Chapter Text
[21st August, 2018]
[Riddle, Oregon]
It was another beautiful day for the residents of Riddle. The scorching hot days seemed to be behind them, at least for the time being… but even then, it was still hot enough to have the blankets folded up at the end of the bed, or simply laying on top of them.
The shop owners were getting ready for another day of selling their flowers, baked goods, and various knick-knacks, fully expecting to be hit by the deserted Tuesday streets. The office workers would drink up the morning cup of joe before one of the dreaded days of their week officially begins.
And then, there were the kids, specifically the older kids. Today was the first day of high school, most moving up to a brand new grade. And for some kids, today was a special day. Not only was it the first day of the new school year for them, but also… it was the very first day of high school.
“Are you excited for your first day?” A middle-aged man asked his daughter while she sat at the bottom of the stairs to tie her shoelaces. Nicolas Kelvin had blue eyes; a darker blue compared to his two children, short black hair with a little gray and was dressed in his usual collared shirt and pant ensemble, ready to work at his ice cream shop, Kelvin’s Food and Dairy.
Both Jasmine and Zack shared their father's black hair except Jasmine's was considerably longer, falling past her shoulders and naturally resting on her favorite light blue sweater with snowflake embriodery on the front. She looked up with a simple smile, “intrigued might be the better word. I’m looking forward to it nonetheless.”
He smiled back and checked his watch, “did you want me to drive you two to the school? I have a little bit of time.”
“Nah, it’s not far,” she stood up and placed her bag on one shoulder. “Zack knows the way.”
“Does he know the way downstairs?” he disputed. Jasmine looked around, realizing her twin brother wasn’t downstairs yet. “I’ll go and check on him.”
She quickly went upstairs and first checked the bathroom. Upon noticing the door was open and nobody was inside, she went to his bedroom next. “Oh my god,” she sighed heavily at the sight of the room.
A boy her age with short messy black hair and an active flame burning on the side of his head was still sound asleep on his bed, none other than Zack himself.
Jasmine scanned the room until she noticed a soft bouncy ball on the shelves. She picked it up and threw it across the room and hit Zack, making a thud on impact.
He sleepily groaned with his eyes still shut. Jasmine rolled her eyes in response. “Zackkkk!”
“What…?” He finally opened his eyes a little; however, the bright light shining from the nearby window was blinding.
“School is starting today, and you’re not even up!” Jasmine huffed, with her arms crossed.
“Huh…? I thought school was starting tomorrow...” Zack held his arm above his face to block out the searing sunlight.
“I kept telling you last night, but you wouldn’t listen and stayed up late playing that cooking simulator you're addicted to,” she frowned.
“...”
Zack was so sure school was beginning on Wednesday, not Tuesday. Now his first day was going to be screwed by his summer gaming nights ending too late; and it was all, well rather, mostly Phred's fault.
“Well, I’m leaving in five minutes, with or without you.” Jasmine shut the door as Zack forcefully dragged himself out of bed.
While she waited downstairs, keeping an eye on the time, their dad was on his way out. “Have a great day at school!”
“See you later, Dad,” Jasmine waved to him before his departure.
A couple more minutes passed before Zack came rushing down the stairs barely ready to go as he hastily put on his blue button-up shirt over his darker blue t-shirt; thankfully he saved himself time not having to button that shirt, both for style and not overheating during the day. Jasmine smirked before the twins walked out of the house, locking the door behind them.
“That’s the last time I’m listening to Phred,” Zack sleepily declared.
“What idiot listens to Phred in the first place?” Jasmine joked.
He let out an exasperated groan of defeat, running his hands over his face. “Me.”
“So this is what hell looks like, huh…?” A bald-headed kid in a green hoodie looked at the building labeled Riddle High School from the tips of its roof to the cement grounds. It looked just the same as the one in that dream he had six years ago, maybe a little bigger.
A young woman with black hair tied up in a ponytail and teal shirt chuckled at her younger brother, “you said the same thing when you started middle school.”
“Only this time I have a strong feeling about it,” Phil remarked, before ultimately relenting with a shrug. “Eh, could be worse I suppose… the whole gang will be there too.” In spite of everything, the four of them had managed to remain friends up to this point, he supposed that counted for something.
“Speaking of,” Vanessa spotted Zack and Jasmine walking in their direction, “look who’s here.”
Phil waved at the pair after they waved first; Vanessa however, had little time to linger, as she was due at work very soon. “I should get going, I’ll see you back home at six.”
“Will do,” Phil gave a thumbs up. Vanessa got into the car and drove off just as the Kelvin twins met up with Phil. “Hey guys,” he greeted.
“Hi Phil,” Jasmine greeted in turn.
“Hey,” Zack said back in a lower tone than usual.
“You alright, Zack?” Phil's brows shot up in surprise upon seeing his friend in such a zombified state. "You look like you got bitten or something.”
“Phred," he deadpanned in response.
“Oh, sounds about right.” That seemed to sufficiently explain Zack’s tiredness. Phred was known to be a prankster. Phil was too, though not quite to the same degree.
“THAT'S MY NAME, DON'T WEAR IT OUT!” A voice boomed right into Phil’s ear.
Phil jumped, quickly backing away in a panic at the loud voice, which left a sharp pain in his eardrum. “Jesus Christ, Phred!” Phil raised his voice as he turned on his heel to glare at the one responsible for the ringing in his ears.
"Fuck, man, that was a good one!" Phred erupted in uncontrollable laughter, barely able to contain his amusement.
“Why are you the way that you are?” Zack groaned as he slapped his face with his palm.
“What? I just wanted to say hello, I haven’t seen you guys all summer," Phred retorted with a smirk once he'd calmed down.
“Maybe tone it down next time?” Jasmine suggested.
Phred blew a raspberry at the group, “aw come on, you’re no fun.”
“Yeah, we’re not,” Phil agreed, pointing at himself, Jasmine, then Zack; in that order. “I’m apprehensive, she’s serious, and he’s tired.”
“I'd fry you with anchovies if I weren't a good friend… and too tired to cook,” Zack grumbled at Phred in a dry tone.
Phred snickered at such an out of pocket remark, "I think you should be tired more often buddy."
While Zack proceeded to give Phred the middle finger as the rest of the gang laughed back, Phil looked at his group of friends and couldn't help but smile. Summer was great and all, with its three months straight of freedom and twenty-four hour fun, but the one thing about school he enjoyed the most was being stuck with his friends five days a week, sharing the same agonizing pain that was the education system.
“We should get inside, I bet Smiley is already memorizing the classrooms with her schedule,” Phil pointed out a moment later, peeking at the time on his phone. The worst thing to do on the first day was to be late.
The four waltzed into the main entrance, taking in all the surroundings. Everyone else around the halls seemed to be either walking around to figure out where everything is placed or chatting with another student or two. Immediately visible to the group was a girl with brown hair tied back, wearing her orange cardigan over a white collared shirt, completing the look with a navy pleated mini skirt and baggy socks. Standing in the hallway looking down at her schedule was none other than the eager scholar herself, Smiley Sundae. She was hard to miss with her bright yellow skin, and enthusiasm for learning that the other students lacked.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Jasmine took note of Smiley’s tactic. “I’m going to find my classes before the bell rings. Say hello to Smiley for me,” she said before breaking away from the group.
“See ya, Jasmine," the others waved her off.
Smiley looked up the moment she heard their voices and saw the boys approaching her. “Hi Phred, Zack, Phil. It’s been a minute," she beamed at them.
“It sure has,” Phil smiled in turn, “we figured you’d be wanting to get ahead with things.”
Smiley nodded in agreement. “My worst nightmare would be to arrive late to class on the first day," she shuddered in horror at the mental image. "Besides, it makes things easier in the long run."
“I would disagree… but who am I to argue,” Phil shrugged in response.
“Because you wouldn’t dare argue,” Phred mumbled in a teasing tone. Phil heard him clearly, but chose to pretend he hadn't.
“How was your summer?” Phil questioned Smiley instead.
“Oh, pretty boring,” she answered as the four of them began walking around the school. “I spent the time preparing for the school year with studying.”
“Do you ever not study?” Zack asked genuinely, as somebody who wasted his summer mostly playing video games.
“A small amount of that time was spent trying to help my brother study too," she shrugged, "but I didn’t get very far.”
“That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest,” Phred commented. “If I were him, I’d just do nothing most of the time.”
“You already do mostly nothing, Phred,” Zack raised an eyebrow at him.
“The studies were our mom's idea, but my brother wasn't having it. I wanted to help him, but he… chose not to do it,” Smiley trailed off as her eyes fell to the tile floor below.
“...”
“...”
Smiley let out a sigh before plastering back on her trademark smile. “Anyway, enough about me, how were your summers?”
The boys scratched their heads until Phred answered, “Is that a trick question?”
Smiley giggled quietly, “you’re right.”
As the gang passed by the doors of the cafeteria, Smiley took note of the clock hanging on the wall, of which the hands read 7:50 am, meaning they only had ten minutes until it was time for homeroom. “Who do you guys have first?”
“Ms. Count,” Zack answered quickly, having actually done a quick once-over of his schedule.
Phred, however, had to take the paper from his pocket to look it over for the first time. “Mrs. Flask.”
“I’ve got Mrs. Oddverb,” Phil stated. From what he remembered of Vanessa's words of advice to him, she was the most rational of the bunch. Most of the teachers that had been around when she'd been in high school still remained, including all the ones that appeared in his dream. He'd always wondered how accurate to reality the simulation that Vizion had crafted would end up being.
“Oh! Me too!” Smiley chimed in. “We could go walk over to the classroom together,” she beamed at him excitedly.
“…”
Smiley realized what she had just said when she was met with Phil’s silence. She quickly averted her gaze as she tried to hide the blush creeping into her cheeks. “I mean, if you want to, of course…” she trailed off, her tone less audible now.
Phil willed himself to keep a straight face as he acted cool and calm, stuffing his hands in his hoodie pocket. “I don’t have anything else to do.”
“Oooooo,” Zack and Phred teased the pair as they quietly walked away in the opposite direction.
“Those two, I swear to god,” Phil muttered under his breath; luckily, Smiley didn’t take any notice. She seemed a little distracted all of a sudden.
Across the hall, some girl with her back turned was idly standing around, seemingly doing nothing. Smiley had an uncanny sense she was scared and unsure about something. She couldn’t exactly describe why she seemed attuned to a person’s emotions within close proximity to them, but she simply wanted to help out regardless. “You okay, Smiley?” Phil interrupted her train of thought.
“Oh,” she shook her head, snapping out of her trance. “Yeah… I was just thinking of introducing myself to that girl," she glanced towards the unfamiliar person.
Phil looked in that direction, not realizing there was a new kid in their school until now. Due to how small Riddle was, the roster of students seldom ever changed, so a new face was a surprising sight. “I guess I’ll tag along too, why not,” he shrugged.
The girl with the long thick auburn hair and off-shoulder blue blouse picked up her bag from the ground, taking in a breath before turning around to see Phil and Smiley standing close by, looking right at her. She looked like a deer in headlights as she was suddenly startled back into reality.
“Sorry!” Smiley quickly apologized, “we didn’t mean to scare you!”
“Oh, it’s fine,” she reassured and let out a small laugh of relief. Her British accent immediately stuck out, as it was vastly different from all of the other students. “I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings for a minute.”
“Are you okay?" Smiley persisted with concern. "You look a little overwhelmed.”
Still joking around a little to calm her nerves, she responded, “new country, new school… it’s more daunting than I had anticipated,” she admitted.
“You traveled all the way from another country to here of all places?” Phil raised an eyebrow.
“From England, yeah," she confirmed. "I uh, grew up near the city back home so it's a nice change of scenery."
“Really?” Phil sarcastically mumbled, "Riddle's not the place I'd choose for a change of scenery…" There was jack shit to see or do, and the population was only a little over a thousand people. As far as Phil was concerned, Riddle was an utter shithole. Why would someone from another country pick this place?
“Don’t listen to him,” Smiley joked while Phil crossed his arms with an eye roll, “he’s convinced he hates it here.”
“I get it,” the English girl giggled, “the foreign girl excited to be in a place all the locals hate… maybe in time, I'll learn to hate it too,” she remarked. Phil and Smiley laughed in response.
“Do you need any help?" Smiley piped up a moment later. "Phil and I were heading to Mrs. Obbverb’s class, but we have time.”
“Mrs. Odd… verb? I think that’s my first class too," the girl looked at her schedule. "The English class, right?”
"Hey, I thought you already knew English," Phil joked, "coming from England and all."
"You clown," Smiley jokingly nudged her friend, then looked back at the girl. "Come on, I know the way."
Of course Smiley knew the way to the classroom on the first day… why did Phil expect any different?
"Oh, that's so kind!" the girl smiled. "Thank you!"
Phil, Smiley, and the girl began walking over towards the classroom. “Soooo,” Phil began, feeling the need to break the awkward silence, “what’s your name?”
“The name’s Elizabeth Hayes, but everybody calls me Eliza for short. Well, except my parents," she rambled on. "How about you two?”
“She’s Smiley Sundae, the most enthusiastic scholar you’ll ever meet," Phil gestured over to her, "and I’m Phil Eggtree. I… um… just vibe I guess?” he shrugged. School was exceedingly boring to him, he already knew half of the material anyhow, so it felt more like a waste of time than anything.
"It's nice to meet…" Eliza's words trailed off into silence as she came to a halt in the middle of the empty hallway. Phil and Smiley glanced at each other upon stopping, confused at what was going on in that exact moment.
"You alright?" Phil broke the silence, raising a brow at her.
For a moment Eliza looked at both of them in astonishment before finally coming back to reality. "S-Sorry," she nervously smiled, "I-I think my brain kinda ran away for a moment… as I was trying to say, it's nice to meet both of you."
Before Phil could say anything else, the ear-piercing school bell rang out, interrupting their conversation.
“Oh! We better get going! Come on!” Smiley blurted out, breaking out in a brisk trek right ahead of them.
“Chill out, Smiley, we still have another five minutes,” Phil argued back. When Smiley didn't heed his words, Phil sighed before following at a casual pace with Eliza in tow, as the three of them headed for their first class of the year.
A blonde-headed boy, wearing a shirt with the number 5 on the front, peeked out from the corner right where the three had been standing. He emerged into the main hallway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed as he watched the group disappear. Scoffing to himself, he waited until the hallway was completely empty before leaving for class.
