Pumping Impact
Chapter 1: I named the town after my Animal Crossing town
"Now, if you substitute x for-"
A sound interrupted the lesson. It was the kind of noise that would come out of a human-sized bird reaching the end of his starvation. The dark end, not the bright one. Seeley gasped and looked at where it was coming from: a boy, a foot shorter than her, with a mouth that didn't look like it could even close. His eyes were bulging out of his large head, while his small, shriveled body switched between flopping around and cracking up and down. Despite his frightening appearance, Seeley started getting up to go and help him. Nobody else was.
"Sit down," the teacher said. "He doesn't need any help right now."
She obeyed, and all the kids waited for the sound to stop with their faces pointed forward. The teacher kept his face locked on Seeley. Seeley averted her eyes toward the window. A rusty blue car was slowly driving past.
She had arrived to the town in a little car holding only a father and his daughter. The passenger seat was folded and pushed as far forward as it could go, with the top only an inch away from the dashboard. It was a good design choice; had it actually touched the dashboard, the rubber may have rubbed across it as the car sped along the unkempt terrain, creating a constant "squeak". The passenger herself sat in the backseat, keeping as still as she could as the car shook. Then, there was the driver, avoiding trees as well as he could. Where was the road anyway?
"Seeley… you know, I'm sorry we had to move away from all of your friends," he said.
Permission to move, that was. "It's perfectly, completely alright. I'm positive I'll make lots of new friends."
He let out a laugh, two cackles long. "Yeah… I'm sure you will too. It'll be a good day for people who need friends."
And then, a real road, signaled by a sign reading "Welcome to Lithtin". Beyond it lied small skyscrapers dispersed in between normal-sized houses. The odd building-out, the Lithtin Learning Station, was wide instead of slightly tall. The little car drove closer to it, never passing by any people, until it stopped at Seeley's new home. When her father opened the door, nothing was in it, but it's not like much was needed anyway. They loaded a few things in it, like beds and a fridge. It had become dark by the time they finished.
"Well, I'm gonna rest up," Seeley's father said, inching toward his bed. "long days of work are ahead… I'll leave the number for my workplace on the counter, but ah, could you only call it if you're… dying or something? I'm going to be pretty busy… anyway, ah, hope everything goes well for you at school tomorrow."
"Thanks dad!" she replied. That was her cue to go to her room. It was a silent sleep.
Lithtin Learning Station was her new destination upon her awakening. Yes, it was an odd name for a school, of course that thought had crossed her head. The screaming had ended, the lesson had ended, and it was now lunchtime. Seeley spotted the scene-making boy sitting at a table, all by himself. He was propped on the bench in a way so that he wouldn't fall off, with his left hand supporting him. Seeley glanced at her bracelet then, with a smile and not a drop of sweat on her face, marched over to the table and sat down.
"Hello, I'm Seeley. What's your name?"
Some sort of mumble came out.
"'Nervern'? Cool. So, how's lunch?"
A grunt came out, probably meant to be a shortening of "fine."
"Well, I probably shouldn't waltz around what happened today. Are you okay?"
"Yes."
"I'd imagine things are really, really hard for you, and I'm sorry. Being alone probably makes it harder. So I'll be your friend from now on! We can sit next to each other in all of our classes! Hey, do you need any help with, say, science?" No reply. "Well, alright, but I'll still drop you hints every now and then… because I'm pretty good at science. Hey, nice to meet you, by the way!" She stretched out her arm toward him without a hint of hesitation. Nervern put his hand in hers, and it was like shredded cardboard. She shook it, and they continued eating. Eventually, Seeley went home. Her dad wasn't there. She ate some dinner, then went to bed. It was a silent sleep.
During the next day of school, she was taking a book out of her locker when she was approached by Nervern. He looked more hardened than usual. He was not walking; instead, he was in a two-wheeled device, something you'd think would be meant for carrying crates instead of people. Seeley ignored that.
"Hi, Nervern! How are you today?"
"Do you want… could you come… to my house? After school."
"Sure thing! I don't have anything else scheduled. We can walk there together." No reply.
Seeley's eyes wandered. This time, they went up, and straight at another boy. He was the one guiding Nervern around on the crate-lifting device. It could only be operated manually. Seeley had no reason to feel guilty about staring at this boy, however, as he was staring her right in the eyes, presumably since before she started doing the same. He had a frown, but it looked quite small in comparison to Nervern's.
In a few hours, Seeley found herself knocking on her new best friend's door, with her new best friend at her side. Next to the house was stationed a run-down garage. In front of it was a parked rusty blue car. Darn wandering eyes. When the door opened, they were greeted by the kind smile of Nervern's father. He was wearing brown pants and a button-up, long-sleeved shirt. The wrinkles on his face were punctuated by his grin. Beyond him was the mother, sitting on a couch at the end of the room. She was the biggest mother Seeley had ever seen. And Nervern, for that matter. Only someone as scrawny as Nervern could fit in the space on the couch uncovered by her body. The walls were covered in chipping paint, in turn covered by framed photos of Nervern in various attire.
"Ooh, ooh!" the mother exclaimed. "You're finally here, and you're prettier than I could've imagined! Welcome to our household!" She stood up and walked to the side of the couch. "Why don't you take a seat?" she said. Seeley complied with a nod. "This is the first time Nervern has invited someone over. My boy is becoming so social! He's one of those popular kids. The celebrated ones that inspire all. He's got a big heart, I tell you."
"Yes, of course," Seeley replied. "He's very gentle."
"No need to walk on eggshells, sweetie, I know he's a different one, and that just makes him all the more deserving. How is it fair for him to miss out on the things that everyone else always gets? Thankfully, God has blessed him with many great friends like you."
"Thank you."
"No, thank you for realizing the importance of living a real life."
Seeley was toured around the house by the mother. On the left side of the living room was a giant closet. Halloween seemed to be a favorite holiday for the family, with tons of costumes made for Nervern. A doctor, a judge, a cop... funny, Seeley hadn't seen any of those things in Lithtin yet. Among the costumes was a little tuxedo.
"Seeley," the father said, breaking his silence. "It was nice meeting you, but now I have to take care of something with Nervern downstairs. It's almost time for one of his scheduled appointments."
"Well, do you need any help?" she reflexively replied.
"Actually… there is something that I could use your help with. Thank you. Follow me, alright?"
Source:
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