Well so much for that plan you think as you're dragged across the courtyard for the second time. You had tried to sneak in through the side gate but I suppose Vriska is a mind reader because she already had two of her goons stationed there waiting for you. Before you know it you're being kicked in the side from multiple directions. You can already taste blood in your mouth and you hope that they'll get bored and be done soon. Then you hear a squeal coming from somewhere to your right.
"Ahhhhh, Tavros! Equius do something!" The kicking immediately stops and Vriska and her "friends" start running in the other direction. Another pair of footsteps begins walking up to your bruised and battered body. You lift your head just enough to see Nepeta hovering over you with Equius brooding behind her.
"Tavros are you okay?" She asks worriedly. You push your body off the ground so that you're leaning on your elbows.
"D-don't worry Nepeta, I'm fine." You try to sit all the way up but a bruise on your side makes you wince.
"You are not okay Tavros, you need to go home and rest," she insists, helping you back onto your feet.
"I can't do that," you complain, "I, uh, missed all my classes yesterday, and um, I can't do that again. I'll be fine and, uh, as soon as I get home I'll take a nap, I promise." She looks at me skeptically for a minute then lets out a sigh.
"Okay, but don't forget about the carnival. We decided to go tomorrow and we're meeting on the boardwalk at 5. I'll still send you a text so you don't forget."
"T-thanks Nepeta, I'll be there." She smiled at me and grabbed my hand
"Come on Tavros the bell is going to ring soon and we don't want to be late." She pulls me back out to the courtyard with Equius following right behind.
"Gammmmzeeeeee, ooooh, Gammmmzeeeeee, wake up." Great now you're hearing voices in your head.
"Gamzee, Wake up!" Wait that voice isn't in your head its Terezi being the annoying fucker that she is. You open your eyes and that the only thing that you see is the red of Terezi's glasses. You jump back in surprise and fear.
"Holy shit Terezi!" You scream at her.
"Good morning, Gamzee," she said wearing that creepy smile.
"Why are you in my tent again motherfucker," you ask begrudgingly.
"Your father is looking for you, and he doesn't look happy. I felt like I should warn you."
"GAMZEE, WHERE THE MOTHERFUCK ARE YOU!" You hear your dad yelling in the distance. You groan and roll out of bed, Terezi takes a seat on the now empty bed.
"Terezi stop motherfucking smiling at me and go back to your tent."
"But you're so interesting to be around," she said sarcastically. At least you think she's being sarcastic, it's hard to tell with her.
"I'm serious Terezi, I need to get dressed."
"I can smell that." You roll your eyes at her and your father enters your tent looking angrier then you have ever seen him.
"GAMZEE, WOULD YOU MIND EXPLAINING TO ME WHAT THIS IS!" He yelled holding a bag filled with your weed. Shit he found it.
"How do you know that's mine motherfucker?"
"TEREZI TOLD ME THAT IT WAS YOURS!" You don't turn to look at her but you can tell that she was smiling her usual creepy ass smile.
"Well then that motherfucker was lying."
"YEAH RIGHT, YOU'RE ON STABLE DUTY FOR THE NEXT MONTH." He then turns on his heel and stomps out of the tent. You are mad to put it lightly, not only did you lose the rest of your weed but you now need to clean up after all the motherfucking animals. Your head whips around to Terezi ready to rip out all of her hair but she had the sense to leave in that short time that your dad was yelling at you. Great you're angry and frustrated and you don't have anything to calm you down. This is going to be a long day.
Don't pass out, don't pass out, don't pass out. That has been running through your head like a mantra all day. Your bruises hurt like hell and your feet feel like they have been replaced by lead, and really you would like nothing more then to lie down… Don't pass out. Your eyes snap open and you realize that you were leaning against your locker. Maybe you should listen to Nepeta's advice and just go home. That would have been a great idea if the bell wasn't going to ring soon and you weren't already failing history. You sigh and open your locker; you wonder why it is that Vriska always targets you, of all people. I mean sure you're to nervous to actually ever tell an adult what's going on, then there's your stuttering, and your clumsiness. Jeez you wonder why everyone doesn't pick on you. You sigh again and close your locker; you just seem to have the worst luck in the world it's no wonder you can never manage to land a date. When you get to your class there is barely anyone there, and among those few people is Vriska. As soon as she sees you a smirk crosses her face. You try to ignore her and find a seat as far away from her as possible. She retaliates by sitting right next to you.
"Soooooooo, toreadork how's your day going so far?" She asks that smirk still plastered on her face. You don't answer. "What's wrong Tavros are you hurt?" You are about to say something when she punches you in the side, hard. The pain is unbearable, you're already covered in bruises and Vriska's new one is not helping one bit, but you don't scream. You bite your lip and squeeze your eyes shut, but you don't scream. She just laughs and goes to talk to one of her friends that just walked in. The pain doesn't stop and you completely zone out in the rest of your classes. It isn't until you get home that the pain starts to reside. Sadly you can't take the nap that you promised Nepeta, because you have work. You quickly change into your uniform and head out. The pet shop isn't to far from where you live which is one of the reasons you chose the place. When you enter the shop you see your manager stocking shelves. The manager is Nepeta's sister Meulin which was kind of how you got this job in the first place.
"Oh there you are Tavros, I was wondering if you where going to come in today, Nepeta said that you got beat up," she said turning her attention from the shelves.
"Oh, uh, yeah, but I'm okay now," you said hoping that she didn't make you go home.
"Okay then you can finish stocking these shelves," she replied turning and going behind the counter.
"G-got it," you stuttered. You're almost done when a girl walks into the shop. She heads strait towards the fish aisle and pushes her face up against the tanks. You look over towards Meulin to see if she's going to help the girl, but you can tell she's to busy with whatever she doing behind the counter. The girl still has her face pressed against the glass when you walk over to her.
"C-can I help you Mrs.," you ask politely. She turns her head from the glass and looks at you.
"Oh you can call me Feferi and I was wondering if you had any exotic fish, I absolutely love the ones with all the colors" she asked jumping in place, her blonde ponytail bouncing up and down.
"U-uh yeah, um, can I ask what size your tank is?" You ask hesitantly.
"Oh it's about the same size as that one," she points to the 25 gallon tank behind you.
"I, uh, think that I have the perfect fish for you, um, this way." You lead her towards the tank at the end of the row. Inside are fish that kind of look like tiny krakens of many different colors.
"Oh my god, I love them, what are they?" She asked pressing her face against the glass again.
"Um, they're called cuttlefish; I don't really know much about them, they, uh, just came into the shop."
"I'll take five," she said her voice muffled by the glass.
"O-okay one moment please." You turn to the nearest sink and grab a clear pitcher and begin siphoning water from the tank. Once it's halfway full you grab a net.
"W-which ones would you like?"
"One of each color," she says removing her face from the glass. You nod and dip your net into the tank. When there are five in the pitcher you grab a plastic bag and dump the contents of the pitcher inside. Then with precision and practice you spin the end and tie a twist tie around it.
"H-here," you hand her the bag, "You can ask Meulin to check you out."
"Thank you…" she looks at your name tag, "Tavros." Feferi turns on her heel and skips towards the counter fish in hand.