Colors ×sally face x reader× [EDITING]

34. A New Friend

[before I start the chapter, I always like getting your input on who you imagine characters as! So who do you think would "play" (or describe what you think they look like) Alex and Melissa? Alex to me has more of a Billie Eilish look and Melissa to me is played by Lauren Vélez :)]

34. A New Friend

It was my first week back at college. I found my way to my math class and sat down in a seat towards the window. Class didn't start for another fifteen minutes, but I was right down the hall, so I wasn't going to leave just to come back to the building.

The rest of the class started piling in. People took their seats, chatting with their friends. I didn't know anyone in this class, so I sat to myself. I watched out the window until I heard a small voice to my left.

"Hi, uh, is it okay if I sit here?" The voice asked. I looked over to see a red haired boy. His hair reminded me of a shorter version of Todd's, making me smile in my mind.

"Oh, yeah, sure." I replied. He nodded and sat down. One thing about this boy that stood out, was the blue surgical mask he wore. A lot of people had been wearing them a lot, and I wasn't sure why.

"Thanks." He said, not looking at me. He seemed very shy, which was understandable.

"I'm (Y/N) by the way." I said. He turned to face me this time and nodded.

"Uh, Zeke." He said.

I smiled and nodded. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Uh, sure." He said, sounding nervous.

"What's the deal with the masks? Is it like flu season or something?" I asked. "Not trying to be rude or anything, I just see a lot of people wearing them."

He nodded, "Yeah, I think it's flu season, I'm not sure. I don't wear it for the same reason others do."

"Oh?" I asked, slightly confused. "Do you just get sick easily?" He shook his head. "Oh, okay." I said.

We sat there for a moment before he spoke up, "Uh, you'd think it's weird."

I laughed, "I'm the definition of weird, try me."

He sighed. "I was born with pieces of my face missing, so I wear a medical mask to keep it concealed." He replied. "See, weird. People call me freak and stuff, so I just try and hide it."

I nodded, "Well, that's not all that weird." I replied. I grabbed my phone and pulled up the photo of Sal and I from graduation. I moved the phone towards him.

"This is my boyfriend, Sal. He wears a full facial prosthetic, so your medical mask isn't weird to me." I smiled.

His eyes brightened a little, and you could see the balls of his cheeks raise. "That makes me feel a little better about it. Is he as self conscious as I am?"

I shook my head, "Sal's really comfortable wearing his mask. People didn't pay much attention to it, but if he did, he didn't take much offense, and neither should you. It's how you were born, it's who you are."

"Thank you, (Y/N). I appreciate it."

°

"Wait, really?" Alex asked as we had dinner in our dorm room. Alex and I managed to snag a dorm together during priority registration, which meant another year of ice cream and Netflix.

"Yeah, how weird is that?" I was telling her about Zeke, the kid in my math class who had the surgical mask.

"Very." She said, putting a large spoon of Rocky Road ice cream into her mouth.