Chapter Text
⛦
The halls were deserted.
A woman from the front office had offered to walk Delta to her class, she had declined of course. Swallowing hard as she arrived just outside the door of what she hoped to be her calculus class, she knocked gently before pushing the door open and peaking her head in. As she did, the whole class turned to look at her, the professor included. Delta nodded, breathing deeply again.
“I’m Delta, Delta Lexingford; is this room 406?” She said, stepping half way into the room, keeping her hold on the open door.
“Yes! Come on in, I’ve been expecting you.” She gestures to an empty desk and chair. “Please, have a seat.”
Delta stepped fully into the room, closing the door tightly behind her before walking over to the desk that the professor had pointed to. There were a couple of other empty seats around her as she sat down, which Delta wasn’t complaining about at all. The raven head reached up and adjusted her mask on her face so it rested a bit more comfortably against her scarred skin. As she was doing this, the professor walked over to her desk and handed her a packet and textbook.
“Page 50, Lexingford.” The old woman’s voice was kind yet firm as she told Delta what page they were all on.
The girl nodded and flipped open the book, flitting through the pages till she found page 50. With that she sat, listening to the lecture, writing down what she was supposed to, and answering questions when she knew the answer; pretty simple and straightforward. About five minutes into the class, suddenly two boys burst in through the doors, both panting as if they had just ran a marathon.
Both were thinner, leaner, one taller than the other by about a head and a half. The taller one was a brunette, while the shorter one’s hair was a bright sky blue. He also wore a mask, one that covered his face in its entirety.
A prosthetic.
Delta felt herself grin under her own mask, the fabric brushing against her cheeks as they rose ever so slightly with the movement of her lips; she found it mildly comforting that she wasn’t the only one wearing a mask in the school. The girl made sure to not make it obvious that she was staring, so she instead took in each of the boys’ appearances.
The taller of the two was wearing a light brown Sanity Falls tee, baggy blue jeans and some plain black sneakers. His arms were decently muscled, nothing crazy, but enough to the point where you could tell that he could lift quite a bit. He also had deep bags under his eyes, something else Delta could relate to.
The shorter one; the one with the bright blue hair and the prosthetic, he wore a plain black shirt with long sleeves and dusty maroon pants that had rips in the knees and scattered across the fabric here and there. Plain navy blue Converse was his choice of shoe, simple and plain, yet comfortable and fitting to the rest of his attire.
“You’re both late—again—Mr. Fisher and Mr. Johnson, what is your excuse now?” The professor asked, tired and annoyed.
The boy with the blue hair panted, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head. “No excuse this time, Ma’am, Larry and I just slept in; no excuse.” He softly repeated himself as he nodded. “We’re sorry, it won’t happen again.”
The professor sighed after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. “Very well, but I’m separating the two of you; seeing as this is your fourth time being late.”
The two boys nodded and walked across the room, heading straight for Delta; the empty desks that sat littered around her. There were three empty, one on her right and left, then a third just behind her. She turned her gaze down to the surface of her desk as the got nearer, not trying to stare.
“Fisher, sit in the desk to the left of Lexingford; Johnson, sit in the one behind her.” Delta raised her gaze just enough to make sure the two boys knew who their professor was talking about, raising her hand in a small wave as they neared the desks. They both nodded in return, taking their seats and opening their textbooks.
⛦
The rest of class went smoothly, the professor droning on about calculus and such, things that weren’t new to Delta; her old school’s curriculum had been slightly ahead of this one.
Spinning around the dial on her locker for the third time to try and get it open was a bit frustrating, the locker was practically rusted shut, and the turn dial clicked and stuttered as Delta spun it was similar to nails on a chalkboard. Cursing under her breath, the raven head pushed on the door of the locker as she tried to pry it open, frustrated with the fact that she had almost fallen asleep durning her test in calculus.
She never fell asleep in class. Dozed? Maybe, (sometimes when her teacher had a particularly monotone voice, or if she was in history) but it was a test! She never dozed off on a test day, no matter the subject. But this time, Delta had almost drooled onto her desk; she would have. Hadn’t it been for the boy who sat behind her—Johnson—gently kicking the legs of her chair.
What was his name anyway? Her thoughts rang. The professor used their last names while addressing her students, Delta had noticed this. When the older woman would call on the masked girl, it was always, Yes, Lexingford?, never Delta.
“You struggling there?” A husky, deep voice broke the raven head out of her thoughts. Delta spun her head around to be met with the very boy she had been thinking about.
The boy with the long brown hair, the front strands were pinned back and out of his face, his deep brown and hazel eyes gently catching the light of the hall around them.
“Uhm, y-yeah, I guess,” looking back at her locker, Delta continues. “I just can’t get it to open, no matter how many times I put in the combo.”
She heard the boy hum; a low rumble that made his Adam’s apple tremble slightly.
“Can I try?”
Delta shrugs, stepping back and holding out her combination for the boy. “Be my guest.”
He steps forward, pulling his hands out of his pockets and taking the paper from Delta, silently stepping up to her locker and beginning to work on the dial. “So, you’re new here?”
The raven head hums in confirmation, fixing her mask on her face. “Yep, moving here for the college, my parents think it’ll be good for me.”
Click click click of the stubborn dial and lock, as if they were living things protesting against the movement. The brunet nods with his own hum again. “I’m Larry by the way, thought I should say something since I’ve been helping you all day.”
…All day..? But I’ve only been here since—calculus.
“Right, thanks for waking me up by the way, I have no clue why I was so tired.” She chuckles, rubbing the back of her neck out of embarrassment. “I’m Delta.”
He nods, gently kicking the bottom of the locker door and pulling it open abruptly. Larry sighs, “Don’t worry, you had the combo right, this thing just hasn’t been used in fucking years.” He hands her the paper back and steps back so she can look into the locker.
There are cobwebs all over, and as Delta steps closer, she swears she could see a mouse skitter quickly out of her line of sight, too quick for her to confirm if it was a trick if the light or not. She whistles, “It’s… beautiful…” Sarcasm heavy in Delta’s tone as she speaks.
Larry scoffs, nodding as the boy with blue hair walks up to stand beside him. “Yeah, you won’t be using it much anyway.” He looks down slightly at the blue haired boy with the prosthetic. “Hey Sal, this is Delta.”
The boy—Sal—nods in greeting. “Hi, I’m Sal, but, my friends call me Sally Face; nice to meet you.”
Delta nods and reaches out to shake Sal’s hand. “Nice to meet you, happy that I won’t have to refer to the two of you as “boys who are late all the time”.” The two chuckle and Delta follows suit softly, sighing. “But yeah, I’m Delta, happy to meet the two of you.”
“So, you have any friends here yet?” Larry asks.
“No,” Delta sighs, clearing her throat. “No, not yet.”
“Would you like to sit with us? We’ve got some free space.” Sal offers, pointing with a thumb over his shoulder to a couple other people waiting by the corner of the hall. “I’m sure the others wouldn’t mind.”
Delta thinks for a few moments, picking at her nails, the small scars that litter her hands as she thinks. She then nods. “Yeah, yeah as long as nobody minds, I’d be happy to.”
Larry smiles and nods, beginning to turn with Sal and Delta following him, one on either side. “I think you’ll like everyone, we’re all pretty chill.”
“Ash will love you though, if she ends up visiting any time soon, your outfit is really her style; it’s really nice just in general honestly. Seems like something Larry or I would wear if we were feeling confident.” Sal chuckles, leaning forward to look at Delta and tap the bottom portion of his mask, where the lips rested. “Love the mask by the way.”
The raven head chuckles in response, pinching the fabric that rests against her nose and pulling it gently to adjust the way it rested against her sensitive skin. “Thanks, yours too; the full face prosthetic isn’t something I’d expect to see from a small town like this.”
The boy nods back. “Yeah, not every day you meet someone who wears a mask. Is it okay if I ask why?”
“Scars; don’t worry, I’m not infected with anything contagious.” Delta scoffs at her own words, the two boys chuckling. “But yeah, just scars and stuff.” Sal nods.
“Same here, don’t worry.” He hums, and Delta can tell by the way his electric blue eyes look, he is grinning softly under the prosthetic mask.
The three of them walk the rest of the way to the small gaggle that was waiting for Larry and Sal at the end of the hall. The group talk for a few minutes as they walk to the lunchroom and as they enter, Delta can hear a collective groan come from the group, Sal’s being the first and loudest to erupt from the group.
“Bologna sandwiches and I forgot to check the menu for the week, of course.” Sal groans.
“I thought they’d have better food here! It’s college, why would they have the same garbage food?” Todd agreed, the rest of the group mumbling in the same hushed agreement.
Delta watched this silently, peeking through the entrance of the cafeteria and watching as students pick at their food, some shovel it into their mouths like they haven’t eaten in years, others just sit at tables together, no food at all. The very select few that have packed lunches eat slowly, working as they enjoy their meals.
“You know, I have some cash on me, if you all know a good place to order pizza or something from, I can pay.” The raven head says, allowing her emerald eyes to flit back to the group of friends, all of them having gone quiet. “You know, as thanks for letting me sit with you all.”
The group seem to take a moment to process the girl’s words, as if it was the most baffling thing that they had ever heard.
“You don’t have to do that, it’s fine, we don’t usually eat the school’s food anyway. We’ll just snack when we all get home.” Larry gently protested at her offer.
“But that isn’t very healthy for you, let me do this for you all, as thanks for A.) You waking me up in class,” She pointed at Larry. “B.) Getting my locker open, and C.) Inviting me to sit with the lot of you. It is the least that I can do; plus, I’m starved, so whether you all come with me or not, I’ll be leaving for lunch.”
All of the boys stay quiet, and Sal nudges Larry gently with his elbow. “You know how sick you feel when you skip lunch, and you didn’t eat breakfast this morning—neither of us did—and I’m also starving. There is a good cafe a few blocks down, we can go there, all get something small so we don’t use up all of Delta’s money, and eat it before we come back here. We don’t even have another class for the next hour and a half.”
Larry looked down at Sal as the boy spoke, the gears visibly turning in his head. Delta watches with a gentle curiosity, her lithe eyes moving over his face. With a sigh and a gentle droop of his shoulders, Larry nods.
“Okay, fine; thanks Delta, really, you don’t owe us anything for being kind to you.”
The girl shakes her head. “It’s the least I can do, whether you think so or not.”
⛦
The cafe had been about three blocks down, giving the group time to ask Delta all of their questions and get their thoughts out into open air and listening ears.
Todd held open the door for everyone and as they all stepped into the warm building, Delta shivered from the sudden change in temperature. The group of them walked in and sat down at an empty table, Todd next to his boyfriend(Delta hadn’t caught the boy’s name), Larry beside Sal, and Delta on the end of the table; Todd on one side of her, and Sal on the other.
They all sat there for a while, just talking and waiting to be brought menus.
“So what happened to the other two people? The girl and the shorter boy, did they stay at the school?” Delta asked.
“Yeah, Chug eats school lunch, and his girlfriend, Maple, packs her lunch every day; where one goes, the other follows.” Todd said softly, looking up from where he was tutoring his boyfriend in a large textbook.
The raven haired girl hums, nodding her head. “Got it.”
A soft groan could be heard from Larry as he stretched. “Yep, they typically eat at the school, regardless of what it is; Chug ain’t a very picky dude.”
Sal chuckles, “Yeah, as long as it’s edible and it tastes good, he’ll eat it.”
Delta chuckles, nodding. “Yeah, at least he feeds himself properly. I have a past of having issues with food; I tend to be a pretty picky person.”
“That’s fair, food is a struggle for me as well.” The electric eyed boy speaks again, gesturing to his prosthetic. “Scars and such, they make it hard to eat in public.” Sal thinks for a few moments, then corrects himself. “No, the scars make it uncomfortable to eat in public, not difficult, just uncomfortable.”
“People staring, coming up to ask if you are okay, whispering about you?”
The blue haired boy looks at her as if she had read his mind, just nodding slowly. “Yeah, you too?”
“Yep.” Delta sighed, leaning back in her seat, “You aren’t alone anymore dude, as long as y’all don’t mind me sticking around.”
Larry scoffs, opening one of his closed eyes partially, looking over at Delta. “You really think you’ll be able to escape us? You offered to buy us lunch, you’re stuck with us. Plus, you and Sal have something in common, you’re delusional if you think I won’t make the two of you get along so neither of you are alone.”
The raven head listened to Larry quietly, allowing him to speak before chuckling, nodding. “Cool, I don’t intend on going anywhere if I’m honest; y’all are chill. It takes a lot out of someone to embrace something that they aren’t familiar with.”
The boy nodded back with a chortle. “What wouldn’t we be familiar with? You and Sal are more alike than you think, trust me.”
And so she did.
She trusted the boy and she didn’t even know why, she really, truly, trusted him; it was new to trust someone like that. And yet she did.
And it felt nice…
⛦