𓈊 The Red on My Face is Matching You

1

Mumbo stood in front of his homeroom classmates, gripping his bag as tight as he could whilst the teacher introduced him. He'd never been so anxious in his life, but then again, who wouldn't be in this situation? Standing before the most talented kids in the country wasn't something Mumbo figured any untalented person could do without feeling nervous.

"Go ahead and take a seat wherever you like," the teacher said, and Mumbo could feel himself relax a bit as he spotted an empty corner in the back of the room.

Nodding, he silently maneuvered through the rows of desks toward the very back. However, before he could get there, he felt someone tug on his blazer. Mumbo turned to see a slightly darker-skinned boy with what appeared to be moss covering his hair.

"Hey, come sit next to me," the boy whispered.

Mumbo paused, then sat down next to him.

The boy smiled brightly. "My name is Bdubs," he whispered after Mumbo sat down.

"Uh, Mumbo," the ravenette said semi-shyly.

"What's your gift, Mumbo?"

Mumbo paused, then tilted his head. "Sorry?"

Bdubs sighed. "Your gift," he repeated. "Like, I can use echolocation to see when it's too dark for my eyes to detect any light."

"Oh, uh..." Mumbo pursed his lips and fidgeted with his hands. "I don't... have one?"

Bdubs blinked. "Huh?"

Mumbo sighed. "I knew this was going to happen..." He leaned back in his seat. "I don't have a gift," he repeated. "I wasn't born with one, I never developed one... I just don't have one."

Mumbo, unfortunately, was a part of the fifteen percent of the population with no gift at all.

"Oh. Well... I'm sorry for your loss," Bdubs said in an awkward attempt to comfort Mumbo. "How did you get into this school, then?"

"A miracle," Mumbo said with a laugh. "I tested high enough on the robotics and engineering test that they let me in."

Bdubs nodded. "So, you're a technology nerd," he said, smirking. "Good to know."

Mumbo furrowed his brows in confused. "What do you mean?"

Bdubs shrugged. "That's for me to know, and you to find out, my friend," he said, making Mumbo roll his eyes.

"Ah, how wonderful of you to join us, Xelqua," the teacher sighed as a short kid with dirty blonde hair walked into the classroom.

"I told you, my name isn't-" The kid paused, noticing Mumbo. "Ooh! New student?"

The teacher sighed again. "Take a seat, Xelqua."

The kid huffed and walked over to an empty seat on the other side of the classroom from Mumbo.

"Woah," Mumbo breathed, his cheeks tinted pink. "Who is that?"

Bdubs gave Mumbo an incredulous look. "Excuse me?!"

"Boys!" the teacher shouted. "Would you please stop talking?"

Mumbo and Bdubs sank in their seats as a round of giggles went around the room.

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"You can't seriously like them," Bdubs said as he and Mumbo stopped at Mumbo's locker. Bdubs glared at the boy their teacher called Xelqua. "They're so weird."

Mumbo looked at Bdubs. "What's wrong with them?"

Bdubs rolled his eyes and scoffed. "What isn't wrong with them?" he grumbled. "They claim to have, like- several people in their head. Like, different identities. Nobody even knows their real name because they constantly use different ones."

"That's a real thing, Bdubs," Mumbo said, quirking a brow at his new friend. "It's called DID. It's pretty interesting, but it's really overlooked because a lot of people don't believe it actually exists... Like you."

Bdubs sighed. "This is different," he said. "They don't ever switch around people. And apparently their appearence changes, too."

Mumbo hummed, closing his locker. "Maybe that's their gift," he suggested.

"But it's not," Bdubs said. "Their gift lets them make these, uh... eyeballs? I don't really know how it works, but this weird shit that they have going on is not their gift. I don't even think they're human."

Mumbo laughed. "Come on, lots of DID systems like to dress up differently when they switch," he said. "It's called self expression. I'm sure they're just misjudged and they're a great person... People?" He shrugged.

Bdubs gave Mumbo a concerned look. "Just... don't get too close to them, okay?" he asked. "There was this one kid that got super close to them and he disappeared one day. Everyone knows it was because of them."

"And how can you be so sure?"

Bdubs looked away, not having an answer.

"Exactly."

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"Hey."

Mumbo was startled at his lunch table by Xelqua, who leaned over his shoulder to say hi. "Oh- Hello?"

They giggled and sat down next to him. "I saw you in third period sitting with-" They stopped, looking over at Bdubs and beaming. "Bdubs!"

The boy in question rolled his eyes. "Hey, Q," he said.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that," they said with a frown. "It's Grian now."

Bdubs sighed. "Hello, Grian," he corrected himself. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to introduce myself to the new student," they answered, then turned their head to smile at Mumbo. "Wanted to make a good first impression, you know?"

Mumbo felt his cheeks heat up as they turned red and he nodded stiffly. "R-right," he said. "I- I'm Mumbo."

"Grian!" they said joyfully. "I like your name. It's one of those names that just... roll off the tongue. A perfect name. With a perfect face, too."

Mumbo had to look away. "I- thank you."

Grian giggled. "You're cute," they said, then they got up from the table. "Anyway, I have to go. I'll see you around, Mumbo Jumbo." They walked away, leaving Mumbo slightly confused.

"How did they know my last name?"

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NEW BOOK- even though I said I was taking a break from writing for a few days- oopsies /lh

I think I'm purposely starting new things so I don't have to finish other things that I already started lmao

Anyway, I hope you enjoyeddd :D