Chapter Text
“I can’t wait to get the hell out of here.” Steph states, sitting on her bed with her boyfriend. Technically, she was supposed to be doing homework. They both were. But they had gotten sidetracked nearly an hour before, talking about anything that came to their minds.
“I wish I could join you.” Pete’s words stunned Steph.
“What do you mean?” she asks, turning to him.
“I wish I could join you in getting the hell out of here.” Pete mutters, shrugging.
“I don’t see why not?” Pete almost starts to protest, but Steph shuts him down. “Pete, you’re smart enough to get into any college you wanted. Probably with a big scholarship too!” Steph lets him process that for a moment. “You shouldn’t allow yourself to be trapped in fucking Hatchetfield.” she mutters.
Pete looks at her, and swallows hard.
“I’ll apply.” he states, making no promises.
“Where do you want to go?” Steph asks curious before realizing. “We’ve never even talked about what we want to do, damn.” she mutters.
“University of Michigan. I want to be a high school science teacher. Specifically biology. Both Richie and Ruth already got accepted, but I can’t afford it.” Pete explains.
“If it’s the application cost, I’ll cover it. I’m already accepted there for Women’s and Gender Studies.” Pete stares at her, a smile growing on his face.
“Well, if my three favorite people are already gonna be there, I’ve gotta at least try!” Steph smiles right back at him, when he finally remembers what they’d been procrastinating. “We should finish these essays first, though.”
Steph groans at the reminder, and grabs her laptop from where she had closed it out of frustration nearly an hour ago.
“Fine.” she whines, causing Pete to chuckle.
Several weeks later, Steph stood by Pete’s locker, talking with Ruth and Richie who had quickly accepted her into the friend group.
“At least you two are going into something that you don’t need a master’s for, stop complaining.” Richie teases.
“That’s your own fault for wanting to be a therapist, Richie!” Ruth counters.
“True that. Sure, we need therapists, but you chose to go into it, dude!” Steph follows. Richie sticks his tongue out at the two, getting a weird look from Grace Chasity, as she walks down the hall.
“Guys! Guys!” Pete came running in, holding a letter.
“What, jesus christ Spankoffski, did someone die?” Steph jumps, turning around to see her boyfriend. She can barely hear Grace counter the use of Jesus’s name, but everyone ignores it, just as they always had.
“I got in! I got a full ride!” Pete pushes the letter towards the group, excitement flowing through his veins.
“Oh my god!” Steph screeches, pulling Pete into a tight hug. “I told you that you could do it! I told you!” she exclaims.
“You got in!” Ruth also screeched, joining the hug, Richie quickly joining them as well. Eventually, they pulled away.
“We totally have to room together!” Richie insists, grabbing his bag.
“Considering you’re the only other guy I know who is going, duh.” Pete quickly puts the letter into his backpack and the group of four walk to their first class.
Things really were coming up for these four nerdy ‘prudes’, and now that they all knew where they were going, they just needed to make it through the next semester. Then the summer. But they’d get there.
They would finally get the hell out of Hatchetfield!
-grace is missing?- Steph texts the group chat two days after graduation, sending a picture of Grace Chasity’s missing poster.
-what?- Ruth replies almost immediately.
-^^- Richie follows.
-That’s actually pretty shocking, ngl- Pete responds a few minutes later.
-ik- Steph responds, unsure of what to think.
Honestly, neither did the rest of Hatchetfield. Grace Chasity? The Grace Chasity? Missing?
“Apparently, they’ve labeled her a runaway now.” Steph reads from the online Hatchetfield Post as the four friends sat drinking smoothies at Hatchetfield Mall.
“Really? Grace Chasity, running away? I don’t believe it.” Richie mutters.
“I mean, she was the only one who didn’t say what she’d be doing after high school.” Pete remembers.
“Yeah, she never mentioned any college plans. Or religious plans. Nothing.” Ruth also mutters before taking a sip of her smoothie. “Maybe she planned to do it all along?” she questions.
“Still. It just doesn’t seem like something the Grace Chasity we knew would be doing.” Steph continues scrolling the article, but half of it was ads anyways.
“Goodbye, Petey. Keep in touch, okay?” Mrs Spankoffski asks, giving her youngest son another hug.
“Of course Mom. Be safe on the drive. I love you.” Pete smiles, waving his mom back towards the car.
“Love you, Pete! Stay safe!” his dad calls out. Pete waves them goodbye and steps back into the dorm building. He takes the elevators, because no matter how slow they were, it was not worth it to take the stairs. He quickly walked back into his dorm room, and stared at it.
“That was surprisingly effective!” Richie compliments from his bed. He’d helped Pete move in, the same way Pete had helped him move in yesterday, but had let the Spankoffskis take the final trip alone to say goodbye.
“Eh, made it easier, didn’t it?” Pete states, slightly teasing the less than stellar organization that Richie had for his things. Richie sticks his tongue out in response.
“Wanna go see how the girls went?” he asks.
“Of course I do.” Pete responds with a smile, quickly leaving the room, carefully navigating the hallway to Steph and Ruth’s room. Richie knocks, but that almost isn’t necessary with how fast the door flies open.
“Hey guys!” Ruth greets them.
“Pete! Rich!” Steph exclaims. “Get in here!” she insists, Ruth quickly waving them in.
“You guys set this up nice.” Pete states with a smile and a nod, observing the fairy lights hanging.
“Yeah, well. If we’re gonna live here, we might as well.” Steph states, climbing down from her lofted bed and greeting Pete with a kiss.
She ignores the fake gags coming from Ruth and Richie behind her, and just mutters. “We made it.” Pete smiles back at her, eyes beginning to water.
“We made it!” he mutters in excitement, pulling her into a hug.
Pete had luckily managed to get the same Communication 110 class as Steph, and as the two walked in, hand in hand, they expected to know no one else other than themselves. Instead, they’re met with a face that seems so familiar, yet so different.
“Is it just me, or do you recognize that guy?” Steph whispers as people slowly file into the room. Pete’s eyes are drawn to the shorter boy, wearing wire glasses.
“He looks so familiar, but I can’t place a name.” Pete responds, the couple’s eyes glued on the boy in the front row of moveable seats.
“Alright, since attendance is graded, I’m going to quickly call out roll.” Mrs Cook announces the moment she’s done covering the syllabus.
“Graham Everett?” the guy who just couldn’t leave Pete and Steph’s sight raises his hand, and gives a nod.
“I have never heard that name before in my life.” Steph whispers to her boyfriend.
“Neither have I.” he replies, curiosity only growing.
“Stephanie Lauter?” Steph raises her hand with a smile.
“Here! And call me Steph.” she insists. Her voice causes Graham to take a glance over to her, but he quickly looks back away.
“Peter Spankoffski?” Pete also raises his hand.
“Here!” he calls out, once again getting a glance from Graham. The class is quickly dismissed, and Graham walks out of the room before either Pete or Steph could get the opportunity to approach him.
“He must have another class, or something.” Steph mutters, watching him leave.
“Maybe it’s a weird coincidence or something.” Pete states, still wondering why he feels like he should know this guy.
“Next class, we will be doing introduction speeches. Here is your template, it does not have to be memorized. It’s just to get you used to speaking in front of the class.” Mrs Cook introduces the assignment on Friday, giving them the entire weekend to prepare.
“Maybe we can finally figure out who he is.” Steph mutters as she leaves the class. Every single day, Graham had left the class before either Steph or Pete could catch him.
“Maybe. At this point, I hope we know who he is, because I feel weird that it’s just right there. I should know who he is, but I don’t.” Pete complains, leading both his girlfriend and himself to the dining hall.
“It’s so frustrating!” Steph exclaims, sitting down at the table that Ruth and Richie had already claimed. Pete and Steph had talked the whole way about who this Graham Everett could be.
“Are you two still talking about him?” Ruth asks.
“Yes! If you saw him, you’d know what we’re talking about!” Pete insists.
“I don’t believe that, Pete. We’d all remember if we’d met someone named Graham Everett. I think we can all agree on that.” Richie counters, taking a bite of his chicken sandwich.
“That’s exactly it! We should know who he is. His face is right there, but I don’t know a single other person named Graham, or anyone with the last name Everett! That’s what’s frustrating about it!.” Steph exclaims, taking a deep breath.
“One of these days, you’ll see him on campus, and you’ll get it. I’m going to get food before the lecture.” she continues, standing back up from the table and walking towards one of the dining hall stations.
“My name is Steph Lauter, I use she/her pronouns. I’m from Hatchetfield, Michigan and went to Hatchetfield High School. I’m going into Women’s and Gender Studies, and want to be a journalist. Two fun facts about me are that I used to do cheerleading, and I have read all of the Percy Jackson books at least twice.” Steph introduces herself.
“Great job, Steph! Graham, you’re next.” Steph moves to sit down, as Graham stands up.
“Hi, my name is Graham Everett, and I use he/him pronouns. I’m from Hatchetfield, Michigan, and went to Hatchetfield High School. I’m going into Elementary Education to become an elementary school teacher. Two fun facts about me are that I used to be a really conservative Lutheran, but I’m currently an atheist. And I play the ukulele.” Graham rushes out, almost forgetting the second fact.
“Great job, Keison, you’re up!” Steph and Pete turn to each other as soon as Graham sits down, but don’t talk quite yet. By the time class ends, Graham rushes out the door, just as he had every class before.
“He went to Hatchetfield!” Steph announces to the lunch table. That news shocks Ruth in particular.
“What? No he didn’t. You said he looks young for university, and I worked on the yearbook since freshman year! I’ve never seen a Graham Everett anywhere!” Ruth counters.
“He said it! How would he even know what Hatchetfield was if he didn’t go? Why would he lie?” Pete asks.
“I don’t know! But this is weird.” Richie states, his voice matching the confusion of the entire group.
“Ruth, wanna head to class?” Steph asks, since they share the same Women’s and Gender Studies lecture.
“Let’s go before it gets too full to sit next to each other.” Ruth agrees, standing up from the table.
“See you guys later!” Pete calls out, Richie echoing him. Ruth and Steph do the same, rushing to the lecture hall, and managing to get there before most others do. They even have spare seats in the row.
However, the lecture hall fills up fast, and just as the teacher is preparing to start, someone approaches.
“Is anyone sitting here?” a familiar voice asks. Steph turns from where she was talking with Ruth, and is greeted by none other than Graham.
“No! No one, take a seat!” he must’ve been the last one in the room, by the looks of it.
“Thanks.” Graham mutters, taking off his backpack and quickly pulling out his notebook, looking like he wished he could be anywhere else at that exact moment. Luckily, as he sits, the teacher announces that she’d need a few more minutes to load the powerpoint for the day’s lecture.
“So Graham, you’re from Hatchetfield?” Steph asks, curious. She also turns her head to see Ruth’s face light up in recognition and confusion.
“Yep.” he responds shortly, clearly not wanting this conversation to be happening. Steph sighs, but turns back to Ruth.
“I get it now.” Ruth mouths to her.
“Exactly!” Steph mouths back as the teacher turns on her microphone. By the time the teacher dismissed them, Graham had already packed, and disappeared into the crowd.