two in a million,, tommyinnit.

xiv

Tw: short panic attack, mention of social anxiety. I will put warning signs where they start and end though :) love you xx

⚠️ Tw ⚠️

This was definitely a mistake. I can already tell. It's been two seconds and I already want to disappear. Oh God. People. So many people. They're everywhere. And they're all staring, staring, staring at me. My stomach flips over as my palms start to sweat. The heads keep on turning, and I have to fight against the urge to just turn around and run back out again.

"Red?" Dream's voice sounds really far away. "Red? Are you okay?"

I try to breathe steadily, like everyone always tells me to, but my head is spinning and everything around me is fading...

Then the world comes back into focus, and the few pairs of eyes on me look away.

⚠️You can come back now!⚠️

"H-hello?" I stammer, my head still swimming. "Dream?"

He breathes out. "Thank God. What happened?"

"I-I don't know. I just kinda blacked out a bit." I shake my head and let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" he asks anxiously.

"I'm fine," I repeat, unfurling my clammy fists. "I... can you add Niki?"

"Of course."

A few seconds later there is a bleep, and Niki joins the call.

"Red!" she gasps, unmasked panic twined through her voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm..." I breathe in. "I'm good."

I wipe my feet on the rugged mat on the floor and give the plump lady sitting at the reception desk a small smile.

"Okay, I'm inside," I say, looking around. "What do I do now?"

"Uh, I dunno. I haven't been to college for ages," Dream replies. "Hey, why don't you ask Tommy? I'm pretty sure he's online right now, plus he has the experience."

I groan, ignoring the fact that my heart leaps when he mentions his name. It's just nerves, I tell myself.

"Really? It's too early for me to deal with the child."

"He might be helpful, though," Niki says; her morning voice is slightly lower than her usual one. "He does go to college too."

I sigh. "Fine."

"I just DMed him," Dream tells us. "Give it a min- oh, he's typing."

"Add him, then," I say impatiently, looking around the large atrium.

The room I'm in is large and open, with doors leading off in all directions, opening on to who knows where. A long corridor lined with lockers stretches across to my left, and a tall staircase spirals upwards on the other side. Tapping my foot, I pull out the slightly crumpled map of the school I had been given on the open day, which has my timetable clipped to it with a purple paperclip, and scan it.

"Okay, so..." I trace my finger across the mess of squiggling lines. "The lecture is in this room, so to get there I have to... ah, I dunno. How am I supposed to navigate this thing? Do you guys have any clue about maps?"

"Nothing apart from that they're annoying." Dream agrees, but he is interrupted by a loud groan.

"What do you want?" Tommy whines, his voice lower than usual. "It's so early! My bus is coming in a few minutes!"