Soulless

Gathering of the Clouds

Toriel parked at the (for some reason) only one parking space, and exited the car with Kris following behind. She wanted to hold Kris's hand, but they made it SPECIFICALLY clear they do not wish to be "dragged" around like that. Toriel couldn't figure out why; what's so bad at a mother showing how much she cares about her child?

Anyway, the duo made their way through a crowd of students present at the school entrance, and entered the building. There was even more students roaming about in the school hallway, chatting about and going off to do god-knows what.

Kris felt stagnant. They hated crowds like these, because they always felt like they were being watched from all sides, the gazes of judging students all gathering up on top of them. Kris knew exactly what everyone was thinking; it was easy. The monsters all looked at Kris the same way: some with dis-interest, others with disgust. Some of them even had a faint glimpse of fear in their eyes, turning and walking away the second Kris looked at them.

None of them even tried talking to Kris. Well, not ALL of them, there was always-

"Kris! Hey Kris!"

Once again, someone decided to interrupt Kris's thinking session, and pull them back into the real world. When Kris looked up, they saw a small, deer-like monster waving at them across the hallway.

Noelle.

Out of all the other monsters Kris had to endure school with, Noelle was the only one they considered the closest to being a "friend". Even though she was afraid of Kris not too long ago (and she still probably is), she always tried to strike up a conversation with them, trying to be polite. Kris could tell she genuinely cared about them, if only in the slightest.

Meanwhile, the main reason Kris considered her a friend was because of the numerous times they had to borrow something off of her. So, it only felt fair to show at least some bit of respect for the poor, shy deer-girl.

Kris wondered if their approach to making friends wasn't flawed somehow...

...No. It's perfect.

Kris made their way through the abundance of students to Noelle, who was standing near their classroom, next to some lockers. She was rummaging through her own locker as Kris arrived. Kris looked at the assortment of metal, compact spaces with disdain.

This is where Susie tried to...

...

Kris shook their head. Susie and them are over THAT part of their relationship.

'Relationship...'

The word sounded strangely funny when Kris said it to themselves like that.

"Uh...Kris? Are you just going to stare at me, or..." Noelle was gazing at Kris with an awkward expression. Kris blinked a few times, before taking a step back and looking away. They didn't realize how close they stood to Noelle.

Kris and Noelle both stood there in silence for a moment. Noelle was blushing ever-so-slightly.

Kris felt like an idiot.

After what would be best described as 'agonizing' silence, Noelle was the first to break it: "Um, a-anyway, how have you been doing with your project? I imagine you must have it done by now. With Susie helping you...and such..." Noelle looked a little more energetic when she mentioned Susie, for some reason.

"She's smart, right?" She asked with enthusiasm. Kris raised their eyebrows. "I mean, I know she is! She's putting up a charade of being dumb and strong, but I always felt like she's actually really smart underneath. After all, her grades aren't the worst in class~" She continued while picking up her stuff from the locker. Kris sighed sadly. It took her a moment to realize what she implied, and she quickly turned around to Kris: "Er, sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad..."