Sandpaper Sides - Cronus Ampora [Homestuck]

You let out a low growl as you came to the entrance of your new school. You couldn't help but despise the place instantaneously. Your reason? Well, when you looked around, the only types of people you saw were- and this is summing people up by their body language and outward appearance -preps, jocks, stoners, and what you assumed to be either 'emo's or goths. Little to say, none of those crowds did anything for you. You were one of those students who preferred to stay indoors, get your shit done as quickly as possible, and then play videogames, read a book, or do something along those lines. That said, you didn't need very many friends to be in your happiest environment.

Not only did the students make you hate the place, but the fact that you had joined in the middle of the semester made it that much worse.

You decided to rid your head of all the negative thoughts and fill it with the positives. And what were those, you might ask? Well, that's exactly what you were looking for. So far, you came up with nothing.

Your mouth came to its customary downward curve as you took your first step inside the main building, the sound of idle chatter ringing in your ears. You noticed a few people staring at you, boys and girls alike, as you made your way to the office. However, before you even got halfway there, you were stopped by some douche in the hallway.

"Where the hell are you off to," He spoke tauntingly, "on your way to fuck your cousin?"

Now, let's just say that you liked camo. That is, you loved it. Not a day went by that you didn't wear something that was camouflage, and because of this a lot of people classified you using the redneck stereotype.

Today in particular, you were wearing simple camouflage pants (the kind with lots of big, awesome pockets), a white tank-top, black combat boots, and a black beanie to match. How that outfit screamed, "I'm a redneck!" you would never know.

A sigh escaped your lips, and without a word you rolled your head to the side, effectively cracking your neck in several places. You repeated the action in the opposite direction, creating the same popping sound, though that time it was much louder. Slipping your backpack off of your shoulders and holding it on one arm, you looked the boy in the eyes.

"Care to run that by me again?" You asked, your expression nothing short of threatening.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what I meant to say was brother, not cousin," The boy said, "Please forgive my ignorance." He gave you a slight shove, causing you to have to take a few steps back in order to keep your balance.

Another sigh. Another deafening crack escaping your joints, though this time it came from the knuckles in your fingers.

"Y'know," You dropped your backpack to the floor, "your words don't hurt even the slightest bit as much as my punches do." And with that, you swung at him, your fist meeting him square in the jaw. You threw yet another punch, this time hitting him in the stomach, and your third punch came flying down, connecting with his cheekbone. "Three strikes," You muttered as you turned around and picked up your backpack, "You're out." You slung the bag over your shoulder and walked off.

However, nothing ever goes as they do in storybooks.

"You bitch!" A shrill voice echoed above all the others. A girl came from the crowd of people and slapped you straight across the face. She must've been his side girl. You were stunned for a moment, but the slightest smirk came to your features.

You swiftly returned the stinging sensation, though your hand included ten times the intensity of the pain that hers left behind. You heard a whimper escape from her throat as she cupped her cheek and looked back at you, her expression shocked.

"I'm not afraid to hit a girl," You said before walking off yet again.

Soon enough, you came to the door of the office. You stepped through the doorway and closed the oak wood behind you, quickly making your way to the desk lady.

"[First] [Last]. I'm here to finish up the paperwork for my transfer," You spoke up.

The woman peeked at you ever the edge of her wire-rimmed glasses.

"Ah, yes," She said, "If I could have you come this way, we'll take your picture for your student ID."

You did as you were instructed and stepped around the counter, standing in front of a white wall. The woman grabbed a camera out of a personal office nearby and came to stand in front of you.

"Smile!" She said cheerfully. You did your best to oblige her, hiving a half-assed grin before she took the picture.

She then went back to her seat and gestured for you to go back to the place you had been before. You did so while the woman shuffled through a drawer before pulling out a piece of paper and laying it in front of you. She handed you one of those shitty men's disguised to look like a flower and tapped on the paper's corner.

"Just read through it and sign at the bottom, then take it home tonight, have your parents sign it, and bring it back to me tomorrow morning!" She explained with a smile.

You blinked for a moment before speaking.

"No, there must have been a mistake, I've emancipated myself, so I should have a different form," You explained, turning the paper around for it to face her. She seemed taken aback for a split second until her same smile came straight back to her features.

"Well, in that case I'm not the one to see. You should be talking to our principal, Amy Schumer," She nodded in the direction of a maple door with the word, "Principal," stamped on it in golden letters. You nodded in gratitude and headed straight to the door, knocking on it the moment you could reach it.

"Come in," A seemingly bored female voice ordered from the other side. You opened the door and closed it behind yourself, turning to face the woman at her desk.

"I'm [First] [Last]. I need the confirmation form for an emancipated minor," You went straight to the point.

"Ah," Mrs. Schumer let out a sound of clarity as she reached for the bottom drawer. Pulling it open, she took out a piece of paper and handed it to you, pointing to a small table once you took it fro n her hand. "You know what to do," She said, "You can do it right there, it shouldn't take but a minute."

You nodded in response as you scanned over the letters on the sheet, sitting down in a chair at the table. You pulled your own pen from your backpack and signed off on the paper, picking it up and laying it down near the edge of the woman's desk.

She nodded to you in affirmation, signaling that you could leave. You took the opportunity happily, getting on your way to your first class.

You had received an email with two files attached the week before. The first was a map of the school and the second was your schedule. Your first class was AP Physics, which was just around the corner from the office. So, luck would have it that you made it to your class perfectly on time. In fact, you were there a bit early.

This indeed was the case. However, you didn't have the chance to sit and read quietly as you would have liked to. Instead, a boy with an unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth and his black hair slicked back sat down facing you at the desk in front of yours. He folded his arms and rested them on your desk, allowing his head to sit in the crook of one of them. You noticed his leather-clad back as well as his blue jeans, and you couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at him.

"What's up, dollface?" He asked you, a lopsided grin falling into place on his lips.

"I don't know, why don't you tell me? Or is that even possible, seeing as you obviously just got here from the fifties?" You tilted your head to the side a bit in mock curiosity, your index finger tapping lightly on your chin.

"Woah, I didn't mean to piss you off by tryin'a make some conversation," He said defensively as he sat up, his hands raised in a defensive posture. "There's no need for passive-aggressive remarks with me, baby, I was just tryin'a talk to ya."

"And what does that tell you?"

"What does what tell me, doll?"

"The fact that I'm obviously being hostile."

"Well, I wasn-"

"It means that I don't want to make small talk or meet anyone new here. Y'know what else it means? It means fuck off. And stop calling me nicknames, you don't even know my real name."

"Geez," He said, "I'd know it if ya gave me the chance to ask ya."

"Well that sucks, doesn't it?"

"No, it doesn't," He said. Now that puzzled you. You blinked for a second, until he spoke up again. "Your name is [First], ain't it?" He spoke, a bit of victory shining in his tone.

"How the hell did you know that?" You spat.

"Let's just say I have a gift," He said, giving you a wink.

"Fine, you have a gift. So what's your name, Pony Boy?" You squinted at him slightly. You had to admit, he didn't seem like any of the other students that went to that high school, and he was clever enough in his own right.

"Cronus," He answered, "Cronus Ampora." He offered his hand as a greeting, to which you hesitantly shook.

"Well your not as much of a piece of shit as the rest of the kids that attend this hell hole," You said. You heard a chuckle come from the boy while you glanced at the clock. About ten minutes until class started. You were about to ask him what the hell was so funny when he spoke up.

"Y'know what your problem is?" He plucked the cigarette from his mouth. You wondered how he didn't get in trouble with that one, even if it was unlit.

"What's my problem?" You asked, giving a hardly existent nod in his direction.

"You have sandpaper sides," He recanted, placing the cancer stick back in between his lips.

"Sandpaper sides?" You furrowed your eyebrows slightly, "The hell does that mean?"

"It means you don't even give anyone a chance," He answered, "You just sand away the moment you make contact with someone, and you keep going until you pull away, only to find that you've gone and put a dent in 'em."

You stared at him as you processed his words, folding your arms over your chest.

"Is that like another way of saying that I have walls or something?" You asked him skeptically.

"You could take it that way," He told you, "but usually walls just keep people out and don't cause them harm. Sandpaper grates at their morale."

You furrowed your eyebrows yet again, but this time it was more in mild anger.

"Whatever," You said, unsure of what he said that was so upsetting to you. You glanced st the clock again. Seven minutes. It seemed that time just wanted to make you suffer.

"Well, since you want to be left alone so badly, I'll leave you to your harmful ways," Cronus said as he stood and have you a small head nod before walking off to another corner of the classroom.

For the rest of that day you couldn't seem to get his words out of your head. They seemed to resonate there, making you think about it more and more.

You didn't know it, but Cronus kept an eye out for you throughout that day as well, watching your demeanor as you would perform different tasks. You were fascinating to him for some reason, though what it was he couldn't quite figure out.

In fact, for the entire following week neither of you could get the other out of their head. You found yourself not only thinking about what Cronus had said, but about Cronus himself. You pondered what he would be like as a friend, and there were very few people that you would ever even consider being associated positively with, let alone consider being friends with.

It was the first day of your second week at the school, and you still couldn't get Pony Boy off your mind. With a quiet groan, you made your way to your first class, which you shared with the person who tortured you day in and day out ever since your first meeting.

As you sat down at your seat, a thought came to you. Why not just try to be nice to him? He seemed like an actually level-headed person, unlike everyone else that you happened to come across in hell. Not to mention that he'd never given you a reason to be mistrusting of him. With a small sigh, you decided to try to be nicer to him, albeit a bit uncharacteristic of you.

When he walked into class, he caught sight of you and didn't hesitate a moment to stride right to your seat.

"Mornin', dollface," Cronus greeted you with his trademark grin.

"Morning," You gave him a casual greeting as well, studying him to see if he would react. Oh, react he did. He paused, his eyes slightly wider than normal as he blinked at you.

"Hey, is somethin' wrong?" He asked, lifting his hand and gently touching it to your forehead, "You don't have a fever. Say, is this a trick or somethin'?" He leaned back in the chair he was in, folding his arms over his chest.

"No tricks here," You said with a shrug, "I just thought that you seemed like a level-headed enough person for me to become acquainted with you." Again, he studied your body language before replying.

"Well, then what'ya say we hang out sometime?" He offered, "We could get some coffee or something, I guess?"

"Sure," You accepted with yet another shrug, whatever keeps you golden, Pony Boy."

A grin came back to Cronus' lips once more.

"Alright, why don't we do it now?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow in your direction. You were taken a bit off-guard at his offer.

"What about school?" You sat up straight, gesturing to the classroom that the two of you were in.

"School can torture someone else's soul for the day," He answered, leaning on your desk, "I'm gonna leave whether or not you come with me, and I ain't comin' back here for the rest of the day."

You chuckled quietly to yourself; he was right.

"Amen to that," You said in finality. Your hands met with the desk, creating a quiet slamming sound as you pushed yourself up. You lifted your backpack off the ground and hung it on your shoulder, making your way to the classroom door with Cronus following close behind you.

Within about a half an hour, the two of you arrived at the mall. You hopped out of your car- you had refused to go in his car -and quickly made your way to the front door of the large, brick building.

"Hey, wait up, doll," Cronus said as he caught up with you.

"Were going to Game Stop," You muttered.

"What-" Cronus was about to ask you a question when you began dragging him off to the store you had mentioned. You reached your final destination within minutes.

A grin spread across your face as you stood in the presence of the glory of Game Stop. Once you let go of Cronus and gave him a moment to collect himself you entered the store.

"The new Call of Duty is almost ready to be sold, isn't it?" You asked the clerk, though your hopes were set on it being in-store.

"Actually," The teller replied, "we have it in stock right now. Only one, though." Your face brightened up at that bit of information.

"Can you hold it for me?" You asked, your tone similar to that of a giddy child, "My wallet is at home."

"Of course," He answered, "but we can only hold it until we close today, then tomorrow it'll be back on the shelves." The man picked up his lanyard up from the counter and stepped around it, making his way to the Xbox game section.

"I'll be back before you close," You nodded eagerly, "I swear."

"Alright," He said, "your game will be waiting."

You internally screamed in excitement as you turned around, ready to sprint back to your car. However, you came face-to-chest with Cronus. In all honesty, you'd forgotten he was even there. A smirk adorned his features as he looked downward at you.

"C'mon!" You ignored his expression and grabbed his hand, dragging once again back to your car.

You got to your house as quickly as you possibly could, climbing out of your car immediately upon arrival. You rushed inside, so focused on finding your wallet that you didn't notice Cronus enter behind you. He looked around, curious about the house that you lived in.

It was a small studio apartment. Though it was admittedly a bit cramped, you loved it. It was cozy and, more importantly, affordable.

As you rummaged through your drawer that your wallet was usually kept in, Cronus spoke up.

"So this is your place, huh?" He inquired, looking around, "Isn't it a bit cramped with more than one person?"

"Huh?" You stood up straight from your hunched over position, turning to look at him.

"What are you talking about? More than one person my ass. I live on my own, numb nuts," You explained, "Though, it is a bit cramped, even with one person."

"Oh," He trailed, though he quickly spoke again, "Wait, you live on your own, dollface?"

"No, I just decided to tell you that I do in order to get you to ask me a stupid, obvious question," You retorted sarcastically.

"Hey, I was just shocked, is all," He defended himself, shrugging a bit.

"Why would the fact that I live on my own be shocking?"

"Well, because. . . I guess you just don't meet a lot of people who emancipate themselves before they turn eighteen."

"You've met one now," You chortled quietly. However, just as the small laugh ended, you let out an aggravated groan. "I can't find my damn wallet anywhere!" You whined, stomping a foot on the ground like an angered toddler.

Cronus gave you an odd look, one that you couldn't quite pin what the emotion was behind it.

"Well, you aren't looking properly," He said with a laugh. "Look," He continued, "when you're lookin' for something in a confined space, and it can be easily covered by the rest of whatever's in the drawer, you've gotta take things out one by one. Otherwise, you'll end up lookin' for it until you grow old." He walked towards your desk and leaned over you, unlit cigarette dangling in your face. As he reached down into the drawer, he began plucking out items one by one. A kerchief, a few scarves, a pair of suspenders. . . after a while, he pulled out your swimming suit top to reveal just what you were looking for. Laying there, in all of its [color]-stained, leathery glory, was your wallet. "See?" Cronus spoke softly as he gave a light point in the direction of your wallet.

Your face lit up immediately at the sight of your beloved purchase pal, and you swiftly snatched it from where it laid.

"Uhm. . . ," You thought for a moment before mumbling, "thanks."

"No problem, doll," Cronus replied, patting you on the head.

For some reason, instead of reacting as you usually would have, you allowed him to pet you, albeit for a short amount of time. It gave you a weird sense of security, and you, for reasons unknown, liked it.

Giving a curt nod, you turned and headed out the door and right back to your car. The both of you loaded up into your car once again, and you sped off back to the mall, where you hurriedly bought the precious new game before going straight back home to start it up.

Once you were inside your small abode for the last time that day, you fervently placed the disk into the console and booted up the game. You'd nearly forgotten about Cronus' presence yet again when he chuckled lightly at your side and sat down.

"Can I play, too?" He asked you, leaning back on one hand.

"Sure," You accepted, picking up a controller and shoving it into his grasp.

For the rest of that day the two of you talked and played videogames. To be frank, Cronus was horrible at it, and you had to show him the ropes when it came to performing tasks and shooting. At one moment, he almost tossed your controller halfway across the room because it vibrated.

"'The fuck was that?" He practically shouted, gesturing in feigned disgust in the direction of the controller. Luckily for him, it landed on a pile of clean clothes that needed to be folded.

"It's just a vibration setting, you pansy," You nudged him with your elbow, "Now get up and go get my controller. I'll turn the setting off if it bugs you that much."

Cronus stood and snatched the plastic, wireless controller off the laundry before traipsing right back into his seat.

"No, I don't need you to turn it off," He mocked your voice, "It just startled me, I'll get used to it."

"Right." Blatant sarcasm on your part.

Both of you battled it out all day, not allowing a single care in the world to break your fun. Before you even knew it night was falling, as well as your eyelids.

"You should probably get home," You said while turning off all of your equipment.

"I would if my car were here," He replied.

"Oh. . . right, I forgot about that," You dazed off for a split second before shaking it away. "Well, I'm not going to drive you back to the school, so you'll just have to crash here for the night," You said nonchalantly as you plopped the pile of clean clothes onto your bed and began to fold them.

Out of the blue, you heard a noise come from Cronus' direction, though you weren't sure exactly what sort of noise it was. You blinked at him only to find that he was staring at the bra in your hand.

"Oh my God," You muttered, "Really? It's just a fucking bra. You act like it's going to kill you." You chuckled the article of clothing at him, hitting his right in the face with it. He let out a slight noise of panic, falling back onto his butt on the floor. The bra was right beside him. For some reason, the scene made you begin to giggle. You giggled. It soon escalated into all-out laughter as you clutched your stomach and fell to your back on your bed.

Then, you heard a chuckle come from Cronus. Still laughing, you managed to peek at him and saw that he, too, was struggling with a fit of laughter. Soon enough, the both of you calmed down and you went back to folding your clothes, leaving the room in an awkward, yet happy silence. Which was broken briefly when you were asked a question.

"We bad a good time today, didn't we, Sandy?"

"Yeah."

That night you pulled the trundle out from under your daybed, and Cronus slept there.

You awoke in the morning to the smell of bacon. That is to say, you immediately sat straight up and looked around, wondering who the hell was in your house. Then everything registered and you let out a breath that you hadn't known you'd been holding. You rubbed the sleep out if your eyes before you stretched, a yawn escaping your lips.

"Mornin', dollface," Cronus greeted you.

"I have a name, y'know," You stated matter-of-factly, "[First] [Last]."

"I know your name," He replied, "but I almost never call anyone by their names, so you can kiss that idea goodbye." He waved to add emphasis to his words, giving you a quick sideways glance. Luckily for him, the glance went unnoticed by you.

You gave a momentary chuckle and shook your head, rubbing your eyes once more. You stood up and walked over to the counter, peeking at the pan in front of Cronus.

"Looks good," You gave a small smile at the thought of food.

"Thanks," He thanked you, returning your smile with one of his own.

"So, we finish eating that, do you want me to take you back to the school?"

He chuckled at the emphasis you put on, "we."

"Yeah, that's where my car is, after all."

"Uh-huh. . . ," You trailed. The popping of the bacon filled the air, replacing a silence that would have been. A huff escaped your mouth before you went to your dresser, pulling open a drawer and quickly selecting a simple, comfy outfit.

As you had never been one to care much about things like half-nudity in front of other people, you began changing. When your shirt slipped over your head, however, you heard something wooden collide with the floor. Caught a bit off-guard by the out-of-the-blue sound, you hurriedly yanked your shirt off the rest of the way, sending a stare in Cronus' direction.

There he stood, his mouth slightly agape and your spoon on the floor as he stared straight back at you.

"Earth to Cronus," You clapped your hands before dropping the fabric to the floor. "If you burn the bacon, I'm going to burn you," You warned.

He finally managed to collect himself and speak.

"Oh, yeah," He muttered, "Sorry, doll."

His actions were strange.

"Is something wrong with you?" You asked him suspiciously. You began pulling a flannel that you had chosen over your head. You'd never unbutton them. It always wasted too much time, in your opinion. Just as you were about to fit your head out through the neck hole, you felt a sharp pain on the back of your head. As it turns out, one of the spare buttons that was sewn into the tag caught in your unbrushed bedhead. "Fuck," You cursed, reaching your hands up to feel if you could somehow untangle the knots yourself.

In the end, your efforts proved fruitless.

You groaned lightly when you gave up, allowing your arms to flop to your sides. You were just about to try and take the shirt off when you were asked a question.

"You need some help there?" Cronus asked, his voice unusually soft. It still had sort of an undertone of laughter, though, which gave you a bit of reassurance. You didn't want to admit it, but you did need help.

". . . Yeah," You answered after a short, hesitant pause. A chuckle could be heard under Cronus' breath. In most cases you wouldn't have heard it, but with his now close proximity it was hard to miss. "Don't laugh at me," You spoke defensively, "This has happened to virtually everyone at least one time in their life. Unless their either bald or they literally live under a rock and don't know what buttons are." Another chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," He gave. You felt the tension on your skull go slack as Cronus pulled the collar of your shirt down fully, revealing your face, your hair sitting above it in a haphazard mess. "Well then, princess, I do say your hair is looking marvelous today," He commented jokingly.

A light-hearted laugh emitted from your throat as you gave a small bow.

"Thank you, my dear subject," You replied before lifting your hand, "You may kiss my hand." You had your head turned up and slightly to the right, making it look as though you were putting on airs.

There was a pause, which caused you to turn quickly and look at him, a slightly curious expression on your face. Just as your line of vision intersected with him, however, he gently grasped your hand and brought it upward. The feeling of his lips against your skin sent a shiver down your spine.

After another short pause, you spoke again.

"The bacon is going to burn. . . ," You couldn't manage to keep yourself from stuttering. You quickly pulled your hand from his grasp and turned away from him, the gears in your mind beginning to turn. You held the hand that he'd kissed and began massaging it, staring it down as though it were a strange, new appendage that had sprouted in mere seconds.

The click of the burner turning off brought you back to reality. You spun around, finding that Cronus had found your bacon grease cup from the fridge and was adding the excess grease from the pan to it. He noticed your gaze trained on his action and a small smirk came to his face.

"I found this in your fridge when I was looking for the bacon," He told you, "'Figured that you'd want me to add this to it, too. What's it for, anyway?"

"It's good to add flavor to certain dishes," You explained with a shrug. "For me, personally, I like to take it to a pan with some spaghetti noodles and sauce; fry it up. That's how my mother used to do it," You smiled at the thought, an air of nostalgia overwhelming you.

It was silent for a long while after that, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. Then, you snatched a piece of bacon off the plate and took a bite.

"I swear, bacon is the best fucking thing to grace the earth," You mumbled before finishing the piece off in no more than a bite and grabbing another, "And you cooked it just right, too."

"Well thanks, doll," Cronus replied, "I'll take a compliment from you whenever I can get it. You don't seem like the type to give 'em out too often."

"Did'ya figure that out all by yourself, genius?"

"And the woodworker sands again."

You looked at him, your expression offended slightly. You elbowed him lightly in the arm, earning a small chortle from him.

"Sorry, sorry," He said quickly.

You glanced back and forth between him and the plate of bacon.

"I forgive you," You replied before quickly adding, "but only because this bacon is so good." He nodded in turn.

"Hey, you should make me some o' that fried pasta you talked about," He suggested before taking a bite of bacon.

"And just why should I do that?" You tilted your head.

"Because," He began, "You owe me for this bacon. Not to mention that you didn't take me back to my car yesterday."