Chapter Text
A paradise for you and me, where no one gets hurt. Doesn’t that sound good?
He yells to ears that cannot hear him, or anything. He sees him pause and think, head held up with a blank look on his pretty face. Say no, he thinks selfishly. He’s going to twist your words. Please, don’t say anything.
~~~
Nicholas awoke with a start, a yell of his name by Livio calling him for breakfast. He groans groggily and rolls over. His bare blanket he had managed to keep for the night before falls off his body as he moves. He lifts his head, and Livio yells again.
“Coming!” he yells and sits up with the blanket balled up at his lap. His room is bare. Nothing hung on the walls. The floor was recently swept. It looked like things were finally put away and cleaned. In reality, all his things were gone, either sold or thrown out. It depended on the item. Not many people wanted a dead bug collection it turns out. He was sad to see them go, or he thought he was. All he really felt was numb about everything. The only things that were left were his blanket and a dried, wrinkled-from-pond-water notebook that didn’t even belong to him.
He pushed himself up off the floor and ducked his head when he poked his head out the doorway. Livio was downstairs staring up at him.
“Good morning! Breakfast is ready!”
Nicholas huffed and smiled at Livio’s antics as his little brother stomped to the kitchen and out of his sight when he came down the stairs. Miss Melanie was frying some eggs when he walked into the kitchen. Livio was at the table already with a plate of bacon and toast. Jam was at the center of the table alongside butter and almond butter. They couldn’t have anything with peanuts because of Livio’s allergy. It bummed him out a little, he really did like peanuts when he was younger, but now he was used to it. He took a seat across from Livio and filled his plate with bacon and toast. Miss Melanie turned and slid the eggs onto each plate on the table, two for each of them.
“Eat up, nothing goes to waste here, boys.” They replied with a “Yes ma’am,” and began to inhale their food, or Livio did. Nicholas ate slower than usual, lost in his thoughts. He wondered if he would be able to find him today.
~~~
The chatter of other kids rung in Nicholas’s ears. He sat at his desk, looking down and pushing the lead out of his mechanical pencil against the desk’s surface. Legato and Midvalley stood towards the back, walking towards their desks and chatting away like they usually did in the morning.
“Did you hear? There’s supposed to be a new student coming in today.”
“Yeah, I wonder what they’ll be like?”
“I hope it’s a girl.”
“Ew, no way! Girls are gross!”
“Of course you’d think that.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”
There was a tap on his shoulder. It was Zazie, who sat next to him. He turned to them.
“Huh?”
“There’s going to be a new student.”
“Yeah, and? Like I care.”
Zazie huffed and slouched in their seat. “Whatever.”
Mr. Brad walked into the classroom not long after everyone took their seats. The chatter didn’t stop until he raised his voice saying, “Okay, everyone, quiet.” The class grew silent with baited breath. “There’s going to be a new friend joining us today.” He beckons towards himself while look outside the room. Nicholas’s eyes widened.
It was that kid from the other week.
~~~
Cicadas buzzed outside in a loud cacophony in the late summer evening. Miss Melanie was manning the front desk of the flower shop side of their house while Livio was squirming around in her grip, his fat, little baby arms flailing around, failing to hit her with her constant movement to help paying customers. He looked cute like that.
“I’ll take him from you, Miss Melanie,” he said. She nodded and handed Livio to him to carry. His little brother calmed practically instantly in his hold. He bounced him up and down on his shoulder, and, soon, he was letting out hardy giggles, filling the store with smiles.
The front door dinged and the bell sound reverberated throughout the store.
“Hi, welcome to Melanie’s Flowers. How can I help you?” Miss Melanie asked the ones who entered the store. Two blonds entered the store. One was looking down at the floor. He looked to be around Nicholas’s age, while the other looked a little older. The older one was glaring at everything and overall looked like a douche. Nicholas immediately knew he wouldn’t like him. The younger one wore a huge, red coat, he practically swam in it, and he just wouldn’t stop looking at the floor. What a weirdo. The older one tapped the younger on the shoulder and started pointing around at the red flowers. The younger looked up and the smile on his face was blinding. He nodded at the other one.
“We’re looking for red geraniums,” the older blond said. His voice was deep and commanding. Nicholas scowled. What a stuck-up.
“Right, of course, they’re right over here,” Miss Melanie said as she led the two over to the counter by the window. They picked out the flowers and she rung them up at the front desk. They left right after, the younger blond holding the flowers gently. There was a bright smile on his face.
~~~
“You can introduce yourself.”
The boy did nothing. Mr. Brad tapped him on the shoulder. The boy jumped a little, and started to pull out something from his bag instead of talking. How weird. He pulled out a notebook and flipped it open.
Hello
My name’s Vash Saverem
I hope to get to know everyone through this notebook
I’m deaf
He was smiling.
Nicholas was looking at an alien.
Chaos erupted.
“For real?”
“He can’t hear?”
“What a weirdo.”
Mr. Brad huffed and cleared his throat. Everyone quieted down. He pointed to the desk in front of Nicholas’s. “You can sit there, in front of Wolfwood.” Vash walked down the row, waving at everyone as he passed. He waved at Nicholas as he got to his desk. He was smiling again. Nicholas waved back shakily. “H-hey,” he said.
~~~
Nicholas chewed down his eggs to pulp before swallowed hard and rose from his seat. He put his dishes in the sink and rushed out the door, yelling, “Bye, I’m off!” and left, Vash’s notebook in hand.
~~~
A paradise for you and me, where no one gets hurt. Doesn’t that sound good?
Can I bring the others too, Nai?