this fic is inspired by Oyasumi Punpun, but in no way do i plan for the plots to be similar. this is not a crossover, just an AU. the title is inspired by Evangelion.
every pairing in this fic is uncertain and have a low probability of staying together. so don't get mad or whatever if your OTP breaks up and doesn't get back together. most pairing are going to be John/? since this is in his perspective.
John Egbert is a ten-year-old boy, starting a new school day at his new school.
John stands in front of Southward Moutain Elementary's front doors. It too early in the morning for many kids to be in school yet, but there were a couple kids entering separately one at a time.
John's father stands next to him, silently encouraging him to take his first steps inside alone. They share a knowing look. John being, predictably, scared of the new environment. All of the kids so far look so tall, only a handful of them look like they would be in John's grade. What if all those movies are true? What if he'll get bullied, and forced to eat worms like in that one movie?
John and his father stand there for another moment longer, both beginning to feel awkward.
"Go on, son."
John looks up at his dad before saying anything back.
"I don't want to go alone." John said, with a slight waver to his voice.
"I have to go to work soon, although I feel it is my duty to see that you get through the doors before I leave." John's father looks at his watch, and then at his car in the small parking lot.
"Then come with me."
"I'm sorry, Johnny." He urges John with a push of the back, forcing him to take a few steps automatically.
John takes a large gulp, just like how they do it in the cartoons. Without looking back at his father, he slowly steps closer and closer towards the door. "Have a good day, I'll pick you up after school." He hears from behind him. John ignores the voice, trying to work up his courage to open the door.
Wow, what kind of coward can't open a stupid door.
His train of thought is interrupted when he feels a shove to his side. A tall blonde kid opens the door in John's place, rushing inside. John feels a shock go through him. But instead of freaking out, he takes hold of the opened door and quickly steps inside.
It's a lot warmer inside, John notices immediately as the door closes behind him. It smells a lot like lunch boxes and paper. The carpets had a design that would belong on a bus seat, not in a school. The walls were painted a comforting blue, but it only reminded John of a nursery home.
"Hello!" A cheery, yet scratchy womanly voice says beside John. "Are you the new student?"
John turns to the voice, finding a well dressed woman in her forties welcoming him. He stands still for a moment, then nods to her question.
"Welcome! Do you know where your class is?"
John shakes his head.
The lady smiles widely. "Follow me, I can help you."
John does so, following her to the main office. It wasn't very far, so it didn't take long to get there. The main office was an open room with many decorations and signs. It was like walking into a typical teenagers room, except that room was decorated by a "hip and fresh cool" mom. Guess it's just their way to relate to the students, maybe.
There was a few adults in there, and some kids as well. They don't seem to be in trouble although. John continues to follow the lady back behind a large desk made for tall, adult people. He felt overpowered by it
She introduces herself as "Mrs. Sonia", the principal. Mrs. Sonia asks for John to wait a moment, while she scrambles around for something in her personal desk. In the meantime, she makes small talk.
"So, are you scared?" She says, without looking at John.
"Um, I don't know." John replies, not really paying attention.
"Where are you from?" She continues. John knows that she already knows where he's from, from his files. But he doesn't say anything about it.
"Oregon." He begins to shift his weight from foot to foot, feeling impatient. "What are you looking for?"
"Nothing, just a present for you." She digs deeper into a cabinet she opened up, muttering to herself. She's too quiet to hear what she's saying.
The young boy stays quiet, waiting for her to find his present. He wonders what it could be. He's never been given a present by a teacher before, he starts to become anxious.
After a short moment, she says "ah-ha!" and pulls out a strip of thin paper. John feels a wave of disappointment, expecting something better.
She turns back to John, looking him in the eye. It's a little uncomfortable to look back into her intense green eyes. "Here you go, here's your class room number and teacher name so you'll never forget." Mrs. Sonia put it, and John takes it from her hand without enthusiasm. A quick glance at it before he looks back up to the principal, expecting something more.
"Would you like me to guide you there, since it's your first day?"
John nods. "Yeah." He says, since he barely understands the layout of the school and where "class 611A" was.
She leads John out of the main office and into the hallways, heading to where John's new classroom is going to be.
John thinks quietly to himself as he walks mindlessly. He hears that Washington is almost exactly like Oregon, except with less hippies. Or more hippies? People always told him different things when he asked about Washington. "There's a lot of coffee," "There's a lot of hipsters," "There's a lot of gay people," "Everyone there does drugs." John didn't understand a lot of the what people said, especially homosexuality and drugs. He's learned a lot about drugs and such from school, and worries a lot about the people in Washington. What if he's offered cocaine or meth? What if he refuses and they kill him? Oh, God. It's not good to think about stuff like that. It's not good to get nightmares. Father never likes it when John gets nightmares.
It takes a small flight of stairs to the second floor, and Mrs. Sonia says "almost there" as they get to the fifth section of the second floor. Geez, this school is so huge. How can anybody possibly get used to this? John fears that he's going to get lost on his first day. He's going to get lost and everyone's going to make fun of him.
"Here we are!" Mrs. Sonia says before opening the door to John's new classroom.
There's too much. This is the first thought that springs when John glances inside. His eyes wonder around to everything. The tons of crafts and cut outs hanging from the ceiling, motivational posters with irrelevant animals, math problems in fun large fonts taped to the cabinets and walls, almost every centimeter of the carpeted floor has a different color, and every desk in the room has stacks of creations and frilly name-tags with marker drawings on them. It gave John a headache, the first one hes had in months. It didn't help many of the kids were talking loudly and occasionally screaming.
Most of them had not noticed John, or didn't care. The only person seeming to take notice of the new student was the teacher of the class. He was a young man, around 20 years of age or close to that. He wore beige khakis and a pull-over sweater vest. He had a slim face, and wore thin glasses that screams out "I am a teacher, let me teach you". His curly hair was short, like an outgrown buzz cut.
"Hello. Are you John?" Teacher asked. He bends his knees to appear smaller to John, and holds out his hand to shake. "I'm Mr. Crocker" he said. The name sounded strangely familiar. "you can call me Mr. C." His smile was friendly and fake. He looked tired.
The principle left the room without a word. She must have been in a hurry for somewhere else.
Later, John was introduced to the class. Everyone said their names, and that was all. No one introduced themselves properly. No one cared.
John was very confused for the rest of that day.
When he returned home, his father gave him a plentiful dinner and let him stay up for an extra thirty minutes that day.
John wishes he didn't take that thirty minutes. He was more tired that usual the next day. His tired feeling felt like it lasted for a week.
John didn't know anyone in his class. No one talked to him yesterday, or today. The only people that had talked to him in that 48 hour span was his father, his teacher, and a German boy that sat next to him.
That entire week was uneventful. The German boy's name was Dietrich, but everyone just calls him Dave. His accent was thick and wore strange sunglasses. Foreigners are weird.
He had a sister, he says. But she was in another class and John couldn't remember her name. He also had a brother, but didn't talk about him much. John doesn't know why Dietrich- Or Dave- talks to him.
Maybe Dave would be John's first friend in Washington.
John felt an uneasy feeling with that thought. But he ignored it.
i may never update this again. but i would like to. if this becomes a regular fic the updates will be sporatic. im not good with deadlines.