Kessie's Short Stories

[Deltarune] The Pale Girl in a Dark World

Originally published 6/21 and 6/24/2019

For as long as I could remember, Kris and I had been able to read each other's emotions pretty well. Which is good, I think, because I can't remember a time in my life where Kris wasn't a part of our family.

Our ability to read off each other was at its peak when we were younger; Mr. Holiday even used to call us Thing 1 and Thing 2. If one of us gave the other a side glance, it meant that the other had to do something. If one of us gave the other a nudge, it meant that they were the target of Mom's wrath. A tap on the nose? It meant steal the cookies, and quick, before Mom came back. For awhile, we were so good at it that a lot of people assumed that Kris wasn't able to talk. Everyone in Hometown found out that Kris could, after a very clever prank they conducted one afternoon during Vacation Bible School. No more Signing Time with Alex and Leah...

But when Mom and Dad separated, the light that was once in Kris's eyes started to dim. Everything about Kris seemed a lot duller. I had a hard time reading Kris- some times I still do, and I hate it. Mom always says that the separation wasn't our fault, but deep down, it always felt like it was. Maybe if we had behaved a little better so Mom and Dad didn't have to conflict over how to punish us, or maybe if we had helped them when they had needed it, maybe we would have all still been together.

Suffice to say, Kris wasn't the only one that changed.

It wasn't fair to Kris that Mom and Dad could no longer stand in the same room together, so I started to take them to the diner on Sundays for hot chocolate. We would stay there for hours- not wanting to be reminded that Dad would never come home or hear Mom say awful things about him. Sometimes we laughed and joked about the kids at school. Sometimes we cried. But even when it felt like our parents had abandoned us, we still had one thing; our adventures.

Mom taught the younger kids at our school, and since she was a teacher, she had a key to the school so she could get in whenever to set up the classroom. One day, Kris had managed to nab Mom's key and get a copy of it for us. It felt wrong, sure, but we soon had a place where we could play without anyone spying on us. The school had become a safe haven, even safer than the diner. I forget which one of us had found the abandoned classroom- but all I know was that it became our base of operations. If we wanted an adventure, that classroom was where we started.

The news of the separation still hung in our heads a whole month later. Mom could pretend that nothing was wrong, and Dad seemed to be fine. But me and Kris? It still felt like everything was wrong. We hid ourselves away in school, making our way to the abandoned classroom. Where else did we have to go?

"So, um..." I tried to start, if only to say something, "I started looking at colleges."

Kris looked over to me with a horrified expression.

"D-don't worry!" I then tried to tell them. "I don't want to go far, and I'll come back when I can. It's just... it's time, you know? For some change."

Kris still gave me that same fearful and betrayed look as they turned away. I was going to abandon them, they knew it, just like Mom and Dad had. I honestly wasn't trying to and if I had the power, Kris would have come with me.

When we approached the abandoned classroom's door, something felt... different about it. Kris was the one to try to open the door but hesitated.

"We don't have to visit today." I reminded them. "We can come back whenever."

Kris gave a small shake of their head. They had to visit today. We had to visit. So, after a taking a deep breath in, Kris took a firm hold of the doorknob and opened the door.