sherbet - a stosuh fanfiction

Bred

this is literally a fill-in chapter again and it's boring skip if you want :,]

real plot starts in about 5 more chapters mwahahah

The sunny park seemed somewhat lonely.

Since Autumn had arrived, the grass had started to turn yellow, but besides that, everything else was still green. Trees had their bushy green leaf crowns, and vegetation was colourful.

The sun was almost blinding. In the distance, a small, dirty pond could be spotted. Near the pond, dozens of ducks were squawking away, trying their best to go by their normal daily lives.

"Look at all those chickens," Stephen said derpily.

I laughed.

"Oh, my god," Jay said, staring at the ducks with a somewhat unreadable expression. "Oh my, oh my god."

I couldn't hide my grin. "What, you've never seen ducks before?"

"They're -" Jay choked on his tears. "They're delicious."

A moment of silence.

"...Don't you mean cute?" Dan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jay stayed silent. His eyes were glued on the ducks. "Yeah," he finally breathed out. "Cute."

Without saying another word, he sprinted over to the ducks, squawking with waving hands. I'm guessing he was trying to mimic wing-flapping.

Dan rolled his eyes. "Go figure."

Pretty soon, we also made our way closer to the duck pond. Daniel was smart enough to bring some bred, which was a master idea for getting the ducks close to us.

We reached Jay, who was in a conversation with a mother duck. Turning to us, a lazy grin made it onto his face. "Hey guys," he exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure this goose -"

"Duck," I corrected.

"Yeah, whatever, this duck's hungry. It's squawking like crazy."

"Are you sure that's not just you angering it?" Daniel pointed out.

Jay's eyes glinted. "Bread. Now."

A chunk of bread was thrown at his face.

"Oh, dang," Stephen remarked. "Hand me some bread too. I need to feed the babies."

Ripping off another piece of bread, Dan threw it to Stephen.

"Want some too?" Daniel asked me, gesturing to his loaf of bread.

"Sure," I shrugged.

He threw bread towards my direction.

And that's how we spent our Sunday, just aimlessly feeding ducks at the community park.

Stephen got bit twice. The second time, his finger bled out. Pretty sure he got rabies.

Surprisingly, all the ducks adored Jay; maybe that was because of the baby voice he used to talk to them. I figured he'd do okay as a mother duck.

Dan and I didn't even really feed the ducks as much. We just ate the bread in front of the ducks to make them jealous.

I figured the weekend went by okay.

Better than okay.

It was midnight and I couldn't sleep.

I lay on my creaky bed, taking in the tender silence.

I had nothing to think about, my brain was blank. Staring at the ceiling seemed like the most productive thing to do at the moment.

Yet, even with no train of thought, it seemed like sleep still couldn't catch up to me.

My eyelids felt heavy, but whenever I closed them, it felt like my eyes were on fire; if this was what insomnia felt like, people with it have it hard.

It was like a nagging feeling at the back of my mind was keeping me awake.

And I didn't even know what that nagging feeling was there for.

It was annoying.

And I didn't want to admit it, but I might've had a thought on what that nagging feeling was.

I didn't like it. One bit.

The next morning, it felt like my brain had done a 40 mile marathon. But I get up anyways.

On my way to the bathroom, I nearly crashed into a wall; that's how blind I was in sleep-deprived mornings.

It's not like I wanted to purposely stay awake, though.

Whatever.

After taking care of my hygiene and putting on a pair of clothes, I shuffled downstairs.

I decide to steal some loose change for lunch, since our school has a small cafeteria in the canteen.

I put on my shoes and haul on my backpack. Forgetting about the toque. It's been a bit warmer since yesterday, so I don't even need to wear the hat.

After my silent walk to school, I'm once greeted by Dan and Stephen. Jay seems to be late today. That seems to explain the voicemail he sent me at 2am.

Pretty soon, we see Jay clumsily running towards us, his shirt on inside out.

"What were you out doing last night?" Dan asked incredulously, looking at the bleary-eyed Jay.

"...Got someone wasted," Jay yawned. "No big deal."

"Got... Someone wasted?" I ask nervously, gazing at the school in confusion.

"Yes, Hosuh, I got someone wasted," Jay repeated.

"Meaning he killed someone," Stephen grinned.

"Oh- Oh..." Dan catches up. Then a look of realisation crosses his face. "Oh! Wait no, what?!"

I stare at him. "Oh my Gosh... Why would you actually kill someone?"

"Jay! That's illegal!" Dan scolds.

"No shit," Jay responded.

Stephen laughed.

Dan mutters something inaudible.

Pregnant silence takes over. "...You do realise I'm joking, right?" Jay finally responds with an amused tone. Stephen laughs even louder.

Dan visibly turns red as a tomato, throwing his backpack towards Jay's face.

The backpack must've been heavier than thought, though, because both Jay and the backpack come tumbling down. Jay lands on his back with a resonating thump.

I laugh along with Stephen as Dan whips out his phone, capturing the groaning Jay on his camera roll.

"I'm saving this one to my 'Jay's Fails' album," Dan smirks. "It already has 280 pictures."

"Just help me get up," Jay mumbles, pouting.

After Jay is back on his feet, we make our way towards the school.

"Hey, Hosuh," Stephen turns to me.

"Yeah?" I ask. I subconsciously tug on my backpack straps.

"Wanna hear a joke?" He asks, grinning.

"Sure," I nervously respond.

"What did the cow say to the other cow?"

I think about it for a few seconds.

"...I don't know, Stephen, what did the cow say to the other cow?"

"Moo!" Stephen cackles.

Silence.

"Laugh or I'll murder you."

I laugh.