////

An alarm from your phone had woken you up from your sweet slumber. You only groaned in reply before rolling over on your mattress and pressed the snooze button.

Yawning, you had stood up from your bed and began to stretch. You walked down the stair with a slight stumble, deciding to follow the aroma and it leads you to the kitchen (obviously).

"Morning, Y/N," Your aunt greeted. You reply, your tone unmatched with her energy. You were quite amazed at how your aunt May could be so full of energy this early in the morning, but you couldn't question it. She's the only joy this household could offer.

You began to do your morning routine; shower, toothbrush, hairbrush, clothing, etc.

You watched May as she was packing your favorite food inside your lunch bag. Your lips lifted into a fond smile. You approached her, ready and prepared as you took the bag from her. "Thanks, May." You said, embracing her sheepishly.

"You're welcome, sweetie," she said as if it was no big deal. "I try the best for you. And I know I'm not like your parents, I know they could give so much to you, but-"

"May, you're enough." You cut off, giving her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. You wanted to laugh at her trying to stop the tears from falling, but she's failing. "Thank you for understanding."

To interrupt the touching moment, the shrill sound of the bus arriving had resounded through the house.

"Gotta go!" You frantically picked up your big bag and stuffed your lunch inside. You bounded towards May and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. After one last look in the mirror, you were ready to go.

The bus door opened itself and you stepped in, taking in the new face of the bus driver and teen passengers.

Transferring to a new school so sudden was hard.

Social interaction is harder.

You gulped and began to trek quickly by the back of the bus. The only available seat was the very last one, by the window. You hastily sat down because if you don't, then you might've fallen and that's gonna be the start of your embarrassing year.

You sneaked a glance at the people sitting beside you. The one sitting nearest to you was a slightly chubby kid, green eyes sparkling as he seemed to be talking about meatloaf (you have ears). The guy next to him was a curly red-head with blue eyes. He was half-listening to the guy, nodding every now and then. Then the girl at the other end of the seat was maroon-haired and wears glasses under those brown eyes.

Before they could notice you, you already looked away, opting to just do some sightseeing, maybe try to familiarize yourself with the neighborhood as you figured that this will be your permanent home now.

Not long after, you heard frantic whispers. With your peripheral vision, you could notice that the big guy was looking at you every once in a while, with a suspicious look.

"She looks like a new student, don't you think?"

"Boone, stop staring. You're going to make her uncomfortable."

"Sorry, I'm just curious. Like what if-"

"You know I can hear you guys, right?" You said, startling the three of them. You offered them a comforting, yet uneasy smile. You outstretched your hand towards them. "Hi. I'm Y/N."

The guy beside you smiled and took your hand. "I'm Boone. These are my friends-"

"I can introduce myself, Boone." The girl glared under her glasses. She reached for your palm and shook it. "Sashi Kobayashi."

You nodded and turned to, maybe, one of the most beautiful eyes you've ever seen. "And you are?" You said, trying not to look so dazed.

"Penn. Penn Zero," he said, shaking your hand.

You nodded in affirmation. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too."

////

If it wasn't for the three of them, you would've been late for your first class so you were grateful.

It was tiring to do the same introduction over and over, but it needed to be done for every transferred student. You've met people, talked with them for a bit and slowly, you can say that high school would be a breeze.

You were excited about your last class. Art was your favorite subject and knowing that you also share this specific class with Boone, Penn, and Sashi made you happy. Sure, you share some with Penn, some with both Sashi and Boone, but nothing beats the four of you in a classroom talking about what you love most.

When you opened the door, just in time, you were startled at the sight of your art teacher; pale, looking villainy, and all too familiar. It made you laugh at the irony of your co-worker working as an art teacher at a high school.

The class soon started, but it was not entirely learning. In the first days, you all would get to meet your classmates first.

"My name is Rippen, and this is my assistant Larry." He referred to the short man beside him. "Today, we are going to have a short activity which involves partners. Everyone, find a partner."

Students around you didn't hesitate to pick the partner they had for years now. Everyone had someone, but you had no one.

"Hey," a voice brought you out from your thoughts. You turned and faced Penn. "Wanna be partners?"

"Of course," you said rather quickly. You just noticed Sashi and Boone were already partners so that only left Penn by himself.

Rippen had instructed that you and your partner should get to know each other. To make it relevant to the subject, he suggested that you should draw the interests of that person.

So you brought out your materials, Penn doing the same. You were in comfortable silence, waiting for the other to initiate the conversation.

He smiled. "Shall we?"

You nervously laughed, nodding as you did so. "Who gets to go first?"

"I guess I should ask you a question, for warm-up."

"Okay."

"What... are your favorites?"

So you proceeded to tell him. Him reciprocating with his own answers. You went from this topic to that in a matter of seconds. That's how much it was fun talking to Penn.

The both of you were casually laughing at an incident. You smiled widely. "Okay," you said, calming down "How did you meet Sashi and Boone?"

"Oh, we were working as part-time-" You watched Penn clamping a hand over his mouth. You raised an eyebrow at his sudden. weird behavior.

"Part-time what?" You asked, genuinely curious.

"Uhm..." Penn stuttered out, sweat forming on his forehead. "We work on a cinema called Odyssey. That's where I met them, then I found out that they also go here, so yeah."

He didn't exactly lie, they do work in an abandoned cinema, but he just couldn't tell that they work part-time as heroes in other dimensions.

"Really?" You said. "I work in a shop next to that! It's Fish Sticks or something..."

"Fish sticks on a Stick? But isn't that abandoned?"

Your eyes widened. You weren't supposed to tell him that, you stupid dunce! You tried to think of something.

"Wait, it is?" You said, acting surprised. "Well I haven't been here too long, I just moved in here. But yeah that shop was abandoned but I was still hired because they wanted me... to clean the isles of seats and mop the floors... weird job."

"It is weird, huh. Just you and your boss?"

"Yeah, he became my closest friend."

"That's nice." Penn nodded and wrote down some of the things he could remember. Suddenly, Rippen announced that you could do the artwork from home and pass it by tomorrow, bidding you goodbye.

You and your new friends wave in farewell and you walked towards your part-time job.

/////