Bunny Smiles Butchering (Walten Files AU)

Chapter 2: Enlightened.

||Susan POV||

     Susan made sure to keep track of Sophie and try to raise her well, but also acted as a sort of friend. She didn't say anything when Sophie stayed out late, or walked silently through the halls of Bon's Burgers. She shared her concerns with Felix, but he didn't seem to see the issue. Of course he didn't.
     She also noticed that Sophie got more and more tired each day, and her sleep was often interrupted by nightmares. At least she was getting good grades in school. She tried asking Sophie about her social life, but she always managed to dodge the question. She understood, though.
     She had always been much different than others while growing up, often being more interested in engineering and technology than typical things like dolls or boys. She never really made friends because of this. 
     Tonight was another quiet dinner. Susan had ordered pizza, and Sophie had reluctantly sat at the table with her. She felt sorry for how antisocial and nervous Sophie had become, and wished she could do something to help, but nothing came to mind.
     "Anything interesting happen at school?" She asked, looking hopefully at Sophie, praying for an answer.
     "No. Not really. Just... school." She said, her voice low and quiet. 
     "Your voice really reminds me of your father's, you know." Susan had meant it as a compliment, really, but she immediately took note of Sophie tensing up and looking down at her food. "Sorry, I meant, it's really soothing to listen too."
     "Oh. Thank you." 
     "Right. Well... if nothing interesting happened today, we'll pray for tomorrow to be a good one, right?" 
     "Sure." Sophie said, finishing off her food and depositing her plate into the dishwasher. Susan watched her walk down the hall to her room, heading inside. Sighing, she finished her dinner alone. She did have a surprise planned for Sophie, though. 
     Susan always saw her practicing swings with her baseball bat in the backyard, and so she assumed that Sophie was on a softball team, but didn't have any baseballs to practice with. Going into her room, Susan opened her desk drawer and took out a baseball. It was clearly well-used, but it was in good condition. 
     She remembered that it used to belong to her brother. She would pitch to him and he would attempt to hit it. He never managed to hit it, but they had fun together. He gave her the ball before he went off to college, and now, she wanted to pass it off to somebody who would use it. 
     "Sophie, can I come in?" She asked, softly knocking on the door. 
     "Go ahead." 
     "Hey!" She said, smiling and opening the door. Sophie was examining her baseball bat. "Perfect timing, I guess. I came to give you this." Susan reached out, handing the baseball to Sophie. "This was my brother's. I was thinking, since I see you practicing swings all the time in the backyard, maybe I could pitch to you a bit?" 
     "Yes, that would be great!" Sophie said excitedly, running out to the backyard. 
     Susan followed closely behind. She stood about 10 feet away from Sophie, pulling her arm back and hurling the ball. Sophie whipped her bat furiously. An ear-splitting crack was heard as the ball made contact and flew forwards. 
     Susan, not expecting this, was hit right in the nose. She tripped backwards, clutching her face in pain and clenching her eyes shut. She didn't see the manic grin on Sophie's face. Blood flowed down her face. 
     "Are you okay!?" Sophie asked, feigning concern. Susan nodded, moving her hand away from her nose.
     "Ah, I'll be fine. You must be a real zinger on the softball team at school!" She said, getting up. "I'm just going to take a quick trip to the hospital. I'll be back soon." 

||Sophie POV||

     Sophie watched through the window as Susan began driving away. She then looked down at the bloodied baseball in her hand. It was dirty and had a few scratches, and it also had a signature on it. It was just a scribble, but she thought she could make out the letter W. 
     There was clearly much history behind this toy, and she had used it to commit a ruthless act of violence. Yes, her bashing Susan's nose in with a baseball was no accident. She had been aiming more for the forehead, but the nose works. 
     Either way, she headed to her room and laid in bed, praying silently for sleep. She managed to drift off, but it was fitful and light. She woke up, tired as always. At least she had gotten a somewhat healthy amount of rest. 
     Heading to school, it was a very quiet ride in the car, as Susan's nose was now bandaged up. Though Sophie remained silent, her mind buzzed with thoughts. She wouldn't be able to focus today, she could tell. Not unless she did something to take her mind off of her own thoughts.
     Sophie walked through the halls, keeping her head down and her eyes on her feet. She could feel the eyes staring at her, practically burning through her with their gaze. She ignored it though. She knew they were just staring because they didn't know. They were staring because they didn't understand her, they never would. And she was better than them. She knew what she was worth, and she knew she was practically a god among these people. She was enlightened. She knew that-
     "Ouf!" Sophie grunted, her thoughts interrupted when she suddenly bumped into a larger figure, toppling backwards and landing on her back, groaning. Looks like even the gods were meant to fall. The redhead in front of her stared down for a moment, dumbfounded, before realizing what had just happened. 
     "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" The taller girl asked, hauling Sophie up by the arm. Sophie rubbed her back, wincing slightly.
     "I'm fine. Just a bit sore."
     "Are you sure? I can bring you to the nurse's office, if you'd like. I'm Jenny, by the way. Nice to meet you." Jenny held out a hand for Sophie to shake.
     "Thank you for the offer, but really, I'm okay. I'm Sophie." She shook Jenny's hand reluctantly, her eyes shifting away. Could she trust this Jenny?
     "You seem cool. Would you like to hang out during lunch? I don't really have any friends at the moment." Jenny laughed awkwardly, beads of sweat starting to form on her forehead.
     Sophie couldn't help but laugh along. Who was this person she had just met? What was going on, why did she feel so giddy? No matter. Sophie would finally make a friend today. She never expected this to happen, but it was a welcome surprise.
     "That sounds like fun. I'm sure I'll be able to find you, that red hair of yours is pretty recognizable." The conversation between the two was cut short by the bell, and the two rushed in opposite directions. 
     The teacher didn't bat an eye as Sophie came in, and neither did the students. She was always late. Classes passed by as usual, Sophie absently listening to the teacher drone on and on about whatever "useful life skills" they were learning that day. But she became excited as the clock neared noon, shifting in her seat restlessly.
     Rushing out of the school building, Sophie looked around, spotting Jenny's bright ponytail. She waved, and Jenny waved back. The two found a nice bench to sit on and chat with each other. 
     As they talked and ate, though, people passing by stared and whispered. Sophie tensed up, but Jenny ignored these whispers. She seemed so calm to Sophie. She needed to know how she could keep her composure.
     "How do you do it, Jenny?"
     "Hm? Do what?"
     "How do you ignore them? The whispers. Surely you're affected by the whispers in plain sight, by the rumors that are most likely already spreading? You're sitting with me, the creep, the weird kid, the quiet one. How do you ignore all the people?"
     "Oh, it's simple, really. I just don't care what others think, because I know, I think highly of myself. I don't need to please other people. I just do whatever I want." 
     Sophie's eyes widened slightly. It was that simple? She admired Jenny. Usually, whenever she became friends with somebody, her thoughts soon turned to dark fantasies about different ways of ending them. But, with Jenny, she didn't have any of those thoughts about her. She was just so happy. What was going on?