Ooooo we already getting into some real ✨ d r a m a ✨ >:3

—————————————————————————————————————

Things were hectic again this morning, but it turned out alright.

I woke up a little earlier so I had time to get ready and get Sabre set up for the day. I think he'll have fun with the puzzle game I set up for him on the console, and I taught him how to switch from the console to the HDMI connection to YouTube, so no chance he's gonna get bored.

Right now, it's lunch period at school. I'm already sitting at our usual table with Shy and Nerdy, waiting for everyone else to either get their food from the lunch line or get out of class and into the cafeteria. I have no idea why, but the nachos the school serves are the only legitimately good thing here.

"Hey Orange, you gonna eat that chocolate pudding?" Nerdy asks. He brought his own lunch today.

"Trade your chips for it." I reply.

"Deal." Nerdy says, and he slides his chips over to me while I give him the pudding.

The rest of our group finally gets to the table, and the three of us greet them. We talk for a while, just normal topics like what new games are coming out and who did the homework from yesterday. As usual, Loud forgot.

"Can I just- copy off of one of you guys?" Loud quickly asks.

"You copied off me for the final time last week." Nerdy says.

"W-We have different worksheets..." Shy says.

"I already turned mine in last period." I reply.

"I have the same worksheet as Shy." Jade adds.

"Funny and I turned ours in already too." Happy says, and Funny nods while he has a mouthful of chocolate milk.

"You got five bucks?" LC asks.

Loud sighs and gets a $5 bill out of his pocket, handing it to LC. LC smiles and takes a worksheet out of his backpack, which Loud takes and hurriedly starts copying down the answers.

"Hey, have you guys heard from Maroon today?" Jade asks while that's happening.

"Oh, he said his dad finally agreed to take him to a concert of one of his favorite bands today." LC says.

"Y'know, it kinda sucks that he lives in a whole different town." Funny says. "He's pretty cool. Awesome at PVP in that game, too."

"Isn't that how we met him? He was in our party during an online game?" Nerdy asks.

"Y-Yeah, I-I think so." Shy replies.

We're all suddenly scared when somebody slams their hands onto the end of our table.

"You guys will never believe what's happening tomorrow!" A familiar, but kind of annoying voice says.

"Dude, you scared the crap outta us! Quit doing that!" Loud says.

"What do you want, Nosy?" I sigh, calming my nerves.

His real name is Maple, but he got nicknamed 'Nosy' by the entire school because he's always in everybody's business. We'd be friends if town gossip wasn't the only thing on his mind, ever. It comes in handy, though; He's known to have dirt on literally everybody, so no one wants to tick him off. However, for either a few bucks or a bag of some kind of junk food he'll spill the beans about whoever you ask. It's gotten one of us out of a sticky situation a few times, but it kind of doesn't make up for the fact that he's around every corner whenever you're just trying to talk to your friends.

"Well, somebody's in a bad mood." Nosy says. "Anyway, you know that kid that got sent to the hospital like, two months ago and had to stay home for a while?"

"Uh, Dark?" Happy asks. "Yeah, we heard when it happened. Why?"

"Yeah, him! The weird ink-color kid." Nosy says. "Anyway, he's coming back tomorrow, and apparently he has all sorts of real nasty-looking scars. There's even one across his face!"

"Dude, we're trying to eat, we don't want to hear about hospital scars." LC says, cringing a little.

"Eh, that's fair. Later!" Nosy says, and he goes off to bother a nearby other table about the news.

"Y'know, I kinda feel bad for that kid. Dark." Jade says. "It's bad enough that he gets harassed about his... mutation or whatever it is that makes him look like that, and then he got sent to the hospital too."

"Y-Yeah, me t-too..." Shy says.

"Was it ever even told what happened?" I ask. "The accident or whatever hurt him so bad happened out of school, so I never heard any details. Never even heard what injuries he had."

"Nah, it was kept pretty secret for some reason." Loud says. "Apparently he lives with his dad on the space between Sunset Shores and Volt Valley, so not many people to talk about it there."

"Oh, well that sucks."

"Yeah."

The bell rings, and everybody quickly packs up and starts to head to 5th period. I walk with LC in the hall, because we have the same gym period.

On the way to the gym, we pass the main office. As I talk with LC, I notice two people standing behind the large glass windows that look into the reception desk. One adult, one kid about our age. Of course, the entirely black skin and hair, even his outfit makes the kid extremely recognizable. Dark and his dad must be doing some last minute check-in stuff before he comes back to school tomorrow.

He looks around and glances at everything in the room, looking nervous. I notice a big, jagged scar on the right side of his face, and I'm guessing it continues onto his neck, but he's shrinking so far into his hoodie it's hard to tell. His fluffy hair is unruly and kind of long, and Dark keeps either pushing his bangs behind his ears or shifting his hair around to make pieces stay. His oversized-sleeved hoodie is a bit worn and has a few tattered bits at its edges. Dark starts playing with the strings of his hoodie while looking outside.

His dad, on the other hand, mostly looks like a normal Yellow Steve... if you don't count the numerous black blotches on his skin and his red eyes, of course. I think I heard that his name is Gold. As he's looking over papers, the secretary at the reception say something and he begrudgingly puts out the cigarette he had and throws it in the ashtray on the desk. That's the first time in a while I've seen the secretary have to ask someone to not smoke here.

"Hey, Orange, come on ya doofus." LC says, getting my attention away from the office. "Coach will make us run laps if we're late. You know how he is with laps."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm coming." I laugh.

I follow LC through the halls. I can't help but think, though... something seemed off with Dark.

—————————————————————————————————————

It's the end of the day, school's already out, and I'm almost home by now.

Usually Jade walks with me, but he had something to do on-campus after classes. Something about tutoring, I dunno. He was in a rush. I've reached the closest part of town to the sea, so in a few more blocks I'll be home. I've taken off my jacket and wrapped it around my waist because it's gotten hot, as it usually does at this point when seasons start to change.

Although, as I'm walking past one of the beach's entrances, I notice something and stop right in front of the fence opening. There's a person sitting on a lone, kind of broken down bench near the water. Waves come pretty close to getting close enough to soak his shoes, but they always retreat back into the ocean just before they do.

It's Dark. He's just sitting all alone out there.

I wonder what he's doing... I mean, this is pretty far from the bus stops to Volt Valley and the space between it and Sunset Shores. Shouldn't he be heading home now so he doesn't miss the bus? It's really none of my business, but...

...

I start walking down towards the beach, my shoes sinking slightly into the warm sand. I stop next to the bench, and Dark still hasn't noticed me.

"...Hey." I say after a bit of waiting.

Dark quickly looks up, tense, but relaxes when he sees me. Weird.

"Oh, um... hey." Dark says.

"You alright?" I ask, sitting down next to him and placing my backpack next to the bench. "You're kinda just out here by yourself."

"Eh, yeah, I'm... okay." Dark says.

"You're gonna miss the bus back home if you stay out here too long. Just wanted to make sure you'd get there alright." I say.

"Oh... it's okay, I know." Dark replies, staring out to the sea. "I uhm... I don't want to go home just yet."

"Mkay..."

We stay silent for a moment. I glance around, and notice a convenience store bag next to Dark's feet. There's a small box inside with the receipt, nothing else.

"You go out into town or something?" I ask.

Dark looks at the bag for second, then back to the water.

"My... my d-dad asked me to get him something." Dark answers, hesitating for a minute.

"Okay... well, I'm Orange by the way." I say, smiling.

Dark looks at me, a bit confused but smiling as well.

"Wait... just 'Orange'?" He asks. "Really?"

"Yeah, I've got kinda a weird name." I chuckle.

"Welp, I'm literally named 'Dark', so we're in the same boat I guess." Dark grins, gesturing to his grey skin.

"I know, I see you at school all the time." I say.

"Oh... you do?" Dark asks, switching to a bit of a gloomier tone.

"Yeah, I do." I say. "Y'know, I dunno why everybody gives you so much crap about how you look. I think you're pretty cool."

Dark looks surprised.

"...Cool?" He says after a second. "What about how I look is 'cool'?"

"Dude, you look like a ninja 24/7." I smile. "You gotta admit, that's awesome."

That makes Dark laugh, and for a moment I think I see genuine joy on his face. Just for a moment. Then he turns back to me with a small smile.

"I never thought of it that way... thanks." He says.

We talk for a little bit longer, but then I realize how long it's been.

"Shoot, I gotta go now. Red will be so mad if I'm home later than he is." I say, picking up my backpack.

"Alright, get home safe." Dark says, glancing at the plastic bag at his feet again.

"You too, bud."

I then hold out my hand for a fist bump, which surprises Dark.

"See you at school?" I say, smiling.

Dark takes a moment, then gives me a fist bump and smiles back.

"See you at school."

Dark waves to me as I go, then I'm back on the sidewalk and I start heading home.

It takes a bit to get to the house, but soon I'm locking the door behind me after I step inside.

"Hello!" I call out. "I'm home!"

"Orange!" I hear Sabre call out, followed by his excited footsteps.

He appears in the hall as I'm going towards my room, and hugs me again. I smile and hug him back, glad to see him.

"Anything happen while I was gone?" I ask.

"Nothing much, just hanging out here." Sabre says as we both head towards my room.

"Hanging out? With who, Gerald?" I chuckle.

I get my answer when we walk into the room.

"Hey Orange." Red says with a smirk as he sits in front of the games console in my room, holding one of the controllers. Gerald is looking on from my bed behind him.

"Uh... hey Red." I say. "You're home early."

"And you're home late." Red says.

Sabre goes over to the opposite cushion in front of the console and picks up the nearby controller.

"We've been playing games together since he got home!" Sabre says excitedly. "Look, we got so far in the puzzle game!"

Sabre shows me that he and Red got to level 25 while I was gone. Pretty good, considering his circumstances.

"That's cool." I say. "So uh- Red? You're... not mad?"

"Nope." Red says as the game continues. "I just want to know why."

"Oh, I made a new friend on my way home. Lost track of time." I say, putting my backpack next to my bed and taking off my shoes.

"Oh, that's nice!" Red smiles. "Who?"

"Dark, you've probably seen him around." I reply, sitting down on my bed and cuddling up next to Gerald. Gerald nuzzles my hand. "He's actually pretty cool, and he's coming back to school tomorrow."

"Oh, Dark..." Red says, his tone changing to worry. "It's a real shame about what happened to him two months ago. I just wish that we knew what happened to him..."

"What? What happened two months ago?" Sabre asks.

"Poor guy got sent to the hospital, and nobody knows why. Not even what caused him to have to go." I answer.

"It's a bit strange, but... nothing we can really do from where we stand." Red adds. "Hopefully he just got into a bit of an accident."

"Oh... we'll, I hope he's feeling better." Sabre says.

"Me too, buddy." I say. "Me too."

—————————————————————————————————————

Drama time :3

—————————————————————————————————————

...He's smoking again. Already.

I hate this. He always stinks up the house every day and every night with the smoke, and it's difficult to make sure I don't smell like an ashtray every time I go to leave the house. At least he stopped leaving cigarette buds in my room.

And... at least I have my books and journals. Since he doesn't let me have any devices or anything, and he's always sitting in front of the TV, I've kinda been keeping myself occupied by drawing, writing, and reading. I'm glad I was able to stop by the library on my way home... the new librarian is really nice, and he even had some book recommendations that are actually awesome.

Currently I'm reading one that's a history book, takes place before the Kaleidoscope Event. Apparently people were experimenting with portals, and an actual dragon came through one, and-

"DARK! GET OUT HERE!"

...Dang it.

I close my book and head out to the living room, hoping that he's not angry at me for something. He hasn't been for a while and I'm starting to get anxious about it. Like a mine hidden in a field, I'm expecting it but still don't know when it'll happen.

I reach the living room, and there he is, sitting in his armchair in front of the TV with a finished cigarette in his hand. He drops it into the ashtray on the end table next to him and looks at me.

"Y-Yeah dad...?" I answer.

"Go get me more cigs, I ran out." He says, waving his hand in the direction of where he leaves his wallet on the counter.

"Wh- B-But I just got more on my way home today, and I have school tomorrow-"

"I don't care. It's past my daily curfew and I can't go get 'em myself, so go."

I quietly sigh and start walking over to the kitchen counter, which is covered in ash. I pick up dad's wallet and take out $15, then put it back down and head towards the front door for another late-night run. He doesn't trust me with just taking his wallet with me, but little does he know I take $5 extra every time so I can get myself some candy or something. I don't dare take any more than that, though. He would notice.

Just as I touch the doorknob, he starts coughing again. Each wheezing sound after leading to another, before finally stopping as he leans back in his chair. I'm about to ask if he's okay, but stop myself as I remember last time I did he yelled at me. Besides, it's what he gets for smoking at least a pack and a half a day. Sometimes I hope it kills him, but I also wonder if that's a bad thing to think. I don't want to be like him.

Outside is more peaceful than the house, anyway. I look up at the stars as I head to the bus stop, knowing there's a few buses still on-schedule at this hour for the night shift workers. Seeing these lights out here before I get to the streetlamp-lit town kind of comfort me. I know it's weird, and even a bit stupid, but I relate to them.

They're alone in the dark, thousands of miles away from anything that's going through the same thing they are, but they still keep going on. Even for just a bit longer, they still let their light shine despite being shrouded in the abyssal, lonesome void of space.

Kind of like me...

—————————————————————————————————————

EDIT: I FORGOT I HAD DESIGNS FOR TWO CHARACTERS HEHEHE-

- 16 (Sophomore)

- Track Team Captain

- Chill

- That cropped hoodie is for you, Lavender |:^

- Actual name is Lightning-Cyber, a combination of 2 common Yellow Steve names, but shortens it

- 15 (Sophomore, 16th birthday is in the summer)

- Introverted bean

- Is named Dark because it's the Steves' custom to name their kids after either a shade of their color or their personality type a few months after they're born, and he was affected by the Kaleidoscope Event when he was less than a year old, giving him his gloomy colors. His color slowly darkens from yellow, to a slightly dark orange, to a dark red, then to black.

- A n g s t y  b o i

- Escapism is common for him

Do with that info as you will :>