Chapter Text
Just when Oz and Darren were about to enter the baking club classroom, they heard a loud crashing sound from the down the hallway they were in. Oz suspected it was his crush having another hissy fit about something or someone, but Darren stared back at the hallway with high alert.
“Uh… what was that just now?”
Oz stared down the hallway. “Um, it’s uh… I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Darren turned back to Oz with a raised eyebrow. “Just… just trust me. It’s uh… you’ll figure it out eventually. I think.” Oz quickly walked in and sat with Vicky. Darren took one last look down the hallway and slowly made his way to sit with the pair. Not too long after, Kimberly joins them albeit quite sullen from what she heard in the bathrooms.
“You alright, Kim?” Darren turned to her.
“Umm… y-yeah. I’m okay…” Kimberly gave a weak smile. Darren is still skeptical.
“You sure? You looked a little down when you came in just now.”
“I… well…” Kimberly isn’t sure if she wants to bring up what she heard in the bathrooms. “It’s just… I’m at that part where… Harold left Godiva after having sex.” Kimberly needs a cover up for the time being. However, she’s not wrong that that is where she stopped in Dragon Heat.
Darren’s eyes went wide for a second then gave her a sympathetic look. “Oh man. Yeah.” Darren understood and nodded. “I was… the same as you when I reached that part.” He laid a hand on her shoulder. “That’s all I’ll say. I don’t wanna spoil you on what happens next.”
“Thanks Darren.” Kimberly giggled.
Vicky then glances towards them. “Hey you guys, you wanna have lunch with us tomorrow? Figured you two should meet our other two friends.”
“Sounds like a good time. We want you guys to meet our two other friends too.” Darren smiled.
“Our two friends actually met them. They said they watched an epic dodge ball match with those two against each other.” Oz chimed in.
“Yeah, they’re two peas in a pod.” Darren laughs
“When we were waiting at the Principal’s office for our orientation, Jin and Haruka… got along almost immediately.” Kimberly said.
“All four of us did, surprisingly.” Darren added.
Before their conversation could continue, Faith from the Coven entered with a smile on her face. “Okay everyone, settle down. Let me take attendance first and then we’ll get started.” After a few minutes of calling out names, Faith resumes her speech. “Excellent, everyone is here! Welcome back everyone! As I promised, we will be baking today. Now I’m not sure how many of you have any experience in baking, so today we will be following a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe. Everyone loves chocolate chip cookies right?”
Everyone nodded. The members had been split into groups of two. Vicky and Oz stayed together and Darren and Kimberly did the same. Some students struggled with figuring out the measurements, preheating the oven, and mistaking baking flour for baking soda. Faith kept a level-headed attitude when some of the students were having trouble with whatever their situation was.
Not too long after, the students were popping in their tray of cookies in to the oven. With a few minutes to spare, they cleaned up all of the utensils they’ve used. The smell of the cookies being baked wafted around the room and the students were excited to try them once it was ready.
Once the oven’s timers went off, almost immediately one member from each group got up and turned off the oven and took out the cookies. They let them cool off for a minute and while they were cooling, Faith prepared glasses of milk for everyone. They all thanked her and started digging in to the cookies.
“Mmm! It’s not too sweet, Oz! We did a good job!” Vicky said ecstatically.
Oz nodded. He couldn’t really eat since he didn’t have a mouth. Well, he does but he only uses it to feed on the fears of humans and monsters. He can eat physical food but he wouldn’t gain the nutrients in them. It would just float in an endless void. Oz tore pieces of the cookies and gave them to the little phobias that appeared on his shoulder. At least they seem to enjoy it as they gave thumbs up.
Once they were done eating, Faith told them to clean up everything else before leaving. Oz and Vicky carried some leftovers with them as did Kimberly and Darren.
“How did your cookies turn out?” Vicky turned to the succubus and tall monster.
“Not burnt.” Kimberly giggled.
“Yep, and tasted like how a chocolate chip cookie should be.” Darren smiled.
“So are you guys still okay to have lunch with us tomorrow?” Oz asked.
“You betcha, Ozzie. We’ll let the other two know about it tomorrow when we see them.”
“Awesome! Have a good night guys!” Vicky waved goodbye with Oz following suit. The pair made their way back to their shared apartment. “Ozzie, huh?” Vicky teased.
“U-Uhh… y-yeah. That’s what he… called me.” Oz looked away sheepishly.
“Who else calls you that, huh?”
“V-Vicky! Not now!”
“Vicky laughs. “I’m just messing with ya, bud. You know what? You should bake something for Damien. I’ve already thought of what I wanna make for Scott.”
“What would that be?” Oz raises his white eyebrow.
“I’m just gonna bake some biscuits in the shape of bones. I overheard that Scott’s in the middle of a no-sugar diet. So instead of powdered sugar on top, I’ll use the protein powder he likes!”
“That’s not a bad idea at all. I don’t know what Damien would like though. I’m not even sure if he likes chocolate.”
“Didn’t you say he bought chocolate when you two went for ice cream that one time?”
“He did. But he tossed out the scoop of ice cream and replaced it with fire and he ate it.”
As they got home and went to bed, Oz couldn’t stop thinking of what he could possibly bake that Damien would like. This proved to be tougher than that Spooky Pre-Calculus test he had yesterday.
The Next Day…
The mornings went by uneventfully in Spooky High. As soon as lunchtime rolled around, both color crews had met up in the hallway and gave their introductions to one another. Jin and Haruka had changed from their oriental and kimono attire to a more lighter and comfy clothing. The group of eight talked and laughed their way to the cafeteria.
At the cafeteria; Zoe, Damien, and Liam were seated together. Aside from Liam taking pictures of his food, Damien was having a steak that was blackened by him while Zoe had some leftover sanity in her tuperware.
“Hmm. The Player Characters aren’t here yet.” Zoe took note of the empty table.
“The who?” Liam raised an eyebrow at her.
“Oz, Vicky, Brian and Amira. The Player Characters is their band name.”
“I’m not surprised they formed a band. So predictable.” Liam says flatly.
“Why do you care so much about those dumbasses, Zoe?” Damien says in between bites of his steak.
“It’s just a little strange to me that it’s the second time that they’re not here on time to eat.”
As if on cue, the mentioned four came through the cafeteria doors with the other color crew members. They dragged a few chairs for the new kids to sit at the table and they continued whatever it was they were talking about.
“Wow! They’re so color coordinated.” Zoe took note of how each student sat with their designated color: Oz sat with Kimberly, Darren sat with Brian, Amira with Jin, and Haruka with Vicky.
“Ugh. I think I’m gonna go blind from how brightly colored their clothes are.” Liam said with disgust.
Damien narrowed his eyes at Darren, who sat in-between Oz and Brian. He still wasn’t over the whole stealing the nickname he had given Oz. Out of Damien’s earshot, Darren was gleefully telling one of his stories to the group. He had removed his head again, recreating some scene of him throwing his head at a harpy that was perched on his family’s house. Everyone at the table laughed.
The red demon growled as he bit a piece of steak off his fork and chewed it viciously. What the fuck was so funny about what he said? Damien could bet he could make Oz laugh twice as hard as that douchebag can. How he would love to personally meld his head to his neck with his fire then forcefully rip it off, light up the head, throw it to the ground, and stomp it to pieces.
“Hey boos! You guys see the giant color wheel as well?” Polly strides up to the table, joyful and high as ever.
“I’m trying to ‘not’ hurt my eyes by not looking at them.” Liam said, choosing a filter for his picture.
“They’re all so cute sitting in that one table. It’s giving me so many ideas for my next fanfic ‘Monster Rangers: Explorers of Time and Sky’.” Zoe said.
“You’re missing black and pink. And no, I’m not talking about that overrated human KPOP group.” Liam snorted.
“Will you guys shut the fuck up?! I’m trying to think here!” Damien said loudly to his seatmates.
The color crew were too involved in Darren’s story but the outburst somehow caught Oz’s attention as he turned his head to his crush. Damien? THE Damien LaVey, trying to think? Damien is the kind of person who just says things and acts without filter. So for Damien to have claimed that means something is bothering him, right? Oz also took note of the charred meat on Damien’s plate.
‘Hmm…’ Oz thought to himself without everyone on the table hearing him, which is something he can do.
**********
After lunch, Kimberly went to her locker to put her lunch bag away. As she was closing in on her locker, she noticed a note had been taped onto her locker. This was it: the letter she had been dreading to see since she came in this morning. Kimberly sighed and plucked the note off from her locker.
“Huh…?” Kimberly expected big capital letters that formed an insult. But what she saw was a neat cursive handwriting scrawled on to it:
‘Skip the class you have after lunch and meet me in the library. The teachers here don’t care if you skip classes. If you don’t show up, I’ll reveal your browser history to everyone.’
Signed, V.O
Kimberly’s eyes were wide in shock. The threat was way worse than being insulted. How did this V.O person find out about the explicit sites Kimberly goes to? She bit her lip, folded the note and kept it away in her skirt pocket. She put away her lunch bag and went on her way to the library. She made deep breaths along the way to calm her nerves. What was she getting herself into?
Once Kimberly reached the library, it was quiet and no one was around. She looked down the aisles of shelves and rows of computer desks to no avail. The succubus started to worry; what if she was already late? But that can’t be. As soon as the bell rang for next period to start, she went to her locker immediately and went straight to the library.
“Ah, you’re here.”
“Eek!” The voice made Kimberly jump as she turned around. She saw a familiar gorgon at the doorway. She was one of the popular kids, was she not? She vaguely tried to remember Polly’s introduction of her friends but she’s drawing a blank.
“Good. Guess I don’t have to reveal your browser history.” The gorgon smirked. “She’s her Cal.”
The gorgon made her way in and following right behind her, was an android with one of the computer monitors as the head. The android had a semi-colon and closed parenthesis on the screen, signifying a sideway smiley face. The android waved at her as it sat down with Vera.
“Oh… u-umm….” Kimberly stuttered.
“Sit down.” The gorgon ordered. Kimberly stiffened at her voice and quickly sat across from her and the android. “So, let’s get introductions out of the way first. I’m Vera Oberlin, Spooky High’s most successful self-made gorgon, and gaining income is my game. I don’t expect you to have remembered my name when Polly briefly introduced us to you and your transfer friends.”
Kimberly nodded. “Um… I’m K-Kimberly Chalistrom.”
“Oh, I know your name. I had Calculester over here search up your profile.” She pointed to the android.
“Greetings new student *whirrrr* Kimberly Chalistrom.” The android said her name in a robotic voice. “My name is Calculester Hewlett-Packard. I would appreciate it if I can consider you one of my friends.” The closed parenthesis had now changed to a capital ‘D’, showing a happier face. Kimberly gave the android a nod and giggle.
“Yes, yes. You can be friends at a later time. Right now, we’re on a tight schedule.” Vera rolled her eyes. “Now, you might be wondering why I had asked you to meet with me here.” Kimberly nodded. "Well, it just so happens that I overheard about your little ‘incident’ in the school bathrooms.”
The succubus grimaced. “Y-you mean… when those other succubi-”
“Yup. That’s the one. You also might be wondering why you haven’t seen the note they were supposed to leave on your locker all day. Or the fact that you haven’t seen all three of them today.” Vera said as she tucked one of her snakes behind her ear.
“O-oh! Y-yeah… I haven’t seen t-the note or those girls today.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about them. I personally took care of them.” Vera gave her a sinister smile.
This sent a chill down Kimberly’s back. “W-what do you m-mean?”
“I turned them to stone and made sure no one will hear from them again.” Vera checked her manicured nails.
“Wh-What?! Why did you do that?! I-I mean, sure they were saying nasty things about me but-”
“Relax, it was for my own personal satisfaction.” Kimberly relaxed again, though still unsure why she would do such a thing. “I just can’t stand seeing some uppity bitch think that she’s the ringleader of this school when I’m still around.”
There it is.
“While I do not condone Friend Vera’s decision, I do think that you were treated in a not very nice way, Friend Kimberly.” Calculester changed the capital D to an open parenthesis, showing a sad face.
“Long story short: I’ve forced you to take time out of your day to help boost that confidence of yours by yours truly, even if it’s just a little bit. This first session is free of charge so you can see if you like how this turns out. If you do wish to continue from here on out, the charge is 50 monster dollars per minute and you would have to schedule the session ahead of time as I am a very busy person.”
Kimberly slowly nodded, taking in everything she just heard. “U-um… Okay.”
“Good, we’ll get started. Cal, bring up the ‘Confidence Booster’ PowerPoint presentation I installed in you.”
“Certainly, Friend Vera.” Calculester’s face showed a loading screen as they searched for the PowerPoint file. While they waited, Kimberly decided to speak up.
“Umm… I want to thank you… uh, Vera, for doing this for me…” Kimberly looked down at her hands and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, a small blush appearing on her face.
“…” Vera looked at her for a moment. “…You’re supposed to thank me after the session.” Vera could feel her face heat up a little bit. There’s no way the cold-hearted gorgon would admit that the succubus reminded her of her younger self.
**********
Oz was focused on answering some math equations on his textbook. Two of his little phobias, Agrostophobia and Octophobia, were trying to solve them as well as they counted on their little stick fingers. Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate a few times in his pocket. With the teacher away from the room for a few minutes, Oz took out his phone to see that Damien had messaged him.
[Yo noob wut u up 2?]
[i’m bored out of my fucking mind]
[lets do sum crazy shit *devil emoji*]
[cum hang out ;)]
Oz knows that Damien sent that last message just to mess with him. But still, the fearling blushed white on his face. He started replying back:
[I’m in class right now.]
[I can skip my next class and hang out.]
[dope]
[meet me at the bathrooms]
Megalophobia and Microphobia were snooping in on Oz’s conversation and swooned, melting back into Oz at the thought of hanging out with Damien. Oz was always excited on getting some down time with his red crush. Plus, Oz can gather some info on what to make for Damien. His next class wasn’t too important anyway.
Once the bell rang, Oz quickly got up and left for his locker to put away his things. He had briefly seen the four transfer students make their way to the auditorium. Kind of wished he could see what skit they had planned but he had already dedicated time to Damien.
Oz ran out of the school and made his way to the bathrooms. He immediately spotted a red individual leaning against the outside wall of the bathrooms, tossing a knife in the air and catching it by the handle. The fearling could feel his face heating up, which is strange since he’s just dark matter with a form. He ran up to Damien and the demon noticed him right away.
“Ozzie. Whaddup my noob?” The demon smirked.
“Hey Damien.” Oz did like the nickname the demon prince had given him. “Is that… a new knife?” The fearling inquired.
“Nah. This one’s been in my collection for a long time. Thought I’d give this one a spin in case I need to stab a bitch.” He pointed the knife to Oz.
Okay, the fearling may have feelings for the pyromaniac, but he can’t deny that he sometimes feared for his… mortal(?) life whenever they hang out, which is ironic. Oz isn’t even sure if he ‘can’ die since you can’t exactly kill off an emotion but he’d rather not find out.
“Can I… have a look at that?” Oz pointed to the sharp weapon.
Damien snorted. “Sure.” He handed it over. “So, you got anything in mind that we can do that isn’t here at this shithole?”
“Hmm…” Oz thought for a second as he inspected the knife. It was sharp, that’s for sure. What illegal activity can they do with this knife? Just then, an idea popped in his head. “You wanna drop this knife at a tall building on to unsuspecting pedestrians?”
Damien gave Oz a sinister smile. “I like how you think.”