Meraki [Scarian Collage AU]

Chapter 3

The rain droplets had a race, and Scar couldn't help but cheer them on. A big smile formed on his face as one of the droplets got to the very bottom of the window and won the race. A black BMW stopped in front of the entrance to the café, and its music was heard even inside the café. The driver's door opened and a tall man got out. He was dressed casually, in a hoody, dark coat, and baggy pants. The golden bell to the café rang as the door opened. 

The man walked in and looked around, looking for someone. Scar's full attention was captured by the drops of water on the window. "Scar?" The man tapped his shoulder. "Pa!" Scar stood up and hugged the man in front of him. "Hello! Why are you here and not in school?" Scar let go of his pa. 

"Sit down. A lot happened in these past 2 hours! So first I got to school and nothing exciting happened, I just ran into some kid and felt very sorry. Then I went to the principal's office and was greeted by this lovely lady! And then the principal said something and we went to the class, and I introduced myself, right?" Pa nodded. "And then I went and sat down behind this boy and my pencil fell under his chair, I asked him to pick it up and he did, but then! He turned around and it was the same boy from my dream! And then he ran away for some reason... and the teachers didn't even say anything. And then a fire started and everyone was running around scared and then-" The bell rang.

Pa interrupted Scar and talked over him. "A fire started?" Scar nodded, and his smile grew. "Yeah! Crazy first day!" Pa looked at him scared. "Are you okay? No one got hurt, right?" Scar thought a bit. "I think not... I don't know to be fair." Pa stood up and handed Scar an umbrella. 

"Let's go now." The man turned to look at his kid up and down. "You're soaking!" Pa took off his coat and handed it to Scar. "Here. Don't want you to get sick." They left the cafe and got in the car parked outside. 

The silence was only interrupted by the sounds of heavy music. The taller man turned his head to look at Scar. "Everything alright, sweetie? Also, I didn't see your pronoun pin?" Scar hugged pa's coat and shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't want other kids to make fun of me... Am I weird?" 

"What do you mean? Of course not!" Scar couldn't find the words to explain how he feels. "But- I'm not supposed to feel like this... You always said to say how I feel, but what if I don't know how I feel? What if I'm just confused? I shouldn't feel like this." There was a bit of silence. "Are you scared of what other people will think?" Scar slowly nodded. "Who gives a shit what they think! You only live once! If that's how you feel, that means that's right for you. I know how confusing feelings and emotions can get and I'm always here to help you. You have a lifetime to figure things out. There's no need to rush! Now, what would you say if we went and bought some ice cream and then went to buy some clothes?" 

A faint smile appeared on the boy's face. "I would love to..." The car got turned around and once again was heading towards a city next to them. The time to the city took half an hour, but the time was spent doing karaoke along with the songs on the radio. 

The loud sound from the outside car was disturbing the peaceful atmosphere in the cafe. "Pearl... I'm booooored!" Pearl just shrugged her shoulders and took a sip from her cup. To Grian it was fascinating how she could drink so slowly! "I told you to invite the boy over. It would've been way more interesting." Grian furrowed his eyebrows. "No way I'm doing that... You also thought he was weird right, Mumbo?" Mumbo just shrugged his shoulders and the silence fell again. An idea popped up in Grian's head. "Want to go to the mall? I needed some things for my architecture project." 

"Sure. Just let me finish my tea." The boy groaned. "How long can you drink your tea? Let's just go already!" He stood up and grabbed Mumbo's hand, leaving his sister at the table alone. "If you don't want to go just say so..." Mumbo followed Grian's lead and stood up. Pearl looked over to them and stood up as well, the paper cup in her hand. "Let's go then. The bus will be here in..." She pulled out her phone and looked at it. "In 3 minutes."