Hello, everyone! This is a prompt from Godzilla183. I hope you like the story!
WARNINGS: SEVERE BULLYING, ONE BAD WORD
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my OCs.
But I'm only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
'Cause I'm only human, yeah
-"Human" by Christina Perri
Miss Santiago had been teaching at Road Brook Elementary for thirteen years, fourteen if you included the most recent school year. She knew kids could be cruel; she was bullied herself during her school years, and she saw the true pain kids could inflict on one another throughout her teaching career, but never before had she seen such… such horror inflicted on children by their own peers.
Miss Santiago did not know Carter and Frankie Hughes well. She knew of them, yes (who didn't?), but she had taught Carter for the first time this year in first period math, and she hadn't spoken more than a handful of words to Frankie, usually only because she had to discuss something with Carter- a project or an assignment or occasionally to thank him for helping her with this or that- and the siblings were attached at the hip, so Frankie would be with him.
Miss Santiago knew of Carter and Frankie's… unique relationship. She wouldn't say she approved of incest, but she didn't disapprove either. She thought of it like this: it's their life. Let them choose who to be with. I don't have any business butting into their lives, and neither does anyone else. The choices they make are theirs alone, and we cannot make them for them. We can only accept them or at least not hate them for the choices they make.
So many people acted like their relationship immediately made them Bad with a capital B. But Miss Santiago never agreed.
If you only knew of their relationship and didn't know them, it'd be easy to make a rash and even a harsh judgement, but Miss Santiago did know them. At least she knew Carter.
Every day, Carter Hughes would walk into her classroom exactly two minutes before the bell rang and take his seat in the center of the class (three rows from the front of the room, and three rows over from the wall, directly in the center of the room), where he would pull out anything he needed for the class. A notebook, his math textbook, two pencils, his homework from the night before, and he would diligently work on the math question she always put on the board at the beginning of class for the students to work on until the lesson began.
He would listen to her lesson (unlike a lot of other fourth graders). He took neat, detailed notes. He participated in class, and he ignored any students who pointed at him and laughed or sneered or even the ones who threw paper at his head. He was used to it, and he shouldn't have to be.
Carter was not gifted in math, but he worked hard. He would come down during study hall to help her clean up her classroom at the end of the day, and sometimes Frankie would join him.
They'd talk quietly amongst themselves as they picked up trash off the floor, and out of the corner of her eye, she would see them exchange a kiss every so often.
Did she approve? No. Did she hate them or glare at them? No. Because they were more than just a brother and sister in a romantic relationship. Sometimes, people don't see past that fact, and they forget that beyond their relationship, they are people, too. A boy and a girl too young for all that the world had put them through. They were Carter and Frankie Hughes, and they were human, too.
Miss Santiago never thought about it in detail like that until after the events of Valentine's Day, 2019.
It had been her free period, the period where she didn't have a class to teach, so in the five minutes between the end of period two and the beginning of her free period, she wandered the crowded halls to head for the staff break room. That was when she quite literally stumbled across Carter and Frankie.
When I say literally, I mean she tripped over an abandoned bag, and if she hadn't had to pick herself up off the floor, silently cursing as she did so, she never would have noticed them.
Down the custodians hallway (which was rarely used by students- or teachers for that matter- unless you needed a short cut), two lone figures sat in the dimly lit corridor.
Miss Santiago immediately noticed something was wrong. For one, they were both sitting on the floor. Second of all… one of them seemed to be crying.
She slowly approached them, not wanting to startle the children, and she soon discovered it to be Carter and Frankie Hughes.
Carter had a split lip and a bruised cheek; there was in a small tear in the bottom of his blue T-shirt. With a closer look, Miss Santiago realized, horrified, that a very insulting word had been written across the front of Carter's shirt in permanent ink. Pervert. For whatever reason, he was also soaked. His shirt was dry, but his hair, his pants, his skin… it was all drenched, and he was shivering. His eyes held such a deep sadness, a sadness no child should ever have to endure.
Frankie's green dress was rumpled, and one of the sleeves was torn clean off of it, dangling around her arm by two thin threads. Her gray leggings were splattered with mud and dirty water, like someone had shoved her into a puddle, and given the fact that it had been raining most of the day, someone probably had. Her hair looked like it had been ripped out of her usual pigtails, and Miss Santiago noticed that Carter was slowly redoing his sister's hair, wincing like every movement hurt him, but he never complained. Frankie was the one who was crying.
"It's okay, Frankie. It's just a couple of mean kids, nothing new," Carter pointed out as comfortingly as he could.
Frankie shrugged. "I know," she sniffled. "But what if it's like this foe the rest of our lives, Carter? What do we do then? Cry ourselves to sleep every night, nurse bruises every week, their words turning over and over again in our heads? Everything they've called us, everything they've done to us… it hurts, Carter. I try to be strong, but it really hurts," she whimpered.
Carter finished putting her hair back into her pigtails, and he turned her around to face him, wiping away her tears.
"I know," he whispered with just as much pain and sorrow in his voice as Frankie had in hers. "But we're worth it," Carter murmured as he leaned forward to kiss Frankie gently on the lips. "And that has to be enough," Carter added, pressing his forehead against hers. His voice was cracking like he was on the verge of tears, and Miss Santiago wouldn't be surprised if he was. "I love you, Frankie."
"I love you, too, Carter," Frankie replied.
And in that moment, Miss Santiago realized something. Those words… they weren't just words. They were a promise. A promise to always be there, through good times and bad, to be the shoulder the other cried on, to be the soldier that defends the other, to be the kind word, the gentle touch, the smile when they needed it. To love the other, even when the rest of the world was against them.
It was the same way Miss Santiago spoke those words to her husband before he died.
Miss Santiago might've started crying right there if the moment hadn't been interrupted.
"Aw, look at the disgusting little freaks," Joanna drawled as she appeared on the scene. "Have a nice shower this morning, Carter?" she mocked, eyes meeting the forms of her male companions: Parker East, his older brother Patrick East, and Stanley Farr, who were laughing hysterically, obviously being the culprits.
Carter glared at them, but his strength was wavering.
"What do you want, Joanna? Haven't you already tortured us enough today?" Carter growled, hugging a trembling Frankie closer to him.
"Oh, trust me, Carter, it's less than whores like you deserve. What? Not enough action, so you had to hook up with your sister?" Joanna sneered. "I'm honestly not sure which one of you is more disgusting."
"Yeah. Why don't you two ugly. Worthless. Useless. Dirty. Wastes. Of. Space-" Fiona Mount stepped in, puncturing each word with a shove to Carter, and since Frankie refused to let go of her brother, they both got pushed back until their backs were against the wall. "Kill yourselves so we don't even have to look at your gross relationship anymore?"
That was when Miss Santiago stepped in.
"Hey!" she shouted. "All six of you, to the office now," she ordered the six bullies, and they immediately stepped back in shock at her sudden entrance and her obvious anger.
"But ma'am-" Joanna began.
"No," Miss Santiago ordered. "Mr. Walker," she called for the nearest teacher she spotted, and he entered the hallway in confusion. "Make sure they get the principal's office. Tell Darryl I will be there in a few minutes to explain the situation," she commanded, and Mr. Walker hurried to obey, not used to seeing the kind hearted soul that was Miss Santiago act so stern.
As soon as the six bullies and the teacher disappeared around the corner, Miss Santiago turned back to the children.
"Are you kids alright?" Miss Santiago questioned.
Carter nodded. "Thank you, Miss Santiago," he replied, seemingly shocked that anyone would even think to stand up for them.
"No need to thank me. Now you two should probably get to the nurse to get checked out and to get a change of clothes," Miss Santiago stated, and she watched as Carter grabbed his jacket off the floor and placed it around Frankie's shoulders to hide her torn dress. He crossed his own arms over the horrible word written onto his chest, humiliating him… branding him.
"Here," Miss Santiago offered, and she wrapped her own coat around Carter's shoulders. "Just remember to return it to me at the end of the day, okay?"
Carter was obviously stunned at her kindness, and that alone was enough to nearly make her cry. He nodded, eyes wide.
Miss Santiago smiled at them, and as she walked back towards the rapidly emptying halls, she glanced over her shoulder to see Carter smooth his hand over Frankie's hair and press a kiss to her lips and start heading in the opposite direction to the nurse's office.
And in that moment, Miss Santiago realized that they were so much more than their relationship, so much more than the word, the label, incest that seemed to be associated with them more than their own names.
Carter and Frankie Hughes were only human, just like everybody else, and no matter how strong and unwavering they appear, they still fall apart… just like everybody else.
All reviews are amazing; constructive criticism is appreciated; and all flames will be ignored and reported if necessary. Remember to be kind and accepting, and if incest really bothers you, just hit the back button. It takes less time to hit the back button than to type out a hateful comment.
Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed the story, and I hope you have a nice day!