Chapter Text
Cold. Coldness all around.
She needed to wake up, but she didn’t want to.
She was cold. Like all the blood had drained out of her.
Someone was calling her.
She had to get up…
“Ms. Roulston?”
Spinel shifted where she lay as consciousness flooded back into her. She could feel a wet spot on her sleeve where she had been drooling, not to mention the cold metal and wood of the bench she was on.
“Ms. Roulston?”
Spinel pushed off against the bench she had been laying on, rubbing the last dregs of sleepiness out of her eyes. Standing over her was Mr. Kahananui, a guidance counselor for the college.
“Ms. Roulston. Spinel?” he asked in a vaguely practiced manner. Spinel nodded her confirmation without saying anything. “May I ask why you’re asleep, outside, on a school bench?”
“I wasn’t asleep,” she lied, suppressing a yawn. “I was just resting my eyes.”
“Do you usually snore while you ‘just’ rest your eyes?” Mr. Kahananui asked raising an eyebrow.
“Hey, I don’t criticize your resting habits, Mr. K.”
“Hm. True. That’s why I sleep indoors.” He sighed. “May I sit down?”
“Sure,” Spinel said simply as she slid her book bag onto the ground.
Mr. Kahananui sat down next to Spinel, pausing a moment before saying, “You know I’ve tried to be as accommodating to you as possible, Ms. Roulston. But… this crosses a line, I’m afraid.”
“Mr. K, It’s not what you think,” Spinel quickly said, her wits rapidly returning to her. “I’m just out here waiting for my first class of the day.”
“And when's your first class?”
“Nine.”
“And do you know what time it is right now?”
“Uhh… Eight?”
Mr. Kahananui sighed again. “It’s five, Ms. Roulston.”
“Oh,” Spinel replied dully, fully realizing the the orange light above her was coming from a lamppost. “Guess I’m a little early, then…”
“A little.” Another pause. “I’d appreciate an honest answer, now. Why did you leave the housing the school had prepared for you?”
Spinel thought for a moment before answering truthfully, “Because the roommate you set me up with was terrible .” She grimaced at the memory of her time spent with her ex-roommate. “I mean, she was loud and a slob… And a wrestling jock?” She looked down at her feet, adding under her breath, “I’d rather take my chances on the bench…”
“Beggars can’t really be choosers, Ms. Roulston,” Mr. Kahananui said. “Ms. Quartz was kind enough to volunteer the spare room in her apartment to you.”
“Pff… Some good that does if it only makes me want to be back in the ICU…”
“Ms. Roulston, this is a serious matter.”
“Fine, fine.” Spinel threw up her hands. “Tell ‘Ms. Quartz’ that I’ll be back.”
“I’m afraid I can’t. She’s already gotten a new roommate,” Mr. Kahananui said.
“Oh,” Spinel deflated.
“So you see the problem,” Mr. Kahananui said. “I can’t just have you sleeping on benches on school grounds, Ms. Roulston.” He sighed again, though this one seemed less out of frustration and more out having limited options. “If you don’t have anywhere else to stay, then… perhaps you should consider a shelter?”
Spinel felt a chill go down her spine as the word “shelter” left the councilor’s mouth.
I’d definitely rather be in the ICU…
“That’s not true, Mr. K. I have… friends I could talk to.”
“You do?”
Spinel nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
Mr. Kahananui was silent for another moment before saying, “Your grades are good, Ms. Roulston. You’re passing all your classes by a healthy margin. To be frank, considering what you’ve been through, that’s kind of amazing.”
“Yeah…” Spinel laid her hand across the back of her other hand. “Well, I like to spend time alone-”
No you don’t. You hate being alone.
“-so I might as well be productive while I do.”
“Hm. Well, regardless. You really need to find someplace safe to stay. If you need help getting to a shelter…”
“No, I don’t. Like I said, I’ve got some friends I can talk to about it.”
“Alright then, Ms. Roulston,” Mr. Kahananui said as he rose to his feet. “Your class doesn’t start until nine, correct?”
Spinel nodded.
“Then come on. You can stay in the facility lounge by my office until then.”
Spinel got up from the bench, adjusting her knit cap and grabbing her over-stuffed book bag. “Thanks, Mr. K. I… appreciate it.”
Mr Kahananui nodded silently as he began walking back to the main office, Spinel following after him.
“No.”
“Aww, c’mon, Lars,” Spinel pleaded.
“No. Not happening.” Lars took another bite of his sandwich, promoting Spinel to turn her attention.
“Sadie…” she said, plastering a pathetic as possible grin on her face. “Come on. Talk some sense into Lars.”
“Ah, well the thing is, Spinel…” Saide replied, slowly rubbing her shoulder. “I… kinda agree with Lars. I mean, we’re elbow-to-elbow as it is. We just don’t have the room…”
“But I don’t need much room! Everything I own fits in my book bag!” Spinel countered. “Come on, guys…”
Sadie looked away, clearly not wanting to look at Spinel as she delivered the final pronouncement. “I’m sorry, Spinel…”
Spinel melted back into her seat, letting out a long dreary sigh as she began to mentally go over all the places she could potentially get some sleep at tonight.
She glanced over at Lars, “I don’t suppose you could convince your dad to let me have my bench back?”
Lars swallowed the last bite of his sandwich. “Yeah. Probably not.”
“Great…” Spinel sighed as she laid her head against the smooth wooden table. “Well… There’s an overpass just outside of town. If it rains, I might be able to get some cover there…”
“Spinel,” Sadie began, her voice filled with an equal amount of concern and exasperation. “You know we’d let you stay with us if we had the room-”
“Pff… You cut the couches I could sleep on in half. Why’d you have to move in together?”
“Heh, if you figure that out, let me know,” Lars laughed, though his laughter was cut off by Sadie firmly hitting him on the shoulder.
“-but as it stands now,” Sadie continued, “in the apartment, we have a path leading from the door, to the kitchen, and to the bedroom.” She sadly shook her head. “We… just don’t have the space, Spinel. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, yeah… I know, Sadie…”
There was a beat of silence before Sadie softly asked, “I know it’s not ideal, but… why don’t you stay at the shelter? Even just for a while?”
Spinel lifted her head from the table, shooting Sadie a sharp look. “You know why I can’t. Last time I did they-”
She held me down. Stabbed my hand when I tried to crawl away. Punched me. Kicked me. I felt her hand slip down my shirt-
“-just gave me a hard time. Harassed me and stuff.” She shrugged. “I don’t need that. Rather sleep in the park with the real hobos.” She planted her head firmly back on the table.
“Spinel…” Sadie sighed.
Silence held for a moment as the sounds of other students in the courtyard went about their business around them. Spinel had closed her eyes and was going through a mental checklist of all the possible places she could sleep tonight when Sadie spoke again.
“Actually, Spinel. I do know some place you can stay.”
Spinel raised her face from the table again. “Yeah?”
Sadie nodded. “Got a new customer at the shop a month or so ago. They come in a few times a week. And, just Monday, they mentioned that they had just moved into an apartment that had a spare room.”
“You’re pawning me off onto one of your donut customers?”
Sadie shook her head wearily. “Would you rather sleep under the overpass?”
A pause.
“Hm. And you think they’d let me stay with them?”
“Maybe. They’re always super cheerful when they come by the shop.” Sadie shrugged. “It couldn’t hurt to ask, right?”
Spinel rested her chin back on the table.
“Yeah. I guess not…”
Spinel sat on the low wall that wound around the outside of the college. Students were passing all around and she had only a vague description of what her new roommate looked like. Her eyes kept jumping from person to person, until she heard someone say her name.
“Spinel?”
Spinel craned her neck around in order to see who was addressing her.
The person held out their hand. “Stevonnie. Nice to meetcha roomie!”
They managed to both live up to and completely ignore the expectations Spinel had built. Their hair was long and bushy, the polar opposite of Spinel’s own. They possessed what could best be described as an athletic build, something that was accentuated by the too-short shirt they wore, despite the cool fall temperatures. Spinel noted a pink, gemstone piercing on their navel.
“Hey,” Spinel replied simply. “Spinel. Guess I owe ya for getting me out of the cold.” She took Stevonnie’s hand into her own and Stevonnie treated her to a firm handshake.
“Ah, right. It’s no problem.” Stevonnie’s eyes were drawn to the paper ring around Spinel’s wrist. “Is… that your bracelet from your stay at the hospital?”
Spinel quickly withdrew her hand, drawing the cuff of her sweatshirt to hide the bracelet. “Yeah, it… it is.”
Stevonnie’s expression quickly melted into one of shocked embarrassment. “Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” They grimaced at their bare feet.
“It’s alright. No harm done.”
"Yeah... So I guess Sadie gave you the low-down on the apartment situation?" Stevonnie asked.
Spinel raised an eyebrow.
Great. This is where the catch comes in.
"Besides that you have an apartment to share, no."
"I do, I do," Stevonnie assured, seeming to sense Spinel's growing scepticism. "It's just... I also already have a roommate. Their name's-... Uh, huh. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure what their name actually is..." Stevonnie shook their head. "But everyone calls them Smoky."
"Smoky."
"Yeah, but they're really nice. A lot of fun to hang around. And they have some of the best yo-yo tricks I've ever seen," Stevonnie said. "The apartment's two bedrooms, but we still have a couch you can use... if you're still interested, of course."
Spinel paused only a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I'm still in."
Not like I have many opinions.
Stevonnie nodded in return. "Good, good," they said. “And I guess I should probably mention that Sadie did tell me that you just got out of the hospital a few days ago. Do you, like… is there a follow-up you need to schedule or…?”
“No. Just some pain medicine I’m working through.” Spinel shook her head. “Nothing super strong though. I’ll let you see it first, if you want.”
Stevonnie held up their hands “No, no. That’s alright.” They rubbed the back of their neck. “Sorry. I can be a little nosey sometimes…” A beat of silence. “So…”
Spinel sighed internally. “Someone jumped me, took a knife to me a few times and then dumped me in an alley. Some altruistic soul saw me bleeding out on top of a garbage bag and called 911.”
“Oh, wow…” Stevonnie whispered. “That’s… that’s horrible, Spinel.”
She shrugged. “No point dwelling on it.”
“Man, you’re pretty resilient then, huh?”
“Haven’t been shattered yet.”
“Did you… see who attacked you?”
She bit her tongue.
“Spinel?”
“No. They got me from behind. Never got a good look at their face.”
“Ah, that’s unfortunate. Can’t report them to the police or anything,” Stevonnie said. “And… you’re alright?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Silence hung between them for a few uncomfortably long seconds before Stevonnie spoke again.
“Yeah, I just kinda moved into town,” they said.
“Yeah?”
Stevonnie nodded. “Mom and Dad grew up around here. Thought I’d see what it’s like, you know?” They smiled broadly. “That, and I just love the beach. Some of my earliest memories are running around the beach during twilight.”
“Sounds great,” Spinel said. “I’m kinda new around here myself. Just moved here last year or so.”
“Where’d you come from?”
“A… long ways aways.”
“I see…” Stevonnie trailed off. “Well, I guess let’s head to the apartment, if you’re ready.”
“Everything I own is in my bag,” Spinel answered. “I’m always ready.”
“Great. I’m parked just over here.” Stevonnie pointed and then began to walk towards the parking lot.
Spinel followed them, looking up and down the row of vehicles, trying to guess which one Stevonnie will stop in front of.
“Hey, Spinel. Can… I ask one more nosy question?”
“I guess…”
“What’s the SR written on your hospital band mean?”
Again, Spinel bit her tongue.
“If you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to,” Stevonnie quickly said. “I… was just wondering…”
“No, it’s okay. It just stands for-”
Suicide risk
“-Spinel Roulston. They’re my initials.”
“Really…” Stevonnie said, their tone saying that they either weren’t satisfied or didn’t believe her.
“Yep. My parents were weird. Though, it seems like there are a lot of people around town with gemstone names…”
“Hmm… Well, I guess I’ll see that once I get to know more people.”
They walked together in silence for awhile before Stevonnie stopped in front of a dirty white car. Spinel noted that the doors were locked, but the windows were rolled down regardless.
“‘96 Supremo,” Stevonnie said proudly. “It was my Dad’s, but I cleaned it up and got it running again.”
“Nice, I suppose. Sorry, don’t really know much about cars.”
“Heh, that’s alright. It’s more of a personal victory, then anything.” They clicked the button on their keychain, unlocking the doors. “Though… the windows don’t roll up. I hope that isn’t a problem.”
“Nah, it’s fine.” Spinel opened the passenger side and threw her book bag into the back seat. “It’s been a few days since I’ve showered, so open windows might be a good idea.”
Stevonnie got into the driver's seat, pushing the keys into the ignition and then buckling the seatbelt around them. “That’s alright. Once we get to the apartment, you can fix that straight away.” They turned the key, starting the car. “Still though. I apologize for the chill you’re about to experience.”
“It’s alright,” Spinel said as she hung her arm out the door, the paper bracelet just barely visible past the cuff of her sleeve.
“I’m used to the cold.”