It Was Just A Prank Doe

The light of late afternoon spilled through every westward facing window of Hometown High.

Noelle Holiday was a bit surprised by how few of her fellow students she saw around her. A few absences made sense, after all, she had stayed late to talk to Ms. Alphys about the day’s assignments. Still, there should have been at least a few students at their lockers or just hanging out and chatting.

Instead, the hallway looked and felt like a ghost town. Noelle half expected to hear an ominous wind blow down from the corridor ahead of her. But when she perked a fur covered ear up to listen, all she could hear was the muffled *click-clack* of her hooves connecting with the red and yellow linoleum tile beneath her.

When she came to a three-way intersection of hallway, Noelle hung a left and upon doing so, figured out why so many of her schoolmates were missing. Up ahead of her, right next to a bay of double-decker lockers stood Ms. Toriel and Susie.

Upon seeing the matronly boss monster and the towering purple dragoness, Noelle ducked into the nearby locker bay that housed her locker. She then did her best to look as though she was having difficulty with her lock, nothing out of the ordinary considering her past trouble with the devices, in order to spy on the two’s conversation.

As Noelle peered over her locker, it was clear to her from the way that Toriel and Susie were standing that the chat between them was not a friendly one. Noelle did her best to try and hear what either of them said but the distance between herself, the boss monster, and the dragoness made that impossible.

Noelle’s best guess was that Toriel had caught Susie in the middle of doing something “distasteful.” Whatever the case, Noelle knew that the conversation was not going to sway one participant to the other’s point of view.

Noelle let out a hushed sigh as she lowered herself back behind her locker and out of view of the two arguing monsters. “Susie...you aren’t really a bad person, are you?” The holideer thought. “No! Deep down you have gotta be a good person. I know it, I just know it. If I just talked to you, just once I know I would hear it in your voice and see it in those beautiful amber eyes of yours...”

Noelle’s thoughts trailed off as she kept picturing Susie’s rarely exposed eyes. She remained fixed on the image until her heart began to pound and a light sweat broke out on her forehead. So focused on the windows to her crush’s soul was Noelle that she barely noticed that she had taken a seat on the ground in front of her locker.

“I would give anything to talk to you but I can’t because...because...” A few seconds passed before Noelle whispered the rest of what had previously been only a thought, “I’m scared...of what it would mean, of what it could lead to, of what it could take away, of everything! I wish I could be brave, like dad, even if it was just once...but I can’t I just...I just can’t.”

Dad, the word stung Noelle like a slap to the face. In an instant, she was rendered cold as thoughts of her ailing father filled her head to near bursting.

He had always been a bastion of positivity in her life, even after his diagnoses and subsequent internment in the hospital’s long term care unit. But as of a few weeks ago, his resolve had begun to waver and his cheery facade had begun to crack.

Noelle could still clearly picture the moment she realized it.

She had stopped by the hospital on a Saturday. Usually she avoided doing so as those were the days her father received his treatments. Those treatments, Noelle knew, drained him far more then he would ever say.

The doe could not remember what had driven her to visit her father that afternoon, that part of the memory was lost and ultimately irrelevant. What mattered was that she had arrived outside her father’s door just in time to hear him talking with his oldest and dearest friend.

“Grim at best...how’s that for a prognosis? Kick in the ol’ buck teeth, isn’t it fluffy buns?”

“Come now Rudy, they cannot possibly of phrased it like that?” The flower king’s bass voiced resonated through the ajar door and out into the hall so clearly that Noelle could have sworn that Asgore was standing next to her.

“I suppose your right bud but still things aren’t looking to good for your number-one wingman.” Rudy capped off his point by raising an eyebrow and pointing to Asgore finger-gun style.

“Would he be so candid if he know that I was here?” Noelle thought as her jaw quivered. “Does he just put on a brave face for me?

A tiny pool of tears began to fill the lowest reaches of both Noelle’s eyes. She did her best to blink them back. But as the first tears were about to break loose, the door to Rudy’s room opened and out stepped Asgore.

“Oh, hello Noelle. How are you?”

“U-u-uh, fine. Thanks for asking Mr. Dreemurr. Noelle spoke as she rapidly blinked to dispel the tears still congregating in her eyes.

Either Asgore did not see her tears or out of kindness to Noelle ignored them. Instead of commenting on the doe’s water works, The goat man softly chuckled then spoke. “You’ve known me for at least 18 years Noelle, no need to be so formal. I just wanted to stop by to see how your father was doing. I assume that’s why you’re here as well, yes?”

“Y-y-yeah, just felt like stopping by and saying hi to dad is all.”

“That is very kind of you Noelle. I’m sure it will make his day.”

“Well, I don’t want to keep you from seeing Rudy so I will be on my way. Stay strong Noelle...your father is.” With that, the patriarch of the fractured Dreemurr household made his way to the hospital’s exit.

Noelle took in a deep breath as the memory faded. She leaned the back of her head against her locker door until she felt the very tips of her antlers contact the metal. The doe let her head rest there as she allowed time to pass and her mind to settle.

For a brief second, she could have sworn she heard a sound emanate from within the tight confines of the locker. Listening for a moment proved fruitless so Noelle chalked up the mishearing to stress.

After a few minutes had passed, Noelle felt better and rose to her hooves. As she crested the top of her locker, she shot a glance to the spot where Toriel and Susie had been speaking and found that both the dragoness and the boss monster were gone.

“Shoot, If I had been paying better attention I could have maybe talked to Susie after Ms. Toriel left. I could have told her how unfair Ms. Toriel was obviously being or that...oh who am I kidding? I would have chickened out halfway through and run into the men’s room...again. Why do I have to be such a scaredy cat?”

Noelle hung her head, a pout forming on her lips, as she set about dialing in the combination to her lock.

12, 25, 20 and pop, Noelle’s lock disengaged with a hushed *click*. The doe unthreaded the lock’s arm through the hole in the locker’s handle and then pushed the handle upwards in order to open the door.

At least that is what she had intended to do. Instead, the handle remained firmly in place, it would not budge, even a fraction of an inch.

Perturbed but not beaten, Noelle tried to move the handle again this time using both her hands. When that failed, she took a step back from the locker and jabbed the side of her right pointer finger as hard as she could up against the handle.

“Come on, come on!” The doe wined as her latest attempt produced the same result as the previous ones.

“Please open, please.” The doe begged as she gingerly pressed the tip of her right middle finger up against the handle. To Noelle’s surprise, the soft approach seemed to work and the handle rose up without resistance until she heard a faint *tick* signaling that the door was no longer barred.

The *tick* was then followed by a resounding *ka-bang!* as the locker door flew open and crashed against the front of the locker to the right of it.

Out from the dark interior of the locker shot a twiggy arm and equally scrawny hand which instantly clamped down on Noelle’s left shoulder. Immediately afterwards out of the locker’s confines appeared the shaggy haired head of Hometown’s only human resident.

Kris Dreemurr broke his usual silence by uttering one very loud, short, but none-the-less powerful word, “BOO!”

The shock of being grabbed coupled with Kris’s sudden appearance and his ghost impression caused Noelle to jump back from the locker as hard as she could.

It was then that a lessen she had learned many times in her youth came back to her; namely, sudden movements on smooth floors plus hooves do not a good combination make. In an instance, Noelle felt both her legs slide out from under her.

Out of instinct and fear of flashing Kris a view of her panties, Noelle tucked her knees up towards her chest and used one hand to keep her skirt from billowing up. A second later and the air rung out with a sharp *smack* as Noelle’s knees and free hand slammed into the red and yellow tiles beneath her.

“Dang it!” The doe mewled as sharp, hot needles of pain zig-zagged their way up her arm and legs. She had fallen before during her cross country runs but dirt had a lot more give to it then linoleum, and while she wasn’t injured, she was still pained.

Shock, pain, and surprise at her “rude outburst” caused Noelle’s cheeks to blush and her already red nose to glow; as sure a sign as any that the holideer was well and truly embarrassed beyond words. For his part, Kris simply looked on in stunned silence.

“Yeesh, I expected a reaction out of her but not that much of one.” The quiet young man thought as he looked down at Noelle through his shaggy bangs.

Kris was about to break his usual silence to ask if the doe was alright, when a husky voice piped up to the side of where the human and doe were situated.

“Well shit freak, you pulled the trigger before I could ditch your mommy. Man, that old bitch wrecks everything.” Susie spoke as she walked into the bay of lockers in which Noelle and Kris were situated.

“I really wanted to see antler’s face when you...” Susie trailed off when she got a good look at “Antler’s” face.

It took a moment for Noelle to fully process what Susie had said but when she finally did, she felt a lump lodge itself in her throat. A second later and all Noelle could think was, “Susie really isn’t a good person...”

Maybe it was Susie’s words that did it, maybe it was thinking of her father’s dire medical situation, maybe it was the shock of Kris’s prank, maybe it was due to the pain of the fall, or maybe it was everything combined. Whatever the case, in that moment, sprawled out in a heap on the hallway floor, Noelle broke.

At first, it felt like her heart had cracked and she had just been sucker punched in the gut or maybe the chin; it was next to impossible for Noelle to put her finger on it. What was clear however, was the feeling of tears trickling down the sides of her face.

Noelle dipped her head down as soon as she felt the first tear leave her eye, foolishly hoping that neither Kris or Susie had seen her bawling begin. It took only a second for Noelle to realize that hiding her face did her no good as her hitched breathing had already betrayed her.

With any chance at covering her feelings shot, Noelle did not even make a cursory attempt to play off her wiping her eyes as anything other then exactly what it was.

“Pull it together Noelle.” The doe thought as she did her best to get herself under control. “You’re already the school scaredy cat, no need to be the school crybaby too.”

As she felt her breathing even out Noelle looked at the hand she had used to clear her tears and saw that the caramel brown fur upon it was covered in smears of a gooey, black substance.

“Great, messed up my mascara.” Noelle internally chided herself. “This just keeps getting better and better...”

Noelle spent what felt like several eternities trying to dry her eyes. After doing as best a job she could with the tools at hand, she tried and failed to look up at Kris and Susie.

All the attempt did was make her realize she had what her father would have called a “stringer” hanging out from her nose. A few hardy snorts later and Noelle’s already shattered ego was ground to dust.

Noelle, feeling as if she had nothing left to lose resolved herself to once more try and look up at Kris’s and Susie’s faces. She was rather shocked then when she felt a pair of large, claw-tipped hands hook her under her arms and lift her to her feet.

A second later and Noelle found herself staring into the amber eyes that just moments ago she had been swooning over. Seconds ago she would have been staring deeply into Susie’s eyes but as things stood, she could barely bring herself to meet the dragon’s gaze.

It was an immense relief to Noelle then when Susie deposited her back on the ground, hooves first. The landing was gentle, well at least by Susie’s standards.

For a moment, the trio stood in silence. Just before things became too awkward for Noelle to bear, Susie acted.

From the pocket of her worn, purple jacket the dragoness pulled a wadded up sheet of paper towel and handed it to the Holideer. Noelle eyeballed the offering before gingerly reaching out and taking it from Susie’s hand.

Upon close inspection, Noelle saw that while crumpled, the paper was mostly clean save for a smear of an oily substance in one of the corners. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Noelle used the makeshift tissue to clean up her face and sullied hand.

Without saying a word, Noelle held the paper back out to Susie who stared at it for a bit before cautiously pinching onto a corner and hastily cramming the makeshift hankie back into the pocket from which it had had been pulled.

Noelle only then realized just how gross handing a used tissue back to someone was. Upon coming to this realization,  the doe felt her cheeks and nose glow and even deeper shade of crimson.

“O-oh, that was rude. My apologies, S-S-Susie.”

“Don’t worry about it Ant-er…Noelle. I uh, I should probably be the one to say sorry.”

Noelle looked up at Susie’s face and saw on it a genuine look of sadness, even regret. Unless Susie was a truly skilled actor, which Noelle doubted she was, there was no mistaking that the dragoness felt bad for whatever role in Kris’s prank she had played.

“I’m sorry, Noelle.”

The two monsters turned their attention towards the usually silent speaker. While both the holideer and dragoness knew that Kris was no mute, neither of them were accustomed to hearing him speak with such conviction.

“Y-yeah, what the freak said.” Susie began, stumbling over her words as she did her best to figure out what to say. “That was a pretty shitty thing for us to do. We just meant to surprise you is all. We never meant to be you know, assholes or nothing like that.”

As Susie spoke, Kris nodded along in agreement.

After Susie finished speaking silence hung about the trio. The quiet started to take on a heaviness before Noelle finally spoke up.

“S-sure, Susie!” Noelle replied with a warm inflection. Seeing that deep down Susie was a good person brought a glowing smile to the doe’s face. “No problem, I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately is all.”

“Oh...ha, I gotcha!” Susie immediately heard how enthusiastic her reply was and did her best to reign herself in, least she lose her “street cred.”

“Well if you promise to not cry or anything, why don’t you come with me and Kris to QC’s? He was gonna buy me a snack, I’m sure a nice guy like him wouldn't mind covering you too. Would you freak?”

In response Kris gave a quick nod before shooting both Susie and Noelle a thumbs up.

Noelle could not believe her ears. Susie had just invited her out! Sure, Kris would be there but beggars could not be choosers, right?

“Uh, earth to Noelle?” Susie grumbled as she waved a hand in front of Noelle’s face to try and get a response from the dazed doe. “You coming or what?”

“I’ll be there! Oh and I promise no crying, not a single tear!”

“Cool, well lets get before all the good booths get taken.” With her piece spoken, Susie walked away from Kris and Noelle and made her way towards the school’s exit.

Just before she started to follow Susie, Noelle realized she still had things in her locker that she needed to grab before she left the school for the day.

“So did you crush any of my stuff while you were hiding in my locker or not?” Noelle inquired of Kris before looking into the matter herself.

In response to Noelle’s inquiry Kris did not speak a word. Instead, he took a few steps towards Noelle until they were only arm’s length apart.

“Uh Kris, what are you-” Noelle began to ask what the human was doing but she got her answer before she could fully ask the question.

Kris stepped in next to Noelle and wrapped her in the mother of all bear hugs. Noelle had heard the Dreemurr family were huggers but she had always thought the trait had not been one Kris had picked up.

Shocked by the sudden display of physical affection, Noelle was almost floored when Kris spoke.

“I really am sorry, forgive me?” Was all the human said.

“Yeah Kris...of course! What are friends for?”

Those last four words brought a genuine and large smile to the human’s face. One that touched Noelle.

“Gee, maybe having Kris at QC’s won’t be so bad.” Noelle thought as she enjoyed the warmth of the surprise hug she found herself in.

“Wow, Kris.” Susie chuckled as she walked back towards the pair.

In response, Kris hurriedly released the doe and walked toward the dragoness. As he walked, a light blush colored his cheeks.

“That was pretty gay, I don’t know if I can hangout with someone that does shit like that. You’re almost as bad as Ralsei.

“Ralsei?” Noelle asked as she joined Susie and Kris in walking towards the school’s exit.

“Oh uh...long story. Don’t worry about it?” Susie replied through an unconvincing attempt at a nonchalant look.

Not wanting to jeopardize her “in” with Susie, Noelle gave a series of rapid nods as a big, goofy grin spread across her face. It was the first, real smile she had sported in a long time and in that moment she felt better then she had in ages.

The end.