Chapter 3: Stuck in a hard place

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TW: homophobic slurs

I open my eyes to the sound of music echoing throughout my room. I shift around in my blankets and lay there with my eyes closed for a few seconds, Wanting to enjoy the warmth of my bed and the song by Blue Foundation. I let myself not think about anything. Head empty, Purely concentrating on the sound of the music and the slow pace of my breathing. As soon as the song was over I slowly rose from my mattress, still having the fluffy green blanket wrapped around my shoulders. I walked down the hall from my room to the kitchen and looked out the window. It's still dark out for the most part, but I can see the sun peek out above the horizon, turning the sky into an ombre of purple, pink and orange hues. I look over to the counter behind the small kitchen island we have and see that the coffee pot is on. As I get closer I can see a small sticky note stuck to the counter, written in delicate cursive.

I took the night shift again, I thought you would like some coffee before you went to school :)
Don

I smiled and put down the note, thankful that she did that for me. I looked back to the coffee pot and noticed it still had some more to go before it was finished brewing. I walked back down the hallway to the bathroom. I flicked on the light and looked in the mirror. Slight discoloration sat under my (e/c) eyes, from lack of sleep over the previous few nights. I was nervous about how this would play out, knowing I usually don't do well in social settings. Especially, if they were as judgemental as people my age, it was like swimming through an ocean of hungry sharks. I shook the image out of my head, realizing it wouldn't be too helpful to get myself out of sorts right before I went in. I brushed my teeth and washed my face quickly, not wanting to sacrifice the time I had set aside for breakfast. I picked up my blanket and walked back into my room to pick out an outfit. After about 5 minutes of mixing and matching, I settled on an earthy-toned green shirt, a brown vest, and a brown skirt with black tights underneath it. I layered some simple chains on my neck before I carefully untangled my hair. I decided to go with some light brown makeup before I slipped on my black dr. martens. I quickly made my way back into the kitchen to grab a bagel to eat before I had to leave. I looked at the clock hanging in the living room.
7:40.
I was doing good on time, so I carefully applied cream cheese to my bagel and poured a cup of coffee. I took my breakfast to the living room and plopped on the leather couch. I grabbed the remote and flicked through channels until I found boomerang. I was surprised that the channel was still streaming, with it being as old as it is. It was playing Gumby, I didn't watch this show all that much when I was younger. At the time, stop motion movies that involved clay had freaked me out some. He was playing with a red ball that had belonged to a dog that accidentally threw it over a fence. I ate my breakfast while staring at the small box tv. It was a little glitchy and some static came out through the speakers but I could hear everything fine. It added character to it. After drinking the last couple of sips of coffee, I stood up to take my dishes to the sink. I swiped away the small ring my cup left on the cable and looked at the clock.
8:05.
I was running a little late, so I hurried out into the doorway after rummaging through my bag to make sure I had everything. I quickly took one last glance in the mirror hanging by the door, making sure I didn't smudge my lipstick with the coffee cup. I threw the door open and closed it behind me as I speed walked down the hall. I took a fast turn at a corner and almost ran over Keeter in the process, hitting her hard enough for her to drop some of her books. She whipped around, looking like she was ready to fight until she saw me. She sighed in relief and turned back around to start picking up her books.
"Sorry, I thought you were someone else, lol." She apologized. I have never heard someone use the interjection 'lol'  as a word before. I giggled to myself thinking about the other words that she could use. Specifically 'brb' does she pronounce it birb? I helped her pick up the rest of her books and put them in her book bag. She flipped her hair behind her as she started walking again. I had to speed walk to catch up. Her parents must be fucking giants.
"Hey, can you slow down some? I'm short." I laughed. She looked down at me and smiled mischievously. Then she started speeding up.
"And if I don't??" she questioned, hair bouncing up and down behind her with each enormous step she took.
"Keeter! You're such an ass!" I whined, having to run to keep up with her. We quickly rushed down stairwells and hallways until we got to the lobby, where Gray was waiting. I looked at both of their outfits, realizing that they were trying to match. They both had on heavy black eyeliner and leather jackets. Gray wearing black ripped jeans, and Keeter in a black plaid skirt. Gray and I  were about the same height, so as we walked to school together it looked like a mom -who never left her punk phase- walking her two kids to school, her platforms didn't help either. I wonder what it was like being that tall. Being able to see everything so easily, and can reach stuff without having to use a chair or a step stool. We all left the building after Gray hit the vending machine for some water bottles. We silently walked at each other's pace down the empty road. It was surrounded by cars parked in front and behind each other, with trees stretching over the road and touching each other. Leaving behind spotted rays of lights to scatter across the concrete. I guess people here haven't gotten up for work yet or were already there. I looked up at Keeter, who had her eyes glued to her phone and her earbuds in, clearly invested in something. I looked past her to gray who was trying to find something in his bag.
"You want me to hold that?" I asked. He looked back at me and nodded, I carefully walked behind Keeter to help him with his bag. Surprisingly, she stopped and leaned against a nearby car, waiting for us. She was a lot more observant of her surroundings than I thought. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a small notebook. It was made out of old worn-out leather -or looked that way- with brown twine attached to the back to wrap around it to keep it closed.
"What's that for?" I asked, slightly confused as to why he pulled out a notebook like that when we were walking. He put the book in my hands as he zipped his bag back up.
"That's everything that happened last night that you missed out on." he said as I carefully opened the booklet and started walking again.
"Our mission was a success by the way," he said, lightly nudging me.
"That bitch was hard to kill."
I flipped through the booklet, taking note of the small drawings of medieval characters of all races. A specific wizard drawing caught my attention, it was fighting the dragon goddess with a torn cape flowing behind him. It looked like my character. There was heavy attention to detail in the drawing, specifically the eyes and the staff.
"I didn't know you were such a good artist." I said to him, handing the book back. He nudged my arm away, shaking his head.
" You can keep it until tomorrow, I record everything that we do in that booklet so you should be able to see everything that happened after you left last night." He chimed excitedly. He must be passionate about it if he's willing to spend time on it like this. It was admirable. I tucked the booklet under my arm, determining how to bring up the next topic. I looked over at him and kinda started until he looked back at me. I shifted my head away nervously before looking back. He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Uhm... how do I bring this up..." I mumbled, looking at my feet. He adjusted his bag on his back in anticipation before touching my arm in reassurance.
"it's okay, you can just say it. I won't judge you for anything." he soothed. Looking at me with slight concern. As embarrassing as it is, I decided to just admit it.
"I've... I have never gone to public school before...so, I don't know how to do anything. I've been homeschooled for most of my life." I admitted, hoping my face wasn't too red with embarrassment. He bit back a laugh, trying not to hurt my feelings. His face scrunched up and he tried to retain his giggles. I punched him in the arm, not liking that he was laughing at me.
"What's so funny?!?" I asked, demandingly.
" that's... that's really all that was wrong?" he laughed, surprised by what I had to say.  I stared at him in slight disbelief, starting to feel stupid for being embarrassed about something so little. I smiled to myself thinking about all of the other things that had happened in my life.
"Yeah, I guess..." I said, rubbing the back of my neck and looking at the ground. Hoping my face wasn't as red as it felt. He had calmed down for a few minutes, still looking over at me every once in a while just for him to start laughing again. I rolled my eyes, already tired of being the butt of the joke. 
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he bubbled, waving his hands in front of him.
" It's just, you looked like you were constipated, so I genuinely thought something was wrong."
I noticed that he talked with his hands a lot, not that I don't do it too, but his movements are a bit more dramatic.
"High school is pretty easy, once you memorize where all of your classes are, it's a breeze." Keeter says from behind.
"Unless you get into some drama, then your emotions might take a bit of a toll. But for the most part, a breeze." she smiled, before looking back down at her phone. For the rest of the walk, it was a comfortable silence, besides some pointers from gray here and there. How not to get into drama, where the bathrooms are and where there are and aren't cameras. We slowly approached the school, it was the same one I drove by on the way here and It was pretty big. It was a two-story building that gray said the front office and where most of the classes were. It branched off into breezeways outside, which led to the cafeteria, the gym, the theater, and the other classes that were not core classes. We walked by the theater which had Nockfell's Nighthawks printed on the side of it in faded gold letters. Kids littered all around the school, sitting down and having breakfast, just walking, or doing all kinds of things. I looked down at my shoes to avoid all of the people, it was all starting to become overwhelming. My breathing started to pick up and I started getting dizzy. I didn't notice that anyone was talking to me until I felt a hand on my back. I looked up and saw that hand was connected to Gray, who was looking at me with worry laced in his expression. I looked around and noticed other pairs of eyes looking at me too. Some lingering, others stealing a glance and looking away or full-on double takes. I bit my nails anxiously, wanting to be alone, and for the noise to go away. Unbeknownst to me, Keeter was watching me and realizing what was wrong. So she grabbed my hand and started walking to the bathroom, yelling something over her shoulder. I stared down at my shoes as I allowed her to pull me through the halls and up some stairs. We walked into the bathroom and sat down on the floor. Cradling my legs to my chest and resting my cheek on my knees. Keeter was still holding onto my hand but started to stroke my arm.
"Just breathe, I know people can be a lot sometimes." she consoled, looking at the door to make sure no one was coming in. I took deep breaths as I listened to the bathroom. The hum of the old lights was comforting, alongside a slow dripping of a nearby faucet.
Drip
Drip
Drip
Hummm

I look around the old bathroom. The old lights cast a dingy yellow over everything. The tiles that made up the floor were a pale gray color that rounded about around two drains in the middle of the floor. The stalls were a deep blue color, turned slightly green from the lighting. I stood up from my spot and walked over to the sink. I lightly splashed some water on my face. Enough to cool off my burning cheeks, but not enough to wash away my makeup. I looked back into the mirror and readied myself for going back out into the hallways.
" I don't know if you noticed, but there usually aren't too many people upstairs in the mornings. Unless they are getting help from a teacher, or have a club." she said lowly, not wanting to make too much noise due to the heavy echo of the bathroom. She was still sitting on the floor, with her head leaning against the wall. "Are you ready to go?" she asked, standing up. I looked back into the mirror, mentally psyching myself up to go back downstairs before I said yes.
...

We walked out of the doors and I pulled my phone out of my bag. We had about thirty minutes until classes started so I figured that would be enough time to find my classes. Keeter ushered me closer to a nearby tree where a couple of people were sitting, chatting about something or were on their phones. I spotted Gray leaning against the trunk of the tree, talking to an interesting-looking ginger. She had on a pink beret with felt made strawberries stitched to it. She had big strawberry earrings, a white button-up, alongside a green vest. With brown pants and green flats. This chick must really like green... Her brown eyes met mine excitedly and ran over to hug me. She swiftly wrapped her arms around me in a tight squeeze. With no idea what to do, I hugged back. She smelled like roses, violet, and blackcurrant, with a unique spiciness I couldn't quite place. She let me go and looked me in the eyes before pushing her hand out in front of me. "Hi! I'm Fenry, and I will be your tour guide, but, I can be more if you want me to be." she said playfully as she winked at me. I felt heat spread across my face when her glossed lips up-turned into a pretty pink smile. I averted my eyes back to hers and took her hand. "(Y/N)," I said. "I moved here not too long ago." She let go of my hand and went through her brown messenger bag, trying to find something. " I figured! I don't think I have seen you here before." she looked back up and behind me. Her lips tightened, and her eyebrows twitched slightly. "And by the looks of it... no one else has either." she said ominously. She was still looking behind me when I looked over my shoulder. There was a couple of boys standing by the theater, staring intensely at me. I don't think that they approved of me too much. I also don't think people liked them very much, due to everyone seemingly avoiding the trio. One of the guys in particular had a colder stare than the others. His brown eyes had nothing in them as I looked over the bruise on his right eye. He had on a white button-up under a purple sweater. He was sporting raggedy old jean shorts and sneakers, alongside a gold cross that dangled from his neck.
" What are you looking at newbie?!" he shouted across the courtyard. His voice was high-pitched and annoying, almost shrilly. I flinched and then focused my eyes elsewhere, not wanting to start anything on my first day here. Donna would kick my ass if I got into a fight. Maria would ask if I won, and proceed to kick my ass if I didn't, or ran. "(Y/N) can look wherever they want to Travis! Take a hike!" Gray said loudly trying to get him to back off.  He laughed and walked away with his friends. "Bunch of fags..." he said lowly, I almost missed it. Fenry put her hand on my shoulder and started guiding me to the core classes building.
"That's just Travis, he feels like because his dad is the big scary preacher he can be a pompous asshole to anyone. Just don't pay attention to him" she sighed, sadly. She looked off in the direction he walked off, then looked back at the door with a guilty look on her face before opening it. Did she feel bad for him or something? He seems like a douchebag.
But she knows him better than I do. So I shouldn't say anything.
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Sorry this took so long to get up lol, I wasn't sure where I wanted to end the chapter since I originally had more planned in this chapter. I've been suffering from writers block lately. I'll get over it eventually, again, sorry this update took so long <3

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