Loud electric beeping was the sound you woke up to Monday morning, but hey, it was better then being woken up by a ghastly spirit, right? Actually, since it was your first day of school and overall first day of the school year, maybe seeing a ghost and passing out would be a good excuse to stay home. Slowly your hand reached over towards the alarm clock, smacking the thing to make it shut up, not wanting to leave your bed which felt unusually comfy this morning.

"Okay, get up. You have to shower and get ready, you don't want to look like crap your first day, right? Wait, since when do I care what people think? Maybe just ten more minutes...", you thought to yourself, but quickly brushed the lazy thoughts away, knowing that if you fell back asleep you'd definitely be late. Sitting up slowly, you looked at the time, it read 7:01, school started at 8:15, just enough time to shower, get dressed and make an attempt to look presentable.

Throughout your shower you wondered how this day would go down, would you meet new people? Would you like your classes? What kind of lunch do they serve? The one question you didn't think of however was if Sal and Larry would hang out with you, because it had been answered yesterday. After they finished telling you the horrendous story of apartment 403 and list of spirits they had encountered so far, the topic of the first day of school was mentioned, it being the next Monday after all.

Surprisingly, it was Sal who asked you to hang out with them at school, Larry encouraging you to say yes, and of course you agreed! How could you not? These two dudes were your coolest friends, well, only friends for now, but they had promised to introduce you to the rest of their little group so you expected your friend count to go up. Any friends of Sal and Larry were bound to be friends of yours.

Time ticked by, and eventually it was already 7:30AM, all you had left to do was put on your outfit. This part was a bit worrying to you, since at your old school your outfits were often met with comments such as, "It isn't Halloween yet!" or the classic, "Is black the only color you wear?".

"Hometown Assholes..." you mumbled to yourself as you pulled your comfy black wool sweater over your head, remembering all the jerks from your previous school, slipping on your green plaid skirt and black stockings next. Finally, you put on your absolute favorite pair of shoes, your good old black Doc Martens. Examining yourself in the mirror, you loved everything about your outfit, it complimented your figure, made you feel confident, and best of all you knew your friends wouldn't judge you over it. They didn't give a shit what you wore, they'd be your friends even if you wore a potato sack for a dress. "How's my makeup...?", you asked yourself, leaning into the mirror to get a closer look.

This was a silly question however, you didn't even wear makeup besides mascara but you still wanted to make sure it looked nice, which it did, your eyelashes were long, dark, and perfectly curled with just the right amount of mascara, making your eyes stand out and compliment your facial structure just right. "What's this feeling right now...am I feeling...good about myself? Holy shit, haven't felt that in a while. I'm gonna hold onto this feeling.", you thought to yourself, smiling excitedly as you grabbed your backpack off your desk and made your way out of your room into the kitchen to say goodbye to your mom for the day.

Looking up at you from where she sat at the kitchen table sipping on coffee, your mom grinned and gave you a joking eyebrow raise, "Look at you Miss Y/N, you're gonna knock them all dead once you get to school." she playfully remarked. Rolling your eyes you grabbed a piece of jelly on toast off her plate, taking a bite before walking towards the door, "Please, if I knock them dead it's because I'm too weird. See ya mom, love you!" you shouted before opening and exiting out the front door, glancing down the hall and seeing your favorite blue haired boy leaning against his apartment door, standing straight once he saw you.

"Sallyface! Let's get going, Larry's probably waiting for us out front." you exclaimed, adjusting your backpack slightly as you began to walk towards the elevator. Sal blushed underneath his prosthetic at the sight of you, you looked so cute, but to him you always looked cute, even on the first day you met when you had a serious case of frizzy hair and overnight car ride eyebags.

Walking behind you he entered the elevator along side you, his eyes never leaving your figure. "That sweater must be her favorite, she wore it the other day too. I've never seen her wear that skirt before, though...and are those stockings? I thought girls only wore those in movies...", he thought, staring at your legs.

Noticing he was being a bit quiet, you looked at him with a curious head tilt, wondering what he was looking at, "Sal? What's up? What're you looking at...?", he jumped a little, thinking you had caught him staring at your legs, "Oh, it's- it's just....". Looking down at the area where his eyes were, you noticed one of your bootlaces had come undone, "Oh, the lace untied itself! Thanks for noticing Sal, let me fix it real quick.", you replied, oblivious as to what he was actually looking at. The boy let out a huge sigh of relief, awkwardly gripping onto the straps of his backpack, "Y-yeah, that's what it was. You look nice today by the way, Y/N."

Finished up tying your lace, you stood back up and gave Sal a warm smile as the elevator doors opened, "You too Sal, you always look cute, guess it must be the Sallyface charm, aye?", you said playfully, exiting the elevator and walking towards the front door of the building. "C-cute? Did she mean that, or is she just being nice? I mean...I'm always wearing my mask, how can she call me cute when she has no idea what I look like underneath it? Gah, geez, stop reading into it so much...", Sal thought to himself, following you outside towards Larry's beat up old car where he was waiting, sitting upon the hood.

Just as you had expected, he jokingly whistled at you just like the other time you got slightly dressed up, making you blush and shove him once you reached him, "Yknow Larry, I'm starting to think you whistle at me out of pity by how often you do it.", you teased, grinning smugly. "Woah woah woah, it's not that at all Y/N, it's not my fault you always look whistle worthy. Now get both of your little asses in the car before I leave you guys here.", he joked back, making you laugh.

Watching you guys playfully tease each other like that made Sal's stomach turn every time he witnessed it, although he wasn't completely sure why. He wished he was as carefree and relaxed about joking around and teasing you like Larry was, but everytime the two of you even slightly began to playfully interact he'd become incredibly nervous and start feeling those butterflies in his stomach. They hadn't gone away like he'd expected them to yet, but he figured they would eventually, but for now he just had to play it cool.

Once the three of you were in the car, Larry in the front and Sal and you in the back, you set off to school. "Y/N, why didn't you sit shotgun? Who am I supposed to talk to now?", Larry whined, pretending to be hurt by you choosing to sit in the back with Sallyface, "Pfft, I'm right here, you can talk to me just fine silly. Plus, I didn't want to leave Sal alone in the back, that'd be mean of me.", you stated, giving Sal a quick smile, making him gulp nervously. "Thanks, Y/N. You didn't have to do that, you're always so nice to me. Is it because of my so called, 'Sallyface charm' you mentioned earlier?" he asked, finally gathering up the courage to make playful banter with you.

Giggling, you nodded, "Definitely dude.". After that the car ride was full of talk about how you guys slept last night, what you dreamt about, if you saw any ghosts around, what you ate for breakfast, and random jokes about anything and everything under the sun. Before you knew it you guys had made it to school, ten minutes before the first bell was about to ring. Once out of the car and into the school, you found yourself feeling a little out of place and anxious, but with Larry and Sal by your side you knew you'd be just fine.

The three of you retrieved your schedules from the main office and quickly began to compare classes, hoping you'd have at least one class in common, and luckily you had more than expected! You had math and science with Sal, English with Larry and the three of you had art class together at the end of the day. "Holy shit, talk about luck, huh guys? I feel so much better knowing I have most of my classes with you both, feels like a huge weight is off my shoulders. I can relax a little now.", you said, obviously relived to know your classes wouldn't be so lonely.

Noticing he had two classes with just the two of you, Sal felt butterflies in his stomach once again mixed with nervousness at the thought of being alone with you without the usual presence of Larry. But maybe it'd be a good thing, he could finally get that desired alone time together to strengthen your friendship and become more comfortable around you without depending on Larry to always be the comedic relief.

"We really did luck out this year, looks like the both of you will have a good start here, I completely forgot Y/N wasn't the only newbie, it's Sal's first day at Nockfell too after all.", this had also slipped your mind, Sal was still pretty new to this town just as you were, only having arrived a month and a half ago, "Well Sal, let's make a newbie pact to stick together and look out for each other! I've got your back and you've got mine, deal?", you asked as you placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling warmly. He returned your smile from under his mask, nodding in agreement, "For sure Y/N, I'm glad we're both going to experience the same newbie shit. Looks like we have first period together, Science with Mr.Bundy. You know where that is, Larry?".

The brown haired boy nodded, shoving his schedule into his back pocket before looking around, "Yeah, I can definitely show you guys where your classes are but for now let's see if we can find Todd and Ash, they said they'd be by the library to pick up their locker numbers and combinations, we should do the same thing.", he said, his arms reaching over his head as he stretched, letting out a loud yawn, rubbing his eyes.

As the three of you began to make your way to the library you watched Larry's expression, noticing he seemed seriously sleepy. Sure those never-leaving eye bags underneath his eyes were pretty dark but you didn't find them unusual or weird looking, if anything they perfectly matched and added character to Larry's personality, like an unusual but cute quirk. "Feeling okay Larry? Did you sleep well last night? You're like, half awake right now.", you said with concern in your voice, making Larry pat your head and Sal laugh slightly.

"Oh Y/N, there's a reason we've only hung out in the afternoon and evenings. Larry's not a morning person at all, he'd probably sleep through the end of the world.", Sal joked, Larry's current tired nature making a lot more sense now, "He's right, over the last month of summer vacation Sal either had to wait for me to wake up or smack me upside the head. I'll miss those days." Larry remarked with a bummed out look on his face.

Walking in between both of your friends cracking witty jokes about each other, you felt so content with your life, it was a feeling that you hardly ever felt before but now that you had it you were determined to not let it slip from your grasp. A dull beige sign over red metallic double doors read "LIBRARY", which Sal pushed open for both you and Larry to enter the quite busy library, students hurriedly walking around and impatiently waiting to receive their assigned locker information slips.

Heads turned and students leaned into one another to quietly whisper once their eyes landed upon the three of you, specifically, on Sallyface. You had anticipated something like this happening, but Jesus, did these students have to be so fucking obvious about it? Furrowing your eyebrows, you gave anyone who even slightly made a face at Sal an intimidating glare, or at least, your best attempt at one.

"God, it's like they've never seen someone who looks even slightly different from them. I hope Sallyface is feeling alright, he's told me he's used to this kind of behavior but, that doesn't make it okay...", you thought all this while maintaining your glare, making sure to let people know your friend was not to be messed with unless they wanted a mouthful of boot. Larry had the same thought process as you, however he pretended not to notice all the eyes on Sally, but if anyone even tried to pull something there'd be a pair of fists along side your boot to defend your dear masked friend.

In Sal's mind however, all he was really thinking about was how precious that angered expression on Y/N's face was, her usually soft kind eyes were now shooting daggers at anyone who dared give him a funny look, lips slightly pouted and shiny from the chapstick you had applied this morning. He felt like he had his own personal pair of bodyguards, one a cute girl and the other a grimy punk dude, standing besides a blue haired boy with pigtails, face hidden by an expressionless prosthetic. Talk about a dynamic trio.

Just as you were about to say something to a tall guy who was giving Sallyface a particularly weird look, Larry exclaimed, "There they are! Todd and Ash are sitting over there. Cmon Y/N, you gotta meet em, they'll love ya.", and so all three of you began towards the pair sitting at the table. Instantly your eyes fell upon who you presumed to be Ash, an absolutely lovely girl with the greenest eyes you've ever seen and long brown hair which complimented her fair skin, "Wow, she's gorgeous, lucky her.", you thought to yourself before the ginger, serious looking boy sitting besides her caught your attention, "Oh, that's gotta be Todd, the "smart ass kid", as Larry put it.".

It was Ashley who spoke first, "Hey Larry, Sallyface, this must be Y/N!", she said, giving you a small wave, "I'm Ashley, or Ash if you'd prefer, and this here is Todd.". Todd gave you a nod, and a friendly "Nice to meet you, Y/N. Sal's told me about you when he came to my apartment the other day, and I took the liberty of telling Ashley about you. Hope that's alright with you.", he spoke with a monotone but still sincere voice.

With a shy smile, you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, greeting the both of them, "It's so nice to finally meet you guys, I've been told that you're both really cool. Oh and, you live at Addison Apartments, Todd? I'm sorry I never got the chance to say hi, I had no clue you lived there too!", you said, giving both Sal and Larry a "What the heck?"  look. They both laughed awkwardly and Larry responded with, "It totally slipped our minds, but Todd's always in his room anyways, unless he's helping us with ghost shit." Ash then chimed in, "Oh yeah, speaking of ghost shit...you moved into Mrs.Sanderson's old apartment, right Y/N?", she asked you with a nervous tone in her voice, wondering if you knew of the room's past.

A bit surprised at the question but not wanting to kill the mood, you responded with a simple, "Y-yeah, Sallyface and Larry let me know everything I needed to know about the apartment building. Now we're officially going ghost hunting after school, right guys?". Sal nodded, "Yes, you wanna come Ash? How about you, Todd?", he asked the pair. "Sorry, I can't today, gotta watch Benjamin. Be sure to tell me what goes down though.", Todd adding, "I've got to organize my tutoring schedule after school, so far I'm set to tutor 3 students besides Ashley here. But if any trouble with your contraptions arises feel free to drop by my place."

Larry patted your head, making sure not to ruffle it this time knowing you'd kill him if you messed up your nicely brushed hair, "Looks like it's just Sallyface, Y/N and I tonight then. More ghosts for us. Think you can handle it, Y/N?", he asked you in a teasing voice, leaning down slightly to meet your eye level. Squinting your eyes playfully, you leaned in closer to Larry's face, joking back with a, "The real question is are the ghosts going to be able to handle me?", making the five of you laugh, causing some students to look over towards the commotion.

Sal did laugh at your joke, but a pit had formed in his stomach when he noticed your face being so close to Larry's, noses nearly touching and eyes playfully squinting at each other. "Lucky Larry, he's got his whole face to make dumb expressions towards Y/N, meanwhile I've only got my eyes and words to speak my feelings for me. It's not a big deal though, Y/N knows she can joke around with me like that too...right? Or does she just...not want to...?", these curious thoughts were interrupted when the soft skin of your hand met his, leading him towards the librarians desk to retrieve the locker info slips, Larry following after the two of you. "Cmon guys, don't want to be late to the first class of the day, right?", you asked, even more people were now looking at the two of you walking hand in hand.

Blood instantly rushed to his face, he definitely wasn't expecting to be holding your hand today, or ever really, but hey, he wasn't going to stop you. You were holding his hand, and his only, not Larry's. This made Sal feel good, still oblivious as to why. The three of you were handed your locker info as the bell rang, Todd and Ash joining the trio once you received it, the group now all headed to their designated first period.
                           *        *          *
After parting ways with one another, you and Sal arrived to your first class of the day, which Todd happened to share with you guys. The classroom was set up in a way making it that four people would sit at one table, so you, Sal, and Todd chose to sit at the table closest to the back, this would draw the least amount of attention to Sallyface. The fourth person at the table was a friend of Todd's, another incredibly smart honors student who was more focused on setting up his notebook than making friends with the new kids. This didn't bother you however, it left more room for you and Sal to talk with one another.

As the class was getting settled, you scooted closer to Sal as Todd and his friend on the opposite side of the table chatted away about whatever honors kids talk about, "Psst, Sal, looks like we're the dunces here, huh?", you joked, pulling out a purple notebook and pencil. Sal chuckled, doing the same thing and preparing his supplies for class, glad you had moved your chair closer to his so you could talk in hushed whispers, him remarking, "I'm sure you're not a dunce, but if you are then we're both fucked.". This made you giggle, but you quickly stopped as the teacher arrived to class, setting his cup of coffee down on the wooden desk, adjusting his tie, beginning to give the class the standard first day monologue.

A few minutes into the teacher speaking in an un-enthused voice in front of the class, you leaned in towards Sal to whisper once again, "Hey, for his name being Mr.Bundy, he looks more like Ed Gein.". The two of you quietly giggled to yourselves, doodling all over each other's papers and telling jokes for the rest of class, shoulders practically touching from how close the two of you were sitting besides one another. Time flew by and before you knew it