Chapter 1: History Sucks
Chapter Text
“Sandeep, keep your head up.”
History was boring; he disliked all types of it. World History, US History, and even Art History—he didn’t enjoy any of them. Unfortunately, he found himself asleep again in class while his teacher droned on about the first five presidents of the United States. That is, until she suddenly called him out.
Sandy kept his head down, too exhausted to lift himself, but it only made his teacher more frustrated. “You’re always nodding off in class; sometimes I wonder how you’re still passing,” she said. The comment caused the class to giggle, which was enough for Sandy to lift his head and glance up at her with an exhausted look.
Being narcoleptic was a hassle, especially since most of his teachers and classmates never took him seriously. The only ones who really cared were his sister Tara and his Uncle Gene, whom he had lived with since his parents died when he was just a toddler. Unfortunately, most of his classmates just assumed he was some guy who chose to sleep during everything, even though it was always against his will.
Sandy sat up a little as his teacher turned away, trying his best to focus on whatever she was talking about. But it wasn’t long before his head started feeling heavy again. Even with the medication he took for his narcolepsy, he kept struggling to stay awake during class.
After what felt like an eternity (which really was just five minutes), Sandy found himself setting his bag on his desk like a pillow and resting his head on it. He didn’t want to sit through another ten minutes of his teacher's yapping, so he might as well try to sleep through it despite the chances of her possibly yelling at him for nodding off again.
Yet before he could completely tune out his teacher’s voice, something managed to stick out to him.
“Group Project”.
Sandy couldn’t help but crack one eye open, lifting his heavy head from his bag to glance at the front of the room.
“Starting today, you will be doing a group project on one of the five presidents we have talked about today. You’ll have today, Friday, and Monday to work on this project, and will present on Tuesday. You’ll be working in pairs, which I’ll be choosing.”
The class erupted into disappointed groans, but Sandy remained mostly silent.
Group projects were something he didn’t necessarily enjoy, but at least his teacher was making the effort to set up groups on her own. It beats standing in the middle of the class, watching everybody find their peer, before his teacher ultimately paired him with a random one. Then that random would take their opportunity to complain about being paired with the sleepy kid.
The teacher began to call names out, though Sandy only stayed barely conscious to hear his name and the person who was unfortunate enough to get paired up with him.
“Sandy and…Edgar.”
Sandy’s expression lit up only slightly, forcing himself to sit up at his desk as he glanced around the room for anybody who slightly suited the name. Nobody really did, at least as far as he could see, but the simple “ahem” from his teacher was enough for Sandy to shift his eyes to the back of the room.
“Edgar, take your headphones off.”
The rest of the room shifted their focus to the back of the room, staring at a broody-looking boy who had his head lowered slightly, with big chunky headphones placed over his head. He didn’t seem to hear his teacher, since he didn’t even try glancing up from whatever he was doing.
It was enough to infuriate the teacher a bit, and everyone watched as she went towards the back of the room and grabbed the headphones off his head without warning. Edgar (Sandy assumed at this point) quickly raised his head out of confusion, immediately making a poor attempt at grabbing his headphones despite her holding them up high.
“What the hell? Give them back–”
“Consider paying attention to a class that’s required for your graduation instead of listening to this nonsense.” She cut him off, turning away with his headphones still in hand and walking towards her desk, all while Edgar flipped her off from behind. The class once more erupted into slight giggles.
The teacher continued to explain the directions for their project before dismissing everyone to their pairs. Everyone got up, minus Sandy, who stayed glued to his own seat. He didn’t want to do work, especially since his narcolepsy seemed to be bothering him pretty badly today, but before he could find himself dozing off once more, a shadow soon fell over him without warning.
Sandy raised his head yet again, being met with black hair with silver highlights and blue eyes that seemed brighter to him. He had slightly pale skin with a couple of scars here and there, and he held a computer, some crumbled pieces of paper, and a chunky sketchbook (he assumed) in his arm. The two held eye contact for maybe a couple of seconds before Edgar cleared his throat slightly, breaking the gaze. “I’m assuming you’re my partner…?”
Sandy blinked and quickly lowered his head, nodding it slightly in response and speaking up a bit. “Yeah- Yeah, I guess so.”
Nothing else was said, and Edgar pulled the empty desk next to him over so they could be side by side. He set his things down on the desk and sat on the seat, glancing over at Sandy for a moment before turning away. Apart from the chatter between other students, it was mostly silent between the two of them. Awkward silence, could you even blame them?
After what felt like forever, Edgar spoke up slightly, his tone filled with clear confusion. “Do you know what we’re doing?”
Sandy was yet again on the verge of falling asleep right there, but he forced himself to keep his eyes open and attempt to answer the boy’s question. “Mmm… Something about the first five presidents… I think we choose.” He mumbled, forcing himself to sit up a little straighter as he met his gaze again. Edgar sighed, glancing over at his turned-off computer and grabbing it to open the lid. He turned it on and opened the rubric that their teacher had informed them about.
“I guess it’s just some shit about their lives,” Edgar mumbled. It seemed pretty easy despite Sandy not knowing anything about either of the presidents; all you really needed to do was search the answer up and shove it into a couple of slides. But Edgar let out a frustrated sigh, burying his head into his arms like their project was the hardest thing in the world.
“I’m not doing this.”
“Wh–” Sandy quickly spoke up, clearly against the thought of Edgar doing literally nothing. The last thing he needed was a lecture about failing an important class thanks to some emo he just met. “We need to do this, I don’t want my sister to crucify me for failing this class…” Sandy said, shaking his head while Edgar turned to look over at him again. Without saying a word, he sat up again and sighed, opening up Google Slides and pulling up a new presentation for the two of them. “What’s your email so I can make you an editor?”
Sandy blinked in silence before taking Edgar’s computer instead, adding himself as an editor before sliding it back over. Sandy grabbed his bag and opened it to grab his own computer, but after looking through the crumbled pieces of paper and torn folders, he only then realized it wasn’t even with him.
“Shoot…”
“What?”
“...I don’t have my computer.”
Edgar remained silent again, almost as if he was slightly dumbfounded for a moment. But instead of probably making fun of him, he simply sighed and shut his computer. “Thank god, at least we don’t gotta do shit in this class.”
Sandy blinked at his nonchalant behavior. He understood people dislike the idea of having to wake up at six in the morning and get ready to spend about eight hours at school. Though it was clear to him that Edgar probably hated it more than anybody else. He didn’t comment on it though.
Sandy glanced up at the clock above the door, watching as the seconds ticked down one by one. They had maybe ten minutes remaining in the class period, so he decided to try and once again sneak in a small nap once again. Before he could even rest his face on his bag, a voice quickly cut him off.
“Do you always sleep in this class?”
Sandy raised his head a bit, eyeing the emo boy with a tired glance before sighing to himself, sitting up once more to speak up. “Can’t help it… Narcolepsy.”
“...And what’s that?”
Sandy suddenly felt like he was the smartest person in the room.
“...It’s a condition. I got it from my mom, it makes me sleep a lot…” Sandy explained as simply as he could, receiving a silent nod in response. Maybe he got the hint that he was probably being idiotic. It wasn’t like Sandy was directly trying to say that.
His eyes roamed around his desk for a moment before settling down on the chunky sketchbook he had noticed earlier. It was already open to one of the pages inside, where he could see some of the small drawings sketched onto the paper. He only glanced for a moment or two before Edgar’s hand quickly flew over to cover the drawing. Sandy glanced up out of confusion, unable to help but ask about it. “Why are you covering it?”
“It’s private,” Edgar mumbled, moving his computer over it with his free hand.
“It was a good doodle,” Sandy said honestly, “Do you draw a lot?”
“In my free time and during class, yeah,” Edgar responded more bluntly than usual, somewhat confusing Sandy even more. Regardless, he found himself continuing to speak. Maybe it was because it helped him not get yelled at by his shitty teacher. “That’s cool, you draw really well.”
Edgar didn’t respond, but he nodded his head again as if he was silently saying thank you. He didn’t seem as social as everyone else; he wasn’t too verbal.
Sandy tapped the desk slightly, like he was trying to figure out another thing to say. Tara always tried to encourage him to socialize, but he always failed, thanks to dozing off mid-conversation every time. Before he could even come up with a word, he found himself hearing something come out of Edgar’s mouth again.
“I draw sometimes during my break at work, too…” He mumbled, glancing down at his covered sketchbook. Sandy seemed somewhat intrigued, unable to help but speak up yet again. “Where do you work?”
“This shitty gift shop down at Starr Park. Not many people really visit it, so it’s practically rotting.”
“Starr Park? I work there too, just at my sister’s bazaar.”
It looked like he seemed interested for once, since his blue eyes glanced back over at him. “You mean that one shop in Mystic Mountain? I passed the place a few times, never knew your sister owned it…”
“It’s a pretty successful business, my sister Tara started it maybe a year or two after we started living with our uncle.”
For a moment, Edgar looked like he wanted to ask an additional question, but he ended up staying silent for the most part. Sandy couldn’t help but wonder what he would’ve asked if he were right.
Before the two could continue their conversation about…whatever, the bell suddenly rang out loud, dismissing the class for the next period. The two boys glanced at the clock above the door before retaining eye contact. “Why does time always pass so fast in this class?”
“I think that’s a good thing,” Edgar mumbled, gathering up his things before getting up from the desk. As the class emptied, Edgar wandered over to the door and gave Sandy one last look for the day. “See you tomorrow, maybe.”
As he disappeared into the busy hallway, Sandy couldn’t help but smile a bit. He wasn’t the greatest at socializing, even with Tara’s advice, but for once, he managed to hold a decent conversation. He got up from his own desk and grabbed his bag, leaving the empty classroom.
Hopefully, he’d get to his next class before the bell.
Chapter 2: A New Friend?
Chapter Text
History was his second period of the day, unfortunately, so he spent most of the classes sleeping (occasionally waking up to do a small amount of work only to pass out right after). His remaining teachers were a bit more understanding about his narcolepsy, unlike his history teacher, so he was able to rest properly without someone yelling in his ear about waking up. Class weirdly felt longer, though, ever since that conversation with Edgar. Sandy didn’t question it too much, though; maybe it was because he was the first person he had a decent conversation. Like always, lunch was spent sitting alone in the back corner of the cafeteria while everyone else minded their business. It didn’t matter; nobody bothered him, thankfully.
Soon enough, the final bell of the day rang, and the hallway became packed with students rushing to their clubs or leaving the building. Sandy had his backpack pulled over his shoulder, dragging himself throughout the crowded hallways while walking towards the car rider’s exit. He couldn’t drive (and he didn’t plan on learning at any point in the future. He’d rather get picked up than risk himself possibly crashing a car because of his narcolepsy), which meant it was either getting picked up by Tara or walking home when she and Gene are busy.
Sandy quickly found Tara’s car down in the car line, wandering over to it and wasting no time getting into the back seat of it. It was silent for a moment, minus the radio playing some of the hottest hits that he didn’t bother remembering, before Tara eventually spoke up.
“Was school okay?”
Sandy’s eyes lit up slightly, and he nodded his head slowly. “...It was nice, actually.”
Tara’s expression lit up a bit, like she had never heard those words come out of her little brother’s voice until now. She glanced back at him through the rearview mirror, unable to help but ask more about it. “Usually, you say it was average… What changed?”
Sandy hesitated in answering for a moment. What would he say? He finally made somewhat of a friend after sixteen years? He never lied to his sister ever, but he chose to keep it somewhat vague. “...I think I made a new friend.”
“You think?” Tara smiled a little before continuing, “What’s his name?”
“Edgar… We got paired up together for some history project.”
“Hm.” Tara hummed to herself as she drove out of the car line and onto the road, glancing away from the rearview mirror as she focused on driving. Sandy leaned back on his seat, debating to himself whether or not he should take a nap until he was home. Before he could even attempt to shut his eyes, though, Tara spoke up once more.
“Try not to sleep yet, okay? I made some lunch.”
Sandy rubbed his eyes slightly, hesitantly nodding his head and forcing himself to sit up on the seat before he found himself passing out.
Sandy didn’t live too far from Starr High, as he and Tara arrived a couple of minutes later. Sandy dragged himself into his house, greeting his uncle in Arabic (Gene didn’t exactly know English like him and his sister, but it wasn’t a problem for any of them). He went upstairs and into his room, setting his backpack by the side of his bed and resisting the urge to throw himself onto the mattress and get a couple of hours' worth of sleep. But his family was waiting for him downstairs, so he dragged himself out of his room and went back down the steps to greet his family at the dining table.
Sandy liked Tara’s cooking, at least she was able to make a tasty and edible meal, while the best he could do was pour milk and cereal into a bowl (and even then, somehow he’d fuck that up). It was the same every day; wake up, go to school, go home, eat, sleep, eat, sleep, repeat. He wouldn’t have changed it, though, even if he wanted to. He enjoyed being with his family regardless of how repetitive it was.
Sandy ate a bit, then dismissed himself to his room before Tara and Gene could say anything. He didn’t waste any time, already climbing into the comfort of his bed and shutting his eyes to get the sleep he enjoyed receiving every day.
Unlike Sandy, who didn’t seem to rush to get home or anything. Edgar found himself rushing out of the school and towards the student parking lot to get to his car. The last thing he needed was to be late for work. The Gift Shop was his only source of getting that bag, mostly because some of the money went to his struggling mother when it came to the bills. He hated the damn place, hated the low pay, but it was fine as long as he was getting paid. No other place wanted him anyways.
It wasn’t long before Edgar parked in the staff parking lot of Starr Park, quickly getting out and rushing into the park towards the gift shop. He was never late despite being the total opposite at school, but since one of his bitchass teachers decided to hold him back to speak about his shitty grades, he wasted enough time that would probably get Griff on his ass.
Edgar pushed open the doors to the gift shop, quickly catching the attention of his spike-obsessed, probably insane, unbiological sister, Colette. She quickly reached over the front counter a bit, greeting her co-worker with clear enthusiasm. “HI EDDY!”
Edgar ignored her call, going into the employee’s only room to check in and grab the shitty red vest each worker was required to wear during their work. He did that as quickly as possible, slipping on the red vest and heading back out to the shop before he could second-guess himself.
“You’re so broody again, bro! What’s going on in that little emo head of yours?” Colette teased, poking at his head once she found him exiting the employee’s room. He gave her an unfazed look, rolling his eyes a bit as he grabbed ahold of a cardboard box filled with merchandise he needed to restock some of the shelves. “Nothing,” he said, saying nothing more. He tolerated Colette enough; he saw her as an older sister who would probably agree to buying him alcohol with no argument. He’d never admit that, though.
Edgar grabbed a nearby box cutter and cut into the box to open it, picking it up with ease and walking into the aisle he needed to restock. Colette, as curious as she always is, followed after him, continuing to try and communicate with him. “You know, working full-time here is so boring, you’re lucky to do part-time.”
“Did you know Fang came to visit me? HE BOUGHT ME A SPIKE PLUSH HE SAW!! Best fiancé ever!”
Blah blah blah.
Edgar mostly responded with small hums, knowing that if he fully ignored her, she’d probably start bawling on the spot like some five-year-old.
God, all he wanted was to get the day over with.
Sometimes Sandy wished he could sleep forever.
Not in a suicidal way, god no. More of a comforting way? Sure, narcolepsy was a pain in his ass, but half the time it felt nice to be able to sleep with ease.
Until the next day came.
Sandy found himself in that fucking classroom again, his face already pressed onto the cold metal desk before the bell for the end of the passing period had even ended. The last thing he wanted was to spend the next fifty minutes in this shitty class.
The bell rang, and a couple of minutes passed. Sandy didn’t bother listening to any of the directions his teacher gave out, nor the sounds of students moving around the room like yesterday, nor the sound of a specific boy scooting an empty desk next to his and settling down on it.
“Wake up.”
Sandy groaned a bit before forcing his head up he knew he would’ve had to do it eventually, thanks to his teacher. He glanced up at Edgar, the first thing he noticed being his blue eyes. They seemed less… bright, like they dimmed down. He could’ve sworn they were brighter than before.
“Why are you staring…?”
Sandy broke out of his slight daze, sitting up fully and facing Edgar for a moment before pulling his computer out. “Sorry, sorry…” He mumbled under his breath as he booted up the device.
What was wrong with him?
Edgar didn’t seem too bothered or anything, which made Sandy relax a little. The two loaded up the slides Edgar had created the day before, staring at the screen in silence before Edgar spoke up.
“Did we even choose a fucking president?”
“...No, we should do the easiest one maybe… Washington?”
“I’m convinced everybody's doing Washington, dude…”
Sandy scratched the back of his head from his response, now feeling a bit stupid for suggesting the easiest guy.
“We should do someone with a kickass name, then maybe Mrs. Fuckface over there won’t get on our asses for choosing something basic.” Edgar cursed under his breath so their teacher wouldn’t listen. She was turned away anyways.
Sandy hummed in response and opened a new tab, searching up the first five presidents before ultimately saying a different one’s name.
“...Thomas Jefferson?”
“Boring.”
“James Monroe.”
Edgar stayed silent as if he were thinking about it. Sandy watched as he slowly opened a tab and searched the guy up.
“He’s chopped. We should just do Jefferson.”
“...Okay,” Sandy mumbled. To be fair, he didn’t necessarily care about who they did their project on, as long as they passed. Thomas Jefferson was simple, but not at the same time, at least to him.
“So… He invented that lightning thing, right?”
This was gonna be a struggle.
As time went on in class, the two tried to work through the slides. Neither of them knew jack shit about Thomas Jefferson; Sandy slept through class, and Edgar simply didn’t bother paying attention. It was like they were some failing but succeeding power duo. They only really had two slides down, that being the title slide and basic information about when he was born and all of that shit.
About ten minutes before the bell would ring, Sandy glanced away from his screen to look over at Edgar. For most of the period, they had been searching up random shit that was listed on the rubric and typing it into the slides. He wanted to speak up for a moment, but he couldn’t help but notice something unusual in his peripheral vision.
A dark red cut that peeked from the opening of his sleeve.
Sandy couldn’t help but furrow his eyebrows slightly, glancing away from the cut and looking at Edgar’s face. He didn’t seem to notice, too caught up in searching up random shit that could give him answers for this stupid fucking project. Sandy opened his mouth, but no words came out. He couldn’t just ask, that’d be insensitive. “Oh, you have a cut on your wrist.” he can’t just suddenly blurt that out…
His mouth ran dry a bit, and he shut his mouth before turning away to face his own computer.
Maybe it was better not to comment on it.
Chapter 3: Sister Trouble
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The bazaar was filled with customers as usual, people roaming down the shelves and purchasing trinkets and such. Tara was busy with a group of customers wanting their fortunes told with her tarot cards, and Gene was stuck in the back, leaving Sandy to manage the front, as always. Sandy only worked part-time; all he really did was restock things or ring up customers at the front desk. It was probably the easiest thing he could do anyway when it came to his narcolepsy.
Tara has had the bazaar since he was six years old, the business starting a year after their parents passed. Sandy was grateful to live a decent life, considering how successful her business was. He knew Tara worked hard to make sure her family didn’t have to struggle, and sometimes he wished he had the chance to express it without falling asleep all the time. He only started working part-time when he was fifteen years old, wanting to try and support his older sister and guardian as much as he could.
If anything, it helped him get out of the house; otherwise, he’d be rotting in bed by now.
Sandy finished up with a customer paying for some items, watching as they left the bazaar. After letting out an involuntary yawn, he glanced around to make sure there weren’t any more customers coming over to pay before lowering his head into his arms in hopes of getting a couple of minutes of sleep. He had forgotten to take his medication for his narcolepsy, as usual, so he was a bit more tired than usual. Even with Tara’s constant reminders, he couldn’t seem to remember ever.
He managed to sleep for maybe a minute or two before he quickly shot his head up at the sound of his sister calling out to him. “Sandy, can you help me out over here?”
Sandy blinked before tiredly rubbing his eyes with a yawn. He came around the front desk and walked into the aisle where his sister stood with a box full of trinkets. Without argument, he started taking some of them out and restocking as much as he could, like he just wanted to return to sleep. Tara couldn’t help but side-eye him for a moment before speaking up, “Did you forget to take your medication again?”
Sandy’s eyes lit up instantly, sheepishly answering, knowing he couldn’t lie to his sister just like that. “...Yeah, but it’s okay.”
Tara sighed a bit but chose not to say another thing about it, switching to a different topic to ease him a bit. “You know, unlike today, you seem a bit more lively than usual. What’s up with that?” Sandy turned to face his sister for a moment before glancing away as he set more things up on the shelf. “Nothing...”
“Come on, ahki, is it about that boy?”
Sandy almost dropped the trinket he held in his hand, but thankfully caught it before it could shatter across the ground. Tara couldn’t help but smile underneath her wrapping, like she had figured out the exact reason for his little slip-up. “Come on, why don’t you want to tell me about him?” She asked, setting some things on her shelf, turning completely towards her little brother, and crossing her arms.
Sandy felt a small lump form in his throat for a moment, like he was hesitating on answering her question, but he forced it down and answered as honestly as he could. “He’s just a friend, I think... We were paired up for the project, and that’s it.”
“Yet you glow whenever you talk about him. I can see it on your face, Sandy.” Tara pointed out lightheartedly, which made him tiredly eye her with confusion.
“My face isn’t glowing, ukhti, it’s really nothing... I mean, he seems cool and all, but I don’t even think he wants anything to do with me apart from getting the project over with. He was considering failing before we started anything.” Sandy trailed off as he found himself thinking about Edgar more, but he quickly shook his head like he was trying to brush the thoughts away. Tara only found it a bit amusing, though, chuckling a little underneath her wrapping before continuing off. “Maybe you should ask to be friends. What other classes do you have together besides history?”
“Nothing.” Sandy yawned. All he knew was they had history and lunch together, but it wasn’t like he and Edgar were the best of friends.
“...My point still stands. But still, I’m glad you at least talked to someone. Try talking to him about things that aren’t related to presidents or the eighteenth century.”
Sandy stayed silent, but he ultimately nodded his head. The two continued to stock up the shelf for a minute or two before Sandy suddenly remembered something. He turned back towards his sister, calling out to her. “Tara?”
“Yes?” She glanced over at Sandy with a confused stare.
Sandy wanted to tell Tara about what he saw today during class: the red cut on Edgar’s wrist. He didn’t want to believe that it was self-inflicted or anything, but he was concerned. He couldn’t really get it out of his head for a good majority since he saw it, and for a moment, he considered telling Tara about it, but a lump formed in his throat again, like his body refused to mutter a word about it. What if it causes complications between him and Edgar? He wanted to be his friend, honestly, but he didn’t want to be the reason why he got in trouble or something.
After a moment of silence, Sandy let out a small sigh and decided to stay silent about it. “... Never mind.” He mumbled, finishing up with the shelf as he looked away from Tara. She tilted her head a bit in his peripheral vision, but didn’t continue any further.
For some reason, Sandy felt that at some point, he was gonna have to eventually tell his sister. He could never lie to Tara.
The gift shop was empty as usual. The business was practically failing despite Griff’s constant attempts to advertise the souvenirs and shit they sold. But nobody wanted to visit a failing business, despite it being the only place to get souvenirs that represented Starr Park as a whole. Because of the lack of customers, Edgar found himself sketching out random broody stuff in his sketchbook at the front desk, occasionally glancing between the page and the front door as if anybody would come in. Who would want to come to this shithole anyway? It didn’t necessarily matter, as long as he was still being paid for showing up and doing work around the shop.
He had his headphones on, blasting Bad Randoms on repeat as if it’d tune out the whole world around him. Today wasn’t a great day for him; it was clear from his dull expression. He’d rather be at home, sulking in bed, or relapsing to try and feel something. Even if he did, it would only leave him feeling shittier than he wanted to. God, he just wanted his mind to shut the fuck up for one day.
“Hey Eddy!”
Edgar didn’t respond, too sucked into his mind as he continued to draw, his sketches growing worse with each stroke.
“Eddyyy?”
Edgar still hadn’t processed his co-worker's voice, pressing the tip of his pencil against the page harder than normal.
“EDDY!”
The tip of his pencil quickly snapped, and he pulled his headphones off, glaring up at Colette and speaking up in a slightly blunt tone. “What?”
Colette didn’t even process his clearly uninterested tone, her toothy grin still visible as she started to ramble. She already knew what he was doing for school after he had complained about it for the millionth time during one of their shifts. “Hii! Sooo, how is your little history project going? I know you were totally upset about having to make this huge little presentation based on...what was his name again?”
“Thomas Jefferson.”
“Yeah! Him! Is that going alright?”
“It’s fine,” Edgar mumbled, shutting his sketchbook and setting the pencil aside, deciding to sharpen it later once he was done conversing with his friend.
“He sounds soooo easy, you couldn’t have chosen somebody else? I mean, I bet that James Monroe due would be sooo much better.”
“Pass.”
“...You know, I remember you mentioned this was a group project. Who did you end up pairing up with?”
Edgar eyed Colette for a moment before sighing, “We didn’t get to choose.”
“Well, that’s just bogus!” Colette stuck her tongue out in disapproval before continuing, “Who did you get paired up with then?”
“...Y’know Tara’s Bazaar down at Mystic Mountains?” Edgar asked, raising his head slightly.
“Oh! Oh! I know that place! Tara is soooo cool, y’know? She like, totally almost banned me from her bazaar though, after she found out I stole some of her tarot cards for my scrapbook. But she left me off the hook, and she let me keep the cards! She said something in a different language, maybe she was happy to have someone who’s a super huge mega fan!” Colette grabbed her scrapbook from god knows where, flipping to a random page where her cards were taped onto, alongside a fuck ton of glitter and drawings made with colorful pens.
Edgar stared slightly in concern before shaking his head with a sigh, “...I got paired up with her little brother—”
“TARA HAS A LITTLE BROTHER?!” Colette yelled out almost instantly, making Edgar jump slightly.
“...No shit, I thought it was common sense. I mean, I didn’t know. He seems chill, just sleeps a lot.”
“Oh my god! This is like, literally a dream come true. You actually made a friend?! Oh my gosh—”
“We aren’t friends.” Edgar mumbled, but Colette quickly spoke up before he could continue, “Well, if you’ve both been talking and are doing a project together, then you’re both totally gonna be best friends! Who knows? Maybe you’ll be even more than friends—”
“Cállate!” Edgar raised his voice over her last sentence, feeling his face redden up on his pale face, he quickly grabbed his scarf and covered his cheeks before she could comment. “You can’t just assume some shit like that, okay? We aren’t friends; after this stupid project, he’s gonna go back to sleeping through each fucking lecture that bitch teacher gives out and I’ll stick to the back with my own shit to deal it.”
“...So doomed yaoi?” Colette grinned slightly as if she was finding herself hilarious, despite Edgar thinking otherwise.
Edgar let out a huge sigh, burying his face into his arms out of frustration, while Colette laughed at his reaction before eventually patting him on the back. “Come on, Eddy! I’m just joking! Just nice to know this little emo dude isn’t so alone anymore!” She said with clear enthusiasm in her voice before leaving the front counter and retreating to the employee’s room, all while Edgar raised his head back up to glare at the back of her head.
God, he just wanted to go home already.
Chapter 4: Crossing Paths Again
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Before Sandy could realize it, the next week of school had started, and suddenly it was Tuesday. Presentations were annoying, being forced to sit up and watch as people awkwardly spoke about their presidents, just so you wouldn’t lose points. Sandy didn’t want to fail the class; nobody did, honestly, so he forced himself to sit up and occasionally pinched his thigh whenever he found his head randomly dipping forward.
After what felt like forever hearing Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Madison, and Monroe from other groups, he and Edgar were both eventually called up to present. Their presentation was clearly half-assed; it was obvious the two agreed to just use the free templates they had access to. Throughout the whole presentation, Sandy’s eyes roamed around the small crowd of students, hearing the occasional giggles from a random duo of girls who wore too much makeup and smacked their lips, chewing gum unnecessarily loudly.
It felt like hours he and Edgar were up there, but it was really maybe five minutes. Sandy fucked up his words way more than he thought, while Edgar read off their slides up on the screen with a monotone voice. At the end, the two were given a C+ for their attempt, which was enough for Edgar to boost his grade only slightly, and enough for Sandy to keep his sister off his ass hopefully. As Sandy went back to settle down in his seat to listen to the last few presentations, his eyes lingered on Edgar as he passed him to go to his own seat, before he ultimately turned away before his teacher could scold him for not paying attention.
Sandy got through his next two classes after history, trying his hardest to work on a solo project that was basically due the next day for English in third period, and falling asleep mid-designing some sort of poster based on one of the upcoming football games he didn’t care much about in Digital Design Graphics for fourth period. The day was boring enough for him to sleep through, like he didn’t already do that anyway.
By the time Sandy raised his head again, the bell for lunch rang out loud and everyone got up and out of the class. Sandy was the last person to leave, carrying his bag over his shoulder as he forced himself to walk to the cafeteria. It was a good thing that his fourth period was close to it, anything, it saved him the trouble of having to walk too much as well as struggling to find a table to sit at. Sandy entered the cafeteria, being met instantly with the loud chatter of students coming into the area. Sandy tried his best to ignore it, getting into line before people could start cutting to the front.
After pushing through the line and raising his voice a bit to get the lunch lady to hear what he wanted, Sandy managed to get out of line without struggle. He carried his lunch tray, which was filled with... something that he would probably eat regardless of how shitty it looked anyway.
Out of instinct, Sandy started to wander towards where he always sat, before something quickly caught the corner of his eye. Sandy turned to glance over the far corner of the lunch room, where he saw Edgar sitting by himself with a bag of...probably more edible food, and his sketchbook. Had they always shared the same lunch period? I mean, he wouldn’t really be that surprised; the lunch period consisted of only the juniors.
Sandy’s eyes lingered on Edgar for a lot longer than he thought; even he was unsure why he couldn’t turn away completely. His eyes roamed him for a moment before he was suddenly pushed aside by a group of way bigger guys, stumbling back a bit but thankfully not spilling his food or anything.
“Stop standing around, random.” One of them called out before continuing to walk towards his table specifically. Sandy broke out of his small daze by then, turning to watch as the group of boys sat down at his table without thinking twice.
“Wait— That’s my...” Sandy spoke up only to stay silent, knowing that if he tried anything, they would most likely make him seem like a complete idiot in front of all the juniors. Well, now he had nowhere to sit for lunch, standing awkwardly by himself as he watched students sit with their own groups.
He felt out of place, like always. Seeing people sit with their own friends while he stood as a background character. It made his heart sink slightly.
And then he shifted his focus back to Edgar.
He was still there, sketching god knows what in his sketchbook, like he was just tuning out the world or something. Sandy hesitated for a moment, glancing around to see if there were any other free tables to sit at, but it was like everyone had settled down (like there wasn’t a line still formed to get lunch). He knew he had to move soon; he could already feel people eyeing him weirdly just for standing still and glancing around.
Sandy stood still for another moment before he quickly started wandering towards Edgar’s table.
Edgar hadn’t noticed Sandy approach his table until he saw his lunch tray settle down on the table, catching his attention despite the loud music blasting into his ears via his headphones. He glanced up from his sketchbook, pushing his headphones aside slightly and speaking up. “...Uh—”
“Sorry... Can I sit here? Some guys took my spot.”
It was silent between the two for a couple of seconds before Edgar nodded his head slightly, “Sure.” He said before returning his gaze to his sketchbook. Sandy let out a sigh of relief before settling down in the seat in front of him, grabbing his fork and poking at his food for a moment. It was just silence, awkward silence to be specific. Sandy glanced between the concerning food on his tray and Edgar, wanting to speak up in some way but not knowing exactly what.
His eyes then roamed to the bag of food sitting next to him, realizing it wasn’t even from the school but from...McDonalds, since when did he have the time to leave school to buy lunch?
“How did you get McDonalds?”
Edgar glanced back up at Sandy for a moment before speaking up, “...I skipped fourth period and drove there.”
“I didn’t know you drove.”
“Well, it isn’t like we’re really friends; there’s a lot you don’t know.”
Ouch. Sandy winced internally at his words, being reminded that they weren’t exactly friends yet, but regardless, he continued on. “What class do you have in fourth period?”
“Drawing Three, it’s one of the few classes I like, but today’s just not...great.” His expression shifted slightly, but Sandy chose not to question it. Instead, his eyes wandered back over to the brown bag as he spoke up again, “What’d you get?”
“Cheeseburger, fries, nuggets, and a coffee... I think I got some fries left in there and maybe a nugget or two if you want to have them.” Edgar said casually as he pushed the bag towards Sandy without much. He blinked and stayed still like he was unsure of whether or not to take the bag, but he decided to reach for it and glance into it.
He was right, there was still a decent amount of fries left in the bag. He glanced back over at Edgar, unsure whether or not he was actually allowed to take it. “...Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I don’t mind, better than eating whatever that is...”
Sandy hesitated for the millionth time before stuffing his hand into the bag and taking out a couple of fries for himself. “Thanks,” he mumbled in response before putting some of them into his mouth. It was definitely alot better than the school lunch despite it not being much.
Edgar’s gaze returned to his sketchbook while Sandy ate the leftover fries he let him have, silence returning between the two. Sandy’s eyes roamed around the two before settling back down on Edgar. Why couldn’t he keep his eyes away from him? Sandy felt a little bit of confusion fill him, but he pushed it aside and finished up with the set of fries he had grabbed before speaking up after swallowing.
“What are you drawing?”
Edgar glanced up once more, giving Sandy a look as if he wasn’t in the mood to talk. For a moment, Sandy was worried he’d ignore him this time, which he hoped he wouldn’t. Thankfully, he didn’t.
“...Stuff.”
It was a lot more vague than he thought, but it was progress.
“What’s stuff?”
Edgar glanced down at his sketchbook for a moment before sighing slightly, deciding to answer instead of leaving him in the dark, turning his sketchbook over for Sandy to see better. It wasn’t one huge drawing together, just a couple of sketches and doodles crammed next to each other. Regardless of it, it was a nice page to look at.
“...That’s really good,” Sandy couldn’t help but compliment the sketches scattered across the paper, before a new question popped up in his head for him to ask, “How long have you been drawing for? It must’ve been for a while...”
“Yeah, five years. Started when I was twelve years old, ma got me my first sketchbook at that time.” Edgar said simply, though his expression told Sandy he wanted to say more. Sandy grew a bit more curious but chose to keep quiet again, not wanting to get him to say anything he didn’t want to.
“Cool, I wish I could draw. Best I can do is a stickman or something...” Sandy laughed a bit to himself, but after noticing Edgar’s silence, he cleared his throat and shut up.
Was socialization always this hard?
“...I’m not all bad at art stuff though, I can play piano,” Sandy said before the awkward silence came back, and thankfully, it managed to somehow catch Edgar’s interest. “Piano?” Edgar asked with slight confusion, “Wouldn’t you like...pass out on the keys though, cause you’re, y’know, narcoleptic...?”
“Not always, it’s easier when I remember to take my medication beforehand... I’ve been playing for a couple of years, my ommi taught me how to play when I was little, my ukhti taught me a bit as well.”
“...Huh?” Edgar tilted his head in confusion.
Right, he obviously didn’t know Arabic.
“...Sorry. My mom taught me how to play piano when I was little, and my sister helped me a bit too.” Sandy re-explained for him, to which he nodded his head in understanding. “Right, that makes sense.” He mumbled before shrugging his shoulders. “That’s cool though. Never met anyone who played piano if I have to be honest. I’m not...musical, I just listen to it.”
“...What music do you like?”
“Rock, metal, all that... My favorite band is Bad Randoms,” Edgar quickly gestured to his shirt, which just happened to be merchandise from the band. “I like listening to Draco too, you know him?”
“Oh yeah, the guy with the inflatable dinosaur thing... He’s cool, I guess.”
“Amazing, actually, he makes the best music ever. Just wish I had the money for one of his future concerts...” Edgar sighed a bit to himself, but eventually he shrugged his shoulders again. “It’s fine, though.”
“...I like wave to earth.”
“What is that?”
“A band, their music relaxes me a bit... Sometimes I even fall asleep to it.” Sandy said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he said so.
“When are you not asleep?” Edgar commented with a clear joking tone.
“I guess when I’m at the bazaar...”
“Hm.” Edgar hummed in response before the bell rang for the end of lunch. Everybody got up and started heading off to their next class, thought Edgar and Sandy took their time gathering their things up to leave. “Thanks for letting me sit here... I appreciate it.” Sandy gave a small smile to Edgar as a sign of appreciation, despite him not exactly returning it. “It’s cool, feel free to sit here when some other guys take your spot.” He said simply before turning to leave with the rest of the crowd.
Yet for some reason, Sandy found himself watching Edgar leave instead of leaving the other direction. He found himself smiling a little bit more than he thought, as well.
What was wrong with him?
impaledfishes on Chapter 1 Wed 29 Oct 2025 03:30AM UTC
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impaledfishes on Chapter 1 Wed 29 Oct 2025 03:30AM UTC
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sundaeyS2 on Chapter 1 Tue 04 Nov 2025 06:43PM UTC
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impaledfishes on Chapter 2 Fri 31 Oct 2025 03:15AM UTC
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quinn_ro on Chapter 2 Mon 03 Nov 2025 09:28AM UTC
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Kattekriger1 on Chapter 3 Sun 09 Nov 2025 04:45PM UTC
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impaledfishes on Chapter 4 Mon 17 Nov 2025 04:36AM UTC
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Kattekriger1 on Chapter 4 Sun 23 Nov 2025 04:01PM UTC
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