I step out of the way just in the nick of time. The bigger kid almost hit me square in the jaw. He glares when his fist only hits air. He has his friends circling around us so that I can't run away. They're jeering and waiting for my demise, but to be perfectly honest, I'm not scared. I've dealt with a lot worse before.
"Punch back! What kind of sissy are you?" the bully growls.
I never fight back. Mommy Toriel made sure I knew that inflicting pain on someone is a terrible thing to do. So even when someone is being mean, I don't fight.
Hugging the bully didn't work. He just shoved me away. I tried talking to him, but he doesn't understand sign language. But I can't give up. There has to be something else I can do.
I blow a kiss at him. The bully's face goes red and at first, I thought he was flattered. Then I realize that it's red out of anger. I'm unable to dodge the next fist.
"Oh no. You hit it!" One person says. People who like me call me them/they. People who don't call me it.
"Let's get outta here."
Feet stomp away, leaving me on the ground for someone to find. But nobody is left at school. All the teachers left already and I'm sure the bullies were the last kids left.
Mommy Toriel might get mad at me for missing the bus again. I shouldn't have listened to those guys. I shouldn't have followed them when they said they wanted to play. But it's too late for regrets now. I get back on my feet, my hand covering my eye. It hurts and feels warm, but I don't cry. I'm not much of a crier.
Looks like I have to walk home now. Sans and Mommy Toriel don't get off work until a little later. However, Papyrus will be there and he'll wonder where I've been. And I won't be able to hide my eye if it's black.
If you had a knife, a real one, no one would have hurt you.
It's that voice again, the one I grew up with. This voice has pestered me ever since I can remember and always tells me to do bad things. I don't like it at all.
It takes me about an hour of walking to get home. I thought I could get there sooner but I guess I'm not fast enough. I take in a deep breath and open the door.
Our home is a nice one but it only has three bedrooms, so I have to share with Papyrus. But that's okay because I feel like Papyrus is my older brother. Sans…I'm not sure how to feel about Sans. My first thought is to think him as an older brother too but…he seems to really like Mommy Toriel. It makes me wonder if I should think of him as a step father or something. Or maybe an uncle.
The minute I go inside, Mommy Toriel is in front of me. A flash of relief shows up on her face before a look of horror replaces it.
"Frisk! What on earth happened?"
I stare at her, pondering my options. I still believe that I can make these bullies nice. I can't tell her the truth.
Yeah right, the voice tells me sarcastically, Admit it. You want them to pay for what they've done to you. Tell on them all. Better yet, make them sound really, really bad. Tell Toriel that they all spat at you and called you ugly and kicked you and tried to kill you.
No, he just punched me. Lying like that is terrible.
Does that mean you're going to tell her the truth then?
Mommy Toriel is still expecting an answer. I use my sign language to say that I lost track of time, missed the bus and ran into a tree.
Mommy Toriel seems suspicious. Fortunately, Papyrus comes in before I have to explain myself any more.
"Oh good. You're here. I'll call Sans and let him know that I—the great Papyrus—have found you."
A lump of dread fell into the pit of my stomach. Sans had been looking for me? Oh no. Papyrus used to call Sans lazy but now the skeleton is working two jobs without taking advantage of all the legally required breaks. As a matter of fact, Sans can only stay until dinner, then he has to work a night shift somewhere else. This is the only time he's allowed any rest.
And I ruined it for him! I feel so guilty.
"Sans. They're here. They're here! Yep. See you soon."
"I'll go make dinner," Toriel says.
I wanna help.
"Of course, my child," replies the female monster, "Wash your hands and we'll get started."
Mommy Toriel's rules is that we can only have spaghetti once a week. Papyrus doesn't like this rule too much and often complains about it, but she's insistent. I smile when I go into the kitchen and smell peppermint ice cream pie. She's so cool. She can make pie out of anything.
We mix up the ingredients and my stomach rumbles. I smile when Mommy Toriel places the tater tot casserole in the oven. I really like her cooking. She asks me to set the table while she cleans up. I make sure to place a cold bottle of ketchup in San's spot. Every time he gets home from work, he likes to say how he needs a drink. I know it's silly, but he likes to drink ketchup.
Sans makes it home. He stops short when he sees my face. The skeleton is usually pretty laid back, but he looks so tense right now. The way he's staring at me almost makes me worry.
"What happened?" he asks.
"They said that they ran into a tree," Mommy Toriel answers for me.
Sans glances back down at me, "Is this true, kid?"
I nod. Sans stares at me for a very, very long time. Is he waiting for me to say something else? Is he…waiting for me to tell the truth? My heart plummets at the thought.
Maybe he wants to kill you. That's why you got to kill him first.
No! Sans would never hurt me and I would never hurt him. I hate you, voice!
I know I'm right. Sans will kill you in your sleep. Look at the way he's glowering at you.
He's just tired.
He hates you.
I refuse to believe it. At least, I try to refuse. But it's getting harder and harder to ignore the voice. The more it talks, the more I find myself starting to believe it.
Papyrus hugs me from behind, mercifully ripping me from my thoughts.
"Goodie! We get pie tonight!"
Papy, we always get pie.
"Yes but they taste better each and every day!"
I smile at that. Sans sits at his spot. Papyrus and I get to sit together for dinner. It makes it fun because we can chat secrets to each other while the other two weren't listening. I use to think that Papyrus was the mature brother. Now I know better.
I hope Sans is happy with the human world. He's not as laid back as he used to be and his smiles always look a bit more forced than usual.
When we finish, Mommy Toriel takes me upstairs to my room. It's a really cool bedroom, with toys that she got for me. I have a toy box with a few balls and some MTT brand toys. There's also a few dolls and one skateboard too. It's really neat.
My bed is a simple plain white bed. I want a car bed like the one Papyrus has, so I'm going to ask Santa for one when Christmas rolls around. Mommy Toriel smooths out my hair.
"I'll go talk with Sans. Please stay here, my child."
I frown. Doesn't Sans have to go to his other job soon? What's going on?
She looks at me in a way that tells me to behave. I gulp up at her. Am I in trouble?
Mommy Toriel leaves the room. Fidgeting, I grab a ball and begin kicking it back and forward from the room. I stop when Sans opens the door.
He has his usual grin on his face, but I can't help but wonder if it's forced. Something about his eyes are hollow and tired. I wish I knew how to help but. I can't do anything so long as he refuses to tell anyone what's wrong. Not even Mommy Toriel can get him to open up.
"'Sup, kiddo?"
Your show is on. I remind him. It's the only time of the day where he can watch television.
"Don't worry about it. That cop show is getting a bit repetitive, so I'm giving the tv a-rest," he chuckles at his pun. I can't help but giggle a little too.
The laughter stops too soon. Sans rubs his temples in a desperate attempt to keep himself awake. I had never seen him this tired before. It's hard to watch.
I give him a hug. He accepts the embrace for a second before looking me in the eye.
"Thanks, kid. Listen. Toriel needs you to be honest with her, alright?"
I don't respond. The skeleton pats my head, his finger bones rummaging through my hair. It causes me to smile. It used to feel weird when he did that, but now I love the feeling.
"You know how smart she is. And not to be insulting, but you're a terrible liar. Take my advice, kid. It will be better to just tell us what's up. Who hurt you?"
My heart stops. The ball underneath my feet rolls across the room, forgotten. Sans waits for me to respond, but I can't find the words to tell him.
I just stand there, shaking in my shoes. I don't know why, but something about Sans scares me right now. He's changed ever since we got to the surface.
Sans looks away and shrugs.
"Of course. You don't have to tell us anything. But don't think you fooled us. We're a lot smarter than you give us credit for."
I frown. I don't think they're stupid, so why is Sans insinuating that I do? It kind of hurts my feelings that he thinks that way.
The skeleton makes his way out the door. Before he goes through it, he says one last thing to me.
"Frisk, if I wake up in Snowdin…."
My eyes widen. Does he know? Does he know I still have the power to reset? To erase everything that happened?
He pauses for a moment, then leaves without finishing his sentence. I stare after him, feeling ashamed.
"I told you he hated you. He knows what you're capable of."
A single stray tear falls down my face. Defeated, I lie on the bed and begin to sob.
