Destiny's Stranger ~ DNF

~ Chapter 3 ~

I push open the doors and everyone's eyes are on me. I feel my cheeks burning red, and cast my eyes down in embarrassment. As I attempt to find my seat, I see some students whispering in the back of the class. Just great.

"Right." the teacher starts, sounding annoyed. "Let's talk Shakespeare."

I internally roll my eyes and put my earphones back in, preparing to zone out for the rest of class as I watch her scribble stupid text stylizations on the board.

The bell finally rings shrilly, drawing me out of my daydream. I hastily grab my bag and make my way out of the classroom, not wanting to be the last one left with the teacher.

"George?" a voice calls out. Too late.

"I know you are new here, and I just wanted to say that if there is anything you need, I'm here, okay?" she smiles fondly at me.

"Thank you, Miss," I reply with a smile. "I'll remember that."

She smiles at me and I push open the door. I have no idea what Sapnap was on about - she seems lovely. At the thought of Sapnap, I remember his invite to sit together at lunch. That's one less thing to worry about. But where is the cafeteria? It can't be that difficult to find, surely? I follow the hoards of teenagers through the halls and down the stairs until we arrive at what I assume must be it. The sheer amount of people is overwhelming - how the hell am I going to find Sapnap in this mess?

"GEORGE?!" A familiar voice yells across the room. "GEORGE, OVER HERE!" I look over to see Sapnap waving his arms like a madman. Rolling my eyes, I let out a small chuckle and made my way over to his table. It's packed, but he had taken the time to reserve a seat for me. I smile at the thought.

"Sup Georgie." He teases. "How was English?" I cringe at the nickname, hoping it won't stick.

"It was English - just how splendid do you think it was?" I retort, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

The whole table bursts into laughter and I feel myself blushing, realizing that everyone must have heard me.

"Alright." Sapnap starts. "Let me introduce everyone quickly. I'm Sapnap - as you know. That there is Punz," he points to a dude with light brown hair sticking out in all directions. He waves and I smile back. "That's Ponk," he gestures to a kid in a bright red hoodie. "That's Niki." A girl wearing all black, who grins at me. "And that's Wilbur and Alex." He finishes. I smile at all of them.

"Usually," he continues, "Dream sits there. His real name's Clay, but nobody calls him that. Right now he's away on a..." he falters for a second. "-Business trip." he finishes.

I give him a look but dismiss it quickly. The table returns to their conversations, and I can't help but laugh while Punz and Niki fight over what flavor of ice cream is best. I turn to my right to talk to Wilbur.

"hey do you know if anyone around here's hiring I'm looking for a new job"

"Uhmmm, I think Phil's café is hiring. It's pretty close, only about a five-minute walk."

Sapnap overhears us and butts in.

"I was thinking of going there after school, actually. I'd be happy to take you?"

"That would be perfect, thank you so m-"

We're interrupted by the sound of Niki yelling.

"SEE, YOU ADMIT THAT FRENCH VANILLA IS BLAND?!" She pterodactyl screams.

"NO, I SAID VANILLA IS BLAND - FRENCH VANILLA IS SO GOOD!" Punz retorts.

"DUMBASS, THEY ARE LITERALLY THE SAME THING!"

"NO, THEY ARE NOT."

"Guys guys." Wilbur steps in, laughing. Let's just settle on the fact that French vanilla and chocolate are equal, okay?"

"Fine whatever." Punz grumbles and Niki shoots him a glare.

The rest of lunch is pretty normal, and I get to know a little bit more about everyone before the bell rings again. Everyone says their goodbyes until it's just me and Sapnap left in the middle of the cafeteria.

"What class do you have next?" he asks, leaning over my shoulder and looking down at my timetable.

"EVS? Evs?"

"Environmental science." Sapnap answers. "C'mon, I'll show you the way."

We walk to EVS together, light banter being passed back and forth till we arrive.

"Oh, by the way, we have the same history class as last period, it's the class beside the cafeteria," Sapnap says with a smile.

"Thanks so much Sapnap, I would be lost without you," I say genuinely.

"No problemo." he turns on his heel and meanders away.

EVS wasn't anything fancy, and I tried my hardest to keep my head down and not get too involved. I'd had enough socializing for one day and I could feel my social battery running out.

After EVS, I found my way to math's easily, as it was just across the hall from EVS. Our teacher didn't show up, so I basically had the entire lesson to do nothing. I pulled on my earphones and got lost in mind-numbing videos until the bell rang. History. Last period, with Sapnap, and then we'd go over to Phil's café and see if I could get a job. I felt a small tingle of excitement in my stomach.

I made it history with no problems. Sapnap and I met up, and it was like we had been friends forever. I couldn't believe that only this morning I had started school in a new state. Today's topic in history was the evolution of communism, and Sapnap and I spent the entire lesson joking around and changing each other names to "Comrade Georgie" and "Comrade Sapnap" in our phones. Unfortunately, the nickname 'Georgie' didn't look like it'd be going away any time soon. I felt a little bad for our teacher, but he seemed so defeated and didn't even try to keep us quiet. I hadn't had that much fun in years.