Chapter Text
“Oh- sorry.”
Y/N stepped back, looking at whoever he'd bumped into. He hadn't been paying any attention. He'd been messaging one of his friends from back in New York. When he looked up, his gaze met with someone else’s. His eyes were a bright, vibrant blue, matching his long hair, which was put up into pigtails. A mask hid his face. White, with a patch of light (faded) pink at the top left.
He was wearing a black sweater, and a pair of dark red skinny jeans with the knees cut out of them. He had on blue converse.
“No, I'm sorry-..” His voice was nice, sort of raspy but not a lot. He sounded.. kind. “I wasn't watching where I was walking. That's my bad.”
“Neither was I.” Y/N responded, sort of just.. smiling nervously. The stranger's eyes squinted slightly, revealing that he was, in fact, smiling back at him.
“Well, then I guess we're both sorry.” He paused. “You're new. Right?”
“Um- yeah. I just moved here. My um.. My mom figured a place out of the city would be a nice change of pace for us... I transferred here from New York.”
“Oh. That's pretty cool.”
There was a bit of an awkward silence for a second, then Y/N cleared his throat.
“I'll.. I'll see you around, then.”
“Yeah..” he nodded. “..I'm Sal, by the way. My friends call me Sally Face.”
“Y/N.” He smiled nervously, then stepped back. “Later.”
“Yeah.. see you later.” Sal nodded, turning away to walk over to his friends, who had been sort of just.. watching for a minute. Y/N turned away as well, walking towards his next class. He laid his head on the desk, closing his eyes.
‘He seemed nice…’ he thought.. Then, another thought overpowered it.
‘I'm tired.’
He slowly made himself sit up as the bell rang, signaling the start of class.
__________
Y/N sat down in the cafeteria, taking out his homework for that day to work on it. The school’s lunch for that day didn't sound very appealing, and he honestly didn't want to eat anyways.
His mom was calling him.
He and his mom had been.. tense since his father left. He'd just.. walked out. No strange behavior. No arguments previously. Nothing had seemed off. Just one day they'd woken up and his things were gone, packed away. Nobody knew where he went. He'd left a note, but it left everything unanswered.
He and his mom stopped interacting much after that. She fell into chain-smoking. She slept with random men only a week after his dad vanished. She became easily agitated and would snap at him over everything.
It was one comment she had made about him being trans that really made him snap. She'd called him a woman for the first time since he'd come out to her. That night, he'd tried to kill himself by taking pills. But she'd walked in and caught him.
That was when she'd decided to move away from the city, insisting that it would be good for them. That it was the best option. She'd picked Nockfell because it was quiet. A small town where seemingly not much happened. Of course, their apartment building had a rough past according to the internet. But aside from that, the town seemed nice enough. Y/N just.. missed his friends.
And now, he and his mom were arguing. Y/N couldn't even remember why, he just knew he was mad.
He was so engrossed in his homework and thoughts that he didn't realize that there were suddenly people sitting near him. He looked up.
“Um..” he paused, looking at the five newcomers.
Sal was amongst them.
“’Sup?” The person sitting beside Sal, a taller guy with long, brown hair and brown eyes, with a t-shirt for a metal band on, spoke up. “Sally tells us you're new.”
“Um… yeah?”
“That must be hard. Moving to a new school. Especially during junior year?” This time, it was the boy with orange hair and glasses that spoke.
“I mean, it kinda sucks, but it's okay..” Y/N paused. “...can I ask why you're all here?”
“We.. figured that since you're new, you might like to meet some good people.” Sal explained, his voice giving away his nervousness just a little.
‘Maybe he has a hard time meeting new people?’
“Um- this is Larry.. and that's Ashley, Todd, and Chug.”
Chug was already eating his lunch. Ashley hadn't touched hers. Neither had Sal. Larry had eaten a little bit, and was currently taking a second bite. Todd was eating a lunch brought from home.
“Nice to meet you all.. I'm Y/N.” He hesitated, before he spoke again. “Um… so… what do you guys like to do for fun?” He asked quietly.
“Well…” Larry seemed to find a hard time saying what was on his mind for a moment.
“...we're ghost hunters.. sorta.” Sal explained.
“Oh..! Like… with ouija boards and stuff?”
“No.” Sal shuddered. “Never again.”
“We can show you. If you'd like.” Larry offered. “It's kinda difficult to explain. You sort of have to experience it for yourself.”
“You guys can't just.. volunteer someone to go on your so-called ghost hunting missions.” Ashley butted in, looking up from a drawing she was working on.
“Ash is the group skeptic. She doesn't believe us. Even though, she's seen-”
“Sal, we've been over this.. I don't think-”
Larry cleared his throat. “Come on, guys, let's not fight. Especially not in front of our new friend.”
“Good point…” Sal mumbled quietly, before looking back at Y/N.
“Would you like to join us?” He asked quietly. He sounded.. nervous.
Y/N thought for a moment, debating, before nodding. “Yeah. Sure, that sounds fun.”