Scuffing the toes of my shoes, I make my way home.
"Hey!"
The voice startles me, and I almost crash into the same post Papyrus slammed into earlier.
I whip around to see a young girl running towards me, her head of dark curls bouncing as she runs.
"You're the new girl, right?" she asks.
"Yep!" I reply, pretending to look excited about it.
"I'm Tahlia, what's your name?" she asks.
"Frisk."
She stops walking and stares at me, as if seeing me for the very first time.
"That was you that totally embarrassed Chara back there at lunch, wasn't it?"
I wince at the name.
"I wouldn't say I embarrassed her. I just dodged her punches."
Thalia giggles.
"That's enough to embarrass her. I think she's picked on every single person in the school!"
She sounds extremely excited talking about this, as if the drama really gives her a rush.
"She did it to me too."
I stop and face her.
"She's picked on you too?"
Tahlia shrugs.
"Yeah. She usually only does for a day, unless you seriously interest her. I have a feeling you did today."
She grins at me.
"But with moves like yours, I don't think you need to worry!"
She skips down the road, then stops and waits for me to catch up.
"So, where you living?" she asks, twirling on her toes.
I point at a house across the street.
"That's mine. And those two," I indicate the houses either side, "Are my friends'. They just moved too."
Thalia claps her hands.
"My house doesn't look nearly as nice as those. The flowers are really pretty."
I drop my eyes to the floor. I can't be thinking about him now.
"Want to come in?" I ask Thalia.
"Do I ever!" she replies, enthusiastically.
We walk up to the door, and I knock.
"It's me Mum!" I call.
"The door's unlocked!" Toriel calls back through the door. I push it open. I take my bag off and place it on the floor. I motion to Thalia to do the same. She places her bag next to mine, then pulls a pad of paper out.
"Can I borrow a pencil?" she asks.
I nod my head. "I'll show you where they are," I say.
We walk through the front hallway. Toriel is in the kitchen, baking. Thalia lifts her nose and sniffs. "That smells great!" she exclaims. I hear Toriel laughing.
"Thank you, child!" she calls.
"No problem!" Thalia calls back, "Ms...?"
"Just call me Toriel," she says and Thalia laughs.
"No problem Toriel!"
I giggle too. I take Thalia into my study, where I do my work. I try contacting people that will listen to me about monster and human cooperation. So far, no one has bothered listening to me. I may only be 14, but that doesn't mean I can't make a difference! They all just laugh it off and hang up.
I hand Thalia a pencil and she flips open her pad of paper. Inside are sketches of monsters.
"Cool, aren't they?" says Thalia, when she notices me staring at them. "This is how I imagine monsters look."
She hands me the paper, and I rummage through the pages, finally settling on one page, bearing a single golden flower.
"I know that one doesn't look scary, but to me he's like the evilest of them all," Thalia tells me, looking over my shoulder.
"Surely, all monsters aren't evil, are they?" I ask her, softly.
"Of course not!" she cries, throwing her hands in the air, "This one isn't."
She flicks through the pages, and shows me a picture of a little goat-like monster. I suck in my breath. How had she gotten that right?
"They're amazing!" I tell her, handing the paper back.
"I wanna go meet Toriel now!" declares Thalia, standing up and brushing herself off.
"Sure," I say, getting up. "I do have to warn you though, she's not like any other mum."
Thalia rolls her eyes.
"Everyone says that," she giggles.
I grab her arm.
"No, seriously. She's different. Just please, don't freak out."
Thalia nods her head and says, "If you like her, I'm sure to."
I breath a sigh of relief.
"Okay, let's go then."
I turn around to close the door behind us, and there is a heavy pounding from down the hall.
"I think that's the front door," says Thalia.
We race down the hall to hear Papyrus yelling through the door, "Frisk! I saw you come home! Open the door so you can tell me all about your day!"
I turn to Thalia and say, "Also, my friends are really different too."
Thalia shrugs, like it's no big deal to her.
"I have another friend with me Papyrus!" I call.
"Who is it?" he asks. "Is it Undyne? Or Alphys?"
Thalia and I giggle as I unlock the front door.
"No Papyrus, they're from school!"
I finally open the door. Papyrus stands on the other side, arms open wide. He gives me a huge hug, and then gives Thalia an even bigger hug.
I turn to see her expression. She looks surprised, but she's taking this better then I thought she would.
When Papyrus releases her, I turn back to the front door, ready to close it.
"Aren't you gonna let me in?"
I blush, realising I had just been about to shut the door in Sans' face.
"Sorry!" I say, hurriedly, stepping out the way to let him pass.
Thalia scoots over to my side before Sans can give her another hug.
"Don't worry 'bout it kiddo," he says to Thalia, reading her expression, "I don't hug people 'til they pass my judgement."
Thalia looks a little hurt at that comment, so I give her a quick hug and whisper in her ear, "He's like that with everyone, don't worry."
She giggles and gives Sans a wave. When he returns it, she smiles.
Sans gives me a hug, and passes past me into the kitchen, placing his hands in his pockets. "Well..." says Thalia, once Papyrus has followed him, "Was not expecting them to be that different."
I laugh and she joins in.
"They're really cool once you get get to know them," I tell her, heading into the kitchen.
She gains a skip in her step as we cross to Toriel's side.
"This is Thalia, Mum."
Toriel turns around, and Thalia's eyes grow wide. Not with fear, but excitement.
"Lovely to meet you, child," Toriel says, drying her hands on a dishcloth.
"It's great to meet you as well!" exclaims Thalia.
"Would you like to stay for dinner?"
Thalia glances at her shoes.
"Well... I don't really know you guys that well, and my parents don't really know where I am so..." Toriel laughs.
"Of course," she says, "That is understandable."
Thalia looks back up. "You all seem really nice," she says, smiling at us all in turn. "Okay, I will stay."
She rubs her hands together.
"What are we having?"
"I'm staying at a friend's house for dinner tonight. Okay Dad?"
Thalia is ringing her parents while I help Toriel shield the kitchen from Papyrus.
"Please! I'm not going to ruin anything! I just want to see how it all works!"
"Just face it Papyrus!" calls Sans from the living room, "You can't cook!"
Papyrus throws his hands into the air. "I can too cook!"
"You can't! It always ends up a charred mess!"
"I'm not that bad!"
"You are too! Bad to the bone!"
I chortle into the saucepan while Papyrus stomps into the living room after Sans. I start when he suddenly appears at my elbow.
"What'cha makin'?" he asks, sniffing the contents of the pan.
"Pasta sauce," I reply.
Sans licks his lips.
I giggle at the sight of his blue, glowing tongue.
"What? You think my tongue's funny?" he asks, "You can't even touch your nose with yours!"
"Can too!" I pout.
"Prove it," says Sans, narrowing his eyes.
I poke my tongue out at him before I try to reach my nose with it. My eyes cross as I watch it, and pretty soon Sans is laughing with Thalia, who has re-entered the room.
I finally touch my nose, and dance around the kitchen in triumph.
I crash into the counter and topple over backwards. Squealing, I wave my hands, trying to break my fall. My hand collides with something hard.
Sans' head.
I had hit him as he caught me. I blush and apologise.
His face goes blue, telling me that he's blushing as well.
"My fault for making you touch your nose," he says.
Then, realising how ridiculous this sounded, all three of us burst out laughing.