˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ short stories

Name

"What's your name, Mr. Waffle? I don't even know your name!"

"Waffle? That's what you're going to call me?"

"Not if you tell me your name. In my defense, you eat waffles everyday for breakfast." I say, "Here, take an apple slice."

"No, thanks."

"You're only proving my point!"

I frown at him. He looks away. His hair goes 'swish', and it makes a little 'whoosh' sound.

Normal people wouldn't be able to hear that, but I can. It has its perks. I can hear the swoosh sounds Mr. Waffle's hair makes whenever he refuses to make eye contact with me.

But sometimes it hurts my ears. It's more of a nuance though. I've gotten used to it, after all.

The bell rings. It's time to go to our cells.

"C'mon Mr. Waffle. Let's walk to our cells together."

He doesn't say anything, so I grab his wrist and drag him over to the cell chambers.

"What's your number?"

"605" he mutters.

"Nice, mine is 139, so we're across the building from each other. But that's ok! We can still see each other in the gym, and at lunch and breakfast."

"Oh, yeah..."

"Why do you seem unenthusiastic?" I let go of his wrist and turn to look at him. He stares at his feet.

"I thought this was a one time thing." He seems disappointed.

"No? Your my friend now. And we're having soft tacos later!" I smile at him.

"Ok." He smiles back.

My ears flinch. I cringe. Who the hell is screaming?

I walk two floors down into the gym. I think that's where the sound is coming from. Mr. Waffle is close behind me.

I peek in through the door crack.

"What are we looking at?" Mr. Waffle asks.

Well, I thought someone would be dying in here, but no. Cupcake is just whining again.

She's sprawled across the gym floor. Her fists are slamming on the floor, and she's screaming hysterically.

"It's just Cupcake whining again." I roll my eyes.

"Who?" His neck tilts slightly to the side.

"649"

"Oh." he says, "Do you give everyone food nicknames?"

I don't answer that question.

"Maybe I should give you a food nickname too."

My eyes light up. "My favorite food are apples and tacos."

"I'll call you apples then."

"Ok!"

At last, someone gave me a name.

Someone...gave me a name.

"Apples? Are you there?" Mr. Waffle waves his hand in front of my face.

I can feel my throat getting scratchy, and my vision is getting blurry.

I jump on to Mr. Waffles, wrapping my arms and legs around him. He only barely catches me. I latch on and refuse to let go.

"Uh, Apples? Whatcha doing there?"

My tears soak his white T-shirt. He pats my back awkwardly.

"Thank you for giving me a name, Mr. Waffle!"

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So I wrote this within 10 minutes for fun. Don't judge me if this sucks.