Inside Job (FNAF: SB Rewrite)

Chapter 41 - Epilogue | Part 1

NOTE: The epilogue ended up being about 20,000 words, so I felt the need to split it in to two parts. Whoops! Part 2 won't be as long as a wait, promise! :)

"Nervous?" Michael asked me. He sat behind the wheel of his car, while I was in the passenger seat. I fiddled with my backpack's zipper. It was my first time returning to school since everything happened.

Most of my recovery happened during winter break, fortunately, but I did take an extra week off just to give myself more time to adjust. I needed to practice walking with my prosthetic, and I had to get used to wearing gloves on my hands to conceal my burn scars. I still had to take medication to stop my aching, but it was getting better.

"Do I have to? Can't you just homeschool me?" I asked, half-joking. Michael chuckled and shook his head.

"It'll be fine," he assured me. "Text me if you need anything." Michael had given me my first phone after everything. Mom wanted to wait until I was thirteen, but he thought it'd be safer if I got one now.

I took a deep breath and opened the car door, taking a slow step out until I'd reached the ground. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and closed the door. I was making my way through the pavement of the sidewalk when Michael yelled out to me.

"Gregory! Aren't you forgetting something?" he said, and I turned around to face him. I had no idea what I was possibly forgetting, but he put up his hands and formed a heart with his fingers and thumbs. I groaned, turning back around so that I could run up the stairs, but he honked the horn of his car and yelled at me again.

I spun around, this time my face feeling red from embarrassment. I felt like everyone's eyes were on me. I walked backwards as I returned the heart-shaped gesture slyly, trying to conceal my hands from the other students so that they wouldn't judge me too harshly. Michael had a look of satisfaction on his face, and he drove away. He had to get to the warehouse; they'd been making renovations to it recently.

It had been so long since I stepped on school grounds, almost a whole month in fact. The building itself felt as if it was looming over me. I hesitantly walked up the rest of the steps and into the main corridor.

It was as loud as I remember. I tried to ignore the amount of other students in the hallways and just make my way to my first class, even if I'd be incredibly early. It was quieter in there, especially before class started.

The door was wide open which told me my teacher was early as well. There were a few of my classmates as well, but I paid them no mind. I sauntered into the back while she waved at me, and I gave her a weak smile and sat down in my seat. I placed my backpack next to my feet and zipped it open.

" Bowtie ?" I whispered-yelled when I saw it. I didn't pack it into my bag, so what the hell was it doing here?

"Hi!" it greeted, and I shoved my hand over its mouth to try to shut it up. Of course, that didn't stop its voice box from being able to play sounds.

I already felt like everyone had my eyes on me, so I sunk down beneath my desk to talk to it. "You can't be here, my teachers will freak if they see you!" I told it.

"Relax," Bowtie said quietly, "I'm just here to make sure everything goes well. I won't make a sound!"

"You're making sound now!" I argued. It motioned zipping its mouth shut with its paw. Then, it was silent, minus the faint fan noise it made, and it moved around as if it were playing charades.

"Fine, whatever, just stay quiet," I said, and I shoved it back into my backpack and zipped it up. Being the kid who went missing was bad enough, I didn't need to be the one who brought their toys to school, too. I slowly got up from my spot beneath my desk and back onto my chair, shrinking in place as I prayed no one saw that.