Just Fred

The SFIT cafeteria was busy today. It was three weeks into the school year and Fred was, as usual, alone. Which made some sense. Technically speaking, Fred didn't belong here. He wasn't a student. He'd graduated High School with the help of his private tutor back in May. Now that it was August, he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He didn't need to go to college. His parents had enough money to probably buy several colleges if they wanted to. And Fred didn't hate the idea of going to school, he just didn't like the typical crowd he'd been forced to hang out with by the fact that those were the only types of people at his former private school.

Yes, his parents were rich. He was rich as well by association. But that didn't mean he had to look down on everyone else without money. So, his choice of friends were… limited. His tutor had recommended he try and make some friends at SFIT, but on the rare occasion he'd tried, they'd all used big words he didn't understand. When asked if he was smart enough to go to SFIT, he'd said no and explained the situation. Most students had given him a few pity conversations and then left him behind, but a few had tried to take advantage of his money… only for them too to leave him behind.

It had been a boring, lonely summer. His parents had taken him on a trip to Switzerstan to try and get him interested in a few hobbies outside of comics, but nothing had worked. And so far, it looked like he was in for more of the same. He'd thought about maybe starting his own comic company a time or two, but he didn't have the business acumen needed judging by how lost he was on the few rare occasions he'd sat in on one of his father's business meetings. And after touring a college or two over the summer looking at potential business degrees, that hadn't gone well either. So now here he was at the beginning of the new school year, reading the newest issue of Captain Fancy while he ate his packed lunch. Alone.

"Hey, man, can I sit here?"

Fred looked up at the new voice. He recognized the person in front of him as one of the new freshmen. He wore a light green jacket and a black SFIT hat, and a genuine smile that instantly broke down whatever walls Fred had built up. "Uh… sure."

The newcomer sat down with his tray of food. "I'm Tadashi. I've seen you around but never in any classes. What do you major in?"

"I'm not… exactly a student here."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah… my parents want me to try and reach out to people my own age. I'm not exactly great at 'social skills'." Fred air quoted the last part.

"Who are your parents?" And there it was, the literal million-dollar question. Only something was different this time. Tadashi sounded like he was naturally curious as opposed to just being polite or fishing for the answer he already knew. Fred steeled himself and supplied the answer, not sure about the outcome.

"The Fredrickson's…"

Recognition flashed across Tadashi's face. "As in the super rich San Fransokyo Fredrickson Fredrickson's?"

"Yep. I'm Frederick Frederickson the Fourth. But I just prefer Fred."

"Well, nice to meet you, Fred. So, what do you like to do?"

Fred didn't answer at first. Usually, the next question was something about how rich his parents were or if he had a butler (he did, but that was besides the point) or how big his house was. Instead, Tadashi had just asked him about… well, him. "Um… I like comic books."

"I see that. Is that Captain Fancy? I used to love that when I was younger. I think my little brother Hiro still reads it."

"Yeah, it's the latest issue. It's gearing up for the 1500 issue special next month."

"Really? Wow, that's super cool. I wish I still had time to read comics and stuff. Do you think you'd like to make your own comics someday?"

"I mean… maybe, yeah. But I don't know. I'd have to go to school for it probably, and I don't think I'm good enough for that."

"Why not?"

"I just… never fit in. I didn't like the snobby prep schools my parents had me go to when I was younger, and I spent High School with a tutor. I'm not sure I really do well in groups of people. Like here for instance. All you guys are so smart, I can't keep up. And a couple people have just wanted to get to know me because they know I'm rich."

Tadashi frowned at that. "Well, it sounds like to me that you haven't met the right kind of people. If you want, I can introduce you to my friends. They're cool."

"I don't know… what if they get caught up on the money thing?"

"I promise you they won't, but if it makes you feel better, you don't have to tell them that. Tell them you're… just Fred. No fancy family attached."

"Really?"

"Really. It'll be our little secret."

Fred thought about it for a moment and finally nodded. "Ok."

"Great. Follow me." Tadashi picked up his food and led Fred to a table where three other people were sitting. Two of them were girls, one of them tall and with orange hair, the other shorter and a red streak in her darker black hair. The third was a large guy in a green shirt, carefully cutting up his sushi with a fork and knife before taking super small bites. Tadashi waved as they got closer. "Hey guys!"

"Tadashi!" the taller girl squealed as the two of them sat down. "You have to try this!"

She reached into her purse and withdrew a beaker of some gooey-brown substance. Tadashi looked at it warily. "What is it?"

"It's a custom recipe for honey lemon sauce I made for Into to Chem I. Cooking is chemistry after all!"

Tadashi looked at his other two friends for reassurance. "Is it any good?"

The guy shrugged. "It's not terrible."

The other girl nodded subtly as if to say 'Yes it is'. The taller girl slapped her on the shoulder as she handed Tadashi the beaker. "Oh, hush! Let him try it."

Tadashi gingerly poured a small helping onto his tray and then dipped a french-fry in it. He took a bite and his chewing slowed, but he managed to swallow. "It's… ok."

Fred took the opportunity to steal a fry from Tadashi's tray and dipped it into the substance. He popped the whole thing into his mouth, much to the bewilderment of the guy in the green shirt. Fred felt his eyes pop open as he continued chewing.

"This is great!" he said, pointing to Tadashi's stack of fries. "May I?"

"Please." Tadashi spun the tray around to give Fred better access to the fries and sauce. Fred quickly ate another one. The shorter girl eyed Fred warily as she blew a large bubble out of her gum. It loudly popped as she leaned forward.

"Who are you, again?" she asked. Tadashi pointed.

"Guys, this is Fred. He doesn't go here but his parents wanted him to socialize a little bit more, so he hangs out from time to time."

"Really? How does that work?" the gum-girl inquired.

"My parents kinda made a deal with the dean of students." Fred answered. Before the girl could ask another question the guy with the sushi beat her to it.

"Well, if he's good enough for Professor Callaghan, he's good enough for me. Hey there, I'm-" the guy reached a handout to shake, and accidentally bumped a container of wasabi sauce off the table and into his lap. "Wasabi! Argh! Wasabi everywhere. Great and this is a new shirt, too!"

"Nice to meet you, Wasabi." Fred smiled. 'Wasabi' looked up in confusion.

"What? No, that's not my name, I'm-"

"No, no, I love it!" the taller girl said. "If he's Wasabi, then I'm Honey Lemon!"

Fred eagerly shook her hand. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance Ms. Lemon!"

The shorter girl rolled her eyes and got up from the table. "Well, not to be rude, but if I don't leave then I'm going to be late for my next class, so I guess I'm 'Go Go'."

"So, you went with red today?" Tadashi asked, pointing to the streak of color in the girl's hair as she laced up her skates.

"Yeah, not sure how I feel about it."

"Have you tried purple?" Fred offered. "Might go better with your whole Demon Rider aesthetic you've got going on."

Go Go looked down at her leather jacket and riding pants and then back at Fred. "Was that a comic book reference?"

With her steely eyes on him, Fred shrank back a little and tucked Captain Fancy away out of sight. "Maybe…"

"Might not be a bad idea. See you around, Fred." She offered him the slightest of smiles and then skated off. Fred exhaled a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"She's kind of… intense." He said.

"You'll get used to her." Honey Lemon assured him. "She acts all gruff but deep down I know for a fact that she's a big softie."

"Get used to?"

"Yeah, Tadashi brought you over for a reason, right? You can eat with us and stuff."

"Really? You guys would let me do that?"

"Of course." Tadashi smiled as he tried another bit of the honey lemon sauce. He sorta regretted that immediately.

"Wow… thanks guys."

"No problem, the more friends the merrier." Wasabi said as he continued to wipe his new namesake off his shirt. "So, what do you like to do?"

"He's really into comic books," Tadashi said after he'd taken a swig of water. "Captain Fancy is getting to issue 150 or something soon?"

Fred knew that was bait but took it anyway. "Issue fifteen-hundred my good sir, and let me tell you it will be a momentous occasion…"

Fred regaled his new friends with the tales of Lash Looper for the rest of lunch as he got to know them. When it was time for everyone to go their separate ways, they agreed to meet up again at the same time the next day, and for once, Fred couldn't wait to go back to school. For the first time in his life, he'd finally found his people.