Acid's Note-
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MY GOD CHAPTER 6 IS FINALLY DONE
AND IT ONLY TOOK TWO MONTHS
I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO DAMN LONG
I was actually hoping to get this up at least a week ago, but then I got the flu and then all this stuff for school got piled on one after another (just got done with exams).
People, I'm sorry. But as much as I want to, I can't devote all of my time to this story.
I have school. I have a job. I have to get ready for college.
This story will be updated at a slow, inconsistent pace and there's absolutely nothing I can do to change that.
Again, I'm sorry. But this is just how things are going to be.
Enjoy.
CHAPTER 6: COMMUNICATING
Even once the ambulance left the campus, Norrisville High remained in a frenzy.
With Principal Slimovitz gone, teachers were left with the responsibility to call the parents and have them pick their children up as soon as possible. Students crowded at the porch, waiting for their rides. Ms. Wickwhacker was by the driveway with a megaphone, directing students to their cars.
Howard was already leaving campus with his sister, Heidi. Their parents were working and wouldn't be able to get off yet. Their home was within walking distance anyway, so it didn't matter. Or at least, it shouldn't have mattered.
Heidi groaned. Normally, her transportation was from one of her friends that had their licenses already, but they had all left already. She was far from keen about having to walk all the way home out in the cold with her little brother. "This is so unfair. I can't believe they all left without me. They're probably gonna have a great time at the mall while I'm stuck with you."
"You think I wanna be walking with you?" Howard snapped. "Trust me, I'd trade you for Cunningham in a honkin' heartbeat."
Heidi was about to say something back, but then someone caught her eye.
Walking by herself, not too far away from them, was Theresa Fowler. Tears dyed black from her makeup streaked her cheeks. She radiated an aura of melancholy; just looking at her would urge anyone to feel bad for her.
Just minutes before, she had been at the top of the stairs of the school's porch. Words could not describe how scared and worried she was for Julian. Juggo, Accordion Dave, and Debbie Kang had all been comforting her earlier, but they had been picked up already.
From below the school, the Sorcerer could sense that someone was in deep distress and mourning, and was more than ready to Stank her. But a thick shield of comforting was blocking her from him is power, and by the time it was gone, so was she.
"What's up with her?" Heidi asked.
"Who, Fowler? She's friends with Julian, the guy that passed out," Howard replied nonchalantly. "Guess she's pretty torn up about it."
Heidi continued to look at her. It wasn't the melancholy that was attracting her; it was the mere concept of the supposed situation. Heidi wondered, if she was in Julian's place, would her own friends mourn the same way as Theresa? Would they even mourn at all?
Heidi was friends with Theresa, though they didn't hang out very much. Heidi wanted to get to know her better, but her other friends didn't want her to hang out with a freshmen at rock-bottom of popularity. And yet…And yet…
"Howard, go on without me," Heidi said, impulsively breaking away from her brother and made a beeline for the baton twirler.
Howard watched her walk away with confusion, but then rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He didn't care where his sister was going, as long as it was away from him.
Heidi sidled up next to Theresa, plastering on a peppy smile. "Hey, Teasey Feasey," she said, trying to sound uplifting.
Theresa glanced at her. "Oh, hey," she replied solemnly.
"I'm sorry about Jeremy."
"Julian."
"Yeah, him. Sorry, I'm so wonk with names." Heidi forced a laugh, trying to make light of the situation.
Theresa let out a heavy, shaky sigh, more tears beginning to cascade down her cheeks. Heidi realized that she wasn't exactly helping.
"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to-"
"No, no, it's fine…" Theresa assured her, though her expression didn't match her words. "I'm just…not in a good place right now."
Heidi remained by her side as they walked. Neither one of them said a word; Theresa was in her own world, and Heidi didn't want to make things any worse than they already were.
Eventually, they came across a bus stop, and Heidi decided that was good stopping point. She sat down at the bench there and had Theresa sit next to her. She took a pink handkerchief and a small bottle of makeup remover out of her bag. She dabbed the cloth in the liquid and handed it to Theresa, who proceeded to wipe away the dark trails of tears on her face.
Theresa sighed as she finished. "Thanks."
"No problem," Heidi replied. "I couldn't have you go out looking like that."
The baton twirler giggled. "Yeah, that could've been embarrassing."
The two girls laughed, finally relieved of the stress from the previous events.
"Well, it's still freezing out here," Heidi said. "Wanna stop somewhere and get something warm to drink? My treat."
"Sure. I know just the place."
She took her to Moonbeam.
They left the bus stop and continued to walk through the town. They didn't stop until they reached a certain building. It wasn't very big, though it was somewhat wide, with a door on each side. It was painted a pearly white. The storefront sign read "Moonbeam" in cursive, pale blue letters, with a white flower beneath it.
"You know," Heidi said as they approached the building, "I walk past this place all the time, but I've never actually gone inside."
Theresa smiled. "Trust me, you're gonna love it here."
But when they entered, the place was almost deserted; there were only a couple of patrons left. Moonbeam had never been an especially popular eatery, but it hadn't been this empty in a long time.
The cashier on duty explained that the owners had just left a few minutes ago. The kitchen was basically shut down at this point, as it was barely able to function without Darius in there. As a result, most of the customers had no choice but to leave.
"Do you want any help?" Theresa asked. "I don't mind."
"Nah, we'll probably end up closing in less than ten minutes," the cashier replied. "But you and your friend can stick around in the meantime. At least the baristas are still here."
And so, with hot chocolate to help relieve them from the late January chill, the two girls sat down at a table and began to chat.
"I just wish I could've done something," Theresa sighed. "I really wanted to help him, but he wouldn't tell me what was wrong. And we tell each other everything. We've told each other things we can't even tell our parents. I'm sure you have that kind of friend, right? The one you trust so much that you'd tell them anything?"
"Totally. Plenty of them," Heidi replied. She then hesitated, realizing that answer was far from truthful. She looked down at her cup. "I mean…About gossip and stuff, yeah. But about ourselves, not really. Actually…Okay, don't tell anyone about this. But, like…I'm not exactly tight with my friends."
"What do you mean?"
"I've always just fell in with the in-crowd, especially after I started the Me-Cast. They let me in and I took their offer. But I've never really…y'know…"
"Connected with them?" Theresa supplied.
"Yeah, exactly. We like a lot of the same stuff, and we do things together, but I feel like I can't talk to them about my problems and stuff."
"Well…" the baton twirler began somewhat hesitantly, "if you ever need someone to talk to about something personal, you can always come to me."
Heidi head shot up. "You mean that?"
Theresa smiled sweetly. "Sure. After all, we're friends, right?"
Heidi smiled back. "Right."
She wasn't sure why she was letting this freshmen know about these things she'd rather keep hidden. There was something special about Theresa. Whether it was from her sweet voice, gentle gaze, or kind words, she gave off a vibe that let everyone know that she would accept anyone for who they were. That explained why she hung out with such strange people all the time. It was surprising that she didn't have more friends. It was even more surprising that she wasn't in a relationship, considering that she was absolutely beautiful.
Heidi briefly shook her head when that last part crossed her mind.
There were still things she was far from ready to tell anyone, even someone as inviting as Theresa.
They both finished their drinks as the employees began to close up shop. They headed outside, back to the cold, outside world.
"So, what next?" Heidi asked. "Wanna go to the mall and hang out?"
"Not now," Theresa replied. "I should be getting home."
"How about Sundays, then? I can't tomorrow; Sabbath and stuff."
"That's fine. I usually work on Saturday anyway, though the owners will probably keep the place closed for the next few days. It can barely function without them here."
"What's keeping them?"
"They're Julian's parents."
Heidi's eyes widened. "Oh…"
Theresa sighed. "I can't even imagine how worried and scared they must be right now. I should probably call them tonight, just to make sure they're okay."
The two girls stood in silence for a moment that felt like it could go on forever. The ambiance of the rest of the town was barely present to them.
"W-Well…" Heidi broke the silence hesitantly, nervously smiling. "How about I walk you home? Your house isn't too far from mine, right?"
Theresa smiled back. "Yeah. Thanks."
And as they walked together side by side, Theresa couldn't help but think that maybe now that they had gotten to know each other a little better, they could become better friends.
Or maybe even something more.
~XXX~
It was as if a tremor was going through Randy's body. His entire body, overcome by anxiety and a swarm of different emotions.
He didn't want this happen. He didn't know this was going to happen. He didn't even consider it. He had no idea just how grave all of this was. Julian must have been deeply scarred by what happened, and now he could be in even more danger. Randy felt like he could've done something. Talk to the goth; help him cope. Anything.
What exactly led Julian to become like this? Was he going to be okay? Randy was terrified; no matter what happened, it was going to be his fault in the end.
He felt like consulting Nomicon for some kind of advice on calming down in some way. But at the same time, he didn't even want to move a muscle.
"Randy, are you okay?" Principal Slimovitz asked, gently placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Do you need some water?"
Randy shook his head. He couldn't speak, his throat dry as sand. His stomach was churning; he felt like just opening his mouth would cause him to vomit.
The principal sighed. "Well, I just got off the phone with your parents; they're on their way. Julian's parents are coming too; they should be here soon. I'm going to wait by the door for them. Will you be okay on your own here?"
Randy nodded, and Principal Slimovitz walked away.
After a couple of minutes, he returned with a man and a woman Randy had never seen before. However, it didn't take much of hint for him to realize who they were.
The father was quite tall and very thin. His raven black hair was short. He was wearing beige khakis and a midnight blue t-shirt had "Moonbeam" in cursive, sky blue letters. There was a picture underneath the word, but it was concealed by a forest green apron that had bits of various substances on it. Frankly, he was basically that of an average dad. He bore very little resemblance to Julian; he had his nose and eye color, but that was about it.
The mother was only a few inches shorter than her husband. Her likeness to Julian was much more visible, though her nose was a bit smaller. Her bright amber eyes glowed like pearls of flame. Her dark, alluring blue hair, much longer and just a shade lighter than Julian's, was tied in a ponytail by a white scrunchy. She was wearing a loose fitting white t-shirt and a knee-length black skirt, both of them adorned in an array of colorful paint stains. Streams of tears, dyed jet black by eye makeup, streaked her pale cheeks. She was clinging desperately to her husband, her legs trembling as sobs rocked her body.
"Randy, these are Julian's parents." Principal Slimovitz said. He opened his mouth to keep talking, but Julian's father immediately jumped into the conversation.
"Wait, Randy?" the man asked, looking shocked. "Are you Randall Cunningham?"
'H'oh boy, here we go…' Randy thought. Not knowing how else to respond, he nodded nervously.
Julian's father smiled, a lot more cheerful all of a sudden. "Julian has told much about you. He's very fond of you."
Randy didn't respond. He could imagine Julian being absolutely mortified if he were present. But even more so, he was surprised that they didn't mention the attack, or the fact that he had saved their son. Perhaps they thought it wouldn't be appropriate to bring up right now, which was understandable.
As Principal Slimovitz and Julian's father talked for a few moments about the situation, Julian's mother sat down. There was a single chair between her and Randy. Randy looked at her; her body was trembling like a leaf. She definitely needed her space.
Having to make sure everything was in order at the school, Principal Slimovitz left the hospital a few minutes later. Julian's father took the seat on his wife's left, leaving the space open between them and Randy. He didn't mind that one bit. He took a quick glance; the mother was clinging to her husband, crying into his chest. The father was trying to comfort her as tears of his own cascaded down his cheeks. Randy felt uncomfortable.
After about ten minutes, a doctor arrived to give an update on Julian's condition. "He should be fine," she explained. "He was extremely sleep deprived. He'll most likely wake up in the next few hours, but he'll be far from rested. I'd recommend you'd let us sedate him. It everything works out, we can release him by tomorrow after noon."
"Will you let us see him before you sedate him?" Julian's father asked, his wife clinging to him even tighter at the mention of sedation.
The doctor nodded. "Once he is awake, yes. I have to go check on him again; I'll send someone here once he's ready for visitors." The doctor then walked away.
Randy began to wonder, should he visit Julian? It felt like the right thing to do; it would give him a chance to apologize for all that has happened. But at the same time, he wasn't sure if he could face the goth again after allowing this to happen to him.
"Randy!"
Randy's eyes widened as he saw his parents dashing towards him. 'Oh no…'
Before he knew it, he was in his mother's death grip of a hug, barely able to breathe.
"Allie, tone it down a little," his father said, rolling his eyes.
Randy's mother pulled away, glaring at her husband with vitriol. "Well, excuse me for being concerned about my son."
"Ah, you must be Randy's parents." Julian's father said, getting up from his seat. Though still teary eyed, he was smiling, his entire demeanor a lot more cheerful all of a sudden.
Randy's mother and Julian's father looked at each other with some sense of recognition. Since Randy's parents taught at the middle school, it made sense that they would've met Julian's parents at least once before, perhaps during Parents Night or something.
Randy's mother was smiling her professional smile, holding out her hand. "Caleb and Alma Cunningham. It's a pleasure to see you again after so long, Mister and Missus-"
"Oh, please." Julian's father said warmly, shaking Alma's hand. "No need for formalities. I'm Darius and this is my wife, Margaret."
Margaret just stared up at them, tears still streaming down her face.
Both couples sat down in the chairs. Darius took his original seat. Caleb sat at Randy's right while Alma sat at his left, filling up the empty space.
"I'm so sorry about these circumstances." she said sympathetically. "Is the investigation going well? Did you catch the one who did it?"
Darius looked at her with clear confusion. "Pardon me?"
"You know…The attack…"
"What attack?"
Randy's heart dropped down to his stomach.
Julian hadn't told his parents anything? Not even the lie? Why? Why wouldn't he tell them anything?
Randy knew that he had said "in case your parents ask." But frankly, if things had turned out this way, they ought to have asked at least once.
Then again, he never actually asked Julian if he was okay with outright lying to his own parents…
Oh, God.
He was much more to blame for this than he initially thought.
His body resumed trembling and rocking. He could faintly hear his mother explain the "attack" to Darius and Margaret. He did his best to mentally block it out, but it was difficult. It became even harder when he heard both of Julian's parents break into devastated sobs. He tried to block it all out; all of it, until he was completely numb to everything that was happening.
"You okay, bud?' his father asked with concern. "You look like a ghost."
Randy did not hear him. He couldn't feel anything; was he even breathing? The presence of the world had melted away.
"Oh my God," his mother suddenly gasped. "Come on."
She abruptly grabbed his hand and hurriedly dragged him to the nearest trashcan, where he promptly lost his lunch. He was glad she did this; his body wouldn't have done the job for him at this point.
Once he was finished, she pulled him into a protective hug.
He knew she was going to demand some kind of explanation as to why they didn't know, and he tried to give her some semblance of one. "I…I thought he…" He couldn't say anything properly; his mind was all over the place and seemed to disconnect with his words. He wanted to cry, but no tears would come out.
"Shh…" his mother cooed. "I know, I know."
No, she didn't know. She had absolutely no idea about what had really happened, and neither did her husband and Julian's parents.
And that just made Randy feel even worse.
~XXX~
Julian was fine.
He was utterly exhausted, but he was fine.
His body couldn't carry on after a week of almost no sleep, not after pushing himself so hard to make it seem like everything was okay. He did this to himself, and he was paying the price.
But he didn't mind. He wasn't thinking about that right now; he wasn't thinking about anything. He was bestowed with a deep, dreamless sleep. It was the best thing that had happened to him all week.
Eventually, however, he came to his senses. The brightness of the room he was in forced him to open his eyes.
Blinking, he sat up and looked around. Once he figured out where he was, he realized that he was now at a point of no return. His parents would definitely demand an explanation now, and they wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Ah, you're awake." someone suddenly said. A young looking nurse had walked in at that moment. "The doctor said you would wake up around this time."
"How long was I out?" the goth asked.
"About four hours. Your family is here. Would you like them to come in?"
Julian nodded slowly. He could run away from his evil self all he wants, but there was no more avoiding his parents.
~XXX~
Randy's trembling hands tightly clutched the lukewarm can of ginger ale. His father got it for him from a nearby convenience store. Still in a state of panic and guilt, he was taking tiniest of sips. Four hours had now come and gone; it wasn't even half empty yet. He wasn't feeling any better.
"Randy, listen to me." his mother said softly. "This isn't your fault. There's no way you could've known that he didn't tell them."
"I should've asked." Randy mumbled. He held the can to his lips again, but another wave of nausea hit him. He handed the can to his father, groaning in pain.
His mother squeezed his hand. "Son, I'm not going to say this again. This is not your fault."
"I could've done something. I could've done something more."
"Well, if you had just called the police-"
"Allie, don't." Caleb suddenly spoke up. "Not here, not now. Not when he's like this."
"I just…" Alma began to speak, but bit her lip, racking her brain for the appropriate words. She couldn't find them, so she decided to remain silent.
A few minutes later, a nurse came to inform Julian's parents that their son was ready for visitors.
"Wait!" Randy impulsively stood up from his seat as Julian's parents were leaving. All eyes fell on him. Randy hesitated for moment, but he decided to go through with what he wanted to say. "Can…Can I see him?"
Julian's parents stared at him for a moment, but then Darius gave him a gentle smile. "Of course you can, Randy."
Randy followed them to Julian's hospital room. He needed to get in there and see if the goth was alright. Maybe he could find the will to apologize while he was in there, if he was even capable at this point.
At the same time, he knew Julian would need much more than just a mere apology.
~XXX~
"Julian!"
Almost as soon as he heard his name, he was immediately smothered by his parents' embrace.
Their sobbing filled his ears, and it was the most heartbreaking sound he had ever heard in his life. He could feel tears sting his eyes as the realization settled in, that he had hurt his parents in the worst possible way. He couldn't imagine the grief and fear they must have been going through.
Margaret's cries eventually grew somewhat softer, but she still wouldn't let go.
Darius pulled away, but he grabbed his son's hand, squeezing it firmly. "Julian…Jules, why didn't you tell us? Just tell me why…"
"I just didn't know how…" Julian whimpered, using his free arm to hug his mother back. "I'm…I'm sorry…"
"What did he try to do to you? Did he try to assault you or mug you or abduct-"
"Yes." Julian blurted out. "He tried to abduct me. That's exactly what happened."
"Why? What did he want with you?"
"I don't know." That was the whole hearted truth. He had no idea what his other self had wanted, aside from freedom.
What would he do once he had that freedom?
~XXX~
Randy stood just outside the door for what felt like centuries, waiting for Julian's parents to emerge from the room. He was contemplating what he would say once he and Julian would be alone together in there. He wasn't sure if he could even have guts to speak once he was in there. He was even considering just leaving right now, back to his parents, so they could just go home and not have to worry about this.
No.
He wasn't going to ditch Julian. No, not after letting this happen. This was his fault, and he need to do something about it.
After several minutes, Darius and Margaret walked out of the room. Margaret was still crying lightly, her face completely soaked with tears. She didn't even look at Randy; she was in her own world at that point. Darius gave Randy a nod, letting him know it was okay now.
Once they were gone, Randy took a deep breath. He forced himself to walk into the room. His heart almost stopped when he saw Julian.
His entire face was streaked with tears, yet he was smiling innocently. "Hello, Randall…" he greeted in a soft voice.
Randy remained silent. He hesitantly walked up to the bed and forced himself to look Julian in the eyes, two different shades of blue connecting. The goth was looking up at him intently.
Randy took a deep breath. "I…Julian, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should've been there more; I knew you weren't okay and I didn't do anything to help. Howard told me to ignore you and…God, I don't know why I listened. Literally all I had to do was talk to you…"
"This isn't your fault, Randall," Julian said, softly yet sternly. "I let this happen to myself. If you had tried to intervene, I would have just pushed you away. I should have listened to you before anyhow."
"No. It's, like, the opposite. I shouldn't have asked you to lie to your parents. That was really wonked up thing to do."
"No, you did the right thing. They wouldn't be able to handle truth." Julian looked down at the white sheets of the hospital bed. "They can barely handle the lie…"
"What happened?" Randy asked. "What made all…this happen? The nightmares?"
The goth nodded. "They've been getting worse and worse by the day. I keep seeing him, escaping into our world and attacking the people I love…I wish I could go to my parents or Theresa, but I don't want them to find out about what really happened. And I don't want to burden you with my problems."
Both boys fell silent. Neither one knew what to do or say next. That is, until Randy whipped his phone out of his pocket and placed it in Julian's hands.
"Give me your number." Randy demanded. "I'll give mine to your parents. Call me the next time you have a nightmare. Just talk to me when you need to."
Julian stared at him for a moment before beginning to enter his number into the phone's contacts. "You don't have to do this." he said softly. "I don't want you losing sleep too."
"I'll be fine. I don't think I'll be able to sleep knowing that you're feeling like this."
Julian blushed when he said that. Randy pretended not to notice.
A nurse suddenly poked her head into the door. "Excuse me, but we will do the sedation in a couple of minutes. I'm going to have to ask you to leave, young man."
"'Kay." Randy replied to the nurse. He looked back at Julian, accepting the phone back. "Well…I'll see you later. Remember, you can just give me a call anytime you need to."
Julian nodded. "Okay…Thank you, Randall. Thank you so much."
There was a pause of stillness, neither one of them willing to make the next move. But it seemed something within them took over then, and let it happen. Impulsively, overcome by all of their emotions, they embraced each other. They were the only ones who knew what they were going through, aside from Howard, who wasn't fully in the know and was acting pretty apathetic so far. Truly, Randy and Julian only had each other at this troubled time.
Randy held on tightly, wanting this moment to last as long as possible. He wanted to protect this person with everything he had, as himself and as the Ninja.
But for now, he forced himself to let go. Just for now.
~XXX~
On the way home, Darius and Margaret went through a drive thru, something they hadn't done since Margaret was pregnant with Julian.
They ate the meal in silence at home. The lights were low as they looked down at their barely touched food. It was mostly flavorless to them, as they were both used to delicacies. But more than that, they were just too overwhelmed by mixed emotions to eat now.
Margaret eventually spoke up. "Dear, I think we should cut back on Julian's hours."
After a pause of silence, Darius sighed. "You're right."
"And not just because of all this. It's just too much for him as is. He has enough to deal with high school and all, something like this would have happened eventually. It was a mistake to have him work so much in the first place."
"I know. He just seemed so…willing at the time. And he still is. But…it was irresponsible of us to let him take on so much. Same for Theresa. Working so much would definitely take a toll on them sooner or later. They're just kids, after all…"
"Yes. And…I've also been thinking that…that…"
"What is it, Maggie?"
"That…perhaps, we should cut back a little as well? Perhaps Julian is so willing to be there because…we're always there. We should've trained some staff to take charge. You could've gotten someone as skilled as you in the kitchen; I could have found someone that could lead the classes. But instead we just took on any bit of work we could do ourselves. And now Julian and, to a lesser extent, Theresa are following our example. "
Darius hesitated to speak. "Yeah. Moonbeam…Moonbeam's become too dependent on us. Business wise, it's pretty pathetic that it can't function without us there. And it's even more pathetic of us to let that happening. Maybe we're one the ones that have become too dependent on it."
Margaret let out a shaky sigh. "All three of us…We're just falling apart…"
Darius reached across the table, taking his wife's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Margaret looked at him with tears in her amber eyes.
He gently smiled at her. "Things will get better, my moonbeam. They always have."
Margaret smiled back. "They always will."
~XXX~
It was a solemn ride home for the Cunninghams, with very little conversation.
"Are you sure you don't want any dinner?"
"I'm sure, Mom."
"Are you absolutely sure? You'll be hungry during the night and-"
"Allie, stop." Caleb interrupted. "He's not honkin' hungry. Leave him be."
When they arrived at home, both parents watched as Randy went upstairs without a word. They had never seen their son in such a depressed state, and they didn't know what they could do about it.
Once he was gone, they both went silent. They went over to the living room couch and sat down, staring at the blank TV screen.
Alma let out a sigh. "He should've called the police."
"It doesn't matter anymore," "What's done is done, sunshine."
Alma's cheeks flushed red as she rolled her eyes. "You know I hate it when you call me that."
"I know," Caleb chuckled. "That's why I love doing it." He moved in closer to her and put an arm around her. "Look, we can't change anything that's already happened. But we can at least help them out when we can. And we have to help Randy; this whole thing has messed him just as much, y'know." He gave her a small peck on the forehead. "Don't worry, sunshine. Everything will be fine."
Alma rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "I hope so…"
Acid's Note-
DO YOU LOVE THE PARALLELS BETWEEN THE PARENTS BECAUSE I SURE AS HONK DO
I love how Maggie gets a huge, elaborate description and all Darius gets is "yeah he's just a dude." XD
There was supposed to a lot of extra drama but I decided to cut 99% of it out at the last minute because I reread it and realized it was all really unnecessary to the plot in the long run. It really sucks because I wasted multiple study halls writing that part of the chapter and now it turned out to be a gigantic waste of time. Whatever. At least it'll improve the rest of the story overall.
This chapter's portion of plot turned out to be way more boring than I initially thought. That's a pretty big reason as to why this took so damn long. Granted, I didn't know it was going to end up being over 5,000 words either.
I've done some planning and at the moment, this story will most likely be a little more than thirty chapters long. Yay.
Sorry if some of parts of this chapter seem rushed. I wanted to get this out as soon as possible. And I'm leaving town in less than thirty minutes, so…bye.
Sankyuu for reading~
-Acid