DELTAREI: A Deltarune AU. [16+] (NOW COMPLETED)

Chapter 25: Davonte

-TUESDAY, JANUARY 31ST, 2023.-
After school, I walked out of the building feeling the cold 11 degree wind pierce through me, even in my winter jacket. The snow that had blanketed the ground yesterday was mostly gone, thanks to the efforts of the snowplowers, but the remnants of the blizzard still clung to the trees, giving everything a eerie, frozen look.
As I turned to head home, I noticed a kid I had never seen before standing by himself nearby. He was a black kid around my age, and he looked kind of lonely and cold. As I tried to catch up with the kid, I accidentally bumped into him and we both stumbled to the ground. I quickly got up and offered him a hand, "Yo, sorry homie!" I said, trying to sound cool.
But the kid looked offended, and I realized I had messed up. I had used AAVE when I wasn't black myself and that wasn't cool.

Jack- "Sorry, I didn't mean to be disrespectful," I said quickly. "What's your name?"

We both introduced ourselves and found out that we were both the same age, although Davonte was in his final year of high school and was set to graduate earlier than me. As we talked, I couldn't help but notice how mature and grown up he seemed, despite his age.
"Hey, you're graduating early?" I asked, impressed. "That's pretty cool. What are your plans after graduation?"

Davonte explained that he had a pretty tough job to help support his family. He then asked me if I was up to helping him out for $100. Since I had never worked before, I didn't really know what to expect.
"Are you from the hood or something?" I joked, and instantly regretted it as I saw Davonte get noticeably angry.
"I'm sorry," I quickly apologized. "That was a stupid thing to say. Of course I'll help you out."
As we walked, Davonte was quiet, probably still annoyed at my dumb comment. We finally arrived at his workplace - it was some sort of manual labor job. The place was cold and bleak, with heavy machinery and tools scattered everywhere.
"Welcome to my humble workplace," Davonte said sarcastically. "Yeah, we're the only ones here because nobody else wants to work. The manager is on his second vacation this month in Hawaii, enjoying the sun while we slave away in the snow."As we entered the workplace, I couldn't help but say, "Damn, ya'll work really hard!"
Davonte immediately bristled. "Who is 'ya'll'?" he snapped.
I realized my mistake and quickly tried to cover it up. "Oh, I just meant everyone here at the job. You know, ya'll as in 'you all.'"
Davonte gave me a skeptical look but nodded, accepting my explanation. Davonte began explaining the task at hand. "Today, we're stripping down these rusty old pipes and repainting them. It's not gonna be fun, but it needs to be done."
The thought of manual labor didn't sound particularly thrilling to me, but I wasn't about to back out now. I squared my shoulders and nodded confidently.

Jack- "I'm ready. Let's do this."

We worked nonstop for almost 8 hours, taking only two short breaks in between. By the time we finished, my limbs felt like jelly and I collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. Davonte pulled out a 100 dollar bill from his wallet and slid it to me.

Davonte- "Thanks for helping out," he said. "And I guess you're not such a bad guy after all."

Jack- "No problem," I replied, taking the money. "And thanks for letting me help."

We both got up, and as we headed out of the workplace, I grinned. "I guess we're friends now, huh?" And of course, after that, we agreed, and we exchanged phone numbers as he handed me his on a small piece of paper. I promised to add him to my contacts, and so did he, as we then parted our seperate ways for the night after closing up the shop.