, teeth bright and eyes screwed up, “Aph, I know.” Garroth tugs her into his arms once more, her head landing flat into his red uniform sweater vest. “You’re my little sister, alright?” His voice softens, “you’ve got no reason to fret with me.”
Warmth blooms in her chest. Garroth sounds honest, as if he’s been waiting for ages to say that, and honestly he probably had. “Okay.” Aphmau squeezes him firmly, inhaling the familiar, fresh scent of Zianna’s favourite laundry detergent and relaxing in his hold. Everything is always easy with her brothers.
The two step away at the same time and Garroth pushes his hand through his hair, “I had no idea you were back.” He murmurs, disappointment tracing his tone. “I would’ve thought my mum might mention when you and Aunt Sylvanna returned.” Garroth’s vision drifts away for a moment, “if I’d known, I’d have driven you with Zane and Vylad!”
Nodding, Aphmau vaguely remembers Vylad going to O’khasis Prep. Garroth had been enrolled there for a couple months his freshman year, but dropped out into public school because private school was too exclusive for him. Zane never went there at all.
“We’ve been a little busy moving and unpacking. It’s exhausting.” Aphmau stretches out her arms and yawns. “Neither of us have really done much, so I guess she’s been forgetting to call Auntie Zianna.”
Nodding his head, Garroth tugs at his bowtie, slanting it diagonally. “Mum’ll be thrilled to have the two of you over again finally.” He laughs loudly, and at Aphmau’s confused look, Garroth clarifies, “she’s missed you a lot, Aph. She hasn’t stopped talking about ‘her girl’.”
Auntie Zianna had always been extra doting on Aphmau. Since they were kids she’s made it extra clear Aphmau was another one of her kids, a daughter to her. And Sylvanna told the Ro’meave boys her house was always open to them. There’s never been a time it wasn’t this way.
“I’ve missed her too.” Aphmau murmurs.
“Have you seen anybody else you know?” Garroth asks, curious.
Aphmau shakes her head. “No…I don’t think I’ll know many people here since I went to Faircoast.” Faircoast Middle School wasn’t that far away, but it didn’t feed into Phoenix Drop High. She mindlessly adjusts Garroth’s gold bowtie, “I might have Zane in some of my classes, though.”
A strange look flushes Garroth’s face, “I uh, should tell you…” he trails off weirdly. Aphmau prompts him to continue by tilting her head. “Zane has…changed since the last time you saw him.” He visibly cringes at the thought, his face screwing up, gaze fluttering to the fountain beside them.
“What do you mean he changed?” Aphmau presses unsurely. Zane has always been her best friend, that could not have changed.
Frowning, Garroth speaks, “lately he’s been—”
“Garroth!”
Both of them look at the voice, coming somewhere from behind Garroth.
By the staircase there’s a guy waving widely at Garroth with a goofy looking smile. Aphmau thinks he looks familiar, his hair is brown. Does she know many brown haired boys? Not that she can name…
“Coming, Laurance!”
Oh! Garroth mentioned him before!
Waving before turning back to face Aphmau, there’s now a rosy tint blossoming on his cheeks.
“Sorry Aphie, I’ve gotta go.” His lips pull into his cheeks, pressing together narrowly, “if anybody gives you a hard time, let them know the Great Garroth Andrew Ro’meave is your big brother!” He declares smugly, flexing his arms.
Aphmau giggles and when Garroth opens his arms, she lets herself be grabbed by him for another quick hug, “Got it!”
Garroth gently kisses the top of her head and releases her. “Love you, Aph.” And begins to walk away.
With a devious grin on her face she shouts back, “love you too, GarGar!”
A loud laugh bursts from Garroth, and he looks back, still walking to his brunet friend—Laurance, “that’s no fair!”
Pride thuds in her chest as she moves towards the front doors of the school. She grasps for her phone in her pocket—the pockets still make her so happy she wants to squeal—to check if FC messaged her back. Stopping in front of the doors she smiles.
FC [7:42AM]
⤷ Hey sorry, my dad was giving me another
lecture about “proper behaviour” 🙄.
[reply to: “i feel really alo…”]
⤷ Shu, you’ve always got me.
Shuki [7:46AM]
[reply to: “Hey sorry…”]
don’t worry, about it fc :) ⤶
like you said, you’ve always got me, too ⤶
FC [7:46AM]
⤷ 8D
Shuki [7:47AM]
you know how much i hate that
stupid face you jerk.. ⤶
FC [7:47AM]
⤷ 8D
Aphmau snorts, her free hand coming up to cover her mouth. FC’s such an idiot…her thumbs fly across the screen to send him a message saying exactly that when her hands fall empty. Phone clattering onto the concrete, Aphmau sputters, eyes baring at the ground with horror, it doesn’t look broken but she can check that later. Her texts with FC are on full display, heat finds her face like a tracker dog. Hurriedly she picks it up and rounds on the guy who walked into her.
He’s tall, maybe the same height as Garroth. And his eyes are this deep, deep black that’s honestly really—not the point. “What was that?!” She scoffs accusingly, pointing a finger into his chest. “You knocked my phone out of my hands, you jerk!”
The guy peels his eyes away from her phone to look at her, this odd look in his eyes she can’t describe. He scrunches his eyebrows at Aphmau, and when she sticks her head out, over him already, he looks her up and down and rolls his eyes. “Whatever, Freshman.” He grunts, voice deep and gruff.
Aphmau opens her mouth to retort, but he’s long gone before any words come to her. What a jerkface.
FC [7:49AM]
⤷ You alright, Shu?
⤷ Sorry…Did I upset you…?
Shuki [7:50AM]
no!! not your fault at all :) ⤶
FC [7:50AM]
⤷ Okay…
Shuki [7:50AM]
i’m just kinda nervous.. public school
again after a year is scary.
what if i don’t like any of my
teachers or i don’t make friends..? ⤶
FC [7:51AM]
⤷ Shu.
Shuki [7:51AM]
uh oh.. ⤶
FC [7:52AM]
⤷ Shu, you are the friendliest and kindest person I’ve ever met.
If people don’t see that? They’re blind. I struggle to make friends,
but you were so easy to get to know. [💜]
⤷ I have never met anybody more honest and generous and funny.
⤷ And sometimes teachers just suck. It’s not a big deal,
just try to do well in their classes, alright? High school isn’t easy
and just jumping into it won’t be easy either.
If you need any help with anything, I can try, okay?
Shuki [7:54AM]
fc.. that means so much
more than you know… thank you. [❤️] ⤶
FC [7:54AM]
⤷ I wasn’t lying, Shu.
⤷ I have to go, there’s some stuff
I need to sort out with my teachers.
Shuki [7:54AM]
okay talk later!! :) ⤶
FC [7:54AM]
⤷ Bye!
FC’s words sunk into Aphmau. She’d never thought of herself the way he had described, and the thought that he feels that way about her plays an unfamiliar tune on her heart strings.
Aphmau stops in front of the main doors of the schools. Something reminds her of what her mother had told her that morning.
“Mija, I scheduled all your classes but I wasn’t able to find out your schedule or get it printed out for you. You’ll need to visit the office and find out.” Her mom had said.
“Sure, Amá.” Aphmau had rolled her eyes, barely listening.
Quickly deciding she should enter the building, her hand reaches for one of the handles and tugs. The door doesn’t budge. A little panicked she pulls harder, is the door broken? “Oh my Irene. What did I do?” She mutters under her breath.
Her hand slips off the door in a panic and she steps back, fully prepared to flee the scene of the crime. A low voice laughs mockingly beside her. “That door’s been broken for years, Freshman.” He sneers. Unable to tell if she should be slightly offended, Aphmau glances up to a tall, dark haired figure. Hair shaggy, yet neatly combed to frame his face. He leans against the door, towering above her, black eyes peering down at her.
“I’m a sophomore.” Aphmau furrows her brow. “I’m just short—but—ugh. That doesn’t matter.” She huffs, “who even are you?” Aphmau accuses him.
He rolls his eyes, “not important, short stack. I’m a senior.”
Though briefly offended, Aphmau offers her hand. “I’m Aphmau.”
“Did you say Aphmeow…?” He looks down at her hand with a grimace. Pink blooms along her cheeks and she drops her hand instantly.
“No, it’s Aphmau—”
“That’s too hard, I’m just gonna call you Kitty.”
“That’s not my name.” Annoyance sprouts from the base of her spine, weaving like vines and splitting, growing around her ribcage.
“It’s not?”
“No—and has anybody ever told you that you’re really rude?” The vines tuck under her shoulder blades and dig into the muscle.
“Only everyday, Kitty.”
Aphmau rolls her eyes, “what do you even want from me?” They curl around her arms and spread away at the fingertips.
“You’re cute, and you could be of use to me.” His hair casts an ominous shadow over his eyes.
“What do you mean of use…?” Thick in her throat, she tries to swallow it away.
“Unimportant right now, Kitty. Just tell me, how do you know Garroth?” His hand breaches his hair, then falls firmly on Aphmau’s shoulder.
“Well–” she scrunches her shoulders to push him off, a foot moving backwards in time.
“Leave her alone, Gene.” A pretty, curly haired girl walks over and steps between them. She looks back at Aphmau and smiles faintly, then pushes herself into Gene’s space.
Mimicking a sad sound, Gene darkens, voice lowering while he tilts forward, steadying himself well above her. “What’s the fun in that, Teony?” Barely loud enough for Aphmau to make out. Arms falling across his chest amidst his sneer.
Teony straightens her body, her height doesn’t compare to Gene, yet her chin juts forward and eyebrows furrow, “You can prey on the Freshmen later when they aren’t so meek and impressionable and can see what an absolute ass–”
Gene raises his hands in defeat, “hey, hey, T. I concede, I get it.” He shrugs, tossing a look to Aphmau. “I’ve got class to get to.” A dark look twists his face, mouth splitting, baring teeth, he sets in the direction of Aphmau. His elbow pointedly bangs her shoulder, his feet plant and he turns his head, bending to whisper in her ear, “later, Kitty.”
The vines squeeze around her body and she shivers as they release, stomach seizing, nausea climbing her stomach, she squares herself to Teony, noticing the dark golden flecks in her eyes. “You’re pretty.” Aphmau blurts, surprise floods her, a panicked warble escapes her mouth.
Teony’s eyes widen, “oh, that’s very sweet of you.” She smiles politely, “but uh, you’re not exactly my type.” Aphmau wants to crawl into a hole and die. “I hope Gene didn’t bother you too much?”
Hesitating and avoiding eye contact, Aphmau considers, “no.” She lies, “he was just a jerk.”
Teony sounds a hum, “a major jerk.” She agrees, and Aphmau snorts.
“Aphmau.” Aphmau’s eyes crinkle and her lips curl up. Reflecting her demeanour, Teony shakes her hand tightly.
“Teony.” The girl says, releasing Aphmau’s hand. “Are you a Freshman?” Although she says it politely, the amount of people who have been assuming that is getting on her nerves.
She inhales sharply. “No.” Her vowels pointed in the shape of a sewing needle, “I’m a Sophomore, but I moved here this Summer.” It’s a condensed version of her story, the whole ordeal is far too long to get into.
Nodding, Teony’s curls bob with her head. “Oh that makes sense. Are you ready for your first day at Phoenix Drop?” Her eyes are gleaming, clearly Teony is thrilled.
Nervous laughter spills from Aphmau, “something like that…” She admits, more truthful than she had intended. OhmyIrene she probably thinks I’m an idiot.
Eyebrows pinched together, Teony’s head tilts. “What’s wrong?”
Aphmau smiles tightly, “I don’t really wanna bother you too much…” she shakes her head.
“Nonsense, Aphmau!” Teony steps towards her, extending her arm. “It’s kind of my job.” A light giggle surfaces in pride.
Brows pinching, “What do you mean?” A breeze ruffles her hair, and she smooths it down.
Teony’s voice is high and happy while she explains, “I’m a mentor here which means I get to help other students if they need it!” She points to a gold band around her arm adorned by a phoenix emblem.
Aphmau tilts her head. That is really helpful. “Oh! Well then…I still haven’t gotten my schedule yet but my mom told me I'd get it when I got to school.” She says cautiously, “And I never got a proper tour so I’m gonna get super lost.” She tacks a laugh on at the end.
Teony nods understandingly. “No need to worry, Aphmau! Plenty of students don’t have their schedules yet. Those who do only have theirs if a parent asks ahead of time. The rest get it from their homeroom teacher on the first day.” She gestures for Aphmau to follow her into the building, through the working doors. “Teachers don’t start marking tardies until midway through the second week, so with getting lost you have no need to worry.”
Comfort settles in her chest, “That is relieving to hear…but I don’t know who my homeroom teacher is either.” Aphmau looks past Teony into the school. Flooded with people. Lots of people.
“If you go to the cafeteria there should be a place for you to receive that information! If you go down there,” Teony points into the building with a wide swing of her hand. “Walk straight ahead, you’ll eventually end up in the cafe!”
Half-perplexed, half-faking-understanding, Aphmau points her feet in the direction that Teony is pointing her to. Her head peers over her shoulder to the disappointment of Teony shaking her head.
“I have to be on my way.” Teony sighs, “But please, ask another mentor or a teacher if you have any questions!” She beams and opens her arms up to Aphmau.
Stepping forward, she hugs Teony tightly and Teony whispers little words of encouragement into the space around them. They fill Aphmau’s heart with relief and a slight excitement. I can do this! She giggles at that thought, turning away from Teony and into the flock of wild students. A deep breath. She’s got this.
“Uhm, excuse me Sir!” Aphmau chimes into a room of hundreds of students lined up neatly in front of informational booths.
An older looking teacher with neatly slicked back hair glances over his shoulder, “ah, hello, young lady!” He steps over his own feet to face Aphmau, “what can I help you with?”
She curls her hand into her palm, running her fingers over her thumb knuckle. “I uh…need to find out who my homeroom teacher is.” Aphmau says, voice not completely certain.
The teacher nods, hand reaching up to his face to stroke his beard. “You’re a Freshman?”
“Sophomore,” Aphmau corrects. Why does everyone think I’m a Freshman??
His brows furrow, “then it should be the same as your homeroom teacher last year.” He says, adjusting his glasses.
Shrugging her backpack, Aphmau averts from his dark eyes, “I moved here over the Summer…”
He hums, the noise filling the short silence. “You should hop into the Counseling line.” Aphmau raises her eyes to his face, and he strokes his beard, seemingly in thought. “They’ll be able to fill you in on what you need to know. If that doesn’t work, come find me again.” He says quickly, turning away to talk to another student.
Borderline dumbfounded, Aphmau scans the stall names, ID… REGISTRATION… COUNSELING! Aha! Entering the end of the line, Aphmau impatiently reaches for her phone. Nothing. Her lips curl down, head drooping while she thumbs across her phone and opens messages.
Aphmau [7:58AM]
zaaaanne!!! ⤶
lmk your schedule when you get it :3 ⤶
Read 7:58AM
“Move!”
Some jerk behind her taps her shoulder and gestures forward. Bristling, Aphmau squeaks an apology and stumbles to the front of the line. A table stands between her and a short, black haired woman. On the table is a silver computer next to a stack of red packets.
“How may I help you?” A thick red and gold lanyard hangs around the ladies neck, embroidered with a purple phoenix, at the clip is a purple and gold ID card. Under an image of her face is her name. Aphmau blinks to the card and then to the lady.
Clutching the straps of her bag tightly, Aphmau says, “I don’t have the information for my homeroom teacher.”
Mrs. Carr, as the card had read, nods and pulls the computer to the edge of the table. “Could you tell me your last name, Miss?”
“Shalashaska.” Then, Aphmau spells out her name for the lady while her hold on her bag softens.
Keys clack for a few seconds, and some clicking before Mrs. Carr looks up, “Aphmau?”
Aphmau affirms by humming.
“Your homeroom teacher is Mrs. Peacock, she’s in the West wing, room 318.” Aphmau blankly stares and after a moment, Mrs. Carr laughs. “You don’t know where that is, do you?”
Aphmau shakes her head and Mrs. Carr grabs one of the red packets and gestures for Aphmau to lean forward. On the first page is a grainy black outline of the building. “We’re here,” she points to the very center of the image, a pixelated printed cafeteria dead center. She picks up a blue pen and draws a line to an open extension on her right, “This is the west wing,” she circles a small incline symbol, “take both flights of these stairs up to the third floor and walk down the wing.”
Hesitantly, Aphmau nods and says thank you. She leaves the line and looks around the cafeteria. There’s an exit directly marked with W that Aphmau can only assume is the west wing. Before she starts off, she pulls out her phone and scrunches her face. Zane still hasn’t texted her back, having left her on read. That was…abnormal for Zane, they always had been very close. Aphmau admits they haven’t talked in a while, but she’s been busy and so has he!
Brushing past a group of girls, Aphmau ponders. Likely, they’ll have a couple classes together. He probably is just waiting until he gets his schedule! Yeah! Aphmau smiles and looks down at her map. Maybe this year won’t be too bad.
Hallway tiles squeak under her shoes and Aphmau is…lost. It’s the same endless hallway that she’s been walking down, the same dirty floor and the same red and gold striped walls continuously lined with barren black lockers. Aphmau has no idea how long she’s been wandering around for, she’s already gone up two flights and down one. Can’t remember how to get back to where she started. What room was she even supposed to go to?
Staring down the empty hallway, the sound of the bell echoes in her head. Worry seeps into her stomach, twisting it hard. Blinking, she takes a deep breath and focuses. Where did she come from? She turns around but it all looks the same, a reflection of the opposite direction. Aphmau uncrumples the map from her hands, but it’s practically unintelligible. The heel of her hand digs into her forehead, the sensation relieving nothing.
Frustration bursts out of her in a noise and she collapses against the wall of lockers. Aphmau heaves off her backpack and slides down the cool metal. Her forehead hits her knees and she whimpers. I don’t wanna be here anymore. Her arms limp over her legs and she grabs her own wrist, head turning further in, blocking the light from her eyes. A sob chases her chest and bounds out her throat.
Faint footsteps grow louder, as if coming towards her. The sound stops and a smooth voice reaches out.
“Hey, are you alright?”
Air rushes into her lungs, and she swallows the thick, heavy weight in her throat. “Not really…I’m trying to find my homeroom and the bell already rung and—”
“Freshman?”
Defeated, Aphmau shakes her head against her knees. The effort to be frustrated falling from her in the tears landing on her thighs, “Sophomore…just…lost…”
He laughs and though that should feel mocking, it’s not, “I’ve been there, where’s your homeroom? I’ll help you find it.”
Aphmau can feel the pressure of him stepping towards her where her shoes bare into the ground. Lifting up her head, the hallway is a blur of creams and red and gold from the swell of tears. Aphmau pulls her sleeve into her hand, scrunching it up and dabbing her eyes. Though her sightline remains slightly blurry, she reaches for his hand.
She laughs, voice half-broken from the strain of crying. “Thank you…that would be–” standing up, her eyes meet his. His face is handsome-–brown hair swooping down over his face neatly framing his mottled green and blue eyes…he kinda looks like– “Laurance??” Aphmau squeaks, stepping backwards and dropping his hand.
His heterochromatic gaze widens, “You know me?” He crosses his arms and squints, leaning forward towards her, “you do look familiar…what’s your name?”
“Aphmau—I’m Garroth’s sister!” Aphmau says, touching the lockers with her shoulder blades.
Recognition blooms in Laurance’s eyes, “Aphmau! Garroth talks about you all the time!”
Aphmau rolls her eyes despite the grin on her face, “he does?”
Laurance agrees brightly, “and shows me photos of you,” he dips her head closer to hers, “you’re definitely as cute as your pictures.”
A weird feeling coasts into Aphmau’s stomach, “Oh, uh. Thank you…?”
“You’re welcome!” Laurance says, stepping away from her. “Now, hey, let me help you get to your homeroom.” He gestures into the hallway for Aphmau to follow and she does, “who’s your homeroom teacher?”
“Mrs. Peacock, West 318?” She prompts, not entirely sure.
His eyebrows shoot up, “Oh! Mrs. Peacock is super chill, she won’t mind that you’re late.” Aphmau focuses on Laurance’s face while he mentally figures out how to get there. “Let’s get you there now.” Aphmau picks up her backpack and shrugs it over her shoulder, reaching her legs over to Laurance.
A silence settles over them, nothing but their shoes hitting the floor and the occasional throat-clearing. Aphmau can’t tell if it’s awkward or comfortable. She’d bet on the former. Her mouth opens slightly in an attempt to break the quietness yet words evade her. Instead, Aphmau chances glancing over at Laurance who has his hands shoved in his pockets, gaze directed down the hallway. What is she even supposed to say? Uncertainty creeps into her chest, exhaling hard into a sigh.
Laurance stops. “I’m sorry.”
“Huh?” She half-trips from pausing so suddenly.
Aphmau steadies herself and faces Laurance in confusion. He pulls his arms to his sides and laughs softly.
Laurance rubs his face with the heel of his hand, “For that comment I made, it was weird.” He smiles, lips downturned apologetically. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh.” Aphmau clears her throat, flicking her eyes to the floor. “It’s okay.”
“No it’s not.” Laurance sighs, “I’m kind of a flirt like that and I just—sometimes I don’t realise what I’m saying.”
She blinks at him and he blinks back. Laurance dips his head and takes a step in the direction they’d previously been moving, she follows. A silence settles over them again, one that Aphmau’s not sure what to do with. Her decision is to speak.
“Well,” she clears her throat. “Thank you for apologising.”
He just nods, hands in his pockets, and keeps walking. “Over there, when I was a Freshman, someone released a bag of snakes.” He gestures with his head.
Aphmau laughs, surprised. “Garroth told me about that.” She smiles, “got any more stories?”
“A few.” He grins.
Eventually, Laurance stops in front of a pale, wooden door with a large plate next to it. Aphmau scans over it W318 PEACOCK: AP CW / EH11 / APLIT. Before Aphmau can ask any questions, Laurance speaks.
“Okay, this is it. Think you’ve got it now?” His eyes are warm on Aphmau, directing a sunlit spotlight onto her. Exposing in a way, but not embarrassing.
She shakes her head, “Not really…but I’ll figure it out!” A determined look rises on her face, then a little softer, “Thank you, Laurance.” She murmurs. For more than just helping her to her class.
“Anytime!” He doesn’t deflect it, his words more of a reminder of his company. His good company. “I’ll see you around?” Laurance asks, more of an assumption than a question.
The embrace of his eyes alight a dim smile on Aphmau’s face, pulling on her cheeks and cradling her eyes. Her head tilts slightly and she nods.
“See you around.”
The room’s half empty when Aphmau bumbles through the door, and she feels a little better about herself. A mixed array of students across the desks. Timorous steps take her further into the classroom, where do I sit?! A voice of panic squeaks inside of her. How did she used to do this?? Aphmau can barely remember middle school anymore, and back then everything felt easier.
The flickering lights hang above Aphmau dauntingly. She looks to the ground and the floor grows leagues wider in front of her. Her skin prickles and involuntarily her arms cross to protect her body. Her breathing races the pace of her thoughts, only barely matching beat.
Darting eyes fall onto a poof of dark hair sitting in the far right of the back row. Is that…? Aphmau hurries towards the student and stops at the desk, dropping her backpack beside it. Sliding the chair away from the desk, she slips into the seat. Aphmau whips her head over to Zane, words about her already chaotic and messy day already spilling out. Only through her second sentence, without even looking at her, he gets up and walks to the other side of the classroom. Her eyes follow him to where he takes a seat in a secluded corner, stomach falling with him.
Did she do something? Worry creeps in through her breaths, they quicken. Has she talked to him too much? Talked too little? Made him not feel good enough? An outcast? Is there anything she could—
“I’m gonna wait another few minutes for the rest of the class to get here, then I’ll take attendance.” Mrs. Peacock interrupts Aphmau’s incessant stream of thoughts with words that are useless trying to weave into Aphmau’s head.
—do to change this? Make him feel better?
Groaning, Aphmau crosses her arms over the table and drops her head onto white cotton sleeves. Maybe she could just pretend she’s back home and fall asleep. But it’s her first day of class…that’s such a bad first impression. She wouldn’t get her schedule. Then she’ll be late to class. Then she’ll get lost. And be even later! Why is she even still laying down?! She needs to–
“Uh, excuse me?” A soft, low voice cuts through her thoughts. Her head lifts, eyes steadying on a friendly, apprehensive face. “Is anybody sitting here?” He asks, tucking his thumbs under his backpacks straps.
Aphmau lowers her sight to the desk and chair beside her. “Not anymore…” She says softly, almost imperceptibly, flicking her eyes up to the boy and then past him to Zane.
“Sooo…I can sit here?”
“Oh. Yeah, go ahead!” Aphmau says, unfocused.
“Thanks.”
Aphmau smiles politely at him, lips tight at the corners.
A moment passes in silence, broken by the guy. “I know literally nobody here, so really, thanks.”
Aphmau curiously turns to him, the smile on his face broken with turned down lips. He fluffs his hair, green eyes directed to the floor. “You don’t?” Aphmau breaches cautiously, patient for his response.
He inhales slowly, chest heaving widely. The words flow from him, “My dad and I…moved here from Gal’ruk this Summer.” Voice quiet and passive, a clement laugh, eyes screwed, he shakes his head. “It’s not that important, but that you’re even talking to me right now means a lot.” He glances back up to Aphmau, and honesty is fervent in the deep of his eyes, it’s a look Aphmau is rooted in sympathy for.
After a moment, Aphmau raises her voice to match his. “I know what you mean.” She smiles in the same clement way. His pale brows furrow at her, prompting her further. “I used to live in Ru’aun, but we moved and I got homeschooled in Kar’nos. I basically lost all my social skills.” It sparks a more genuine, bright sounding laugh from him.
“You lived around here?” He clarifies. Aphmau hums a light yeah, “Do you know anybody at this school then?”
Aphmau shakes her head at him, “I went to Faircoast— a middle school which is really far from here, so not really except for some family friends and their friends.” She pauses, reflects to the ground, and then back up to him. She smiles, but only slightly, “I’m pretty alone.”
Bursting out in excitement, he exclaims, “Hey, me too!” Gazes around the rooms flick to him and he shrinks into his chair awkwardly. Aphmau giggles and his eyes lift, twinkling under the absurdly yellowed lights, “Maybe we could be friends? If that’s okay with you?”
Scrunching her face, Aphmau says, “We don’t even know each other, I think we have to talk more before we can be friends.” There’s a teasing lilt in her voice, followed by a more seriously punctuated ending.
Visibly agreeing, his eyes bare into the ground in thought. “Then if we aren’t friends yet, what about something like…” He squints, then bounces his vision up to Aphmau and creates a rainbow in the air with open hands, slowly saying, “not alone buddies?”
Confused silence fills the space around them. Aphmau looks into his expectant, excited eyes. “What?”
He beams, teeth shining bright and glimmering. “Not alone buddies!” A question mark nearly pops up above Aphmau’s head, eyebrows raising almost to where it would be. “You’re alone, and I’m alone! Together we’re not alone, and we’re buddies!” He says, as if the idea is better than sliced bread.
And to Aphmau, well. Yeah. It is.
She grins back at him. “Not alone buddies…I like that!” Her hand rockets into the air and he meets her hard. A loud thwack sounds around the classroom, and Aphmau shakes her hand close to her body in pain. He shows her his hand, red from heel from fingertip and their eyes contact with laughter. Smiling, Aphmau opens her mouth and goes to speak, but—“Wait…how can we be not alone buddies when I don’t know your name?”
The corners of his lips twitch downwards, then his hair bounces on his head, “You make a good point.” Directing his fingers to his chest, “Name’s Travis, et toi?” Something bright glitters in the green of his eyes.
“Aphmau!”
“Aphmau…that’s really pretty, très jolie.” He adds like a garnish to his sentence.
Confusion brings Aphmau to a loss, mouth hanging open loosely. “You speak French?”
Travis shrugs, “Dabble in, my dad lived in France growing up so he speaks French a lot.”
Enthusiasm springs into her voice. “Same here! Well— my mom speaks Spanish all the time.” She leans towards Travis. “I understand what she’s saying all the time, I barely speak it. Or write it.”
Aphmau opens her mouth when a voice that’s not her own speaks instead, “okay everybody! Sorry to cut off your conversations, Sophomores. But it’s time for me to take role since our class this year has changed a bit.” Both Aphmau and Travis turn to the front of the room.
Mrs. Peacock shuffles some papers from behind her desk, “If I call your name, raise your hand or say here and correct me if I say anything wrong!”
Slowly, Mrs. Peacock reads through the list of students. Travis reaches into his backpack and Aphmau takes out her phone and checks her texts with Zane, flicking her fingers across the screen to send a text.
After calling all the names, Mrs. Peacock walks down the aisles between the seats. ““I’m going to hand out your schedules for this year, please go over them carefully and come to me if you have any issues.”
While a cropped paper lands on her desk, Aphmau distractedly looks over her shoulder to meet Zane’s eyes. To her dismay, he doesn’t look up.
Travis peers over Aphmau’s shoulder, “Think we have any classes together?”
Aphmau extends a hand out to Travis. “Show me your schedule?”
He slides the paper across his wooden desk and Aphmau pinches the corner in between her fingers. She holds them up beside each other and Travis’s finger jabs through the center of the papers, splitting them.
“Look! We have history together!”
“But that’s it…” the corners of Aphmau’s lips weigh down.
“And lunch, see? It says it down here!” He slings an arm over Aphmau’s shoulder.
Aphmau snorts, “Does that mean we’re not alone lunch-buddies?” Face bright, her eyes pulling tight from the width of her smile.
“I do indeed believe so!” He beams. A silence lulls between them while they both scan over their schedules, “you’re a werewolf?”
Aphmau furrows her brows. “Uh, no? Why would you think that…?”
He stares at Aphmau like it should be obvious. And when it isn’t, he says, “You’re taking Werewolf Studies? Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume anything.” Aphmau remains highly confused though, and so Travis elaborates. “ITWW?”
Her mouth drops open, “ITWW is Werewolf Studies?”
Travis snorts, “What did you think it was?”
Mrs. Peacock interjects into their conversation with two loud claps, the room falling silent. “Class! You’ll be dismissed in five minutes, so please look at your schedule so you know where to go for your first period!”
Aphmau shakes her head and directs her eyes back to Travis, “I don’t know…I just didn’t think about it I guess.”
He tilts his head, “Why would you choose a class you didn’t know?”
Rolling her eyes, she stretches her arms up. “My mom chose my classes, maybe she thought it was a different course.” She shrugs. “I’ll try to go get it changed.
Travis flicks his hand up, “You never know, it might really surprise you!” He shimmies his shoulders and leans forwards with a dumb grin. “Maybe you’ll meet the love of your life in that class.”
Aphmau sighs, “I really doubt that, Travis.”
“You never know!”
“I’m pretty sure I know.”
Aphmau narrows her eyes and stares down Travis. He returns her look the exact same. Faces stone cold and serious. Then. A sliver of a smile. Aphmau giggles, Travis exploding into laughter not a second later.
He confidently sets a hand on her shoulder. “Aphmau Middlename Lastname—”
“No middle name, Shalashaska.” Aphmau interjects.
“I think we are going to be very fast friends!” Travis beams.
“Not alone buddies.”
“Even better!”
Classes are still hard to find, and walking the halls alone has become lonely. For a moment, Aphmau found herself missing being homeschooled. Staying at home all day meant she got to play dinosaurs with her little cousins, or that her favourite cousin Zara would take her out to eat ice cream after she finished her science work. It didn’t mean feeling hopeless and alone, dragging her feet against the endless linoleum.
She missed her little cousin Mateo and how she’d let him be her backpack, she missed his twin sister Lola and how they would bake cookies for her second year class.
At the time, she remembered missing Garroth and beating him in Mario Kart. She had missed Zane and watching My Little Pony together in his room. She missed laying on Vylad’s floor while they both read.
But right now, Aphmau feels like she doesn’t even know herself anymore and everything feels wrong. She’s barely talked to Garroth, Zane wouldn’t even look at her, and she doesn’t even know what books Vylad likes to read anymore.
And—and, well. Travis is nice, he’s funny. But there’s no way Sylvanna would ever let Aphmau hang out with him outside of school. Irene, her life sucks.
She looks at her schedule with a pinched brow and stinging eyes. English…okay…she exhales. English is okay, it’s halfway through this mediocre school day. She can do this.
By the end of the school day, Aphmau’s pretty sure she’s got this whole thing down!
She managed to get to her last two classes with minimal confusion as to what halls lead where, something she’s very proud of and now that she’s finally at her last class, there’s forty minutes and the day is done. Next to what looks like a…reinforced steel door? Is a placard with the classroom information on it.
N213 GAVIN: ITWW / WWII / APWW.
This must be the class, she muses, looking back down at her paper that says Period 8: ITWW (N213)
Okay, well. Werewolf Studies, here we go!
She starts to walk forward but a firm hand grabs her shoulder and yanks her a foot backwards. Aphmau squeaks and spins, unstable from being yanked, but she faces a gruff looking brown haired werewolf boy. “What’s that for?” She puffs, pulling her shoulder away from him.
He stares at her plainly and points where she was about to walk. “Glass.”
Oh Irene. Her heart skips a beat.
The entire floor is covered in shiny shards of glass. Aphmau takes a step back and looks up at the classroom, the window that looks into the room is completely broken. There’s a massive hole with jagged edges protruding inwards. About five feet away from the window, and fifteen feet away from Aphmau herself, an unmoving werewolf boy lays on the ground.
“Irene!” She squeaks.
Her eyes flick around the floor, there’s no blood anywhere. Lucky for that boy…she frowns. At least she would’ve been able to provide some relief for that boy, perks of being a nurse’s daughter, she guesses. But he looks like he has some supervision…there’s what looks like an older, silver-haired werewolf man, and a tan-skinned, black haired boy. Hey, he kinda looks like the guy who walked into her earlier.
Stepping away from the door, she spots a group of werewolves clustered and whispering. No harm in asking, she thinks. “Excuse me? What…happened here…?”
A short white haired werewolf boy with white ears and almost pinkish-red eyes replies: “some human threw the Alpha through a window!” His tail wags, and eyes widen.
A werewolf girl with midnight colour hair and yellows ears and eyes, bounces on her toes to look at the scene.“Does this mean that human is Alpha now?”
“Even if he is, nobody’s gonna respect him. He’s a human.” The gruff looking, brown haired werewolf boy from earlier sighs.
Far, far outside her comfort zone, Aphmau shrinks away. Closing her shoulders and slinking into the classroom, past the swept up broken glass and into the danger zone. It’s not inaccurate to say that her hair has prickled at the fact a guy got thrown through a window for doing…what even?!
Her stomach squinges at that thought as she glances to the board in the front. Oh Irene. Her worst nightmare: no seating charts. Her heart picks up, stammering nervously. Where is she meant to sit? Who is she meant to sit with? What if someone was saving a seat for their friend and she takes it?? Everybody is gonna hate her—oh Irene oh Irene–
“Settle down, pups.” A commanding voice booms from behind Aphmau and she whips around. “I understand that this class has…started off traditionally, but let’s refrain from any hierarchy changes for at least until the second week of the term?” The silver-haired man who had been at the scene teases, one hand cascading through the air to emphasise his words, the other pressed to the black-haired boy’s back. The man whispers something in the boy’s ear and the boy walks with a heavy step all the way to the back of the classroom.
He addresses the whole class once again. “Now, please, everybody get to your seats.”
All the other students loudly fill in the desks. Backpacks are strewn on the floor, as if they’ve already made the room their home. And yet, Aphmau is left panicked and without a seat.
“Ah, young lady?” The teacher points at Aphmau, and a nervous beat flutters in her stomach. “Why don’t you sit in the back right, next to Mr. Reyes?”
Aphmau glances over her shoulder and winces. Oh Irene no. NOT him.
“Of course!” She chirps, and bounces begrudgingly to the back of the classroom, taking her seat next to ‘Mr. Reyes’ who exudes sadness and misery.
“Good afternoon, class!” The teacher sets a briefcase on his desk at the front of the room and plops down into the chair behind the desk. “I am Mr. Gavin and I will be your Intro to Werewolf Studies teacher for this following school year!”
Aphmau reaches into her backpack and pulls out a notebook and a sharpie. She labels this one Werewolf Studies and flips it open to the first page.
Mr. Gavin opens his briefcase and pulls a stack of papers out. “I’m going to take role in a couple of minutes and then hand out a worksheet. In the meantime, feel free to talk to the people around you!”
The rest of the class—comprised of twenty-one werewolves and three other humans, oh. Nevermind, their ears are out now. Twenty-two werewolves and two humans—are chattering amongst themselves. Aphmau shrinks in on herself because she’s one of two humans, the other being this rugged guy who threw a werewolf through a window. And of course she has to sit next to him. All five-foot-nothing of herself.
Is it stupid to try and talk to him? Aphmau taps her fingers on her skirt nervously. What’s the worst that could happen? He throws her out the window too? Okay, no that’s pretty bad, and he was a jerk to her earlier…but still, maybe he just needs a friend…?
Screw it, she’ll say hi, at least.
“Excuse me?” Aphmau says politely as she turns to him.
“What?” He grunts.
She puffs out a half-laugh, “well, my name is Aphmau and I was wondering if you–”
“If I what?”
“Wanted a friend...?” She sheepishly murmurs.
The jerk scoffs, “no, I’m not looking to have any friends.”
Aphmau’s heart falls in her chest. Why is he so mean? “Can I at least know your name? We’re gonna be sitting next to each other for a while…” She frowns while asking, prepared for another mean rejection.
The jerk just stares at the front of the class, completely ignoring her. Aphmau clears the swell of sadness out of her throat.
This day has been so consistently up and down. And now this jerk has really swung it in the wrong direction for her. Aphmau momentarily wishes she was bundled up in her room, wearing an oversized hoodie that used to belong to her dad watching Haikyuu, completely alone.
Instead, she takes her phone out of her skirt pocket, taps onto Discord and sends a quick text to her favourite person.
Shuki [2:47PM]
hey fc? ⤶
FC [2:47PM]
⤷ Shu? Is everything okay?
Shuki [2:48PM]
that was quick, i thought you’d be in class? ⤶
FC [2:48PM]
⤷ This teacher seems pretty relaxed about phones
Shuki [2:48PM]
oh :D okay! ⤶
FC [2:48]
⤷ You alright though?
Shuki [2:49PM]
yeah… just got sat to this guy who’s pretty mean >:( ⤶
FC [2:49PM]
⤷ Aw Shu…
⤷ I’m sorry
⤷ Can I make you feel better somehow?
Shuki [2:49PM]
wellllll maybe…… ⤶
FC [2:50PM]
⤷ Possibly….
Shuki [2:50PM]
DUNGEON??!?!?!? ⤶
FC [2:50PM]
⤷ DUNGEON!!!!!!!!
Shuki [2:50PM]
HEHEHEHEH ⤶
FC [2:51PM]
⤷ Of course, Shu
⤷ I’d love to. Tonight?
Shuki [2:51PM]
yes!! ⤶
Before Aphmau can send another text to FC to plan the timing, Mr. Gavin stands at the front of the class. “Okay students, these will be your seats for the rest of the school year.” Oh Irene… “I’m gonna create the seating chart as I take role, raise your hand and say here when I call your name.”
Aphmau sighs and leans back in her chair, she’s typically one of the last people to be called on because of her last name. She tunes out and resumes messaging FC.
Shuki [2:53PM]
how’ve you been today? ⤶
FC [2:53PM]
⤷ Good! I actually really like my classes so far.
Shuki [2:53PM]
oh?? what are taking? ⤶
you***** ⤶
FC [2:54PM]
⤷ Creative Writing, Philosophy, Guitar.
⤷ All my teachers seem pretty cool as well.
Shuki [2:54PM]
CREATIVE WRITING SOUNDS LIKE SO MUCH FUN!! ⤶
yoouuuuu should totallyy send me the stories you write!!!!! ⤶
FC [2:54PM]
⤷ I will!
⤷ What do your classes look like?
Shuki [2:54PM]
physics, algebra two, child development, art history,
those are the ones i’m really excited about!! ⤶
“Mr. Aaron Reyes?” Mr. Gavin calls from the front of the class.
“Here.” The jerk beside her says. He doesn’t even lift his eyes from his phone.
His name is Aaron, Aphmau thinks. At least I know that now.
FC [2:55PM]
⤷ Sounds fun!
⤷ So, when do you think you’ll be free for the dungeon?
“Miss Aphmau…er, Sha-luh-shass-kuh?”
Aphmau’s head snaps up. “Here! It’s Shalashaska.”
“Thank you.” Mr. Gavin hums and writes on his paper.
Shuki [2:56PM]
maybe liiike, 6 or 7? depends on
what time my mama makes dinner ⤶
FC [2:56PM]
⤷ Hm, does 7:30 sound good then?
Shuki [2:56PM]
yes yes yesss!!! ⤶
Mr. Gavin starts to walk between the aisles of the desks, Aphmau looks up and puts her phone in her lap. “Alright pups, I’m going to hand out a worksheet and I expect it to be filled out by the time that class ends. This gives you about twenty-five minutes to fill it out.”
Mr. Gavin sets two sheets down on Aaron’s desk for him to pass one off to Aphmau. He doesn’t. She has to reach over the table and grab it from him.
Irene, what a jerk.
The worksheet is simple for the most part, name, favourite colour, fun facts, etc. except about halfway down the questions shift to werewolf knowledge. What are the six subspecies of werewolves? How do werewolf family hierarchies function? Aphmau is stumped.
Well, obviously she doesn’t know any of this. She isn’t a werewolf—a glance to her left tells her that maybe it’s not a human problem, maybe it’s just her. Nearly all of Aaron’s paper is scrawled in very neat answers. Aphmau slumps in her seat and writes down a series of question marks as a stand-in for every answer. Tears well in her eyes, frustration tightening her chest. Irene, she hates that she doesn’t know the answers, she hates that she got sat next to this jerk, and she really hates that her mom signed her up for a class she has no reason to take.
Her phone buzzes in her lap and she rolls her eyes. She lifts it and at seeing the name, her heart settles a little.
garroth [3:01PM]
⤷ Hey Aph!
⤷ Let Auntie Sylvanna know I can drop you home today!
Aphmau [3:02PM]
:0000 ⤶
THAK YOU GARGAR!! ⤶
THANK*** ⤶
garroth [3:02PM]
⤷ Of course!
⤷ Meet me by the water fountain after school?
Aphmau [3:02PM]
got itttttt ⤶
Aphmau swipes out of their messages with a smile on her face and shoots off a text to her mom. Having no clue about the worksheet, Aphmau decides to sit on her phone for the rest of the class. Scrolling through video after video, completely bored.
She shoots off a few texts to FC and gets no response. But, whatever.
After what feels like an agonising year of sitting around, the bell finally rings and Aphmau collects her stuff and bolts to the door.
“Everybody, take a packet and annotate it. We’re turning them in on Friday, they’re your first points of the year.” Mr. Gavin shouts, passing out the packets while everybody walks out the door.
She takes one from his hand and pauses outside the classroom to stare at it. Thumbing through it, she finds twelve pages—front and back—going on and on about the different kinds of werewolves.
Irene. I need to swap out of the class before I lose my mind.
The sun tickles Aphmau’s skin while she walks out of the building. There’s a conflicting sense of accomplishment that sways in her stomach, because on the one hand Aphmau got through her first day mostly successfully, but on the other hand there’s a lot she’s not quite certain of. Like getting to her classes or making friends. Sure she has Travis, but they only have history and homeroom together. And well, okay, she did eat lunch with him, but he’s bound to make other friends and forget about her…right?
She drops her bag and it clonks to the ground, then sits on the edge of the fountain. It’s confusing, high school is overwhelming. But exciting? She’s not sure.
Most of Aphmau’s classes are great, she loves her art history class and english is so much fun for her, but Irene, werewolf studies is not her speed. She doesn’t want to have to annotate an eight page packet on werewolves. What could she possibly learn in this stupid class??
She wants to text FC and rant like crazy about this, but before she can, a heavy arm swings around her shoulders.
Garroth pecks her head. “Hey Aph! Let’s head, Zane’s in the car.”
“Garroth!” Aphmau laughs and stands, the fabric of her skirt tries to cling to the gritty stone of the fountain when she steps away. Her hand sweeps behind her to pull her skirt away and reaches down for her bag. “How was your day?”
Garroth beams, streaming through his golden hair with his hand. With the same hand, he quickly reaches for Aphmau’s bag, taking it before she can even think about it. “Good, thank you for asking. How is high school?”
Aphmau ponders, watching Garroth sling her bag over his shoulder and taking steps to catch up with him when he begins to walk. “It’s confusing,” she admits, “I don’t know if I’m quite…ready for it. You know?”
Garroth nods. “The jump you had going from middle school to home school to high school, it must’ve felt intense."
Aphmau agrees with a soft murmur.
They walk down the steps and in the parking lot and Aphmau slides into the backseat of Garroth’s bright blue convertible.
“Aphmau,” Garroth says, pulling the car out of the lot, “I’m gonna drop Zane home and then drop you home. Mum made some treats for Auntie Sylvanna she wanted me to bring over.”
“Okay!” Aphmau sing-songs. Thinking about having Garroth at her house makes her smile, the familiar scent of his vanilla and citrus cologne while they chat like they used to. The thought sounds good, familiar, comfortable. It brings a warm fuzz to her chest while her eyes drift out the windows.
The roads are unfamiliar, she muses. When she was younger, she used to know Faircoast so well she was able to visit the roads in her mind, pass through them like she was really there. It feels wrong for the drive to be this unfamiliar.
“Little brother, how was your first day?” Garroth asks.
Aphmau lifts her eyes and then quickly looks away. Part of her is still sore from her earlier conversation, or, well lack of conversation with Zane.
“Fine.” Zane replies.
Aphmau leans slightly forward and sees him slumped into the seat, scrolling on his phone.
Garroth clears his throat awkwardly, “Aphmau?”
Aphmau stares out the window and wonders on Garroth’s question for herself, her day has been a lot of things. Exciting, nervewracking, upsetting, frustrating, lonely, happy, boring. Aphmau meets his eyes in the rearview mirror and settles on long. “Tiring. Mostly like it wouldn’t end, I think.”
“Defintely can be that way.” Garroth agrees softly. But a moment later, a more concerned look raises to Garroth’s eyes. “But Aph, if you need help with anything—classes or whatever, regardless of anything, tell me.”
It’s easy for Aphmau to say that she would. “I’m only nervous about adjusting. Homeschool is really, really different.”
Garroth nods. “Don’t forget I’m always here for you.”
Aphmau swallows down any lingering doubt. “I know, thank you.”
At that moment, the Ro’meave house finally comes into view and the car pulls to a stop. Zane nearly jumps at the chance to get out of the car without saying a word to either of them. Garroth follows suit, telling Aphmau he’ll be just a moment and that if she wants, she can slide up to the front seat.
By the time Garroth returns, Aphmau is on her phone in the front seat. He knocks twice and beams at her through the passenger door window and unlocks his car with a chirp. Aphmau opens the door for him and reaches out to the dish in his hands.
Inside of the glass dish are six perfectly round and shiny pieces of bread.
“Custard cream bread, for you and Auntie Sylvanna, from my mom.” Garroth says, hovering in the door frame.
Aphmau squeaks in excitement, she loves Zianna’s baking. “OhmyIrene!” She whispers, kicking her feet.
Laughter rounds the car and finishes when Garroth slides into the driver's side seat, starting the car and handing Aphmau his phone. “Hey, wanna put something on?”
A spotted, purple and white key clicks in the lock; Aphmau presses down the button of the handleset and pushes open the door, warm wafting of cinnamon and oak greets her as she steps through the entryway. Her hand lingers on the edge of the door, checking over her shoulder for Garroth. Half of him obscured, only his dark school attire and blond hair visible where he was reaching into his Cadillac’s trunk.
While in wait, Aph shouts into the empty house: “Amá! I’m home!”
Garroth pounds up the steps behind Aphmau, following her into the house. She twists and leans past him to shut the door. Jabbing in the key and turning it closed. They walk into the kitchen and Garroth places the brownie platter onto the kitchen table.
“I have to be quick, Dad’s getting home from a work trip today and my mum wants to have a ‘nice family dinner’.” He says.
Aphmau nods, pauses. “Say…what’s wrong with Zane? He’s being really weird…”
Garroht inhales sharply, leaning against the white marble. “It’s a long story, but, uh, he didn’t make many friends in high school and ended up running along with a bad crowd. He’s quiet…and angry a lot.”
Aphmau smiles sadly, “so, the ‘nice family dinner’?” She inquires.
Garroth shakes his head. “Dad got very very angry at Zane back then and they barely talk now. Sometimes Zane won’t even—he won’t even look at me—” He chokes, “I never even did anything but—but he hates all of us now.” His hand comes up to his face in a fist, wiping away the tears, “Even Vylad! And—and Vylad doesn’t even understand what’s happening!” His voice is low and broken.
“Garroth…” Aphmau breathes.
“It’s just…”
“Difficult.” Aphmau whispers and Garroth nods.
She steps towards him and turns her head into his chest. He wraps his arms around her back, chest racking into her weakly. His face turns into her hair and he sniffles. Aphmau smooths the back of his vest with her palm,
“Aphmau? And did I hear Garroth?” Sylvanna’s voice carries through the hallways and they break apart.
She clears her throat. “Yeah! He’s here, Amá!”
“Auntie Sylvanna!” Garroth beams when she turns the corner, swiping quickly at his eyes. “I swung by to drop off some treats Mum made, I’ve got to be on my way home in a moment.” He runs a hand up the back of his hair, fluffing it at the top.
Sylvanna sets her phone on the counter. “Oh Garroth, it’s so good to see your handsome face!” She looks up at him. “You’re so tall now, giving Garte a run for his status, hm?”
Garroth laughs. “Thank you.” He reaches out to side hug Sylvanna. “And it is lovely to see you too!”
Sylvanna smiles, taking the dish from Aphmau’s hands and setting it on the counter. “Are you sure you can’t stay? You could have dinner here!”
Garroth nods. “Dad’s getting home from a work trip today, Mum wants us all there for dinner.”
Sylvanna frowns. “I understand…” She goes into her fridge and takes out a large bowl filled with guacamole. “Take this back to Zianna, I know she loves it. I’ll invite you all round for dinner very soon, I’ve missed you all so much.”
Garroth gratefully takes the bowl into his hands. “We’ve missed you both too.” He tilts his head to the exit. “Anyway, I’ll be on my way out now.”
At that cue, Aphmau straightens up and steps to Garroth’s side. “Oh! Let me walk you out!”
“See you soon, Garroth!” Sylvanna says, plating the custard cream bread. “Aph, why don’t we just skip dinner for this.” She sighs wistfully.
Aphmau shoots a goofy look at Garroth and begins walking out towards the door.
Garroth grins back. “Bye, Aunt Sylvanna!”
Aphmau wipes a crumb off her lip, setting her empty plate down onto their dark wood coffee table with a slight clatter. Custard cream bread and old reruns of her mom’s favourite shows, what an evening, Aphmau muses to herself.
“Aphmau.” Her mom says to catch her attention. “It must be good to see Garroth, hm?” Sylvanna teases, face suddenly illuminated by an old rerun of some show from her childhood.
Of course her mom brings up Garroth. Despite it, Aphmau smiles to herself. “Yeah, I really have missed him a lot…”
Sylvanna wiggles her eyebrows, leaning into Aphmau’s space. “Mhmm…”
Aphmau groans and flushes, she pushes her mom away and moves to stand. She’s done eating. “Ugh! Moomm!” She slips into the kitchen and drops her plate off in the sink. “It’s not like that.”
Sylvanna obviously does not believe her, in the continued wiggling of shoulders. “Mhmm…”
Aphmau rolls her eyes while making her way to the stairs, near the rug she finds a tossed pillow and picks it up. She lobs it in her mom’s direction behind her.
“Hey! Don’t you dare throw a pillow at me!”
“I’m going to my room.” Aphmau says loudly, scaling the steps.
“Aphmau Shala— Aphmau!“
Aphmau collapses on her soft purple sheets. A sigh encased in exhaustion and the heft of a long day lands heavily on her pillow. Her eyes gently slip shut.
This day has tested her, emotionally and physically. And just as Aphmau’s about to let herself drift away from the day and into a shallow dreamscape, she remembers.
“FC!” She squeaks, hand stuffing itself into her pocket to pull out her phone. In a hasty panic, she types off a quick few messages.
Shuki [8:23PM]
hey you free? ⤶
let’s get on a dungeon now ⤶
FC [8:23PM]
⤷ Yeah
⤷ Give me a minute, I’ll go upstairs in a moment
Shuki [8:24PM]
okay!!! ⤶
fc? ⤶
FC [8:31PM]
⤷ Getting on now!
Furious fingers type frantically. Click, send!
Shuki [9:36PM]
FC YOU WERE THE ONE WHO
DIDN’T SEE THAT MONSTER ⤶
Aphmau can’t help but smile.
FC [9:36PM]
⤷ I don’t know what you’re talking about 8D
Shuki [9:37PM]
yes you do because i almost died healing your butt ⤶
FC [9:37PM]
⤷ You’re lucky I was there cause you would’ve died if I wasn’t
Shuki [9:37PM]
don’t what you’re talking about :3 ⤶
FC [9:37PM]
⤷ And I don’t know what you’re talking about either
Shuki [9:38PM]
even? ⤶
FC [9:38PM]
⤷ Even. [💜]