Past Sollux POV:
I had seen her many times in the hall of the school. She was pretty and smart and everything I wanted. She had reddish brown hair and wore lose band t-shirts. We were crammed into the same bus seat. I ignored her. She was out sick most days and if I fell in love now, I may never see her again. She could get sick and die. She looked over at me. I ducked my head down and focused on my book.
"You like manga too?" I heard a close voice peek up. "Is that the new Yatsuba?"
I looked up to see her smiling at my book. I cleared my throat and sat up. "Y-yeah, it is."
She looked up. Her frizzy red hair was tied up today in a messy pony tail. She never seemed like the type that would like anime. She seemed like a hipster. Or a punk. But not a weeaboo. Maybe she wasn't really into it like I was. We talked about anime till the bus went to a complete stop. I looked up at her and smiled.
"I'll see you at lunch, I guess." She laughed and hopped up from her seat. I worried. Was I already attached?
We stopped to wave goodbye. Then she was gone. Life as a high school boy was hard enough. Now I had to hide the fact from everyone that I was different. Yeah, yeah, you like anime wow what a special fucking snowflake. Well, no. I have powers. You aren't weird because you aren't what you think is "pretty" or "cool." I have powers dude. You're normal. I'm abnormal.
That girl was normal, too. For all that I know she seemed like the practical teenage punk. She liked taking photos of forests, schools, parking lots, coffee shops, and other things. She didn't know about me. She never will. I don't want to lose someone I care about. Not again. I lost someone once and I don't want it to happen again.
At lunch the girl slid in next to him at his table. "By the way, I'm Aradia." She smiled that cute welcoming smile she did on the bus. I looked back down at my food. Hamburgers. Ugh. They always have gross food that sounds good but once it touches your lips. UGH.
She pulled out her hair tie and ruffled up her hair. She packed a lunch. Turkey sandwich and lemonade. It seemed much better than my hamburger. I sighed and pulled everything out of the hamburger. She noticed. "You want half of my sandwich?"
I looked up from my tray and nodded. She handed me half and smiled.
A few days from then after many meetings on the bus and at lunch, I got attached. But, she stopped going to school again. It was too late. School was boring and stressful. After all the pain of school, I visited her house. Her mom opened the door looking glassy eyed and tired.
"Why are you here?" She wiped her face with a towel. "Aradia is dead."
I stumbled back and gasped. I blinked to keep myself from crying. Why me? Why this?