tw: bullying, food, school
Okay, these are just going to be of Sophie's friends before she came. this one is of Dex, 7 months into his first year at Foxfire.
Before Sophie-Dex
Whispers followed him.
Bad match. Talentless dad. No ability.
Dex ignored them. It didn't matter. He tugged on his cape and hurried towards the alchemy lab, where he normally ate lunch. On his way there, he accidentally bumped into someone.
Somehow, they ended up on the floor, belongings scattered on the ground. Dex managed to get up and realized who he bumped into. Ugh.
Wonderboy.
In Dex's opinion, Fitz Vacker and his sister were the most something-bad people in school. He didn't have a word to describe it. Snobs? Brats? People-who-ignore-anyone-who-isn't-from-a-fancy-noble-family?
Biana Vacker, Fitz's sister, rushed to Fitz's side, asking him if he was okay and worrying unnecessarily about him. Dex rolled his eyes. Typical. It wasn't like he expected them to even acknowledge him.
He wondered if he should apologize for accidentally bumping into Fitz Vacker, but by then, Fitz was already walking away, surrounded by a bunch of girls, coddling him. He seemed to be enjoying it.
Dex rolled his eyes and left. But apparently, the universe wanted him to endure even more.
"Hey, Dizznee!"
Dex sighed. He'd know that voice anywhere. It came from the same person who'd been bullying him since he'd first come to Foxfire. He'd been imagining a life with friends, laughing, and talking with people he trusted.
How delusional he had been.
Stina Heks caught up to him, towering above him with her hands on her hips. He rolled his eyes, and asked, "What is it?"
Stina glared. "Just wondering why you aren't going to the lunchroom. It's the opposite way. Or do you just not know where it is?"
Dex ignored her questions. "Why are you following me? Go join your minions or whatever."
"They're friends. Something you wouldn't know about. Because no one wants to be friends with the result of a Bad Match. You'll probably live the rest of your life alone and forgotten. And you can blame your weird parents for it."
Dex felt anger flare in him. He stopped himself from lashing out, even though he actually wanted to punch Stina in the gut and then slip a certain potion into her lunch. "My parents are better than yours will ever be. My parents are brave for knowing something was wrong and standing up against it. They weren't complete pushovers who let a piece of paper define who they love."
"That's brave and all, but it didn't change anything, now did it? No, it didn't. Now your whole family is just a laughing stock. No wonder no one likes you. I'd be surprised if they even know you exist."
Dex decided that tomorrow, he'd be slipping an elixir into Stina's food, that would turn her skin green. But before he could reply, Lady Dabareh stuck her head out of the door and asked, "Dex? Stina? What are you doing here?"
Stina replied, "I was just helping Dex understand something because he's having trouble in all his classes. But I'll go to lunch now."
Lady Dabareh shook her head disapprovingly at Dex. "You need to study and work harder Dex."
Dex stopped himself from groaning. He didn't want another lecture on the importance of school. Stina had managed to convince most people at Foxfire that the son of the bad match was failing all his classes. He wasn't.
Dex just nodded and headed to the Alchemy Lab. On his way there, he saw a girl with blond hair and braids in it stomping out of a classroom. He vaguely remembered her. But he was pretty sure she didn't know him.
She probably never would. Dex had thought he'd make friends when he first came to Foxfire.
He didn't.
He probably never would.
After all, who would want to be friends with the disgraced son of the crazy family?
No one.
