Chapter Text
Dess lay on her bed unable to sleep, staring up at the ceiling. Her fan was spinning in endless circles, endless loops not too dissimilar to her thought process right now. She’d had an argument with her mother, which wasn’t that odd in and of itself. It felt like they had fights every day. It was more so the content of the fight, the disappointment in her voice, the threat she had made, the way she looked at her as if she was something incomprehensible.
Dess had never been afraid of a fight. If people yelled at her she’d yell louder, that’s just the way she is. But she felt like a burden, wasn’t she just dragging everyone down?
‘Maybe she’s right,’ she thought, causing her ears to flatten against her head. ‘Maybe I’m actually that exhausting.’
She couldn’t help but think of it, every conversation with her mum ended in an argument. Everyone probably spent more time and energy trying to deal with her than actually enjoying being around her.
Dinners were tense, Dad often tried to change the conversation topic but it inevitably led to her and Mum fighting again. Noelle always shrank into herself when that’d happen. She swallowed at that realisation.
‘I’m just making everything harder, aren’t I?’
A certain certainty settled into her chest. Yeah, maybe it would just be… easier if she weren’t here. Her mother probably wouldn’t care anyway.
She exhaled slowly through her nose before swinging her legs over the edge of her bed. Her hooves touched the carpet with barely a sound. She sat still for a moment before pushing herself off her bed.
She crossed the room to open the closet doors. Grabbing the old duffel bag and throwing it over her shoulder onto her bed, which made a soft thud.
She grabbed a few clothes from the closet and made her way back over to the bed, unzipping the bag she stuffed them in there. She made care to put her favourite hoodie in there.
She walked over to her nightstand. If there was one advantage to being the daughter of the richest family in town, it was her wallet. It had enough money to get her to the border with Canada… She flipped it open and her eyes landed on the photograph within.
It was of her, Azzy, Kris and Elly on the day they’d explored the forest south of Father Alvin’s church. Kris and her were grinning like idiots, dirt on their shoes and leaves caught in their clothes. Asriel and Noelle had a more reserved smile. She still remembers how scared Elly was that day.
They’d stumbled upon a bunker, Asriel insisting that it was clearly haunted. All that achieved was Kris trying to pry the doors open. Elly kept tripping over tree branches, unable to focus because of how scared she was. Dess herself had declared that if they’d ever get the door open, she’d be the first to go inside there.
She stared at it for a few seconds, unable to kill the small smile it brought her. Carefully, she folded the wallet shut before putting it into her duffel bag.
What else did she need? A toothbrush, of course. Taking her phone with her was probably a good idea, as well as the charger for it. Her keys sat beside the phone and she grabbed them out of habit, putting them into the bag.
She put a few guitar picks into the bag. It was amazing where those things could end up. She could swear there were probably guitar picks in the fridge somewhere.
Her eyes drifted across the room towards her guitar. It was sitting in its stand. She stared at it. It felt incredibly wrong to leave it but, well, it would be extremely hard to take with her at the same time. There was only so much she could take with her.
She brushed her finger over the strings, causing them to quietly ring. She quickly looked to the bedroom door, fearing she might have awakened her parents or Noelle, but to her relief there was no one there.
Her guitar had really been there for her – through the good and the bad – so she really didn’t know how she felt about leaving it.
“I’m sorry,” she apologised, as if the guitar was actually a sentient object and could have its feelings hurt.
She grabbed her headphones and put on her playlist, trying to get her mind off of how difficult this actually was.
She zipped her bag closed and swung it over her shoulder before stalking out of her room. She made care to avoid the more creaky floorboards.
Yet as she reached the stairs, she stopped and quietly inched over to Noelle’s room.
She turned the doorknob silently, nudging the door open just enough to peek in. Noelle was sleeping behind a mountain of blankets, curled slightly on her side. She held a plushie against her chest.
Dess couldn’t help the soft and sad smile on her mouth, suddenly filled with an urge to wake her up to say goodbye. Tell her that she loved her. Maybe she could leave with one good memory.
Her hand tightened around the strap of her duffel bag.
It wouldn’t work. If Noelle woke up, she’d probably ask questions, cry and try to convince her not to leave. And Dess wasn’t sure if she had the strength to keep walking if that happened.
Her smile faded and she muttered, “Sorry Elly,” softer than the sound of her own breath, before quietly closing the door.
She eased down the stairs, one careful step after another.
Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she walked towards the kitchen, grabbing a cold bottle of water from the fridge.
The front door wasn’t that far from the kitchen. Regardless, she found herself walking a bit slower than she would reasonably otherwise. Maybe it was just taking in the sight of her childhood home a last time, definitely not her not really wanting to do this.
‘Get yourself together, December!’ she scolded herself.
She opened the front door. The cold air of the night actually wasn’t all that cold, but maybe that’s just because she’s so used to cold. After all, her mother does blast the AC on the lowest mode possible, even in winter. The only exception is when guests are over.
She pulled the door shut behind her and quietly locked it. The click felt louder than it probably was.
Her feet carried her to the front gate and she looked back at the garden one more time.
‘Well, guess this is goodbye?’
She started walking, sending a quick glance at the Dreemurr household around the corner.
Hometown was eerily empty. The streetlights cast long pools of orange across the sidewalks and crickets chirped somewhere in the grass. There wasn’t even an occasional passing car.
Dess pulled her hoodie over her head and kept walking towards the bus stop, just past the police station, which was just about where she was now.
“Dess?”
She froze and turned around to face Kris.
Silence hung between the two for a second before Dess spoke up again.
“What are you doing out at eleven on a school night?”
Kris shrugged and mumbled that they were taking a walk.
Dess let out a huff and amusedly shook her head. “Your mum’s gonna kill you.”
“Probably,” Kris said.
“You’re either brave or stupid.” She chuckled.
“Why are you out here?” Kris asked, tilting their head a bit.
“Uh, also going for a walk.”
“With a duffel bag?”
Dess shifted it behind her shoulder instinctively.
“Just need to clear my head…”
“That needs spare clothes?”
Dess sighed. “Kris, can you keep a secret for me?”
Kris blinked but nodded.
“I’m having a hard time. It’s just- I don’t think that I can stay home tonight.”
Kris frowned.
“You ever have one of those days?” Dess continued. “Y’know, where everything just falls apart.”
Kris nodded hesitantly.
“You could stay with us,” Kris offered. “I don’t think my parents or Azzy would mind.”
Dess smiled a genuine smile.
“I appreciate it, but I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Dess searched for an answer that isn’t just ‘Because I want to leave Hometown.’
“I need some fresh air still,” is what she settled on, eventually.
“You’ll come back though, right?”
“Yeah,” Dess lied.
“…Promise?”
“I promise.” Another lie.
“Want me to walk with you?”
“You don’t have to.”
Kris reached into their pocket, pulling out a crumpled chocolate bar.
“… Was saving this but.” They held it out. “Take it.”
Dess blinked. “Kris, that’s your emergency chocolate.”
“I’ll survive.”
“… You’re weird.”
Kris beamed as if this was a compliment.
After a moment, Dess accepted it.
“Promise you’ll tell not a soul about this, Kris.”
“I won’t.”
Followed by silence before Kris spoke up again. “See you tomorrow…”
“I’ll see ya around, Kris-Cross.”
She turned around and walked away, not looking back.
Finally reaching the bus stop, she looked at the sign beside the empty bench.
‘Welcome to HOMETOWN, Vermont.’
She stared at it for a bit before a pair of headlights appeared in the distance. Amazing that there were still buses at this hour, but she wouldn’t complain.
The bus stopped before her, opening with a hiss of air.
“Good evening,” the bus driver greeted as Dess climbed aboard. “Where to?”
She hesitated slightly. “…Ebott City.”
The driver nodded. Dess handed her the cash before finding a seat near the back, which she put her duffel bag beside.
The bus pulled away as she looked through the window. The sign disappeared first, then the tower of the church, before the lights faded into the distance. She kept looking long after even the familiar hills faded.
It was five years ago now that she ran away from Hometown. Thinking about it now, she probably could’ve ended up here at Frendisime University by just applying straight out of high school. Would’ve saved her five years of part-time jobs, tiny apartments and couch-surfing.
Her laptop chimed, an email notification appearing. Dess looked away from the sketch she’d been making instead of taking notes.
The notification read:
“Frendisime University
Department of English
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Professor Calloween will be unable to complete the remainder of the semester’s lessons. Effective immediately, all students enrolled in MH-312 have been transferred to Professor Astger’s section.
[1 Attachment]”
She frowned; she liked Professor Calloween.
She clicked on the attachment, which turned out to be a seating plan. Professor Astger’s lectures were nearly full. There was literally only one seat remaining that she could claim.
Dess let out a sigh.
How bad could it possibly be? Besides, it’s only a month out from the next college break anyway!