After a lot of deliberation — him and Ash proposing the idea, Sally saying it was a bad one, and Todd just shrugging at them — they decided they were going to try and catch Penguin in the act. Sally had opposed it, saying something about "pushing them before they're ready" and "it's not polite to eavesdrop" and other things along those lines.
In Larry's opinion, what's the point of giving him gifts and drawings if they didn't want him to know them?
And yeah maybe he got a weight in his stomach at the thought of knowing who Penguin was, but he pushed that aside.
Anyway, after Todd decided it would be fun to keep track of his gifts they'd figured out the schedule Penguin stuck to. You'd think that someone trying to keep their anonymity would shake up their gifting schedule, but no, it's every Tuesday and Friday without fail. Larry took two weeks to check his locker in between classes to narrow down when the hell they slipped his gifts and learned that it was always during the class before lunch.
So, there the four of them were, skipping the fourth period huddled against a wall and praying Penguin didn't come down the hallway they were hiding in.
"Who do you guys think it'll be?" asks Ash, a grin on her face and her voice whispery soft. She was the second closest to the edge of the wall, second only to himself.
"If we knew, we wouldn't be here," came Todd's dry reply, though the corners of his mouth tugged upward. He was the farthest, leaning back against the lockers.
"Maybe it's someone from theater," he whispered, making his voice thick with mock drama to mask the nervousness. "The flair, the mystery…"
"Yeah, 'cause nothing says 'theater kid' like tiny animals and little sketches," Ash shot back, smirking.
He made a face. "What, you don't think it's someone dramatic?"
Sally shook his head. "I think it's someone sneaky. Like... a ninja." He paused, clearly trying not to laugh at his own words. "A very stealthy, uh, bird-themed ninja."
"You're not helping," Todd muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose, though his expression softened when Ash poked him in the arm.
"Oh, come on, Mr. Logic. Who's your bet?" she teased.
"My bet is we're about to get detention," Todd deadpanned with a little huff, gesturing vaguely toward the empty hallway.
"That's not a bad guess," Larry said, craning his neck to peek around the corner. "But I'm sticking with my theater kid theory."
"You would," Sally muttered, shaking his head.
"Okay, genius. What's your theory?" He shot back.
"Penguin's a ghost," he said simply, with the kind of solemn conviction only he could manage. It set off a round of muffled snickers through their group before Ash collected herself.
"Maybe it's someone super obvious, and we've just been blind this whole time," Ash whispered back. "Like, what if it's Travis? Plot twist: he's secretly sweet on you, Larry."
"Ugh, no," He groaned, keeping his voice low but shuddering dramatically. "Thanks, Ash, I'm gonna throw up now. That's exactly what I needed."
"Hey, I'm just saying," She continued, grinning wider. "He's always glaring at you, right? Classic slow-burn romance trope. Friends to enemies to lovers. It tracks."
"Shut up," He hissed, shoving her lightly.
Sally snickered next to her. "Pretty sure that's not his vibe. But maybe it's someone artsy? Well, with those drawings obviously, but… Someone who leaves their pencils at school like… oh, Todd."
"What?" Todd's eyes widened.
"It's not Todd, genius," Ash shot back. "Todd's not sneaky. He'd have given Larry a PowerPoint presentation about why he's Penguin by now."
"Accurate," Todd muttered, earning a round of muffled chuckles from the group.
"Besides," she continued, "Todd has Neil, there's no way he'd go for Larry."
"You didn't need to say my name like it's an insult," he laughed, poking her in the arm hard enough she leaned away with a huffed chuckle.
Before anyone could shoot something back, the faint sound of footsteps echoed from the opposite hallway. All four of them froze, their banter forgotten as they pressed themselves closer to the wall, holding their breath.
No keys were jingling — so it was a student. That much they could tell.
The footsteps stopped after a moment. There was a rustle of clothes, and then:
"God, why am I here?"
All their eyes bugged out. They turned to each other, mouthing, 'TRAVIS?!' with varying degrees of incredulity.
Ash looked like she was choking on her laughter, her face turning red as her shoulders shook uncontrollably. Larry, on the other hand, felt like he was going to throw up. He tightened his fists, every muscle in his body itching to whip around, grab Travis by the collar, and shake him like a soda can.
Before he could so much as shift, a second, more hurried set of footsteps joined the first.
"Sorry, I took a bit," said a feminine voice, slightly breathless. "I was finishing the drawing."
"Took you long enough," Travis scoffed, every word dripping with impatience. Larry felt his hackles rise instinctively at the sound of his voice, but the sound of the mystery voice soothed them back down.
"Yeah, yeah. You've probably been here, what, a whole minute?" Penguin — presumably — shot back, equally sharp. There was a shuffling of clothes, followed by the faint crinkle of paper. "Anyway, what do you think?"
"He looks the same as always: insufferable," Travis muttered. "Why am I here again?"
"You're my moral support!"
"Moral support to, what? Slip a paper into his locker?"
"You've been coming with me to Larry's locker for a month, Travis," Penguin huffed, exasperation clear in her voice. There was more shuffling, a light rattling of the locker door, and the soft distinct sound of paper sliding into place. "You know damn well I almost had a heart attack every time I did this alone."
"Yeah, you came to me gasping and so shaky I thought you'd taken something," came his dry response. "I'm guessing that's why you haven't talked to him yet?"
"I'll die, Trav! I'll burst into tears, and then I'll be so embarrassed I'll have to fake my death and move to another country!" she whined, punctuated by the muffled clunk of something hitting metal.
"Stop that," Travis hissed, his voice sharp and annoyed. "You'll lose what few brain cells you already don't have." The sound of footsteps indicated he was moving closer to her. There was an awkward pause before he added, almost begrudgingly, "You're more likely to faint than cry, anyway."
"Wow, what a confidence boost, man. 10 out of 10," she shot back, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Why are we friends again?"
"You punched me, broke my nose, and then fussed over me so badly you wouldn't leave me alone. I had to get used to you."
"Oh." A pause. "I had forgotten about that."
"I haven't."
"… Sorry."
"… I got over it."
"A miracle," she laughed, followed by the sound of a dull thud, like a playful punch landing. "Oof," Travis grunted and confirmed, followed by the sound of retreating footsteps. Her voice grew fainter as she added, "Let's get outta here. If he comes by for whatever reason, I might actually drop dead in this hallway."
There was some muffled grumbling from Travis before his footsteps followed hers. Larry took the opportunity to peek around the corner, careful not to make a sound. He caught a glimpse of Travis' head disappearing down one hallway and the back of Penguin walking away in the other.
Curly dark hair ending just below her shoulders, a black jacket, dark jeans, and black and white converse. That was all he managed to register before she turned a corner out of sight.
When he turned back, his friends were all staring at him. He could tell Sal's grin was wide because his eyes nearly crinkled shut.
"Don't," He warned, pointing a finger at him.
"It was almost Travis," Sally Face snickered.
He groaned, dragging a hand down his face as Ash burst into giggles. "Thank fuck it wasn't…" Genuinely, he doesn't know what he would've done if it was Travis who was leaving him gifts. Probably throw up, throw out all of the stuff he'd gotten, and sulk around.
Ash quieted down and raised her hand dramatically like she was in class. "Okay, but can we take a moment to process the fact that Travis has friends?"
"Right? What the hell do they even talk about?" From all the gifts he's gotten from Penguin, with cute little animals and nice sketches of him, he can't see what the hell she would be talking to Travis about.
"Maybe she's just really patient?" She offered, shrugging. "I mean, 'moral support Travis'? Are we sure we heard that right?"
Sally's mirth was evident in his voice. "He did sound like he'd rather be anywhere else."
"Yeah, but he still showed up," Todd pointed out. "I think that's, like, weirdly loyal."
Larry wrinkled his nose. "Loyal? No way. He probably just follows her around to complain and insult her the whole time."
"Exactly!" Ash nodded. "It's like… emotional training for him. He gets to be a jerk, but in a low-stakes setting."
Todd chuckled. "Travis did say she punched him and broke his nose. Maybe that's how they became friends."
Sally laughed, the sound muffled by his prosthetic. "Honestly, I'm more surprised he stuck around after that. Like, what kind of logic is that? 'Oh, you broke my nose? Guess we're best friends now.'"
Ash snorted. "Yeah, but he said she wouldn't leave him alone after that, right? She punched him, apologized, and then latched on."
"Like a stray cat. He fed her one time, and now he's stuck," said Sally.
"I think it's less like he fed her and more like she attacked him, found a piece of cheese in his pocket, and now follows him everywhere," Todd mused, looking down at his watch and then down the hallway.
"Honestly, that might make her a saint," Ash added, smirking. "Imagine voluntarily hanging out with Travis."
"A saint with bad taste," Larry shot back, shaking his head. "She could do with a much better friend than him."
"You mean you," she teased, nudging his arm.
He laughed, though he couldn't help but flush and hiss "Shut up."
"Anyway," piped up Sally, eyes amused as he walked around them and towards the lockers, "Since we're already here we might as well look at what she gave you."
With that, they unstuck themselves from that comfortable wall and made their way to Larry's locker.
To be honest, he was nervous. Sure, he'd been getting gifts for almost two months now, but this was the first time he'd seen even the faintest glimpse of Penguin delivering them. And that glimpse — her voice, the energy and nervousness in her words…
As they reached his locker, he slowed his steps, that weight settling squarely on his shoulders. He'd always known it was real — how could he not, with every gift crafted or chosen so carefully? But now, hearing the nerves in her voice as she talked about him, it felt different. He felt different.
It wasn't just someone out there thinking about him anymore; it was her. Someone with hands that sketched and folded and created, someone who cared enough to remember his favorite colors, someone who maybe, for some reason, looked at him and thought he deserved all this effort.
The thought was both grounding and dizzying. It made him want to open his locker and not, all at the same time.
"Come on, man, don't just hover there," Ash said, snapping him out of it. She shot him a look, smirking. "What, you scared?"
"No," he replied quickly — too quickly. He turned the combination lock with more force than necessary, his face heating up. "I'm just… being careful. Don't wanna, y'know, rip it or something."
Sally hummed knowingly behind him and Ash stifled a laugh.
Finally, the door creaked open, and there it was: folded carefully on top of his own sketches, the edges slightly crinkled from being slipped through the vents. He stared at it for a second longer than he meant to before reaching in and pulling it out, unfolding it almost gently.
It was a drawing — another one. This time, though, it wasn't just him.
"Oh, dude," Sally said softly, peering around his shoulder. "That's… really good."
The sketch was of him sitting on the hood of his van, grinning like an idiot, but with Ash standing next to him, head thrown back in a laugh, and Sally sitting cross-legged on the ground, soft afterimages and smudges of his hands to make them look animated, with Todd beside him, looking like they were deep in conversation. He could vaguely remember that happening last week after the school day ended, they'd spent a while just there around his van talking about nothing. They hadn't noticed anyone watching them.
It wasn't just a drawing of him; it was a drawing of all of them.
Larry blinked, the nervousness twisting into something softer, something he wasn't quite ready to name. He scratched at the back of his neck. "Huh. That's… pretty cool."
"Pretty cool?" Ash repeated, incredulous. "Larry, this is awesome. Look at the detail on my hair!"
Todd nodded in agreement. "Whoever this is, she's talented."
"Yeah," He said quietly, still staring at the drawing. The folds of paper felt soft against his fingers, like it'd been handled carefully — like it mattered.
And, somehow, that mattered to him too.