Finally returning to school felt like a homecoming to be honest. Anxiety and a little excitement bubled up in your chest and weighed you down a block away from school. This was where you would usually stop and then chicken out before going back home and crawling underneath your sheets, claiming something about a stomach ache to your warden.

Your trembling hands clutched your textbooks to your chest and your mouth was concerningly dry. You gulped down air shakily as you tried to steady your breathing before ducking into a dark alleyway and crouching in the dark, burying your face between your knees and trying to catch your breath.

You were nearly gasping for air as you heard students pass by you, chatting happily, unknowing that you were hyperventilating just a few feet from them. It was about fifteen minutes before you were able to calm yourself down before picking yourself up off the floor.

It became clear that you had already missed the first bell when you arrived to school as the outside of the campus was completely deserted, you walked quickly to your class hoping that you could slip in before the teacher arrived so there wouldn't be too much attention on you.

The thought of skipping school and trying again tomorrow briefly passed through your mind. You could slip into your class without getting noticed and could avoid getting a late pass for being tarty.

Biting your lip, you paused in your tracks, wondering if you should just hide in the washroom or library until first period was up and then just joining after second period.

You glanced at the ladies restroom but found your feet rooted to the floor.

'Should I just go home? I wasn't here for so many days, one more wouldn't hurt. No one even saw me today, no one would know that I went home.'

You were unfortunately wrenched from your thoughts when someone came crashing into you, knocking you off your feet hard and a groan escaped you as you landed on the ground.

"I'm so sorry I wasn—(Y/N)?"

You glanced up in surprise, feeling dread when you saw a familiar face. Oyster smiled down at you, holding a hand out for you to take.

You grabbed it gingerly and yelped when he hauled you back to your feet.

"I haven't seen you in ages, we've all been really worried. Are you feeling better now? Are you finally coming back to school? Why were you just standing there?"

Feeling flustered, you couldn't do more than blink at him before managing to squeak out a "...Yes?"

He grinned warmly at you and you felt your cheeks heat up in embarrassment, before looking away and hiding your face by pretending to cough.

"So how come you're so late? I thought the great (Y/N) is never late for school." He asked, casually changing the topic and burying his hands in his pockets.

"Um..I was...um...late." Was what you managed to muster before biting the inside of your cheek awkwardly.

He nodded, chuckling at your slightly clueless state, "Gotcha. Although, aren't you gonna get to class? Seems like your just begging to get detention standing around like this. What? Did you miss school so much that you wanted to spend some extra time with it?"

Blushing, you looked back to your feet, tugging your backpack strap awkwardly, "I..um..thought that I could go home and....um be on time...tomorrow.."

You didn't see how Oyster frowned at you. He saw how worried Phoebe, Max and his girlfriend, Cherry were getting over the fact that you weren't showing up to school and he wanted you to face them today.

"Well, if being late is what you're worried about, then I have a sure fire excuse to get us both out of it."

Curiously, you glanced back up at him and he chuckled seeing your innocent gaze, "The reason I'm late is because I got locked in the music room, the lock isn't working properly."

Embarrassed, you tried stepping back from him but he step forward, looking like he would try to stop you if your tried to leave, "Are you sure? I mean...I don't want you to do anything for me....I could just come back tomorrow..."

He sent you a reassuring grin, "It's no problem, (Y/N)."

You bit your lip, "I don't think....I mean....why would I be in the music room...alone...with you."

"I'll just tell them that I was showing you a new song that I wrote."

"I don't know..."

Oyster, sensing that you were leaning towards leaving the school and attempting to return tomorrow, grabbed your hand, making you look up at him, surprised.

"If you don't face your fear now, you'll keep making excuses for yourself for the rest of your life, (Y/N). Tomorrow, I may not catch you in the hallway to bring you to class."

You shook your head stubbornly, "I'll be on time...tomorrow."

"Or you can just face your fear today. Phoebe and Cherry must be thinking that you're missing another day of school. That's another day of them missing you."

'That's another day of me missing them.' You thought.

The thought of Cherry and Phoebe smiling cheerfully at you as you walked through the door flashed in your mind and you felt a small smile grow on your face.

Your eyes met Oyster's and you nodded, smiling shyly at him, "Okay."

As you and Oyster walked hand-in-hand towards homeroom, you vaguely heard the teacher call your name in during attendance and you slowly opened the door, poking your head in and shyly smiling at your best friends sitting in the first row, who beamed at the sight of you, you think you might have even seen tears in their eyes.

"Present."

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"I'm present too, Miss Buffay!" Yelled Oyster from behind you.