Chapter Text
CatNap stared at his new school from the car window. Life felt like it was going by too fast. When he was still a kitten, he had moved away from CritterVille to Slumber Town, due to his parents wanting to be closer to the rest of the family. It had been a wet goodbye. He remembered how he and his old best friend, DogDay, had clinged onto each other, promising to keep in touch.
They did keep touch for a while. CatNap’s parents didn’t feel like taking the energy to drive all the way back to Critterville, so he had never been able to visit. All of the toys in his old friend group had been too young to get a phone, so they sent letters back and forth instead. It kept up for a year or two, until eventually the letters slowed, and they lost touch.
Now, it had been eight years and CatNap was back, sixteen years old. He didn’t care for why they moved back, something about it getting too expensive to stay in Snooze Town. He wished that he could’ve stayed, but whelp, he’s here now.
Eventually deciding he couldn’t stay in his car delaying the inevitable, he took the key out of the ignition. Stepping out of the car he opened the door to the backseat and grabbed his backpack, slinging it over one shoulder. He didn’t bother locking the car. He had nothing valuable in there anyways. Shoving his keys in his pocket, the purple feline began to make his way towards the school doors.
CatNap internally groaned when he saw the giant horde of teenagers blocking the entrance. He didn’t want to have to navigate through that mob. But after realizing the only other way in was the back gate, which was locked, he had no choice. He clutched his backpack in both paws, keeping his head down as he made his way through the crowd. He almost tripped over ten toys, bumped into 20, and murmured at least 30 apologies before he was finally inside.
He was grateful to finally be inside, but the amount of toys inside of the school as well felt overwhelming. CatNap thought he saw a familiar green hare talking with a rooster and another hare, this time yellow, but he brushed it off. He read the signs on the doors of classrooms as he passed by, trying to find the principal’s office. Classroom A1, classroom A2, classroom A3…he was going to have to ask somebody for directions, wasn’t he?
CatNap tried to look around a little more instead, but the deeper he went into the school, the more it felt like a maze. Eventually giving up, he decided he’d have to ask someone. He spotted a doll with red locks pulled into a ponytail, sporting a blue blouse with a matching skirt leaning against a locker. She was talking to a much taller pink toy, who had on jeans and a magenta button up shirt. Mustering up the courage, CatNap approached them.
“Um…” He murmured quietly. “Hi.”
He must have been too quiet, because neither toy seemed to notice him. Taking another deep breath, he spoke up again louder this time.
“Hi,” He repeated. The doll flinched in surprise and turned around to see him. CatNap did a double take when he saw how…realistic her eyes were. A lot more realistic than other toys he’d seen. The red veins and intense blue of her eyes was startling, to say the least.
“Oh, hi!” The doll said with a nice smile. The other toy she had been talking to peaked over her shoulder, curiously watching CatNap. “Do you need something?”
CatNap’s face burned and his palms felt sweaty with the sudden attention. He suddenly wished he had just looked for longer, but there was no way out of this that wouldn’t haunt him forever afterwards. So he nodded. “Where’s the principals office?”
Realization dawned on the dolls face. “Ohhh, you must be new. That explains why I don’t recognize you. I can take you there if you’d like?”
CatNap nodded his head, grateful that the doll seemed to be nice.
She smiled back and turned around to her friend. “I’ll see you during break, Kissy!”
Kissy nodded and gave them an awkward wave. The doll waved back and gestured for CatNap to follow her, which he did.
“So,” the doll said, starting up conversation. “Let’s introduce ourselves! My name is Poppy. What about you?”
CatNap looked up at the sudden question and paused for a moment. “CatNap,” He eventually murmured.
“CatNap,” Poppy repeated, tasting the name on her voice box. “That’s a lovely name.”
“Thanks,” CatNap muttered in response.
They ended up walking in silence for the rest of the way, which CatNap was grateful for. Silence meant time to think. Time to quell his nerves. He didn’t really understand why he was so anxious for the school day. It was a number of reasons, he knew, but none he could pinpoint. He was just scared.
Before he realized they had arrived, they came to a stop in front of the principal’s office. CatNap thanked Poppy for the help, but before he could open the door he felt a tug on his sleeve. He flinched at the touch and whirled around.
“Be careful in there,” Poppy warned. “The principals a little… Strange.”
“I um…” CatNap stuttered, not knowing how to respond. He eventually settled on an “Okay.”
“Sorry about that,” Poppy apologized, taking her hand off CatNap’s jacket. “He just um, gives me the creeps and stuff. You know what, forget it.”
“Okay,” CatNap said again. He waited for a moment to see if she had anything else to say, before turning around and opening the door.
The room was dark, compared to the rest of the school. There was a couch in the corner of the office, with a potted plant next to it. A few bookshelves lined the walls, but filled with files instead of books. The blinds were closed on the windows, casting an unnerving shade over the room. In the back of the office the desk sat, where a long, slim hand typed away on a computer. The hand seemed to be coming down from a latch in the roof, with wires and what looked like bones making up its arm. CatNap took a hesitant step forward and the hand paused.
“CatNap Snooze,” A voice-no, a collection of voices said. Each word sounded different from the other, as if different toys were speaking through his voice box. “You are here for your schedule and locker number, yes?”
The question snapped CatNap out of his thoughts. He internally shivered at the fact that the hand-or the principal, seemed to already know his name without him having to introduce himself. CatNap ended up brushing it off as the principal probably looking at his records.
“Um, yeah,” He finally said, picking at the purple fur on his arms.
The principal hummed and turned around, its skeletal finger brushing past the different files on the bookshelf, until stopping on one. It pulled the file out and shifted through it, before pulling out a piece of paper. The hand then reached inside of a compartment under its desk and pulled out a combination lock.
“Your locker number is #610, and your code is 17-26-5. It is written on a piece of tape on the lock. Remove it once you’ve memorized it if you don’t want anyone breaking into your locker,” The principal said. It then pushed the paper and the lock to the end of the desk, before resuming its typing.
CatNap ignored the voice in his head telling him to book it out of the door and approached the desk. He hesitantly picked up the combination lock and his schedule, before thanking the principal and quickly taking his leave.
Poppy was waiting for him by the time he left the office, wringing her hands together. She forced a smile when she saw him, but CatNap could clearly tell it was fake.
“Well then!” Poppy said, clasping her hands together. “Did you get your schedule?”
CatNap showed her the paper in his hand in response. She took it from him and looked at it.
“Let’s see… it doesn’t look like we share any classes,” She said with a small sigh. CatNap felt his heart sink a little bit. He didn’t know Poppy well enough to think of her as a friend, but she was the first person to be nice to him at this new school. It was a little upsetting to know that she wouldn’t be with him in any of his classes.
“Anyways,” Poppy said, looking up. “Your homeroom is Classroom D4. I’ll show you where that is.”
She gave CatNap’s schedule back to him and started down the hall, not waiting for him to follow. CatNap shoved the schedule in his jacket pocket alongside his locker and followed suit, his tail dragging limply behind him.
“Where did you move from?” Poppy asked suddenly, tilting her head slightly to the side as she looked back at him. CatNap was quiet for a second.
“Slumber Town,” He said, crossing his arms. “I used to live here when I was eight, but Mom wanted to be closer to her family.”
“Slumber Town? I don’t think I’ve heard of it,” Poppy admitted. “How come you guys moved back?”
“Couldn’t afford to stay,” CatNap said.
Poppy sucked in air through her teeth. “Ah.”
“Yeah.”
They walked in an awkward silence the rest of the way, neither knowing what to say to the other. Eventually they stopped in front of a classroom, with a small blue sign on the wall next to it, with big white letters spelling out “D4”. Underneath was a brail version, also in white font.
“Well this is it! You don’t have to go in right now since the bell hasn’t…oh never mind, you’re already going in,” Poppy said. She gave a small wave as he opened the door, before leaving to go find her friend. “See you around!”
CatNap stepped inside of the classroom and stopped, hesitating for a moment. There were a few rows of desks, thankfully not grouped into table groups, and a whiteboard with a projector and a pull down screen in the front of the classroom. There were a few students already inside of the class, who turned to look at him when he entered. The teacher, a tall, doll with blonde hair that curled when it touched her shoulders was sitting at the desk. She had a grin etched across her face and a small little red bow in her hair. Looking around the classroom, there was a plastic skeleton hanging in the corner of the room next to a plant, and there were posters all over the classroom about toy anatomy. It didn’t take a genius to figure out his homeroom was the biology class.
The teacher looked up when she heard the door open. “Oh hello,” She said. Her voice was sickly sweet, as if she was drowsing it in honey as she spoke. “You must be the new student. I am Miss Delight. What’s your name?”
“CatNap,” He said, shying away slightly. Miss Delight’s face didn’t change from that unnerving grin. CatNap didn’t think she was even able to move her face.
“Welcome to Playecoe High, CatNap,” Miss Delight said kindly. “There’s an untaken seat in the back right of the classroom by the window. Feel free to claim it.”
CatNap’s eyes drifted over to the seat she mentioned. He walked over and slumped into it, dropping his bag next to him. Miss Delight seemed to notice this.
“Did you get your locker yet? You’ll want to drop off your backpack there when you get the chance. It’s easier than having to lug it around all day,” She suggested.
“Oh uh, yeah, I did,” CatNap said, his cheeks slightly turning red at the realization he would be the only one in the class still carrying his bag. He stood up to do so, before the teacher stopped him.
“I’d do it during passing period. The bell is about to ring,” Miss Delight advised. CatNap nodded and shrunk back into his chair. His eyes darted down to his backpack and he kicked it under his desk, praying no one would see it.
The bell rang and one by one, students began filing into the classroom. A few dolls, some plushes, but mainly anthropomorphic animal toys took their seats. One toy in particular looked an awful lot like Poppy’s pink friend (Kissy, was it?) but instead blue, came to sit right in front of CatNap. His ginormous height blocked his vision, and CatNap had to crane his neck to be able to see.
Once the class had all taken their seats, Miss Delight left hers and stepped in front of the classroom.
“Good morning class. Today we have a new student!” Much to CatNap’s dismay, her dark eyes turned to look at him. “Stand up and introduce yourself,” She beckoned.
CatNap felt his heart pounding inside of his chest as every head in the room turned to stare at him. CatNap stood up slowly, feeling his palms start to sweat.
“Um…I’m CatNap,” He stammered, turning his head sideways to avoid staring straight ahead.
“Tell us a little about yourself, CatNap,” Miss Delight said. CatNap wanted to punch her.
He picked at the fur on his arm with his claws, shifting his weight from side to side. “My scent is Lavender and I have a little sister,” He mumbled
“Anything else?” Miss Delight asked. He quickly said no and sat back down. His cheeks burned as he stared at his desk. So much for first impressions. That dog in the corner of the room still wouldn’t stop staring at him. What was his problem? Had he done something wrong? Was he that much of a dork? Oh, he knew that this school year was going to suck.
“Alright then,” Miss Delight said with a sigh. She addressed the class and continued talking about what they could expect out of today, before the morning announcements turned on and she sat back down. CatNap zoned out all of it, just wishing he could go back to sleep.
The bell ringing startled him so much that he jumped. Students began talking and filing out of the classroom, headed to their next classes. CatNap pulled his backpack from underneath his desk and slung it over his shoulder. He could probably make a quick stop to his locker to drop it off. He stepped out into the hall and began to look at the locker numbers that passed him, before he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. He flinched and whirled around, before coming face to face with the dog that had been staring at him earlier.
Now that he realized it, this dog looked awfully familiar. He had orange fur with a red spot over one of his eyes and a yellow snout. The color of the red spot on his eye carried over to his two floppy ears that framed his face. He had on a blue letterman jacket that was zipped up to his chin and a pair of jeans. Hanging from his neck was the same sun pendant he had worn the last time that CatNap had seen him.
“CatNap?” DogDay asked, awestruck.