Chapter Text
Claire isn’t the biggest fan of Wednesdays.
Sitting in the center of the week, it was a rather bleak milestone in a student’s day to day life. It was the embodiment of ‘So close yet so far’, with two days of school having already chipped away at one’s mind, yet three more days to get through.
So yeah, she didn’t find a particular fondness for them.
Her eyes stung relentlessly as they creaked open, immediately being assaulted by the harsh red light on her alarm clock that flashed like a strobe light. An obnoxious and incessant beeping harassed her ears as well, dashing any hope of just ignoring it and going back to sleep.
Pushing herself up from the warmth and safety of her bed, she lazily reached over and smacked the top of the alarm clock with a dull thud , thankfully silencing the device. Now basking in the deafening silence of her bedroom with her sheets half wrapped around her, she let out a long, tired sigh.
Another sleepless night, spent tossing and turning and being utterly unable to drift off to sleep no matter how long she squeezed her eyes shut. Her aching mind would always bury any chance of slumber with mountains of anxiety and agonizing memories of the searing white hot pain of being ripped apart.
In the low light of the room, Claire slowly stumbled out of bed before heading into the small bathroom attached to her bedroom. Going through the motions of showering and getting ready, her limbs felt sluggish, as if they were made of lead. Exiting the comforting warmth of the hot shower was extremely difficult today, but the thought of falling behind on more school work gave her enough motivation to force herself out into the frigid air of the bathroom.
Getting dressed in a blue school uniform with long and baggy white sleeves, as well as a pair of white shorts, she finally finished her routine by tying her favorite forest green bow into her brown locks that formed a messy bob hairstyle.
She glanced at herself in the mirror to make sure she didn’t look too bad, and…well, she looked like shit. Dark and discolored bags pulled at her bloodshot eyes, and she looked a few shades paler than normal.
…It was probably fine.
With a huff, she exited her bedroom, stepping into a small living room hosting a couch and coffee table with an even smaller kitchen in the corner. Sunlight streamed in through the long windows that ran along the far wall, illuminating the room in a dim glow.
She briefly wondered about breakfast, before deciding against it. She doesn’t have an appetite, and the thought of stomaching even a piece of toast was making her queasy. Grabbing her blue backpack that hung from the row of wall hooks beside the front door, she slipped her arms through its loops before pulling open the front door.
“Morning, Claire!”
Short of breath, a white blur that she immediately recognized as Bubble greeted her as she dashed past on the sidewalk in front of the small lawn of her house. Claire didn’t even have time to wave back before Bubble was already down the block and rounding a corner.
“….Hey…” She muttered uselessly as she stared at the spot Bubble disappeared behind the colorful brick wall of a small house.
Claire shut her door behind her, not bothering to lock it before she began to walk down the sidewalk in the same direction that bubble had gone. Funnily enough, there was a small trail of what looked like tiny pieces of white cotton candy that Bubble had left behind in her haste. She was…unique would be a way to put it. Bubble was an anomaly, in that she was almost entirely made up of some fluffy-looking white clouds, or bubbles, or whatever the hell it was. The only parts of her that weren’t made up of the stuff were her arms and her eyes, which hovered where her face should’ve been had she been a human, and not whatever she actually was.
But…then again, most students at this school were abnormal in some way. Hell, she could only count on her fingers the amount of students that didn’t have something strange going on with them. There was even a student - Cubbie, if memory serves her right - that was a walking, talking cat .
…Yeah, this school was weird.
Idly glancing at the small, almost miniature houses she passed on her trek, she stopped in front of Engel’s place that sat only halfway down the road from her own house. Each student had the same copy of a house (Or ‘Dormitories’, as the teachers referred to them - But for all intents and purposes they were tiny houses that formed a sort of mock neighborhood.), and although some had painstakingly added makeshift rooms and extensions, most of the houses were only about as large as your average apartment. The only thing that marked each house different from the one across the street was the color of the house’s walls and decorations that the students themselves made.
Engel’s house was a simple forest green with a canvas hammock that hung from the winding branches of the small tree in his lawn. Through the windows, she could see that the lights were off, and the pair of shoes he usually wore to school were missing from their spot beside the foot of his front door.
He had probably already left, then. Looks like she’ll be walking to school alone today.
Letting out a disappointed sigh, Claire let her eyes shift to the blinding rays of light as the sun peeked over the horizon, its colorful radiance painting the sky around it in splashes of orange and pink like a canvas.
She allowed herself to wonder for a brief moment if the sun was real or not. If the fluffy puffs of purple clouds that drifted across the vibrant sky were just a ruse. If the orange light that spilled over her and warmed her skin was a fraud.
For her own sanity, she pushed those thoughts out of her head. Of course it was real. Ahead of her is the same star that brushed the Earth with gold, far, far away from the hellscape of this school -
Suddenly, a faint yet sharp ringing pierced the damp and cool air of the morning. Claire immediately recognized it as the bell that signaled classes were about to start.
Claire broke out into a run.
*
Claire was exhausted .
The cool wood she rested her forehead against did frustratingly little to ease the persistent headache that had been scrambling her brain into mush for the past couple of hours.
“Hey, you doing alright?” A soft and familiar voice interrupted her vain attempt at sleep. Lazily turning her head to face the newcomer, she sighed in relief as a weight peeled itself off of her shoulder.
“Engel!” She greeted with a tired smile, pushing herself up in her seat as she watched him take the chair beside her. He wore his usual dark overalls over his white collared shirt, while two feathers stuck out of his long and messy ginger hair, pulled back into an even messier ponytail. And, like Bubble, he had an abnormality about him - His arms were jet black, almost as if he dipped them into a bucket of ink.
“Judging by how you didn’t answer the question, I’m going to assume the answer’s a resounding ‘no’?” He said as he glanced at the deep and discolored bags beneath her eyes, his brows furrowing together in concern.
“Guilty as charged.” Claire huffed, absentmindedly fiddling with the green bow at the back of her brunette locks.
Frowning at her answer, Engel turned away to dig inside of his backpack, pulling out a rather thick book with a vibrant cover. Noticing the book as he set it down on the table, Claire’s exhaustion practically melted away as giddiness and excitement bubbled up inside her.
“Oh, did you finish it?!” She hurriedly asked, bouncing up and down in her seat.
Chuckling, Engel nodded, “Yep, it was pretty good.”
“Right? It was a masterpiece! What was your favorite part?”
At her louder and more excited tone, Engel held up a finger over the smile that crossed his lips - gesturing to the mazes of bookshelves that towered over them and to a desk that sat on the far end of the room. Behind the desk a woman with a monocle looked up from her work to glare at the two, silently jabbing her thumb to the ‘Quiet in the Library’ sign that hung on the wall behind her.
Claire promptly shut up whilst Engel flashed a thumbs up to the woman, a certain Miss Grace, who rolled her eyes before returning back to her work.
“My favorite part,” Engel started, “Was probably when they all fought that weird dragon atop those floating islands.”
“I loved that part!” Claire piped up, her voice now an excited yet hushed whisper, “What about that city that they went to after?”
“The descriptions of it were pretty cool.” He remarked.
“I know! Walt Disney would’ve had an aneurysm if he ever read that.”
Engel laughed at that. A warm, fluffy sound that sounded like honey to Claire’s ears.
“You ever tell him that this book outdid him, the author of this thing will have Mickey Mouse banging on their door at two in the morning.” He joked as he wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.
She joined in his laughter, the image of Mickey Mouse wearing a mobster outfit breaking down the author’s door that wafted into her mind adding to her mirth.
It was moments like these that made life at this school bearable. If Claire didn’t have Engel then…well, she would’ve probably given up mere days after she had unwillingly arrived at this godforsaken place. But, he was here. A lighthouse standing tall above dark and churning waters that threatened to swallow her whole.
Even if she was the one that rambled on about some stupid book about wizards and dragons, she was just happy that he was there to listen. And during her darkest hours, he was always there to cheer her up and to take her mind off things.
They continued chatting about the book, cracking jokes to each other now and then, and earning even more annoyed glares from Miss Grace.
“Some Prince Charming he was.” Claire commented while rolling her eyes as Engel recounted a rather snobby character from the book.
“I’d expect to meet an asshole like that at the drive through to a Burger King. I haven’t the slightest idea why he was crowned.” He said while scratching his head.
“Your guess is as good as mine.” She huffed, turning her attention back to the scratchy doodles she had been sketching inside of her notebook.
Suddenly, a not-so-subtle BANG! Made her shoulders jump as her heart leapt into her throat.
An ear-piercing BANG! echoed across the tight corridors of the school as sharp claws that had been aiming for Claire’s torso missed their mark by an inch, slamming into the lockers behind her and ripping them open as if they were made of paper -
Claire released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding as relief practically crushed her, realizing the loud sound having come from the two noisy kids bursting through the library’s doors. One of them, a girl with a tangled mess of ash gray hair pulled back into a ponytail, had her arm draped over the shoulder of a shorter boy who was only ‘slightly’ (His face was entirely red) flustered as he was practically crushed by her half-hug.
Lana, the girl, had her signature wide and jovial smile plastered across her face as she laughed about something. Abbie desperately fought to free himself from her crushing grasp but ultimately failed and let himself be dragged alongside her into the library.
Spotting both Claire and Engel at their table, however, Lana released Abbie in favor of throwing a wild two-handed wave in their direction - but just like usual, her hands donned a pair of homemade puppets made of socks and googly eyes. In combination with her patchy-looking long sleeve and pants making her display look like something out of a Looney Toons episode.
“Fancy seeing y’all here!” She greeted loudly, her familiar southern accent replacing the silence of the room, “Abbie, I’m too winded, you tell them the absolute spectacle that just took place.”
“Oliver tried one of his pranks but ended up falling through the ceiling - somehow.” The black haired boy recounted, an amused smile plastered on his face as he did so.
The end of his short story was met with Lana’s guffaws as she clutched her stomach, “Oh, you shoulda seen it! Ollie needs to eat a damn salad!”
“Pfff!!” Claire poorly attempted to conceal her mirth with a hand, while Engel burst into a fit of chuckles.
However, another abrupt BANG! echoed throughout the library, making their laughter die in their throats as they all whipped around to face a pissed off Miss Grace now standing behind her desk. The librarian’s eyes narrowed as she glared at them, her hands leaning against the table as if she had slammed them down onto its wooden surface - which she probably did.
“Read. The. Sign!” She hissed in barely maintained anger, her frizzy bangs casting a shadow over her eyes that only made her appear more menacing - not to mention the pair of fucking demonic horns protruding from her head, which, in combination with her green uniform, gave her the appearance of a librarian from hell.
With sweat forming on the back of their necks, the students sheepishly apologized. Miss Grace never bothered any students if they followed the rules and stayed quiet - hell she’d be happy to help them if they ever needed anything - but ticking her off was a dangerous move. Although she never punished students herself, she would be more than happy to give tips to those that did if it meant restoring peace to the library.
Lana and Abbie tentatively joined Claire and Engel at their table, taking two open seats beside one another.
“…How did Oliver manage that?” Engel whispered to Lana, an amused smile finding its way across his lips again.
“Beats me.” She replied with a shrug, “But he is one hell of a comedian pullin’ a stunt like that!”
“He and Zip were trying to fish for people’s hats, I think.” Abbie cut in, making the motion of yanking a fishing rod with his hands for emphasis (Oddly specific, but then again this was Abbie).
“Ah, so he’s trying to finally get some style, hm?” Engel leaned back in his chair with his brow raised.
“Please, you already know he’s the best looking student here.” Claire said, remembering how he so effortlessly made wearing pj’s look fashionable a while back (Even with his stupid and oh-so punchable smirk). He did get in trouble for it, but her point still stands.
“Genetics.” Engel muttered, subtly shaking his head and looking…angry? Jealous?
“What’re y’all up to anyways?” Lana’s voice broke Claire from her thoughts, catching the wild-looking girl glancing at the doodles in her notebook that she poorly hid behind her white sleeve.
“We’re just hanging out.” Engel replied with a shrug, giving a hushed “Looks good, Picasso!” beneath his breath as he too leaned over to get a glimpse at the drawings in Claire’s notebook. She blurted a quiet thanks as she tried to ignore how her chest swelled with pride at his words.
“Gotcha.” She said with a curt nod.
“What about you two? I don’t see you both in the library very often…” Claire questioned with a raised brow, her pencil stopping in its tracks as she glanced up at her.
“We are studying .” Drawing out the word in a sophisticated voice, Lana made her point by pulling out a thick notebook from her backpack and unceremoniously dropping it onto the table.
A blinding smile crossed Engels lips as he beamed at them, seeming both proud and relieved at the same time. Claire didn’t even realize she was smiling as well at their genuine effort to try and be better students. Well, it’s not that they didn’t try - It’s just that both Abbie and Lana had a hard time understanding the more difficult subjects, namely math.
Which, sure enough, was what greeted her when Lana flipped her notebook open and began reviewing the countless equations and problems scribbled into the paper in sloppy yet colorful handwriting. Abbie’s own notebook that he had pulled out was far more organized and neat, but she could make out a few corners where he scratched thick lines of graphite into the paper, probably in frustration.
‘I should probably study too…’ Claire mused as she set her pencil down, absentmindedly reviewing the many doodles and sketches that she had scratched into her notebook. Even though it was probably a good idea, the pounding ache that beat against her brain like a gong made all motivation to study fall flat.
She…could take it easy. Just this once. The constant tests and mountains of content each class drowned her in had been taking their toll for the past couple of weeks, and she could only stay on this pace for so long before she had a damn heart attack.
Leaning further back in her chair, her eyes began to slowly drift shut. Her brown bangs offered a perfect spot of shade over her eyes, protecting them from the harsh lights that decorated the school’s ceilings as she slowly drifted into the inky void of sleep. The pain radiating through her head slowly fading until finally, finally she succumbed to the open arms of sleep.
*
‘I should have studied.’
Regret clawed at Claire’s back as she stared down at her desk, the words ‘Pop Quiz!’ mocking her from the sheet of paper that lay atop her desk. Glancing to her side, her eyes quickly landed on Engel who sat in a desk only a few feet away, yet it felt like entire oceans were between them. During tests the desks were rearranged from their groups of three into neat rows that made sure there was some distance between each desk to discourage cheating.
Well, it was working.
She couldn’t make out what Engel was scribbling on his paper, but the fact that his brows were creased together in heavy concentration and his knee was rapidly bouncing up and down was not a good sign for her.
After a beat, however, he managed to catch her eye. His serious expression softened as he gave her a small smile while flashing a thumbs up.
“You got this.” He assured her in a soundless voice.
“...Thank y-” Claire began to mouth back, but hastily cut herself off as a massive form suddenly moved into her peripheral. She ground her molars together as she turned back to her paper, her fingers trembling as the form moved closed, slowly walking down the makeshift aisle the rows of desks created - right towards her.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The sounds of heels clacking against tile got louder as it moved close enough to reach out and touch, its mere presence enough to make Claire’s legs shake with the need to get up and just run . But she wouldn’t be fast enough - She never was.
Step.
Step.
Step.
…
…
The sound of footsteps stopped.
Right beside her.
Ice filled her veins as she suddenly found herself incapable of breathing, her chest growing tight despite the way her lungs screamed for air. The pounding of her migraine only intensified as sheer terror made her mind spin.
The figure was now leaning over her, close enough for her to hear its slow, rhythmic breathing.
Claire kept her eyes glued to the page despite the vibrant flickers of stars in the corners of her vision as tears pricked the back of her eyes, blurring the equations on the paper into a jumbled slurry.
A dark finger suddenly landed on her paper, making her heart leap from her shoes to her throat as her eyes flicked to it. Its sharp form made it appear to be from a massive claw rather than a hand as it pointed to a small, blank space near the top of the paper.
Name: ______________________
“s-Sorry…” Mumbling an apology, the finger retreated from her desk and the large form beside her - the school’s head math teacher, Miss Circle - began to walk away. Her long black hair fell over her retreating form like a curtain, while two tall and sharp horns protruded from her head.
If she didn’t know better, she’d think Miss Circle was a demon from hell.
Claire nearly gasped as the pressure on her chest dissipated and she could finally breathe . She hastily forced her still shaking hand to scribble a sloppy ‘Claire’ in the blank space, before letting out a relieved sigh.
She was safe. For now.
Feeling eyes on the side of her head, she turned and found Engel giving her an ‘Are you OK?’ kind of look, with the sides of his eyes crinkling from worry.
She gave him a shaky thumbs up before returning back to her paper, not wanting to get both herself and Engel caught supposedly cheating. For now, she had to focus on solving…whatever the hell she was staring at.
“……”
The sound of countless pencils scratching against paper was the only sound filling the cold air of the classroom - Besides the rhythmic footsteps of Miss Circle as she walked around the room.
“…….”
Claire had learned this, she even remembered comparing her own and Engel’s notes after class a week ago. She recalled doing the homework on time and getting an average grade, but she just couldn’t remember how to do it. Her thoughts felt like they were blanketed by a thick, grainy static spawned from her own exhaustion, and no matter how hard she tried she just couldn’t remember how to do these problems.
The sheer amount of numbers and signs on the page were making her dizzy, and her head pounded to the frantic rhythm of her heart. Cheating was an impossibility, as not only were the desks separated but each student had a different test with their own unique problems.
Biting down on her lip, she pressed her pencil down on the paper and began to write.
The only thing she can do is to try her best and pray that it was enough, even if God wouldn’t be able to help her if she failed.