Hermitcraft Randomness - S7 Oneshots

Scarian In School - Scar x Grian

(WC: 1131
Category: Fluff, highschool AU
Ship type: Platonic
Warnings: None

There's way too much Scarian in this book, I swear-

Requested by That-One-Genderfluid! This is also my first time writing any sort of school AU, so hopefully I did okay xD. Turned out really cliche, but oh well. Enjoy!)

"Can someone tell me the atomic number of oxygen?"

I pushed my pencil back and forth across my desk, watching as it slowly rolled back to me. I pushed it up again. Roll. Push. Roll. Push. I barely heard the teacher's voice drone on as I focused on my pencil, silently willing the bell to ring.

Push. Roll. Push. 5 minutes.

"Cub? What's the atomic number for oxygen?"

Push. Roll. Push. 

Cub sat up in his chair next to me, snapping out of his daze as he tried to focus on what was happening. 

Push. Roll. Push.

"8?"

Push. Roll. Push. 3 minutes.

"That is correct. And can you tell me why it's that number?"

Push. Roll. Push.

"Um...it has 8 neutrons?"

Push. Roll. Push. 1 minute.

"Protons. It has 8 protons in its nucleus."

Push. Roll. Push.

Cub nodded, sinking back into his chair.

Push. Roll. Push. 15 seconds. I started packing up my stuff.

After what seemed like another hour, the bell finally rang. I leaped out of my chair and speed-walked out of the classroom, shoving my way through the halls to get to my locker.

Cub pushed his way through the crowd of students to get to my side. "Scar. I need to talk to you during lunch, okay?"

I smiled a bit. "Is this about you and Wels again?"

Cub made an indignant sound of surprise. "No--I mean, maybe--"

"I'll be there, don't worry." I shoved him playfully, knowing full well that's what he wanted to talk to me about.

He smiled and nodded, then headed down the stairs to his next class. I stayed on the second floor, turning a corner and crouching down to reach my locker. I was unlucky enough to get a locker in one of the busiest halls, and I had to practically hug the lockers as I tried to avoid the sea of bodies jostling around. 

I shoved my textbooks at random inside and started to get up. Loud chatter alerted me to someone coming, and I looked up to see a large group of people walking down the hall. 

Not this again. This specific group had been after me since seventh grade. I tried to hide inconspicuously against the lockers, but one of them glanced over at me and smiled. I knew what was about to come next.

"Hey, Scar," he said, emphasizing my name. 

I frowned, then got up, shouldering my backpack. "Hey."

He sized me up, then made eye contact with me again. I knew he was looking at the large scar that was slashed across one eye. I'd gotten it a long time ago, but these guys had never let me live it down. He didn't say anything, but his look was enough to make me turn red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I've gotta go. I'm late for my next class..." I muttered, hoping this one time they would let me go. But no. Another guy blocked my way. I tried to shove past him, but he pushed me back, sending me crashing against the lockers.

The first guy smiled, then proceeded to call me names that I'd heard over and over again. It was always the same with them. Either they were too dumb to come up with new names every time, or they thought that repeating the same thing over and over would lead me to believe it was true.

I didn't want to tell them they might be right.

As the group leaned in closer to taunt me, I noticed one person hanging back. He hadn't been a part of this group for too long--he'd transferred schools last semester. His name was Grian, I think. I didn't share any classes with him.

I made eye contact with him for a second, and he shot me what seemed to be an apologetic look, like he was embarrassed by how his friends were acting.

Thankfully, though, the bell rang at that moment, and I took the opportunity to grab random books from my locker and sprint to my next class, which thankfully wasn't that far away. I glanced back one time, and Grian's eyes were lingering on me.

The next period went by without a hitch. After the bell rang, I headed down the stairs to the cafeteria, where I was supposed to meet Cub at our usual table.

I slid into my seat, where Cub was waiting already. Bdubs was sitting across the table, idly tapping on the table. These two were the ones I sat with at lunch--they were my two closest friends at school. They never gave me flack about my scar, which I was grateful for.

Cub and I chatted on for a bit about Wels, another student in our chem class that he liked. Bdubs joined in on the conversation, and we got in a small playful argument, exchanging banter and teasing each other lightheartedly.

Then, someone behind me cleared their throat, and I turned around to see Grian standing there awkwardly, having come over from his group's table.

"I, uh, wanted to talk to Scar."

I braced myself for more teasing. Cub shot Grian a small frown, and Bdubs opened his mouth to say something. Grian spoke up against quickly before any of us could say anything.

"I'm sorry about my friends' behavior. Kinda jerky of them. You seem like a pretty nice guy."

He took a breath in, stopping himself from rambling on any further. 

"And, uh, if I'm being honest...I think your scar looks really cool."

"Hey, Scar!" another voice called. I looked over at Grian's shoulder to see the rest of his group coming over. I could feel another round of teases coming on, but then to my surprise, Grian cut them off.

"Hey. Cut him some slack, okay? It's not his fault he got that scar."

The group halted for a second, surprised that Grian had talked back to them. Before any of them could say anything, though, the lunch monitors called over to them to get back to their seats. They walked away, beginning to shove one another and didn't really seem to care about what just happened. For me, though, it was a major step up.

Grian didn't make a move to go with them, and I looked over at him. "You're not going with them?"

He smiled a bit, then slid into the seat to my right. "Nah. They seem like jerks now that I step back and look at it."

I returned the smile and was about to say something else, but then the bell sounded. Instead of feeling relieved as I did earlier, though, I felt a little disappointed now.

Looking over to Grian, I asked him, "Tomorrow here during lunch?"

Grian flashed me a smile again. "I'll be there."