Selcouth (A humanstuck Davekat fanfiction)

The beginning of a Vagary

September 7th, 2016

Slosh, slosh.

The sound of water under my sneakers as I trudge through the rain to my bus stop is blocked out by my earbuds. I set myself down on the bench and wait for a mere five minutes before my bus arrives.

Stepping on, I look across the rows of kids, finding only a seat in the back that held only one person. I shuffle to the back, only to find the seat taken by the person's backpack. He was looking out the window and wearing headphones, I doubt he noticed me.

I took one of my earbuds out, then tap his shoulder, "Hey, can you move your—"

I was cut off by how quickly he turned his head, immediately giving me an icy glare, so cold it felt like it was freezing over my brain. I would have been a bit more scared if he wasn't so short and nonthreatening. He grabbed his backpack, jerking it onto his lap with a frown, then looked out the window.

Christ, I didn't think I would've made my worst enemy by simply needing a spot to sit on the bus.

Nonetheless, I sat down. I looked over at the other, now getting a better look at his face. He had dark Hispanic skin, and silky, dark brunette hair. His eyes were a soft hazel color and he was very short, at least compared to me, and I was average height. His—

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"I, uh—"

"I'm just messing with you, man. Name's John." A boy with Raven-black hair and blue eyes extended his arm towards me from the seat in front of me. I shook it quickly, not being a big fan of physical contact, even something that quickly.

"Dave. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. Are you new here? Just guessing, because most people know to leave Karkat alone in the mornings, he's not really that much of an asshole. For the most part."

Not even bothering to look at John, Karkat lifted his middle finger in his direction. John shrugged it off, waving his hand in dismissal, "Just wait until after second period when he's completely awake."

I nod, snickering quietly at how casually rude Karkat was. John smiled, pushing some of his own hair out of his face, "So, Dave, where are you from?"

"Houston."

"Damn, Texas? That's so far. I actually moved here last year, from Washington, with my sister, Jade." He pointed his thumb in the direction of a tall, fairly buff, girl with darkly tanned skin and long, black hair.

"Oh, that's cool, I bet it's a lot different here in New York than it is over there."

"For sure, there are a ton more people."

John and I kept the small talk rolling until the bus arrived at school. Apparently he has an older brother and sister who are in college, around my brother, Dirk's, age. The brother, Jake, is a world studies major, and the sister, Jane, is a culinary major. Much more interesting than the mechanics degree Dirk is heading for.

As the bus came to a stop, everyone got off. One by one, like a train of body oder and pimples. Alright, maybe that's just the pessimistic way of looking at it. Let's say, a train of the next generation of America. Although, looking at these kids, that can also be considered a pessimistic way of viewing it.

Once we were all off the bus and on the school campus, John, with the (reluctant) help of Karkat, gave me a small tour of the high school. seeing as we still had a bit of time left before the first bell would ring.

It was very big, especially compared to the run down, small one I went to in Houston. This one had two stories, and a ton of extra curricular activities. We compared schedules, I looked down at my slip of paper;