High School Sweethearts- Melanie Martinez x Reader

The Principal

Kelly's echoing footsteps come from the distance along with her frustrated sobs, you chuckle at her idiotic behavior and shake your head as she approaches and slumps back down into her seat.

"What's wrong, princess?" you ask innocently with your bottom lips pouted outwards, her burning glare focuses onto you. "You're lucky that you're still here, I tried to give you a place to fit in. You should be thanking me, not fighting me." she complains, you scoff at her words in disbelief before crossing your leg over the other and smiling. "Enlighten me on whatever you mean."

"Why the fuck are you helping that freak? She's an outcast and a weird-o! What normal person can fly up in the air and choke someone with their hair?!" she shouts, you tilt your head and shrug. I don't see why you have to bully her for something she can't control.

"Well, 'freak' or not. She's only human, she's got a heart and feelings like you and I. We're all just trying to serve our purpose here on this cruel Earth, we should learn to build each other up rather than break us down. There is no use in making enemies." you try to reason with the blonde, Kelly's face slowly neutralizes as she listens before scrunching up her eyebrows.

"She's not human. She's a monster who's going to get just what's coming to her." she spits. 

Your lips jut open to speak but once more, that dammed door opens before you say a word. You watch as Crybaby storms out with a irritated pout. "They're ready for you, Kelly." she grumbles. The girl rolls her eyes and stands up, her shoulder bumps into Crybaby's purposefully as she makes her way into the office. Crybaby's face flares up into a fiery crimson as the door closes, her eyes are the deep shade of blue-black from before. 

"Sneaky, greedy, money seeking, always peeping, fucking creepy, cruel motherfucker!" she screams towards the door. Your eyes widen at such language and your hands grip onto her shoulders. "Woah, woah, woah. It's okay-"
"No, y/n! It isn't!" she shouts as her hands throw you off of her.

You jump at her shift of voice, her expression immediately softens as she turns to you. "I-I'm sorry, it's just- Ugh!" you nod at her frustration, her arms cross over one another before she starts to speak.

"He blamed the whole thing on me! He literally showed me the surveillance footage and said I was the cause! Me?!" she groans before wrapping her arms around your body and burying her face in your chest. "I just don't understand, I didn't do anything wrong..." the girl stutters as she begins to weep.

Your hand hesitantly caresses her wavy pigtails where her braids once lied, "I know you didn't, honey. Trust me, I know." you comfort. Her petite body begins to shudder at the compassion you show towards her, her tears begin to soak a puddle onto your uniform but you can't bring yourself to care. "I've got you, everything's going to be okay." you shush.

Her grasp around you loosens and she looks up to you with confusion painted on her face. "Why-Why are you so nice to me? I'm really not worth any of your time and effort." she says, your heart drops at her words. "Of course you are, don't ever let anyone convince you otherwise. I'm nice because I really do like you and I'm not, by any means, forcing myself to be this kind. Trust me, you've seen that I don't just give this sincerity to everyone." You chuckle, she joins sheepishly as she brings a smile to her face. 

"So, I've noticed." she chuckles, you smile as you use the pads of your thumbs to wipe her tears from her cheeks. "You truly are special to me, Crybaby."

She shakes her head to the ground before pulling away. "I'm not, you've only met me today. Y-You don't know me, you wouldn't say all of this if you really knew who I am and all of the things I've done." she begins to weep once more, your hand reaches to her and she jumps back.

"Don't. Don't waste your time with me." 

"Please don't say that, none of that is true. Your past doesn't define who you are at heart, you learn from your mistakes and evolve into a better version of yourself. Don't hold past grievances against yourself like this, it's going to eat away at you until there isn't anything left. I've seen it before and I don't ever want to see it happen to you." You empathize, she shifts in her place and sighs shakily. 

"Fuck." she whispers to herself. You cautiously take a step towards her, her body stays frozen in place. You press your forehead against hers and smile. "Who are you, Crybaby? Start from square one." you whisper, her face lights up and she tilts her head up to look into your eyes. 

"No one's ever really wanted to know before, and I mean no body. Ever." she says, you grab her hand and bring her back to the cushioned chairs and sit her down beside you. "Well, I do. Start with what you remember."

She takes a deep breath as she closes her eyes, you can see the agony written in her story as her faces grows sour at her memories. "My mother's a drunk, brother's a druggie, and my dad is...was a cheater. I'd stay up late every night and watch through my window as he'd pull into the driveway with a new woman every time. Sometimes he'd drag her into the backseat, other times her head would fall into his lap, and rarely he'd actually bring them inside and they'd bang the headboard against the walls for hours. My mother would be passed out every time and never caught him." You nod along to show her your full attention before she take another deep breath.

"One night though...my mother didn't have any more syrup for her sippy cup so she stirred awake on the floor. I remember trying to sleep but all she did was cry. She cried like I never heard her cry before. I didn't know what to do so I just laid there, staring at my ceiling. Until I saw the headlights pull in, I wondered which option he'd choose. If he'd stay out there or come in." she continues, her eyes close and she shudders. 

"He brought her in. I heard them laughing as they stumbled through the house, It wasn't long until my mother's crying started again. She was louder and...she was angry. She kept yelling 'Who is she? What the hell is the matter with you? Why are you doing this to me?'. Then I heard the woman scream, my dad too. I didn't know what to do, their scream echoes through the halls for several minutes. Then it was just my mom crying. It was softer though, she seemed to be much more scared than sad. So I stood up and walked my way to the kitchen, I saw a bedsheet over the floor stained red." Your hands begin to clam up at the visual being painted into your head.

"The smell that lingered in the air was just horrendous, I gagged for god knows how long before I lifted that damn bedsheet. I regretted getting up after I saw what she had done." Crybaby wipes a tear from her cheek while looking to the ceiling. "She...she killed them, both of them. I stepped away and I cried. More than I ever have in my life, I don't remember much after that. I just remember waking up in my bed with the worst headache I've ever experienced and my mother gone. I didn't see much of her for a year or so, my brother was always with his friends so I was left alone. Even on my birthday, no one even bothered to show. I've felt so alone for so long."

"You don't have to be anymore." you say as you hold onto her hand. She blushes and flashes a smile your way. 

"Y/n...I think that I-"

The doors open for the last time and Kelly skips out. "Saved all your asses by the way." she scoffs, you hum in confusion. "Believe it or not, money gets you a long way. I bribed him $24 thousand to drop the whole situation, I don't need this childish shit on my spotless record." she dismisses. "Whatever, Barbie. You're the childish one who started it." you say as she walks away with a flashy smile.

"Bitch" you and Crybaby say in union, you both look to each other for a moment before laughing out-loud. Her laugh was so bubbly and sweet, I'd love to hear it on repeat every waking moment of my life, you think to yourself. 

"What were you going to say before she came out?" you ask once your laughter dies down, she shakes her head and waves her hand. "It wasn't anything important, just forget it." she says as she stands up. "You ready to go?" Her hand reaches down for you to join her. You smile and accept her invitation, you both interlock fingers as you walk out into the hallways together. 

"There you are!" the porcelain brunette speaks as you both walk around the corner, Crybaby's hand pulls from yours and she smiles. "Yeah, that was a pain in my ass." she says, The taller girl rolls her eyes as she smiles. "Kelly just came out here looking like Oscar the grouch, Brandon looked like he didn't want to be around her. It was pretty funny...anyways, did you get detention?" she asks, Crybaby shakes her head.

"All charges dropped." she hums, the brunette nods with a look of delight. "Nice. Glad to hear that, I heard detention here sucks any who." she laughs, Crybaby looks over you and smiles. 

"Angelita, this is y/n. She's...a good friend of mine." she reasons, Angelita blinks her pretty eyelashes your way before flashing her black eyes to you. "You too, huh?" you ask with a dry giggle. She nods and hugs her books to her chest cheekily. Crybaby rests her head on Angelita's shoulder with a hearty giggle, "Well, we better get to dinner before we all get in trouble." she says.

_____

You grab onto your tray and bring it along your side as you walk through the cafeteria, everyone seems to already found their cliché clique at each table. Your eyes search the area for any sort of empty seat you could take, finally you find an empty table in the farthest corner away from the crowd of students. You gladly take the opportunity to isolate yourself from the odd reality this school has under it's sleeve.

You place your tray down onto the table carefully and poke at your course with your vintage golden fork, you try to pry your mind off of the matter but you can't help but think about Crybaby's story of her family. You couldn't imagine having to have experienced such a thing at this age. 

"Heads up, buttercup." that sweet voice speaks. Your head lifts up to see the one and only carrying her tray of food with Angelita following closely behind. "Is this seat taken?" she asks as she points at the bench across from you. You shake your head and smile, "Cool." she says delightfully, her and her friend set their trays down and sit across from you with a smile.

"So?" you ask awkwardly, they both look to one another and giggle. Crybaby seemed to be blushing more than usual, her friend looked to be whispering something to her that was making her appear so shy. As much as you'd like to ask why they're so giddy, you brush it off before stabbing your fork into your side of steamed vegetables and putting them into your mouth.

"Hey, I-uh...I wanted to thank you for listening to me earlier. And I'm terribly sorry about throwing that little tantrum beforehand but...regardless of that, it means a lot that you're eager to really know me." Crybaby says to you, you place your fork down and smile.

"Of course, I want you to be as comfortable as you can. I don't like seeing you being outed." you say, Angelita leans forward on the table. "We're on a mission that we think you'd be devoted to, are you in?" she asks with a devilish smile. You sigh before looking over to Crybaby, "It depends. We're not killing anyone, are we?" you ask, they gasp before laughing softly. "No, we wouldn't do that." Angelita says.

Crybaby now leans forward on the table with a hushed tone. "When I was taken back into that office, there was a boy still getting yelled at. Apparently he didn't abide by the rules this place set so they're giving him these strange pills to keep him silent. He told me before they took him away that the principal is going to start medicating those who disobey or try to leave. He wants to brainwash all of us until our brains turn to mush because the longer we stay here, the more money he makes. We're going to come up with some sort of plan to stop him, we don't exactly know how to yet but I will not stay here longer than I need to nor will I allow someone to control me in such a manner." she explains with obvious devotion.

You're rather taken back by the information and feel as your blood begins to boil underneath the surface, "Are you fucking serious?" you whisper angerly. Both of the girls nod, you push your tray out of reach and cross your arms before letting out a distressed sigh. "What the fuck..." is all you can manage to say, they both agree with the flat statement.

"So, do you want to help us?" Angelita asks, you look up from the table and hold your hand out. She shakes it briefly as you nod. "I'm in. Let's take this fucker down." you demand, Crybaby claps her hands gleefully while giggling. Her hand grasps onto yours and she smiles widely, showing off her cute gap teeth. "Let's do it!" she shouts loud enough for only you two to hear.