DEVIATE X / / AN UNORDINARY FANFICTION

L.

I balanced the fork upright on my finger as I begrudgingly set my face in my free hand.

Where was he? I thought that he'd be here already.

My eyes scanned the crowded cafeteria, surveying the area amongst the dozens of students waiting in the never-ending lunch lines. Before I could shift my eyes down to the slice of chocolate cake, the door burst open to reveal a lime green head of hair, with signature buns perched on top of her head.

Juni, I thought with harrowing suspicion, as I suddenly remembered the rumors of her involvement with Seraphina. Maybe I should go talk to her, or......

My thoughts trailed off as I took in her haggard, breathless appearance, catching the eyes of people in the vicinity.

"Huh? Why does she look so scared?"

"That excited to get lunch, huh?"

She stumbled through the lines in a somewhat drunken fashion, earning rude remarks from nearby people she managed to bump into. I unthinkingly stood up as I kept my eyes locked on her, curling one hand into a fist.

I need to debunk the chaos she stirred up with Seraphina. I'm technically a Royal now, so she won't have any choice but to-

"Heya, Del, where are you goin-"

I ripped my hand away from the strong grip trapping my wrist, whirling around to face John's somewhat confused expression. He placed his hands on my shoulders and steadied me before studying my annoyed expression.

"Jesus-God! You scared the crap out of me!" I blurted out, attempting to slow my arrhythmic heartbeat.

"Geez, sorry," he said half-heartedly before shifting his expression to worry. "Are you okay? You look like you're a thousand miles away."

"I'm fine," I said as I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I.....just don't like it when people approach me from behind like that."

I gestured to the table as we took a seat, sliding the slice of triple chocolate cake to him. I watched as he scarfed it down with an enlightened expression, attempting to gather my thoughts before I spoke.

"Hey....." I began nervously, "Do you remember......what we did yesterday?"

John's chewing slowed as he met my eyes with a dubious face, as if I had just grown another head.

"Did you smoke something today, Delta?"

"John, I'm serious," I said, blowing off his quirky remark.

"Okay, well, Dane dropped you off, and then you said you wanted to get Boba, so I took you to the Boba shop. You seemed so talkative and happy at the time, so I assumed that when you visited Irel, it meant that his condition is getting better, right? That's the only thing that could probably make you act that way," he explained.

My eyes widened as I stared off into space.

I remember going home, but I.....I don't remember visiting Irel at all yesterday.

"Delta....?"

I heard John's voice call for me in a somewhat distant volume.

Why can't I..........

"Hey."

I felt the warmth of John's hand flood into my body, sucking me out of the void of terror as I met his warm eyes.

"I know you know this, but out of everyone, I get that this is a tough time for you. It's normal to go through a disassociation of reality when you're coping with a traumatic event," he smiled.