“Clean teeth = A clean bill of health!” So says Hay, the horse dentist. 

Or was it a dentist horse? A horse dentist would be… a dentist for horses, right? But a horse who's a dentist would be a dentist horse… 

Did Hay take care of other horses' teeth? Well, humans took care of other humans' teeth, so it made sense that a dentist horse would take care of horses' teeth.

So, Hay was a horse dentist horse.

Why was he a horse, though-- Hay was a he, right? Well, it wasn't pink with long eyelashes, an hourglass figure, and a little bump in the chest to imply the presence of boobs, so it was probably a guy.

It still didn't explain why he was a horse, though. Why, out of all the animals out there, did they pick a horse for a poster telling kids to brush their teeth? Horses had super yellow teeth-- Wait, all animals had yellow teeth!

Probably because they didn't brush them...

Maybe they should've gone with a talking tooth instead? Nah… too generic. 

What animal could be a good fit for the campaign? How about a fish? Fish teeth were super white and stuff. They were… pearly whites! They could have gone with a clam. No, clams didn't have teeth, but maybe they could be filled with pearls imitating teeth! 

“Take care of your pearly whites!” That was what… Carl, the clam would say!

No, that was stupid. Fucking Carl? Seriously? But what other name could you give to a clam? Howard?! Steve?! Nerd ass names…

Maybe Carl could be saved for a reading campaign instead.

Yes, clams opened up kinda like books and had pearls inside.

“Don't be afraid to open those covers, you might find a real pearl!” So would say Carl, the... nerd-ass clam!

Now, going back to the teeth…

How about sharks?

Yes! Fin, the shark dentist shark! Not only did sharks have much cleaner teeth, but they also had an endless number of teeth! A shark would be a much better role model for kids striving for good dental hygiene.

But maybe it would be too scary for the kids, huh?

Now that he thought about it, wasn't there a fish that cleaned teeth and stuff?

What was it called again?

God, he couldn't for the life of him remember--

“All done.” An unfortunately familiar nasally voice brought him back into the room.

Adam looked at the nurse's handiwork. As always, clean and well secured, wrapping around his palm like a glove.

“You should change it once a day or if it begins bleeding through.” She said with the same autopilot-like coldness. “You can drop by, and I'll take care of it for you if you need. Here.” She shoved a juice box into his good hand, then went about putting away the medical supplies without gracing him with another glance.

“Orange… Thanks…” he murmured.

For fuck's sake, why was it always orange juice? Seriously, there were so many other fruits out there; why is it that every time he got sent there, she gave him a box of damned orange juice?! Did Mark have anything to do with this? Did he bribe the nurse into always giving him orange juice?!

“Ugh…” Adam let out, his tongue crying for mercy and his stomach already churning after one sip.

“You're not getting out of here until you drink that.” The nurse rolled her eyes, sat on a chair, and took her phone out.

Adam sighed. 

Hopefully, next time Mark would just… chemically burn his tongue and render him permanently unable to taste.

“Staring at it won't make the juice magically disappear,” the nurse commented, audibly watching some makeup tutorial on her phone.

“Fine…”

(...)

Adam exited the office just in time to get hit with the bell ringing, covering his ears and sticking to the wall as the crowd began filling the corridors.

He could feel others staring at him as he tried to slip by, more specifically, at his hand.

They should be used to seeing him like that by now…

He managed to find his way to the usual meeting spot in the student lounge, seeing that David had saved the usual seat for him.

“Yo, how you feeling?” David asked, patting the spot next to him on the old, flaky sofa.

“Well, she made me drink a whole box of orange juice, so…” Adam complained, throwing his bag next to his friend's and sitting down. “Where's Cassie?” he asked, scanning the room. Did she leave for greener pastures that fast? He couldn't really blame her, but still, something just felt so empty in his chest…

“She needed to go buy something from the school's store,” David said. “She should be back soon.”

“The school's store? And you just let her go?” he asked, feeling happy despite the judgmental scowl covering his face.

“Ah…”

“David, we get a 90% discount at the store,” Adam reminded him.

“Oh, yeah, I offered to use it, but she said she doesn't feel comfortable with others doing favors for her that involve money or something like that?” David explained.

“Okay.” It seems she didn't like to feel indebted… 

He looked at his hand and then turned to his friend.

“Did you tell her about the deal with Mark?” he questioned.

“I gave her the rundown. Why?”

Adam sighed and lifted his bandaged hand.

“It was either this or Mark was going to kill her dog,” he explained. “I don't want her to know. I don't want to risk making her feel guilty or something like that.”

“Yeah, I figured as much… And I thought she might figure it out, so I told her it was because I giggled.”

“Good,” Adam sighed, sinking into the sofa. It also had been because of that. But who cares? It was not like making David feel bad would make him heal faster…

“Yeah-- Oh, she's here. Yo, Cassie! Over here!” David called somewhere behind them.

Straighten posture, fix hair, straighten beanie, clean jacket-- WAS THAT KETCHUP?! WHEN DID HE GET KETCHUP ON HIS SLEEVE-- Oh, wait. It was blood, of course... HANDS IN POCKETS, QUICK! 

“I'm back,” she announced as she came around the sofa, then turned her attention towards Adam, leaning in a bit with her hands on her knees. “Hello, Adam, was it? I'm Cassie. Nice to meet you!” she greeted him officially with an extended hand and that… beautiful… smile.

She looked even cuter now, with her curls on full display, tied with a bow, a bow matching the one around the waist of her elegant coat--

“Adam, dude.” David's call pulled him back to earth.

“Huh? What?”

“You're staring. Again.” He pointed out in an audible whisper. “And a tad too low, you little perv.” He jabbed.

“Wha-- Oh, shit! I didn't mean to-- I'm--” he turned towards the girl, ready to apologize once more, but, just like last time, she didn't look uncomfortable, instead smiling with… amusement.

He instinctively pulled his beanie down and looked away, trying to hide himself.

Guess he must look pretty laughable, all flustered like that, huh?

“I'm sorry,” he mumbled.

“No worries, I guess style is a bit… unconventional, was it?” She commented with a smile. “I guess I should expect people to stare, huh?”

“I… I'm really sorry,” Adam apologized again. “Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'll… I'll try not to stare, again--”

“Adam, don't worry.” She cut him off. “You think if I minded people staring that much, I would still walk around like this?”

Adam paused, lifting his beanie just enough to peek at her.

“I guess.” He mumbled in response.

Mark did say it was all for the sake of getting others' attention, so it would be strange if she were to feel uncomfortable with people staring.

“Can I sit?” she requested, pointing at the spot next to him.

“Huh? Oh! Sure, go ahead, I don't… own the sofa.” He mumbled.

“Huh. That's true, I guess,” she let out a sensible chuckle and sat down with her backpack by her feet.

Much like the rest of her, her backpack was pretty eye-catching. It was shaped just like any normal backpack, but it was adorned with pins and patches for various anime characters, horror games, a few rock and emo bands, and just cute and Gothic stuff like hearts, bats, etc. It was basically a brochure exposing much of who Cassandra Williams was, what she liked, what made her happy--

“So, I talked with Mark…” She began, her smile feeling more awkward and forced.

“Oh, really?” Adam tried to come across as calm. But those words? In that order? At that moment? They just set off the alarm bells in his head.

“Yeah, I guess he decided to follow me to the store and give me his villainous speech?” She visibly cringed. “And an impromptu Q&A?”

“Yeah, the guy is an attention whore with a flair for the dramatic,” David explained.

“Bet.”

“Did he try to insult you again?” He questioned.

“Nah, I think he already realized I have elastic skin.” She rolled her eyes. “Everything he throws at me will just bounce back at him.”

“Did you…?” Adam questioned, the words getting caught in his throat as he felt air growing still.

“Oh, no. Don't worry, I don't think I gave him a reason to ‘punish’ you again…” She said, averting her gaze as her smile faded. “Sorry about that, by the way… I was just, you know, clapping back. I didn't know I was talking with someone so… Well. You know.”

“Psychotic?” Adam suggested, the air a bit easier to breathe again. “A jock™️?”

“Spoiled, power hungry, a sack of shit who decided to make the fact that he's unlovable everyone else's problem?” David summarized.

“...Yeah, those sure are ways to describe him.” She said. “I'd go more with… sad. Someone sad, lonely, scared, attention and affection-starved, with a misguided sense of… justice? He seems to legit think he's the victim and that all he does is justified.”

“He does.” They both confirmed.

“Well, anyway. I really just wanted to apologize for getting you into trouble. It really wasn't my intention.” She apologized, gracefully bowing her head. “How about I get you something from the snack bar? Or from the store? I can also carry your bag until you're better--”

“There's no need.” Adam nipped the thought in the bud.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Guess it'll take a bit more than that to make up for--”

“Cassie, you don't need to make up for anything, okay?” Adam reassured. “You didn't do anything wrong. Mark is one who's fucked in the head.”

“I know, but--”

“And you feeling like shit is exactly what he wants, so don't.” He explained. “Seriously, it's fine. I'm not mad at you and-- Look, it's barely a flesh wound.” He dismissed her concerns, putting on a strong face and showing her the bandaged hand, wiggling his fingers as if it didn't hurt like FUCKING HELL. “Two weeks and I'll be good as new. It probably won't even leave a scar.” 

Cassie stared at him for a couple of seconds, her expression slowly softening into a… fond smile as she relaxed her shoulders.

“If you say so.” She chuckled sensibly and shook her head. “By the way, I'm still kinda shocked they didn't send you to a hospital or something. That was a lot of blood.”

“Yeah…” He smiled, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Welcome to America.”

“...Dude?”

“Huh?”

“You're bleeding through.”

Adam looked at his hand, slowly lifting it to see red spreading through the bandages and, more importantly, a darker wetness left behind on Cassie's… coat…

“...Well, that's certainly a way to leave a first impression, hã?”

“...David?”

“Yeah?”

“Fuck off.”