pronouns: they/them
summary: y/n has a conversation with a stranger on their desk.
requested: no
a/n: this is intended to be platonic, but to each there own ig + a lot of skips
tw: mentions of death, slight angst at the end
wc: 1k
life was a bore. y/n had no friends, average grades, and a low-paying little job at a nearby café. they couldn’t wait for their final year of high school to be over so they could really start living.
y/n looked at their wooden desk, not bothering to pay attention to their geography teacher. faded markings littered the frame as they traced their index finger over them, but something really stood out to them.
the words ‘i’m bored’ was etched in with the sharp end of a compass. it looked new. y/n chuckled at the statement. simple, but true. they looked up to make sure that no one was looking in their direction as they slipped their compass out of their blazer pocket and began to sketch in a respond.
the second they finished, they quickly put the compass back into their pocket. luckily, no one bothered to look their way. they inaudibly sigh to themselves. what was the point in that? no one was obviously going to respond.
the week continued on like usual, y/n didn’t spare another thought about the little conversation on their geography desk, well, until they sat back down in their seat and saw a respond.
y/n laughed lightly, bringing out their compass once again and began contemplating what they wanted to write.
they settled on ‘not a fan of geog either?’ before sitting up and listening to the lecture for the next hour.
y/n began to find themselves looking forward to geography, just because they were curious on who the mysterious person was on the other side of the conversation. it was sad really, y/n considered this stranger to be their friend at this point. their only friend. and they hadn’t even met them! so that’s when y/n decided that they were going to meet this person, and nothing was going to get in their way.
fortunately the next lesson rolled on quickly as y/n pretty much ran into the lesson, earning a smile from their teacher who was convinced they were excited to learn, but that wasn’t case.
they peered at their desk as they sat down, other students walking into the classroom, not bothering to look y/n’s way.
a new message was written underneath y/n’s question.
‘hate it. i assume u do too’
y/n didn’t want to seem too straight forward, but at the same time, they didn’t know how else to put it.
the weekend eventually came and for the first time in forever, y/n didn’t want to go home. for the entirety of the two days, y/n sat there thinking about who it could and couldn’t be. they had geography... but most students did, but they had it at a different time, so they were in a completely different class, maybe even year group. that’s pretty much all they knew, so in conclusion, they were stumped.
monday morning finally arose as y/n rode their bike to school. they had geography first period much to their delight.
they walked into the almost empty classroom to see their teacher at his desk. “ah, y/n, see that you’re here early again, enjoying geography are we?” mr. simons looked up at the teen through his glasses.
“er, yeah.” y/n nodded, speed walking down to their desk, and looked down to see a single word engraved, or as they should say- name.
y/n didn’t know anyone called tommy, or even thomas for that matter. it was fairly small school and she was almost completely certain no one had that name.
“hey, mr. simons...” y/n began, walking closer to the front desk. “is there anyone called tommy you teach?”
mr. simons leant back in his chair and bit his lower lip in though, “nope, i don’t know a tommy.”
“a thomas?” y/n questioned.
“no, sorry, kiddo.” he said, standing up and walking closer towards y/n. “why’d you want to know? is he someone you know, or something?”
“uh, no, i was just-” y/n looked down before continuing. “someone said their name was tommy. it’s written on my desk-″
before they could finish, mr. simons chuckled. “so, it was you who was writing on the desk! i though so.”
“um,” y/n wasn’t expecting to be caught. “i’m- i’m sorry, sir. i-”
“don’t worry about it, kid.” he smiled down at the student. “you’re not the first one to talk to tommy.”
“wait- i thought you didn’t know a tommy?” they raised an eyebrow. a million questions going through their head. “i’m confused.”
“tommy,” mr. simons began, walking towards y/n’s desk, tracing his finger over the old conversations. “he was a student here centuries ago, long before i was even born. he used to sit right here.” y/n followed him to their desk and looked down.
there were so many conversations there, so many that y/n didn’t pick up on. they were all conversations between tommy and former students.
“he died in this seat, no one knows how, but the anniversary of his death was exactly a week ago. when he started talking to you, y/n.” mr. simons looked up to see y/n’s shocked face.
“how’s that even possible?”
y/n was talking to a dead boy all along...
“i guess the spirit of tommy will always live on.” there was something in mr. simons’ eye that scared y/n.
“and now he will live on in you.”
