Vinyl couldn’t believe it. This man was a teacher? THEIR teacher? She looked around the room only to realise that the other students were as astonished as her. Everybody was looking at this Mr.Potato-Head of a man. His age and his stature sure made him look impressive, but his outfit was totally out of place, especially after meeting Cheerilee, probably the most normal and calm professor Vinyl had ever met.
“You look surprised. The free time is over, back to work! As I said, my name is Professor Discord, and I’ll be your physics and chemistry teacher for this year! You like chemistry right? Everybody likes chemistry. It’s so simple, but at the same time so...chaotic…”
This voice, jeez. There was no way the DJ could describe it. It was both deep and high, slow and fast, articulated and slurred. Kinda like the man. Yes, chaotic was a good way to describe him, and physics suited him well.
“Ok, so!” said the teacher “I’m not going to do the attendance, you’re not in middle school anymore!”
Vinyl heard Lyra sighing next to her.
“What I did however is talk with your lovely math teacher in the hallway. She’s nice don’t you think? I think she’s nice.”
“...”
“Oh so you’re not the chatty class I can see. Too bad. Which reminds me, Mrs. Cheerilee told me about one of you… It seems like we have a really special student with us this year…”
Oh no he wouldn’t.
“Vinyl Scratch is that right? You certainly won’t be the chatterbox! It’s rare to have someone as special as you in our school. Gotta say, I absolutely love your hair! And yes, I know you’re not deaf, one doesn’t need some studies to see that…”
The entire class was surprised. Did he hear them from the other side of the school, asking Vinyl if she was deaf?
Concerning the DJ, she couldn’t possibly tell if the teacher was being serious or not. She already had teachers who mocked her condition, at least on the first day, but this one, she really couldn’t tell. She couldn’t tell anything about him, except maybe that he wasn’t really good at choosing his wardrobe.
“Oh yes, and unlike Mrs. Cheerilee, I know sign language, so you won’t need to text me like some kind of teenager stereotype! Isn’t that beautiful?”
It was surprising at least. Vinyl herself used sign language of course, especially with her parents, but most people didn’t understand, nor knew, a single word of sign.
And this teacher was fluent? Seriously? She wasn’t expecting that. Even she was still learning the twists and turns of this. It was hard as hell.
But maybe Discord was just messing with her. Seemed like his type of thing to do. Easy to check. Vinyl made a few swift movements with her hands, creating several sounds of amazement amongst the students.
“Oh yes Vinyl, Mr. Discord is my real name, and no I don’t mind you asking. I get that a lot.”
“Wow. He does understand sign language.” That was...rare. “Has he ever had mute students before? Cheerilee apparently told him about me in the hallway, so he must have learnt a long time before I arrived... Did he learn every fucking language in the world, just in case?”
“Well now that this is set, let’s start the class shall we?”
Everyone started to take out their books when he looked towards the front row.
“And you missy, you play cello? Don’t ask me how I know, just a hunch.”
“This guy sure gets distracted easily…. Wait, is he talking to Octavia? Did he just call her “missy”? By the way great work Sherlock…” Vinyl thought while looking at the huge cello case next to Octavia.
Octavia suddenly blushed like Vinyl had never seen before, and tried to answer while also apparently avoiding the yellow gaze as much as possible.
“Y...yes I do play the cello...but s...sir would you please not call me such a v...vulgar name?...”
The teacher looked at the girl in confusion. He apparently didn’t expect that type of answer. Vinyl hoped, for Octavia’s sake, that he wasn’t easily pissed off.
“Ooowwww ok you’re not the funny one here are you? You’d make quite the pair with our silent friend over there. Nevermind then, I’ll stop if that’s what you want.”
He was not.
“How the fuck can a teacher be that much of a jerk? Wait a minute, is Octavia blushing even harder, while looking at me?!”
}--oO0Oo--{
“No homework for tomorrow, but do not worry: that won’t last! Should take me about two days to remember all your names so be patient with me would you? Alright see you on Thursday!”
“Aaannnd he’s gone. That man is fast for his age, but that may be the least surprising thing about him”.
The class felt it lasted only half an hour. Despite his cynical behavior and his bad jokes, he actually was quite a interesting teacher. Vinyl always liked science, but this guy made it more lively.
“Anyway, lunchtime. Great, we’ll get to taste this place’s food. If they put as much money in the lunch as they do in the library, this sure will be nice.”
Vinyl grabbed her bag and took out a small notepad and a black pen. She was probably going to need this.
Micro Chips wasn’t having lunch with them: he had met some other nerdy guys and they were all grabbing a sandwich in the shop next street. That left only Vinyl and Lyra.
“Hey girl one of my new friends is having lunch with us, is that cool with you?”
“Or maybe not.”
Vinyl nodded. No problem, that’d be perfect. Maybe she would get along well with that new friend. If she was like Lyra, it’d sure be interesting. She moved her arms at Lyra to ask her what was this friend’s name. The mint-haired girl had been learning sign language for two years now, and she was really getting better.
“Oh yeah that’s Bon-Bon! Y’know the girl I told you about on the first day! She’s sooooo sweet, we are like, totally different, but we complete each other like crazy! She might even become my new best friend!” she laughed.
“Bitch.”
“Oh look, here she comes!”
Vinyl looked in the direction her friend was pointing, and she finally noticed who she assumed was Bon-bon.
Gosh.
How the hell did she get along with Lyra?
The girl walking towards them was the purest and cutest thing she saw all day. “I mean, nothing compared to Octavia, but not the same category at all...”
She had light yellow skin, cyan eyes, and long, curly, dark blue and pink hair. She almost looked like a doll, with her clear and smooth skin, her thin limbs and her frilly blue dress. If, one day, Lyra stepped into a dimension where everything was opposite, that was a pretty good idea of how she would look like.
“Oh shit Lyra wasn’t kidding when she said that they were different.”
“Bon-Bon! So happy to finally see you!” Lyra screamed “How was your morning?”
“Hey Lyra. It was...uneventful I guess… But my classmates all look pretty nice.” She smiled and paused for a moment. “Oh and you must be Vinyl! Nice to finally meet you! Lyra was talking a lot about you yesterday. I’ll do my best not to be awkward or anything with you… Here, that’s my phone number, I’ve been told that this is how you communicate. I’m Bon-Bon by the way, I’ve been here since my first year of high school, so if you need anything you just let me know okay?”
Now that was a nice person. Her voice, her behavior, everything about her was sweet.
“I wonder how long she’s gonna be able to stand Lyra…”
The three girls started walking towards the cafeteria, following the flow of famished students. On the way, while Lyra was calling her parents, Vinyl had the occasion to discuss with this new girl, favoring her notepad to communicate (using her phone to type while walking usually led to finishing face on the ground). Bon-Bon was currently living in her own apartment, with a roommate named Trixie Lulamoon. “Nice girl, but a bit… overwhelming”. However she was leaving in May, and Bon-Bon was currently looking for a new roommate.
“Bet that would interest Lyra”.
She also played the piano, and was greatly surprised to learn that Lyra lived up to her name and played the lyre.
“Yeah that’s not what you expected right?” Vinyl wrote “I didn’t believe when she first told me, it doesn’t really… suit her. But she’s talented as fuck!”
When Bon-Bon asked Vinyl if she played an instrument, she wasn’t really shocked by the answer.
“It’s not really my type of music but it suits you well I must say.”
Vinyl paused and took a quick glance in the hallway’s large mirror. Mixing did suit her well: apart from her electric blue hair and white skin, she was wearing her usual dark blue tank top under her white hoodie, as well as some light blue jeans and some white sneakers. She loved blue and white.
“Yup, I do have my own style.”
That made her realise how drastically different she looked compared to Octavia. Lyra and Bon-Bon could be twins compared to them.
“Don’t worry dude: if Lyra can get along with her exact opposite, you sure can!”
“Hey girls! Are you coming or what?!”
Lyra had reached the cafeteria entrance and was waving at them from afar (Translation: Hurry the fuck up I’m hungry!).
“We’re coming!” said Bon-Bon “Come on Vinyl, this place’s food isn’t bad, and Granny Smith, the old cook, is pretty nice. Let’s get in line.”
The place was already filled with people, but a few tables were still empty. Vinyl suddenly bumped into a skinny blonde girl who was walking in zig-zags.
“Oh my bad”, said a shy and clumsy voice, before leaving quickly.
“Wait”, thought Vinyl while looking at the girl’s tray, “Is this girl only eating muffins?”
Before she could ask, Lyra pushed her in direction of the pile of trays: “C’mon girl I’m hungry!”
Vinyl gave up and followed her two friends, picked up a tray and some cutleries, and started to move forward in the line. When she finally reached the displayed food, where she chose a simple piece of meat with some peppers.
“Want’some dessert with’at?”
Wow, now that was a countryside accent. The woman in front of her was probably this “Granny Smith”. She was a really old-looking lady, but also had an undeniable warmth in her eyes, as well as a solid and strong stature.
Vinyl pointed at a lemon tartlet. It should be ok for the old lady to understand, even without her notepad.
“Oh you ain’t no big talker right? My grandson’s also that type o’guy, don’tcha worry I’m used to it!”
She handed the pie to Vinyl, who waved at the old lady to say goodbye, and joined Lyra and Bon-Bon, who were waiting at the end of the line.
“C’mon dude, let’s find a table and eat!”
Vinyl and Bon-Bon both sighed, before following the mint-haired girl towards one of the remaining tables.
Once seated, Lyra immediately started devouring her pizza slice, almost like she hadn’t eaten for several weeks.
Vinyl took a look around the cafeteria, to realise that a bunch of small groups were formed around each table.
She wrote on her notepad: “What’s with all the groups of students?”
“Oh that?” said Bon-Bon, “It’s just the way we’re organised. At CHS, most of people are part of a group: the techies, the dramas, the eco-kids… You can see them as some sorts of associations. Some students here only judge you on your group, sadly, but that’s how things are. Don’t worry though, with our instruments, the three of us are basically all in the “musicians” group.”
“That’s….a way to do things I guess. Though I can’t help but think that things would be better without these associations…”
Suddenly, as Vinyl kept looking around, something got her attention:Octavia. The cellist was all alone, at an empty table in the corner of the room. That was truly the saddest thing in the world.
“Doesn’t she have any friends to have lunch with her?”
Vinyl made a few movements to Lyra to drag her attention away from her food.
“What? This girl? Octavia right? She’s in our class I think.”
“Wow you know sign language? And you too Lyra?” said Bon-Bon.
Vinyl nodded and continued to signal her friend:
“Well I don’t know why she’s eating alone.”
“...”
“Yeah if you want to invite her, go for it girl, but she looks kinda butthurt to me.”
Vinyl ignored this last comment and started walking in the girl’s direction.
Once she got next to her, still unnoticed, she pulled out a small paper and wrote:
“Hey, are you ok over there?”
The cellist almost jumped with surprise, and quickly turned her head towards the DJ, who saw not only surprise, but also some sort of fear in her eyes, as if the blue-haired girl was about to bully her.
“Wha...what do you want?”
Vinyl swiftly wrote: “I’m sorry girl I didn’t mean to scare you, just wondering if you wanted to join our table for lunch, you look quite lonely.”
Octavia suddenly looked confused, like she couldn’t believe someone actually came up to her to talk.
“I… I’m sorry but I’m quite alright… I enjoy being alone to eat my lunch…”
Even if she wanted to sound natural, anyone could tell that every single word she pronounced was painful for her.
“Come on, nobody digs being a loner, ‘specially for lunch!”
Octavia was now confused… “digs”? Was this peculiar girl sure of the words she was using? She certainly wasn’t the kind of people Octavia was used to see. On a second thought, she wasn’t used to see a lot of people.
“I’m not quite sure I understand…”
“Fuck she is shy, and lonely, and cute,...”
Vinyl wrote again: “Just come with us, it’ll be cool to talk with some people! You don’t look like you’re a big talker, but don’t worry, neither am I.”
Octavia felt weird reading this. She knew who this strange girl was of course, since she was in her class, and she knew that she was mute. Thanks to their physics teacher, she also remembered her name was Vinyl Scratch. But she never had a conversation with a person… like her. And now she wanted her to join her table? She gave a quick glance at the said table. Heavens! Three persons! Octavia hadn’t even talked to a single other student yet, and this blue-haired strange girl was already making her feel completely lost.
“I…. I don’t think that’s a good idea… You all look like you’re having a wonderful time and I wouldn’t want to interrupt in any way…”
“You won’t be interrupting anything girl” Vinyl wrote “C’mon!”
Before the cellist could ask why she was being called “girl”, the stranger grabbed her tray in one hand and her left wrist in the other, and started walking towards her own table.
“Wha...what are you doing? Let go of me at once!”
Vinyl kept walking and wondered. What was happening to her? This kind of approach wasn’t like her, but she couldn’t help it. This cellist made her feel weird, and for some reason she really wanted to be friend with her, or at least to know her better.
Once she reached the table, she put down the tray and invited Octavia to sit.
“Oh my!” said Bon-Bon while looking at Octavia in a half-concerned half-amused voice “Vinyl, don’t drag the poor thing against her will!”
Octavia looked truly terrified, like a small child who just got a snake put around his neck.
“Is this her first interaction with other human beings?”
“No...no harm done... “ said the cellist “But I’m more used to having lunch on my own…”
“Oh of course dear, you can leave anytime you want, we’re not here to force you!”
“I...I think I’m good. I’m just not used to meeting other people in such an uncommon way.”
“Hope this bitch didn’t scare you too much!” said Lyra with a smirk on her face “Even without saying a word she manages to be all over the place!”
“Of course Lyra had to say something like this. Why wouldn’t she?”
Octavia was shocked. Did this girl just use the b-word? And what was with their looks? Octavia knew her own wardrobe was not common for other people, but except for the yellow-skinned one next to her, they certainly had...strange choices of style.
“Oh n...not at all. Excuse my discourtesy, but I didn’t catch both of your names…”
“No prob’ girl, name’s Lyra, at your service!”
“And I’m Bon-Bon, nice to meet you. You’re Octavia right?”
Octavia blushed. These three girls already knew who she was? How much more did they know exactly? She never was gifted at sharing with strangers. She didn’t really know any strangers in fact.
“I am…” Octavia turned her head to Vinyl “Excuse me but...why did you come to me?”
Vinyl looked up from her peppers and wrote a few words:
“Honestly you looked pretty sad and all, I felt like meeting people would do you some good. Plus, you’re kinda cute.”
Octavia heavily blushed while reading this. The other two didn’t see the message, but… “cute”?
She looked down her tray and tried not to look the blue-haired girl in the eyes, but couldn’t help noticing a small detail.
Did she just wink at her?