Mother Dearest | Norray AU (Complete)

Chapter 1

Ray Grace

Norman Minerva

Emma Ratri

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(TW: mentioned gore, bullying)

Sighing, Ray entered the painfully familiar building. He had barely stepped in the door when he was shoved against the lockers.

"Hey, loser! Where ya been these past days? You know you can't hide from us!"

Ray couldn't even get out of bed the past few weeks. He just couldn't. Everything hurt too much. There was a pause between them and the boy grabbed Ray's collar.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Ray looked up at the group of boys with a blank expression, "Paper cut," he said simply.

"What-?"

"When are you going to figure it out? Nothing you do to me matters, and I don't give a damn, so why can't you find someone else to bother?" Ray's eyes glimmered with hatred, while his facial expression remained neutral, leaving the boys dumbfounded, "You're all paper cuts, thinking you can do a thing to me, when the rest of my life is straight-up metaphorical medieval torture. I've had my limbs slowly cut off in small chunks until they're gone, then my throat ripped out, then my entrails ripped out and eaten in front of me. So tell me, how in the hell do you think you can compare to that? You're a paper cut."

By now, even though he wasn't even talking loudly, everyone was looking over. Some people looked terrified of Ray's descriptive metaphor, and some people were laughing and chanting "paper cut." Soon, everyone was chanting the new nickname as Ray walked away.

"Help!" a small muffled voice called from beside Ray.

Surprised, Ray looked over to the lockers. Someone was beating against one. He looked at the locker number. 203.

"Emma, you idiot-"

Ray entered a short passcode into the lock and pulled the door open, stepping to the side. Emma fell out towards the floor, squealing in fear. Ray caught her backpack and waited for her to pull herself up.

"I just wanted to see if I could fit in my locker."

"Evidently, you can," he slammed the locker door hard enough to make Emma flinch, "Don't be stupid again."

"Sorry," she rubbed the back of her head, ruffling her orange hair.

"Get to class."

Emma stood awkwardly.

"Do you not know what class you have-?" Ray asked, now getting frustrated.

"No-"

Ray huffed and grabbed her backpack again, dragging her off to English and leaving her at the doorway. They were both well aware that they were late.

"I think this is yours, Mr. Ratri." Ray flicked Emma in the shoulder.

"Indeed. Thank you, Ray."

Ray nodded and started to walk off.

"Ray, do you need a late pass?" Mr. Ratri asked.

"No, sir. Thank you." Ray continued off to his class. Math.

He sneaked in and slipped into his seat, sighing in relief. The teacher didn't notice. Hopefully, he didn't call attendance yet.

Ray looked over to the person beside him. Usually, since someone moved, that seat was empty, but there was a new face beside him. Ray stared at him. His skin was pale, and his hair was white. He was wearing a white sweater vest and white jeans. Ray almost chuckled, finding it a bit ironic that an albino would wear white clothes. He looked like an artic fox, completely white except one thing- his eyes. They were an electric blue. The boy's skin tone, hair, and clothes, made them stand out even more.
Suddenly, the boy looked over.

"Hi..?" he looked Ray up and down, "What's wrong? Never seen an albino before-?"

"Not in real life, no. You're pretty." Ray said bluntly without thinking twice about the last sentence. The boy's face reddened, making Ray quickly apologize.

"No, it's okay- Thanks." The boy smiled and stuck his hand out, "I'm Norman."

Ray stuck out a fist, "Ray. And hand shakes spread millions of germs, unlike fist bumps, which are scientifically proven to-"

Norman put a finger over Ray's mouth, "Okay, okay. Don't make me learn science until I have to!"

Ray sighed and a small smile crept onto his lips, "Deal."

Norman fist-bumped Ray, smiling, "We're friends now, right?"

Ray nodded.