The hallway was empty; it was to be expected, arriving to school at 6 AM. Apparently, Toriel insisted she be there at an early hour to make sure all her plans were in order and that she update all of her "To Do"s and "Objective"s for her classes. She asked if Frisk would like to stay in class with her, but the young student decided instead to explore the school. After giving an awkward but pleasant hug goodbye, Frisk leapt into the halls and looked around.
It was so much bigger than her middle school. The lockers were taller and alternated by section between purple and gold, the floors were waxed, and strung across the windows next to the main entrance was a banner that stated: "WELCOME BACK, STUDENTS". Frisk shoved her hands into her striped sweater and continued walking, trying to memorize the hallways. Some teachers had pictures on the outside of their closed doors; some had memes that made Frisk cringe. For the most part, it was just… empty. Empty, but promising. She sat on the steps of a nearby staircase and took a deep breath, ready to pump herself up to start the day.
"frisk. don't you know how to greet a new pal?
"turn around and shake my hand."
There was a pause before Frisk slowly rose, turned around, and held out her hand.
Immediately, another hand grabbed hers, and there was a long, long fart that followed. An involuntary smile twitched on her face, and she couldn't help but snicker.
"heheh. the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's ALWAYS funny. anyways, you're new, right? that's hilarious. i'm sans. sans the senior."
Sans stuck his gloved hand back in the pocket of his hoodie, blue and worn. He was grinning warmly, as though he wasn't introducing himself to her for the first time. His skin was dark and flushed with health, and his hair was a lovely sable color, shaved on the sides so he had a curly Mohawk. What were most interesting to her were his eyes; his right eye was a standard brown, but his left eye was a piercing cyan.
She kept her smile and bowed her head, clasping her hands at her hips. "My name's Frisk—oh, but you already know that." She picked her head back up, brushing her bangs from her eyes. "How did you know?"
"miss dreemurr's been talking about you for a few weeks now. whenever i drop by, she always has something new to say about you." His smile grew wider, but when his eyes lowered, he frowned. "… say, kid. i know i'm no expert on fashion, but, uh… what is that?"
"What do you mean?"
"that."
"It's my fanny pack. Here." After unzipping the bag, Frisk pulled out two breakfast burritos and held one out. "It's still warm."
"(…she really knows how to pick 'em, huh?) thanks, kid."
They walked down the empty halls together, eating the delicious gas station garbage. Occasionally, Sans would stop to talk about the various entry and exit ways, the cafeteria, the gymnasiums, and anything of utmost interest to Frisk. By the end of the slow-paced tour, it was 6:25 AM and some more teachers were starting to come in.
"sorry kid, i gotta run. there's an important student-teacher conference waiting for me and I have to avoid it as soon as possible." He gave a wink and stuck a thumb at a nearby door. "it's still pretty quiet, so if you get lonely, head outside and take a left. my brother should be out there gardening. i bet he'd love to meet you."
Frisk looked to the door, wondering if his brother was as odd as he was. She turned back to thank him for the tour, but he was gone.
Frisk peered from behind the wall to see the front of the school building. In the middle of the wall, large letters spelled out "ASGORE'S NEW SCHOOL". Underneath were the main doors, and to the left and right, well-trimmed bushes and blooming flowers lined the brick walls.
Only one person was tending to them in the morning light. Even from a distance, Frisk could tell he was quite tall- 6 feet at least. He sported rather big red gloves and seemed to be pulling weeds with them; occasionally he would reach to push his hair from his eyes but would stop, as if suddenly remembering his gloves were covered in mud.
"Oh!" Reaching into her fanny pack, Frisk quickly pulled out a bandana and crept up behind the stranger, a gentle smile on her face. "Would you like me to—"
"Huh!?" He quickly spun around and looked up with an expression of fright. It quickly dissolved to glee, and Frisk could see this was definitely Sans' brother. Although his hair and skin were lighter, they were still a pleasant reddish-brown and golden, respectively. He also shared his brother's wide and bright grin.
"OH! HELLO! Who are you?"
"I'm new here." Frisk cleared her throat and tried speaking a little louder to match his volume. "My name's Frisk. Would you like me to tie your hair back?" She held out the bandanna in her hands and he beamed with delight.
"Wowee! You're very kind, Frisk!" He stepped back and gave a dramatic bow, making Frisk giggle. He tilted his head up in expectation and she quickly went to work tying it around his head. "My name is Papyrus! You may call me the Great Papyrus if you please!"
"Okay… Papyrus." After knotting it, she stepped back and examined her handiwork, zipping her pack back up. "Oh—I just met your brother. Sans."
"WHAT!?" He instantly stood up straight, a wide frown on his face. "He's supposed to be talking to his teacher right now!" Frisk replied with a shrug and he scoffed. "I swear my brother gets lazier and lazier every day!" He huffed quietly and crossed his arms, but soon, a look of peace came over him. "No matter! FRISK! I can show you all the ins and outs of this school." He pulled off his muddied gloves, revealing... lighter red gloves with a golden trim. There was a sudden twinkle in his eyes. "But! First, you must prove yourself worthy. QUESTION NUMBER ONE:
"WHAT GOES UP BUT NEVER COMES DOWN?"
"Oh, I've heard that one! It's—"
He quickly placed his hand over his mouth, eyes wide and brow furrowed. "W-WAIT! Let me think of another… Oh!
"MARY'S FATHER HAS FIVE DAUGHTERS: NANA, NENE, NINI, NONO. WHAT IS THE FIFTH DAUGHTER'S NAME?"
Frisk waited until Papyrus pulled his hand back before smiling. "It's Mary, of course!" He shone with pride.
"I knew you could do it! But, you still have yet to prove yourself worthy. Here's another:
"WHAT STARTS WITH—"
"Papyrus, please," Frisk quickly interjected, "could you lower your volume?" She could see kids were starting to enter the building, staring from across the yard.
"OH, I'M SORRY. Ahem. What starts with 't', is filled with 't', and ends with 't'?"
"Uh…" Frisk looked down at her boots, humming quietly in thought. After a minute of silence had passed, Papyrus cleared his throat.
"If you need help, do not be afraid to ask!"
"Can I have a hint?"
"Sure! It has to do with 'pot'."
She scrunched her nose. "Like, marijuana?"
"What is that?"
She blinked up at Papyrus, who was still smiling as brightly as when he introduced himself. She shook her head and looked back to the ground.
"Uhhh… Oh—a teapot?"
"THAT'S CORRECT!" They shared a celebratory smile. "I'm so glad to have finally met someone who has a love for puzzles as strong as I. Sans never brushes up on any new riddles…" He frowned, a moment of silence passing before he turned and started to pick up the gardening tools scattered on the ground. "Many surrounding high schools enjoy football, but Asgore's New School is famed for our fencing team. I've been practicing under our best fencer; her name is Undyne. They should be still practicing… I know! I'll introduce you two!"
With tools under one arm, Papyrus used his other arm to link with Frisk's, and off they ran. They veered through multiple hallways, with Frisk tripping all the way. Still, she was smiling; school hadn't even started and she was already making so many friends! Maybe this was going to be a great high school experience after all.
Chapter 2 is officially up! I'm honestly so in love with toddnet's Sans and samsationals' Papyrus. Go check them out!
Anyways it's going a lil slow now, but I hope that picks up soon. School's starting back up, but chapter 3 should be arriving soon.