Chapter Text
—————
Shuffling through their bag as they slowly pulled up to the school, Fan stopped the car right as the entrance was in view. They glanced down at the floor of the car- their green shoes desperately needed some refurbishment- That was something they could worry about later, though.
They brush a lock of their freshly dyed mint green hair out of their face. Looking back at their hand, however- ugh, the sharpie was fading! It was a pain regular nail polish wouldn’t work, but they figured that permanent ink would- and turned to their best friend sitting in the car next to them.
He seemed so prepared for this. Bag already in his lap as he unbuckled his seatbelt and slid out the car. “Thank you guys for the ride!” He smiles.
“Don’t mention it! We might as well anyways, it’s like a 2 minute drive to your place.” The driver, a man named Fan smiles. He and his wife, Test Tube, were dropping their child off for their first day of school.. ever, and decided that having their best friend would probably make it easier for them in the long run.
They start to do the same- sling the bag around their shoulder, and unbuckle the seatbelt. But before they can hop of the car..
“Bot, wait a minute.” Their mother tells them.
“You’re forgetting a little something.” She faintly smiles, but also knows that what she’s referring to is something Bot’s been avoiding for a while. She pulls out a small black remote and presses a button on it.
Bot glances down at their hand- it looks a lot like their parents’ hands, not one made out of metal and wires. The sharpie in particular doesn’t look too horrible on their fingernails. Hmm.
“I know it’s not fun,” Test Tube starts. “But it’s just until the show finally airs. Okay, honey?”
Bot nods. They feel a few strands of hair land on something that shouldn’t normally be there, and they instinctively push it back. They were pretty sure that they were called ears.
“Okay. Um.. can I go now?” Bot sighs. They almost regret asking to go. Having Goo would make the whole thing barely tolerable, but if they wanted to be a normal teenager, they had to go to school.
“Now hold on a minute!” Test Tube looks surprised. Not a bad surprise, however, more of a confusion. There’s still a comforting sense in the confusion on her face. Something about Test Tube in general is comforting. Huh.
“We want to tell you that we hope you have a good day.” Test Tube smiles. “And you can always stop when you want to stop going, okay?”
Bot nods. They don’t want to back down soon, however. They don’t want to seem like a baby. They’re something worse- different from the rest of the students. And there’s no way in hell they were going to let their guard down and blow their cover.
“Okay, um, Fan’ll be here after school. Good luck. Call one of us if you need anything!” Test Tube says as Bot steps out of the car. She decides to take a risk and rolls down the window.
“Love you!” She smiles.
“Love ya too, kiddo!” Fan gives them a small wave. Bot decides in the spur of the moment to run back to the car and give their parents a hug as best they can through the window.
“Thank you.. for everything.” Bot flashes them a smile as they try to find the entrance of the school. Goo’s sitting at a bench near the main doors and waves them over.
“Hey! We’ve got a little bit before homeroom.” Goo says and pats the spot next to him for Bot to sit down. “Homeroom?”
“It’s like a few minutes at the start of every day to get organized and stuff.” Goo explains. “Pull out your schedule, will you?”
Bot takes out the small paper. “Um, this is the same as yours, right?”
“Yeah. Okay, you know what, let’s go over some stuff you should know. Number one, keep to yourself. Don’t try and climb your way up the social ladder just to feel liked. People are gonna know what you’re doing. 8th grade is a practice for what the high school popularity spectrum is like.”
Bot, a little surprised at their friend’s sudden change in tone, sits closer to him. “Um.. okay. I don’t really plan on doing that.”
“Perfect! Plus, I’m guessing that a lot of that is going to change with the show, and stuff..” Goo trails off.
“Yeah, probably.” Bot nods along with him. It feels weird, not feeling their antennae bounce along with their head. They know they’re still there, but the feeling is gone. The last sliver of familiarity is in their best friend’s hands.
“Number two, don’t get the lunches here unless you plan on spending your evening curled up in the bathroom with absolute dogshit coming out both ends.”
“Whoah, I don’t need the description. I have my own lunch- wait, how do you know that?” Bot glances up at Goo.
“Moving on, number three. Focus on your classes!” He nods. “Super important. Don’t listen to people who say that it’s not- they’re wrong.”
“Oh, okay. Yeah, my parents signed me up for a lot of the, like, advanced classes.” Bot says, looking down at their schedule. “See here-“ They point to a couple of their classes, but Goo’s attention gets diverted to a student who walks over.
“Yo, Goo! It’s been all summer, where were you? We tried reaching you, but nothing!” The person says once they reach Goo.
He glances at Bot, and the two share eye contact. “Sorry, haha, I was just, um, busy.” He lies, and lets out an awkward cough.
“Who’s your friend?” The person’s eyes flick over to Bot. “This is my best friend, Bot! They did online school for a while, and it’s their first year here.” Goo introduces them, and they give a small wave. “Hey!”
“Hi..” The person mumbles as they start to walk off. “I’ll see you in graphic design, Goo.”
“You too!” Goo waves to them as they leave, but not before the bell rings. “Okay, now we have 5 minutes to get to homeroom. Cmon!”
Goo takes his friend’s hand, and the two run off.
———
It takes Bot a few moments to spot Goo, who’s sitting in a relatively quiet corner of the lunchroom. He waves them over, and Bot gleams with glee once they sit down next to him.
“Hi!” Goo smiles. “How’s your first day been going?”
“It’s been going.” Bot says back as they take out a container with some pasta inside. Fan’s pasta was always the best, so why could it taste bad when it was cold?
“Make any new friends?” Goo curiously asks as he digs into a bag of chips.
“Psh, I wish.” Bot sighs as they lift the lid of the container off. “But I’ve got you.”
“Yeah! I was so scared that this year was going to be boring without you, but now you’re here!” Goo grins cheekily, and Bot sticks their tongue out at him. “I know, I make everything better.” They get a small chip thrown at their face.
“I make everything slightly more tolerable.” Bot edits their sentence, and Goo rolls his eyes lovingly. “Okay, buddy. You’re not-“
“Um, what exactly are you doing here?” A new voice interrupts him. Both Bot and Goo turn their heads to see a group of girls staring at the two. Or rather, the table they’re sitting at.
“That is our spot. You should know that, Goo. We sat here all of last year, and all of 6th grade.” The girl, who seems to be the group’s ringleader, huffs angrily, her obnoxiously large water bottle swinging around.
“Well, it’s a new year. You guys weren’t here before we were. And also, it’s a lunch table! You guys can’t sit somewhere else?” Goo argues. Bot takes their fork and grips it in anticipation. Who are these people?
“If it’s just a lunch table like you say, the lunch table doesn’t want your fatass sitting at it! Move!”
Goo begrudgingly takes his bag and stands up. “Come on. We can sit outside.”
Bot silently nods and grabs their bag along with their lunch, before being stopped by this obnoxious girl.
“Wait wait wait.. who are you? I don’t recall seeing you here last year?”
“Oh, my name’s Bot. It’s my first year here, because I.. um.. did… online school, yeah. Goo’s been my best friend my entire life.” The last part wasn’t a lie.
“Okay.. I don’t understand why you’d want to be friends with him..” She mumbles, eyeing the table.
“What the hell, dude? He’s amazing! Why do you have the authority to pick on my friend like that?” Bot starts to raise their voice.
“..If you must know, I’m practically a celebrity. I was on Inanimate Insanity. You don’t talk to Teddy Bear like that, so go with your little boyfriend.” She hisses, giving Bot a nasty glare.
Bot can’t stop a giggle from escaping as they shrug and walk off, following their friend.
“Ew, I do not like her.” Teddy comments, sitting down at the table.
“They had a pin that said ‘They/Them’ pronouns, Teddy.” A friend of hers asks.
“I don’t care if she wants to use the they, he, she, ze, zir, whatever. I saw what I saw.” Teddy scoffs, taking a bite of her salad.
———
“Hey, guys!” Fan exclaims as the two teens get in the back of his car, and he begins to drive away from the school.
“Is it okay if Goo comes over to hang out for a bit?” Bot asks immediately after. “Is it okay with your parents, kiddo?”
“They both work late. My little brother is at his friend’s. I’ll be out of trouble, but thank you for asking.” Goo politely answers. “Perfect! Bot, how was your first day.”
“Not horrible. When can I turn this off, though?” They gesture vaguely in their own general area. “I don’t like it.”
“I’ll see what I can do, buddy.” Fan puts a hand on their knee from the driver’s seat. “I think Test Tube still has the actual tech control at home, though. Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Bot sighs. They shuffle uncomfortably, trying not to look down at their hands. It’s a bit dysphoric to do so.
The rest of the car ride is silent until Fan pulls up to the house. Goo is the first to open a door, and he offers Bot a hand. The two make their way inside, where Test Tube is sitting, reading a magazine.
“Hello! It’s lovely to see you two!” She says, once she spots the teens walking in and taking their shoes off. However, before Bot can respond, a pink blur interrupts.
“I’ve missed you!” N/A says slowly as they nuzzle up by Bot’s face. “Hey, sweetie! I’ve missed you too!” They joyfully respond.
“Oh, Bot, I have a little gift for you..” Test Tube takes out a little black remote from her pocket. “This is for your cloaking tech. Please don’t lose this or have it accidentally turn off, but it looks like you did an amazing job today.” She hits a button, and Bot’s appearance goes back to their normal robotic one.
“Oh thank god,” They breathe as they rush to give her a hug. “Thank you.”
“You owe me an explanation of how your day went, though.” Test Tube lovingly tells them. Bot rolls their eyes as they and Goo head up the stairs.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be long. I.. I think I might like this.”
—————