Chapter Text
It had all started out with a joke really.
The school’s newest engagement program was an exchange program. Of course, they would never be able to afford sending kids off to other countries. They had to settle for the next best option: nearby towns. Close enough that they could get there by bus or a short car ride if need be.
The whole idea had been prompted by one of the teachers at the Hermitville school in an attempt to get kids out of their ‘hermit’ comfort zones. Lots of the students tended to stick close together and on the rare occasion would stretch out to a few other kids in town.
It was the town over that agreed, apparently they needed something good on their track record after the past few years. Whatever that meant…
When the students heard about it, they had taken it as a joke, there was no way they were actually doing this. A few students took up the challenge though, signing up, when asked by their classmates why on earth would they want to leave the safety of their school they only replied:
“I want to see what the other town’s like, I’ve never been outside of this one.” A sculpture-student with bright orange hair had answered.
“Like they would actually pick me!” A brunet laughed, he had a few scars running along his face and arms.
“Iskall dared me.” A boy who came to school in a suit constantly recalled.
“Gem said if I didn’t I would be a coward.” A student who wore a mask over their face said, rolling his eyes.
“I heard they had a good theatre department.” A student with a red jacket announced.
“I dared Mumbo to do it. He only did it if I did it, too.”
The ‘lucky’ student was chosen out of a hat at random during a small assembly. Once the name was chosen the students had a hard time believing it had been random after all.
The closest of the students, those that didn’t completely live up to the ‘hermit’ name, gathered afterwards.
They collectively came together discussing the program at length multiple times before they had chosen someone, and it became a routine to chat at Mumbo’s.
“Are you sure about this, Scar?” Pearl asked, she had been extra anxious about the program since it was announced, yet, she never explained why.
“It can’t go that badly! I don’t know why you all are so worried about it.” Scar shrugged it off.
“Because it’s you?” Bdubs said, raising an eyebrow, he was Scar’s older brother by only one year. “I’d rather not come home to a message about you dying because you did something stupid again.” Cleo nodded behind him, they looked after both of them as if she was their sister. Because she was.
“It’s not like I’m that far away. It’s a few minutes at best!” Scar exclaimed, in a huff as he plopped down next to Mumbo who tried to balance his tea when Scar bounced the cushion. The brunet was tired of being babied by his siblings as well as their friends. He might be accident prone, consistently sick, clumsy, and repeatedly picked on but he was just as capable as his friends and family.
“But you won’t know anyone there.” Mumbo offered, internally he was quite happy it wasn’t him heading off for some other school. Mumbo had always been one of the most socially anxious of them all. He rarely spoke up when in large groups and he didn’t seem exceptionally close to anyone other than Pearl and Iskall.
“I’d make friends.” Scar scoffed, crossing his arms, unlike his friends he was plenty capable of winning people over with a smile and joke.
“I think the whole program is stupid.” Joel muttered from the corner. “We don’t need to ‘go outside of our ‘comfort zones’ that’s why they’re comfort zones!” He shouted. Joel had only recently stretched out of his own comfort zone to start talking to the hermits. He wasn’t too excited to let one of his newfound friends disappear off to some other school.
“Let’s think on the bright side, people,” Xisuma tried to placate, hoping to calm the situation which he was plenty good at if his reelection as Student President said anything, “this might just give some new opportunities we weren’t expecting.”
“Oh, don’t start with the therapy crap.” Joel huffed, turning on his heels into Mumbo’s kitchen to get away from the incoming Xisuma speech. The other only watched unimpressed as Joel left before continuing.
“It’s only for what-a few weeks?” Xisuma continued. Scar shrugged.
“Scar. Where’s the packet they gave you?” Tango asked, noticing the brunet didn’t have the ‘very important papers’ he was supposed to have kept up with. Scar looked around before Mumbo kicked his bag over to him. He grabbed his backpack and pulled out the crumpled papers.
He read it for a second, “fork weeks?”
Iskall looked over his shoulder reading, “Four weeks. It’s just a trial run. They want to do four weeks and then check in to see if it goes well.”
“I can handle four weeks at a different school.” Scar decided, before anyone else could argue with him. “Besides, it’s not like I’m not going to see you guys when I come back home for the day.”
______________
He was very wrong however.
Just four minutes into the ride on the bus over to the other school and he was nervous.
He was the only one on the bus other than the driver and he didn’t seem up for any conversation. So he just watched the trees pass by on his way to the school. The roads were…less than ideal. They were all dirt pathed, with trees that folded over them like some horror film. You could barely see the sun through the leaves, and in certain places it looked like it was still nighttime.
A few times, Scar thought he saw some dead animal on the side of the road, but they never looked run over. They looked mauled- or dismembered. Like there was something in the woods just waiting to attack.
He didn’t think much of it. It was probably just some wild animal.
The bus went into the small town, it was smaller than Hermitville. It passed by a corner store, then a few houses, a bookstore and then finally down on the last road was the school.
It was two stories high, like a giant cinder block. There were fences out front, great big iron ones. The front of the school actually looked nice. There was some play equipment for younger kids, since the school most likely saw all grades. On the other side of the courtyard was a large tree, underneath it sat three picnic tables.
The sidewalk leading up to the front doors was covered in chalk and paint. As Scar stepped off the bus and onto the sidewalk he noted all the different pictures drawn. As he entered the gate of the school, he saw rabbits and rainbows. The farther along he got, he saw drawings of fish, different animals, shapes and names scrawled around the ground.
He paused on a section of the sidewalk.
It was different from the others.
Instead of animals, colors, and shapes it just looked like a scribbled mess. There were letters and numbers all painted in black. The letter’s looked like they were trying to make a word but couldn’t quite find a way to fit together correctly. And the few times the letters did come together to create a word it was scribbled out and crossed over as if it had been wrong in the first place.
Gr i
Gri
A ia n
G an
An
gria
Scar stared at it for a moment, wondering what in the world he was looking at, before someone interrupted him.
“What are you looking at?”
Scar looked up to see a student with bright purple hair. Their hair covered half of their face but from the looks of it they also had a bandage over it. The eye that wasn’t covered was oddly bright yellow, and their face seemed calm and neutral as they inspected Scar. They wore a tan school uniform, with black tights and white gloves.
“Oh, sorry, um-I just noticed the chalk art.” Scar admitted, looking back down to the oddly scribbled mess.
They frowned looking back down at the chalk art. “Yeah, I remember that one.” They shook their head, “Who are you? You’re not a student here.”
Scar smiled, “I’m the new exchange student!” he said, proudly, he stuck out his hand hoping for a good introduction. The person just stared at him confused.
“Exchange student?” They asked, their voice slow like they could’ve misheard him.
Scar nodded, “Yup, from Hermitville.” he included, for good measure.
“I don’t remember anything about exchange students.” They muttered, still ignoring Scar’s outstretched hand. Scar looked back at his hand before snapping it to his side and pretending to wipe his pants off.
“Really?” He asked.
They looked back up at him, blinking unfazed, “But it isn’t unlike the school to not tell us. If you’re new you need to keep moving. Have you got your schedule yet?” They asked, standing a bit straighter than they had.
Scar blinked, “Nope, I haven’t exactly gotten the new student treatment. Could use a helping hand.” Scar sent one of his best smiles, hoping it would get the person on his side.
They just blinked as if it meant nothing to them, “I see you also don’t have your uniform.” They commented, looking him up and down. “This way.” They turned on their heels and started walking back down the sidewalk. They walked quite fast and Scar had to speed walk to keep up with them.
“I didn’t catch your name?” He asked, hoping for an actual introduction.
The person turned once again on their heels, stopping right in front of Scar and causing him to run straight into them. “Majo Ellen, everyone calls me Ellen.”
Scar blinked, happy to finally have a name, they stuck out their hand for a shake and Scar gladly obliged. He shook their hand enthusiastically, the other pulling away quickly, cringing as they looked at their hand once more. “Scar! Scar Goodtimes!”
Ellen nodded, before turning once more and walking again.
As Ellen led him down the sidewalk, he took the chance to look at the other students that were filtering into the courtyard now.
He saw a girl with bright pink hair walking around and talking to a boy in a white bunny hat. They looked a bit odd together and people seemed to be avoiding them on purpose. He saw students visibly flinch as they passed by and quiet their voices with whoever they were talking to.
He also saw a prim and proper boy with brown hair speaking to another boy who was covered in dirt and ripped uniform. The scene made him a bit uncomfortable, especially with how the boy was speaking to the other as if was below him.
What caught Scar’s attention the most was a boy sitting under the large tree he’d seen before. He hadn’t seen the kid before from the angle on the bus, but now he could see him.
He was blond and he was the only kid out of school uniform. He seemed to stick out like a sore thumb almost. Instead of the tan school uniform he wore a bright blue shirt with black suspenders. His pants seemed a bit too big for him which made the suspenders make sense. He had unruly hair that looked like a rat's nest and two dull gray eyes that were staring straight into a book. He also had a pair of headphones on his head, though he didn’t seem to be listening to any music.
Scar watched the boy for a second longer.
There was just something unsettling about it all.
He shook his head and continued to follow Ellen into the school and down the halls. They took him down a hall, then another and eventually made it to the office. Once there, they opened the door and almost shoved him inside.
They took one look at the receptionist at the front desk and she knew what was going on. The lady pushed a stack of clothes on the desk towards them and on top was a slip of paper. She didn’t say anything else, just continued to stare at her computer screen.
Ellen took the clothes and paper and handed them over to Scar.
“That’s your schedule, and your uniform. Go change.” They demanded, pointing to the bathrooms across the hall.
“Seriously?” he asked, he’d already seen someone out of uniform. And his old school never pushed a uniform or even mentioned one.
“Yes. Go.” Ellen repeated, pointing.
Scar huffed, and went into the bathroom to quickly change. The stalls of the bathroom were vandalized with writing and drawings that resembled the chalk art outside. The doors had pencil drawings of rabbits and other animals, but the rabbits were the only ones that were still alive.
Scar grimaced at the sight of one rabbit overlooking a dead bird. The bird’s head had been disconnected from its body and was surrounded in a pool of blood. He tried his best to not look at the walls and ignore the drawings. He focused on the clothes in this hands instead.
The clothes were odd-like they weren’t supposed to fit him or at least they didn’t. The pants were too short, the ends of them just rolling down a few inches above his ankles. The white shirt wasn’t actually white, not anymore at least, it might’ve been but now it was off-colored. The cuffs of the sleeves were drawn on and he couldn’t make out any of the scribbles or notes. It was the same for the jacket, the tan color was faded and there were places with stains. Not to mention the jacket was much too small, there was no way he’d be able to button it in the front. The tie was red, a different color than a few of the others he’d seen. It was small.
He stepped out and looked at himself in the mirror.
It just looked wrong.
He walked out of the bathroom, stuffing his own clothes into his bag. Ellen was looking over his schedule and when they noticed him, they handed it over.
“Classes start soon. You should hurry.” They said, then they looked at the clothes and just froze.
At first Scar thought there was something he’d done wrong. Had he put the shirt on inside out? Maybe that was why it looked weird. He looked down, seeing if he could spot what they were looking at, he saw nothing.
“What?” He asked.
Ellen swallowed, “Nothing. Those are really the clothes they gave you?” They asked, looking him up and down.
“Yes.” Scar drew out, “You gave them to me.” His brow furrowed in confusion.
They nodded, quickly, “Right, of course. Of course.” They repeated, but sounded unsure. They shook their head, “Your first class is on the first floor. It’s down the East hall and the rooms are numbered.”
They pointed the direction he should go. Scar followed their point, before looking back to thank them, but they were already walking away.
“Thanks?” Scar whispered out, not really bothering if they were just going to walk away anyway.
He followed their directions, down this hallway, and then that one, and eventually to the East Hall. He hadn’t noticed that the bell must have rung, because now students were starting to enter the classrooms. They were lining up at the doors, single file and deftly quiet.
He walked into the classroom, seeing that the teacher was still sitting at their desk. He eyed the students that were sitting in their desks waiting. Most of them weren’t talking-which was odd.
Scar had assumed that every class before it started was full of conversation. Classmates trying to catch up and tell each other jokes or what they had worked on. Maybe explain some new weird thing they found out the night before. Or maybe just listening to a story from someone. But this wasn’t what he was used to.
This was weird.
No one was talking…except the boy with the bunny hat and the girl with pink hair. They were sitting near the back actually, and there were a few students around them. They whispered to each other, pointed at a few students and laughed. Then they talked to each other some more and even roped in a few of the kids before cutting them off in front of the conversation completely.
Everyone else was just sitting.
They sat, stared straight ahead and said nothing. A few of them had their heads in a book, some drew, but most just… stared.
Then at the center of the room on the front row was the really odd boy. The only one out of uniform.
He was just sitting there…staring straight ahead.
Scar looked at him a little confused as he stood at the doorway.
He looked…sad-like his face was trying to comprehend sadness for the first time and couldn’t quite understand how. Like he was crying but there were no tears. He was frowning but at the same time he had no expression. His eyes were just…sad.
He made Scar want to cry just by looking at him.
It took a moment for Scar to realize he had just been watching the class. It was the pink haired girl who pointed it out. She poked the bunny hat boy and pointed at him.
The boy smirked, “Take a picture, it'll last longer. Either that or move, no one likes being treated like an exhibit.”
Scar flinched back at the sharp tone . The boy’s voice had cut through whatever tension was in the room because now everyone was staring at him. As if his voice alone had given them all permission to acknowledge his existence.
He swallowed, “Sorry, is this…” He froze up, stumbling over his words, “I’m here for…” He met the eyes of the blond, “I’m new.” He decided on.
The bunny hatted boy got this confused expression, before looking over to the teacher to see if Scar was telling the truth.
The teacher just stared at Scar as if they couldn’t believe he was real before jumping out of their seat and rushing over. “Yes! I almost forgot! Class, we have a new student joining us. It’s a part of the exchange program we have going on with Hermitville. Now, how about you introduce yourself to the class?”
The announcement felt last minute, as if they had in fact forgotten. Scar shrugged, looking back to the class that was now staring at him. A few had this new found look of fear, others looked intrigued and a few just looked…sad.
Scar looked at the only person he could really look at, the really sad boy. He was right in front of him. He looked-there was something in his eyes that almost looked like he was pleading with Scar.
Scar smiled, hoping that his award-winning grin would make this boy feel a little less sad, “Hi!” He announced, he pretended he was only talking to the boy in front of him. “My name’s Scar, Scar Goodtimes.”
Once the two officially made eye contact, the sad boy darted his eyes away.
“Right, well, go ahead and take a seat wherever you’d like and we’ll just get started with today’s lesson.” The teacher announced, as if she was trying to push Scar out of the way.
Scar ignored her the best he could and looked around for an empty desk. There were a few, about three near the girl with pink hair and other boy. But the only one he was interested in was the empty desk right next to the sad boy.
He stepped next to the desk and pointed, “Is this seat taken?” he asked.
The boy at first didn’t react, so Scar asked again and then the boy looked over, he was surprised. His eyes wider and mouth slightly open as if he didn’t think anyone could actually see him.
He looked between the seat and Scar, then he pointed at himself, “You’re asking me?” He whispered, it was so quiet Scar almost couldn’t hear it.
He nodded.
He blinked, as if he was blinking back tears. Scar saw as the boy’s hands fisted around the desk as he was trying to ground himself in reality. “It’s free.” he forced out.
“I- I don’t have to sit here.” he whispered back, he looked around once more, “I can go sit by them.” Scar offered, in case the boy really didn’t want to have a desk neighbor.
However, that seemed to spur a different answer. The kid’s eyes widened again and shook his head, “No. Sit there. Sit there, please.” He begged, there was a hint of fear in his voice that made Scar stare at him differently.
He nodded and sat down. Once he was situated the lesson seemed to go on. It was quite easy to pick up on, in fact, he was pretty sure that they had already gone over this at the Hermit’s school. The lesson was a bit boring actually, and he wondered how in the world could this class be so far behind…
It was a class for sophomores in highschool, why on earth were they learning about how to punctuate a sentence.
He was quite sure they didn’t need to go over what an exclamation point was for the fifth time!
Yet, when he looked around no one was really paying attention.
Most students were still just sitting staring straight ahead, they hadn’t moved at all. Others were still reading, a few still drawing on the desks. The students near the boy in the bunny hat were being tormented with paper balls and poked in the back with pencils.
Confused, Scar looked over to the boy next to him.
He was just sitting there, silently.
Bored of the lesson, Scar decided to just politely watch the other.
The blond sometimes picked up his pencil and would draw around on his wrists. It was then that Scat noticed the arm warmers that the boy had on to hide his arms. Sometimes the other would turn his head and look out a window and watch for a few minutes before turning back to the board. He always seemed lost in thought.
That was when Scar noticed the boy still had his headphones on in the middle of class.
Scar raised an eyebrow, how was that allowed?
He looked around the class again, if no one was actually going to work, what was the harm in a little conversation.
“Pst.”
He didn’t get much attention with that.
“Pstt..” he tried again, this time managing to nudge the other’s desk with his foot just a tad.
The blond snapped his attention over like a deer in headlights. He looked at Scar for a second, confused, “What?” He whispered.
“Why are you wearing headphones?” He asked, his voice so quiet it was hard to hear himself talk.
Still, the other heard him, “Why do you want to know?”
“Are you listening to music?” He asked.
The boy looked back and forth, even more confused, “no?”
“Then why wear them?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” he shrugged.
“Are you blocking out the noise?” Scar asked, he saw Mumbo do that sometimes.
“No.” He whispered back.
“So why are you wearing them?” Scar asked, his curiosity too much to bear.
The boy huffed, “Why are your shoes tied?”
That threw him for a loop, Scar blanked for a second, “Safety.” he decided on.
The boy nodded, “There’s your answer.”
Scar blinked.
That wasn’t an answer.
Not in his book at least.
“What?” He asked, more than just confused now.
“Shh.” Was all he was met with after that though, and the boy went back to watching the blank chalkboard.
Scar huffed, frowning, he slumped forward leaning his head on his hand and continued to watch the weird sad looking boy.
_______________________
The class couldn’t have ended soon enough in Scar’s opinion. He just hoped the rest of his schedule wouldn’t turn out the same way that class had.
The bell rang and immediately the students were up and out of their seat speeding to the door. Scar took his time, collecting his books and bag, he looked at the schedule realizing he had no idea where to go next.
He looked around hoping there was still someone in the classroom with him, but all he saw was the blue headphoned boy walking out of the room. He rushed after him, just catching the tail end of the kid before he could disappear from sight.
“Hey!” Scar called, and the boy turned around quickly before stopping confused to look at him. “Sorry,” Scar chuckled, as he spooked the kid, “I was wondering if you knew where this next class was?” Scar asked, holding out his schedule as he juggled getting his things together with the rest.
The boy took his paper carefully as if he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to touch it. He looked it over then nodded, he pointed down another hallway, “It’s the second door on the left.”
Scar sighed, grateful it wasn’t too far, “Okay, good, thank you. I’d thank you more formally but I don't exactly know your name.” Scar hoped that the boy would take the bait, and finally stop his roaming curiosity, giving him something to call him other than ‘sad looking boy’.
The sad looking boy however, just frowned more and shrugged, “It’s Taurtis.” He mumbled, it wasn’t like a normal introduction where someone clearly says their name or says it so fast you just know they’re excited. It was…well about as sad as the rest of him.
“Well, thank you very much, Taurtis!” Scar grinned with a wink, and the boy cringed after hearing his name. He nodded afterwards though, and began walking in the same direction he’d pointed for Scar to go. The brunet followed after him, easily keeping pace with him unlike Ellen.
He took slow calculated steps, his feet never inching off of one set of tiles. His eyes were locked in with the ground and as they passed other classes Scar felt oddly-watched. It was like everyone was staring at him.
The halls were filled with people, and he had no doubt that at least one person was watching the new kid, but this was different. He gazed around the students and saw that they were looking at him.
Except not at him .
They were looking at Taurtis.
It was the same with the bunny hatted boy and pink haired girl, as they passed people stopped talking and just watched. This time it wasn't a look of nervousness, instead it was pity. Like everyone was in on some sob story about this kid that Scar had no clue about. They looked at him as if he was knowingly walking towards his death!
It felt rude to point out, but it also felt rude to not point out.
“Everyone is staring at you.” Scar settled on, he only got a slow nod.
“Just ignore it.” Taurtis replied.
“But why? Why are they staring?” Scar asked, they were closer to his next class now. This time he didn’t reply, as they passed Scar’s next class he didn’t even stop to say goodbye. He just kept walking without a look behind him to see if Scar was still with him.
Scar stopped at his next class, walking in, he saw the same scene he’d seen at the last one. Everyone staring straight ahead and waiting, no talking. There was no bunny hatted boy or pink haired girl this time.
He knew right then he was going to have another boring class to sit through.
__________________
The next bell rang and Scar understood why everyone bolted out of the rooms now. He was soooooo bored! The faster he could get out of this desk the happier he’d be to just have time to walk to his next class- wherever that was.
He really wished they had someone show him around.
The next class was scratched out of his schedule, like it had been there was someone had run over it with a marker. He tried to read the name of the teacher or the subject, but it was too dark to read.
He huffed, furrowing his eyebrows to squint, if he could see it better.
He couldn’t.
He roamed the hallways looking for someone who seemed at least a bit friendly looking to ask about it. He walked down a few different hallways, passing by a gym that had students running laps inside. He passed a chemistry lab. He could make out a library down one hallway and he could see where the lunchroom was.
He passed the office for what felt like the third time before he finally found someone familiar again.
But of course it had to be the face paced student who walked as if they constantly had to be somewhere else.
“Ellen.” Scar asked, barely catching up to them. They turned, purple hair flying up from momentum.
“What?” They asked, sharply, as if Scar had crossed some kind of line.
Scar flinched, “I just wanted to ask what this class was. It’s all crossed out and I can’t make anything out.” Ellen seemed to relax once they realized who it was they were talking to. Their shoulder’s slouching and eyes calming down.
They took the paper and nodded, “That’s because no one has that class anymore.”
Scar paused, “What do you mean?”
They shrugged, handing it back, “The teacher we had-well he quit and they don’t have anyone to replace him. So now, everyone gets one free class to do whatever they want. So long as you don’t leave the school and make it to your next class. Other than that, you’ve got free roam.” Ellen explained.
Scar blinked, “That’s silly. Why would they do that?”
Ellen shrugged, and walked off. Scar huffed, there was no getting answers out of any of the students. He’d decided that much by now. None of them were helpful. At least he could finally walk around the school and find out where things were.
He backtracked, walking down hallways and into rooms that were completely empty. He passed the office, gym, lunchroom and labs until he found himself in front of the doors to the courtyard.
There was still plenty of time before the next class.
Scar pushed the doors open, entering the courtyard from that morning. He saw a few students had also taken this same opportunity to get out of the school.
He stuck his hands into the pockets of his pants, looking around the courtyard. He smiled, when he noticed that a certain person was still sitting under the tree.
He didn’t know why but some part of him wanted to be around him.
He was cute.
Scar pretended to start roaming around the courtyard, although really he was making his way over to the boy reading.
Taurtis was reading some story book with the picture of a bird on the front. His eyes glancing about the book, quickly turning the pages and ignoring the rest of the world.
Scar didn’t even ask before sitting down next to the kid, his back leaning against the tree. Taurtis didn’t seem to notice or mind that he sat down, and it wasn’t until Scar cleared his throat the other turned his head.
The blond looked him up and down, blinking, “Is something wrong?”
“No.” Scar said, thinking quickly of something to start a conversation but as soon as the word was out of his mouth the boy had his nose back in his book. Scar frowned, he looked over the kid’s shoulder seeing that it wasn’t actually a book-it was a sketchbook.
“You’re drawing.” Scar pointed out.
Taurtis straightened, “Yeah.” He looked over, eyeing the other as if prompting him to say something else.
“Sorry,” Scar apologized, his voice muttering. Taurtis nodded, going back to what he was looking at. The drawing was of some kind of building, like a mansion, it was huge and spanned across two pages. It was shaded and colored in with blues, grays, and a few bright hues. Tall stairs led up from the ground all the way to large double doors.
It was beautiful.
“You drew that.” Scar awed, pointing at the drawing.
“Yeah, it’s old though.” Taurtis shrugged.
“It’s amazing.” Scar stared, “It almost looks real.”
Taurtis smirked, “Architecture’s been a…” He paused, “I like drawing buildings.” He closed his sketchbook and set it down next to him on the other side away from Scar. He curled his arms around his legs to hug himself.
“Like an architect!” Scar prompted, scooting closer with wide cheerful green eyes. Taurtis tried to smile back but it was half-hearted.
“No, I mean-I couldn’t.” He scoffed.
“Why not?” Scar asked, “I mean if all your drawings are like that and you’ve got ideas, sounds like you're halfway there, anyway!”
Taurtis laughed, “I’m pretty sure there’s more than that.” He sighed, “Besides, I’ve never really thought about what I wanted to do.” He said, laying his chin to rest on his knees.
“Never?” Scar repeated, earning a shake of the head.
“Too much on my mind, I guess.” He shrugged, he paused looking back over the courtyard then back to Scar, “Why do you keep talking to me?”
“I mean, you’re the most interesting thing here. And I haven’t exactly talked to anyone else beside you and Ellen. Well she-” Scar started.
“They.” Taurtis corrected, lightly.
Scar paused, but nodded, “Well, they seemed a bit indifferent to me.”
Taurtis smiled, “That’s Ellen for you.” He let out a breath, “but if they only acted indifferent to you, then you must be a good person.” His shoulders untensed and he fell away from his small self-hug. His legs falling down into a criss-cross shape.
Scar raised an eyebrow, “I’d hate to see how they act to people they don’t like then.”
Taurtis silently chuckled, nodding, “Yeah. Well then, Scar, right?” He asked, getting a nod, “What’s there to you?”
“Sorry?” Scar asked, confused.
“Tell me about yourself.” He said as if it had been obvious.
“Oh!” Scar hummed, “Well, I’m from Hermitville, it’s a town pretty close to here! There was that whole ‘exchange student’ program and I was the lucky student chosen.” He prided, with a grin.
Taurtis nodded, “How long is it for?”
Scar shrugged, “Trial run is for four weeks, but I’m pretty sure I’ll get sent back sooner or later. What with my ‘accidents’ and all.” Scar laughed to himself as if he’d said a joke. Taurtis just froze, his eyes glazing over with this kind of uncertainty. Scar looked at him confused, as Taurtis darted his eyes away and his fingers twitched in the grass.
“What-um-what kind of accidents?” He asked, nervously.
“I’m pretty clumsy, I guess.” Scar shrugged, pulling up some grass in his hands, bored. Taurtis’s shoulders slouched once again, albeit slowly. “It’s why my friends were so sure I was chosen to do this on purpose. I mean, get rid of the kid that blew up the redstone lab by accident, the one that let the vexes loose in the lunchroom, the one that falls down the stairs about twice a day. I have never meant to do any of it, but it doesn’t stop. We have a saying there, ‘If it isn’t Scar-Safe don’t do it’!” He smiled, proudly.
“Scar-Safe, huh?” Taurtis prompted.
“Yup.” Scar nodded, “One of these days, I’ll end up with a broken bone and the school will send me straight back where I came from.”
Taurtis stayed silent for a moment, Scar looked over wondering if the boy was even still there. He was but he just hadn’t spoken, instead the bell rang once more and he slowly stood up. He whispered, holding out a hand for Scar, “Maybe you should take that offer.”
He helped Scar up, and before Scar could question him he was walking off. “We have gym class next. I saw it on your schedule.” He said, nodding for the other to follow him. Scar just nodded, quietly and followed after the boy.
They quickly got into the gym locker rooms and Taurtis was dodging in and out of people to get to the very back of the lockers. Scar quickly got stuck in the cluster of students trying to change into their gym clothes, getting lost in the noises of people talking, the smells of students moving too quickly. He didn’t even see where Taurtis had gone before he was standing by himself.
And just as quickly as the students appeared in the room, they were rushing out as if the hounds of hell were at their tails. Scar barely had time to think seeing a post-it note on a locker reading ‘new kid’. He took it by reading the lock combination on the back and opening it to find uniform gym clothes inside.
When he got out of the locker room he was met with the sight of students lining up. They all were lined up in the middle of the gym, each student doing their own stretches.
The students had that same dark blue shirt and black gym shorts. Scar’s own shirt fit better than his regular uniform and his shoes were tied up tighter than before. He didn’t want to risk any loose laces. He headed up the back of the line as everyone got ready. They were all looking at the long wall of the gym, each row of students had five kids and there were about seven rows.
Scar placed himself in one of the last spots available, trying to copy the kid in front of him as best he could. He wasn’t sure what they were all preparing for, he figured it would be better to prepare himself for anything.
As he pulled his leg back behind himself, standing only on one foot, he saw Taurtis walking out of the Coach’s office. Surprisingly, he was wearing the same uniform as everyone else for once, however he still had on the headphones and arm warmers.
Behind him, the coach, Scar assumed, walked out. The man was tall and quite bulky, he had a mustache that reminded him of the one Mumbo sometimes grew. One that curled out at the ends and was black as coal. He had dark sunglasses, and a green veteran hat perched atop his head. Unlike the students, he wore a black tank top and sweatpants. He was frowning so much, Scar wondered if Taurtis had just told him the worst news of his life.
Taurtis rounded out the back, falling in right next to Scar.
“You ready?” He asked, eyes for once staring directly at Scar’s green. The brunet felt himself smile at the dull purple gray eyes that watched him back. He nodded, although he wasn’t sure what he was agreeing to.
“Good.” Taurtis said, turning to face the front and rolling his arms back to stretch.
Scar couldn’t help but stare as he looked at Taurtis’s face. For some reason, he couldn’t help but feel like this was the first time he was actually seeing him. He was broken out of whatever trance the blond had him in, when the coach started talking-yelling.
“Alright! I hear we got a newbie in here! Where is he?” The man shouted, before noticing Scar staring at Taurtis and walked up to the two of them. The man raised an eyebrow before bringing Scar’s attention to him, “You paying attention, boy.”
Scar’s head snapped over to the voice, he grinned, happily “yeah!”
Taurtis couldn’t help but giggle, the coach didn’t pay any mind to him though.
“Well, you listen here. You call me Rowan, it ain’t coach. It ain’t mister nothing. It’s Rowan.” Rowan stated, Scar nodded, “Now, just because you’re a newbie don’t mean I’m going easy on you. You’re held to the same expectation as everyone else in here. Don’t fool ‘round, do what I say, and we’ll be hunky-dorey.”
“I like the sound of that!” Scar said, rolling on his feet with a smile. Rowan just frowned, and the students watched in confusion.
“Right.” Rowan looked the optimistic kid up and down, shaking his head, “You all know the drill, do a lap round the gym.” He blew the whistle, “Go!”
Then the kids started running.
Scar barely had time to blink before they were all off.
He looked around, confused, before he started moving.
“Get going, Newbie!” Rowan shouted as Scar started running. The brunet ignored it and started running after the rest of the class, trying to catch up. He couldn’t help but question what exactly was going on at this school. It all felt so off…
As he ran the first lap round the gym, he noticed that Taurtis was easily taking the lead even though he’d started in the last of the group with him. Scar, even as he ran, watched in awe as the boy ran faster than the others as if something were chasing him. He was so focused on where he was running that Scar wasn’t sure if the boy knew what exactly was going on around him.
They came back to the start quicker than Scar had thought, and once they crossed the line they stopped. The kids caught their breath as the passed the finish line, but just as Scar managed to pass barely beating one of two of the others, the whistle blew again.
“Again!” Rowan yelled, and the kids ran.
There wasn’t much time between, and the kids were running after each other again. Scar tried to keep up with the rest, still watching Taurtis. Some of the front runners started to lag behind and others took their places.
Once they were back to the start, the whistle blew.
“Again!”
Scar huffed, his breath getting deeper and shakier as he tried to keep up. He was pumping his legs harder than he had before. It hurt but he didn’t want to be the last one among these kids. And as he watched he saw Taurtis was barely slowing down.
“Again!”
“Seriously?” Scar muttered under his breath, as the others started up once more. He noticed Taurtis had paused for a moment, the blond looking behind him for Scar and smiling as he saw him.
The blond picked up a jog, running at half speed to stay up with Scar. And as if to rub it even more in his face, the boy was running backwards.
“You alright?” He asked.
“Just great!” Scar huffed, “How much longer are we going with this?” He asked, his breath running out as he tried to talk.
Taurtis smiled, again, something akin to pity, “Depends on if you can pick up the pace.” And the boy turned back around and was once again off, albeit this time not as fast as he had been. He was obviously slowly down from exhaustion but there was something pushing him. Something was making him run.
They came back round once again and the whistle blew, “Again.”
There was more running and once they finally came back to the start, the whistle blew and there were no more orders for another run. “Take five!” Was shouted instead and it took all of him to not fall to the ground then.
Scar leaned against the wall, catching his breath as the others did the same. A few snuck a drink of water from their thermases or bottles. Taurtis snuck round Scar, tapping him twice on the shoulder.
“Still doing great?” He asked, a hint of joke in his voice and Scar rolled his eyes.
He let out a huff, “How can you guys run like that?”
He shrugged, “Practice. What? Do you not run during gym?” He asked.
“I mean sure, but not like that!” Scar considered, “I mean seriously, you barely slowed up!” While Scar had meant it as a compliment and grinned as he spoke, it didn’t seem like the other took it that way. In fact, as the rest of the class heard him they all looked at him as if he’d said the wrong thing.
Taurtis shuffled on his feet, very aware of the eyes on them, “Yeah, can’t slow down for a second. It might get ‘cha if you do that.” he joked, brushing it off and the class went back to murmuring to themselves.
Scar nodded, “Yeah. Just tell me now, is there more running involved?” Scar asked, with a half breathed laugh.
Taurtis smiled, “Nah, we’re done running for today.”
“What is next then?” Scar asked, worriedly.
Taurtis hummed, “Depends on how Rowan feels. If he’s in a bad mood-well, let’s hope he’s not.”
The whistle blew once more, and suddenly Rowan was throwing colored balls into the gym from his office, “Dodgeball! Let’s go! Move it!”
Taurtis huffed, “bad mood it is.”
“Why is this a bad mood?” Scar asked, before he was hit in the face with a bright red rubber ball. Taurtis cringed, seething through his teeth. Scar fell to the floor, blinking and wincing as he landed on his bottom. “What the heck!” He shouted.
“You’re out, Newbie!” Rowan yelled, although they had all seen him throw the ball at Scar a second ago.
Taurtis lended a hand helping the brunet up, “Don’t take it personally. Absolute menace, he is.”
“A heads up next time might be nice.” Scar commented with a glare, and Taurtis offered a sad smile.
It was only a few moments before they were being pelted with dodgeballs from all sides. Scar tried his best to get out of the way of most of them, but he was a terrible dodger. Taurtis got a few throws in, catching a few balls and throwing them back. It wasn’t long till he was hit in the arm, though.
“Watch the glasses!” A boy with blue round glasses yelled, as he threw it across the court. Taurtis laughed, as the boy was hit with another ball.
“Is this how all your gym classes go?” Scar asked, watching the boy with glasses get targeted.
Taurtis sighed, “Just about,” He caught a ball once he was back in the game, “J duck!” He yelled, and the boy in glasses squatted down as he threw it over him. The ball got another kid out, saving J from a few hits.
“This violent?” Scar asked, ducking out of the way of a stray ball that flew by too fast.
“I mean what do you do?” J, apparently, spoke.
“I mean we play tag! False has been leading the softball team for a while. Or sometimes we fence, just whatever we’d like. So long as we’re moving it’s alright.” Scar yelped, moving out of the way again, “It’s never this violent!”
“That’s not gym class, that’s for babies.” J said, throwing another ball.
“J be nice.” Taurtis chided, “I guess we’re just used to this?” He said to Scar, before looking over the brunet’s shoulder. He frowned, that same look in his eyes coming back from when Scar had first seen him. He looked back to Scar with a sad look.
“I’ve got to go.” He whispered, dropping the ball he was holding.
“What do you mean?” Scar asked, confused, why did he suddenly look so sad and afraid. He looked like he was having fun a second ago. Taurtis shook his head, he looked over to J, and the other boy frowned too. J’s movements slowed until he sighed, and nodded.
“I’m sorry.” Taurtis whispered, and he was walking away. Scar rushed after him.
“Hey, where are you going?” He asked.
“Go back to the game, Scar, I’ve got to go.”
“Can I come?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Scar huffed, crossing his arms.
Taurtis paused, he looked between Scar and the doors out to the hall. “You just can’t. I’m sorry.”
“But if you skip, you’ll get in trouble, right?” Scar asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked over Taurtis’s shoulder and out to the hall. He could see the boy with a bunny hat waiting outside, staring in. He looked mad.
“It’s complicated.” Taurtis said, and that was it. He was walking. “I’ll see you at lunch.”
Scar huffed, but he turned back.
___________________________
He did not in fact see him at lunch. He didn’t even see him for the rest of the day. He had no idea where Taurtis had gone but he was gone.
Scar went the rest of the day in silence, he would’ve rather had Taurtis around. The blond had a bright smile and wonderful laugh, if Scar managed to bring it out.
The day went by slowly, until he was finally getting on the bus to go home.
When he did he was met with Bdubs sitting on their front porch steps waiting for him. He dropped the bag next to his brother staring at him, as Bdubs took in the sight.
“When did you change clothes?” Bdubs asked, raising an eyebrow. He grabbed the brunet’s bag and started going through it looking for his old clothes.
“Apparently, they have some uniforms.” Scar muttered, crossing his arms uncomfortable in the tight jacket.
Bdubs snorted, “It looks like it barely fits.” He chuckled.
“They didn’t really give me any options.” Scar shrugged, he sat down next to his brother.
“You look like you go to one of them church schools. The ones that make them wear ties and suits.” Bdubs joked, throwing the brunet’s t-shirt and brown jacket at him. “How was it anyway? What was it like?”
Scar shrugged off the tan suit jacket, dropping it on the step next to them and pulled the red tie off his shirt. “It was weird.” He decided on it after a moment.
“Weird, how?” Bdubs asked.
Scar paused, staring across the street. He stared at the townhouses that spread down the street, each one colorful and decorated for the people inside them. He stared at Joel’s front door. “It was different. I don’t know. It feels like something is wrong? Or off? Like a picture that you just can’t quite figure out what it is that makes it wrong. Everyone acted like they were hiding some kind of secret.”
“What kind of secret?” Bdubs asked, interested.
“I haven’t figured that out yet.” Scar said, he shrugged, “I’m sure it’s just first day kind of nerves. Maybe they just didn’t know what to do around me, you know. It’ll be better tomorrow.”
Bdubs nodded, “Yeah, but you know you can always back out if you don’t like it? I’m sure they wouldn’t care.”
Scar shook his head, “Nah, besides I made a friend.”
“A friend?” Bdubs raised an eyebrow, squinting at his brother.
“Well, not quite a friend.” Scar admitted, “More like an acquaintance.”
Bdubs nodded, “Well, he’ll fall for the good times with Scar eventually.” Bdubs prodded, before standing up, he brushed off his pants, “Now get in and change before Cleo sees that outfit. The second they see that they’ll burn it…probably.”
Scar chuckled, standing up and heading inside.
Tomorrow would be better, he was sure.