Hi, sorry I missed a week, I realized at something like 7:30 PM that I hadn't typed up this chapter and, therefore because of a set of rules at my house regarding bedtimes, could not both type it up and upload it without going over my screen time limit for the day. But here it is now.
Reviews!
hopeweaver19: I shall use that idea! I'm writing it up on paper, actually, and so far it's pretty funny...
Ranger Girl: Thanks! The thing is, I'm a little nervous about writing canon characters, so that might be a factor. I'll try to work him in more, though, thanks for the feedback! Also, I would bring in the Herons, if it weren't for the fact that I'm still on book 1 and I really don't want spoilers for the rest of the books. Also, I'm not sure how well I could write them, being on book 1. . But, once I finish, if this is still going I can try to work them in somehow! ^_^
Ranger_Corpses: No, it's not good. That's probably why I wrote it. XD
(TW for mentions of drug abuse. But if you've read the third book, it probably won't bother you much. Still, because I'm a good person(am I really though?) I shall put this here.)
Disclaimer: I'm not Flanagan. If I were... well, the series likely would have turned out far differently.
Eight: Some serious stuff happens.
The next day wasn't nearly as eventful until second period. Not only was this my least favorite class - health - but I maybe forgot what we were learning about at the time, and things maybe didn't go so well.
It had started out fine. I was half-asleep, just taking notes on the content. We were in the drugs and alcohol unit, and my half-asleep brain didn't register quite what this meant for Will until I found myself writing down the words drug addiction, and I paused. Oh. Oh no. I turned towards Will, who was sitting next to me, and saw his face pale, his pen held tight in his hand, which seemed frozen. Oh dear, that's right...Skandia had already happened for him… I raised my hand. The teacher turned to me.
"Yes, Alyssa?"
"Can I… uh… can I take my friend outside for a moment? I think he needs some fresh air," I said, trying to be as vague as possible. Will really needed to get out of this room. The teacher nodded. I slid my notebook over to Cierra.
"Please take notes for me," I asked, and she nodded as I pulled Will out of the classroom and into the fresh air outside of the school building. He was shaking.
"Hey, hey, Will, can you hear me?" I asked. Will nodded, barely noticable. "Hey, look at me."
I turned his head to look at me, and his eyes… oh my god, just hearing about drug addictions were having a really, really bad effect on him.
"You're OK. You're not in Skandia. Okay? Do you hear me? You are safe now, no one's gonna force you to do anything that's dangerous for you."
Will nodded, and his eyes began to return to normal, and tears started to well up in his eyes. Jeez louis, I was going to have a lot to explain to Halt once we got back home…
"Do you think you can go back into the classroom?" I asked as softly as I could. Will shook his head. "Alright. Do you want me to tell the teacher why you can't re-join the class, or do you want me to make something up?"
"M-make something up…" Will said shakily. At least he was talking, that was some progress made.
"Okay. Do you want to just wait out here, or do you want me to come back out afterwards?"
"I… I can wait."
"Alright."
Class is almost over, I thought with relief. He wouldn't be waiting for too long, but still… I walked back into the classroom, and Cierra shot me a questioning look, as did the teacher.
"Is your friend able to join us again?" He asked, and I shook my head, my brain scrambling for a made-up reason.
"No, he's… got some really bad memories surrounding some opioid drugs, his… uhm… grandfather had an addiction that led to his death," I freewheeled, and Cierra shot me a look that said nice save there. The teacher nodded.
"Alright. I can see how this topic might cause him grief."
"Thanks for understanding," I said as I sat back down, mind still worried about Will.
As the bell rang, I got out of the classroom as fast as I could and met back up with Will outside. He seemed much calmer, and it was lunch now, so he didn't have to worry about class periods for a little longer.
"You holdin' up ok?" I asked, and Will nodded. "By the way, I told my teacher that your grandfather died from drug abuse, just in case he asks about it."
"Thanks for that," Will said, I could see tear tracks that had run down his eyes. I nodded.
"Of course. C'mon, let's go eat."
Cierra, Will and I walked into the classroom and sat down with Isa and Cassidy, who seemed happy as could be. Will still seemed a little off-put, but that didn't really surprise me that much. I mean, Will had just had some kind of freeze-up in regards to just the topic of drug abuse. He definitely seemed to be doing much better than before, though, so that was good.
"Hey, guys," Isa said, waving. I waved back, and sat down. Will sat down, still a little shaky.
"Will? You okay?" Cassidy asked, and I shook my head sharply. Too late, of course.
"What's up?" Isa asked. Will stiffened, and I wanted to slap Isa into next week.
"We're gonna go back outside," I said, glaring, leading Will out of the room.
"I just-" Isa started, but the door slammed closed before I could hear the rest of what she was trying to say. Will sat down again.
"I don't… why…" he mumbled, face in his hands.
"It wasn't your fault."
"But it was! I'm the one who insisted on going back on the bridge."
"And if you hadn't," I cut in, choosing my words. "Araluen would be under Morgarath's control."
Will was silent. I just sat out there with him. After a while, I spoke back up.
"You think you can go back in?"
Will thought for a moment, then nodded. We stood up, and went back into the classroom, where Cierra's worried eyes shot to the door, an unspoken question lying there.
"Aly, what was-" Cassidy started, then I cut her off.
"We're not going to bring it up."
Cassidy's mouth clicked shut. Ah, it was going to be a long day if this continued.
The rest of the school day went fairly smoothly, and by the time I was driving Will back home, he had basically returned to his typical self, and I had almost forgotten this morning until I pulled into the driveway. Now, I wanted to slam my head onto the wheel. This was going to be fun…
We walked into the house, finding it suspiciously quiet. Not just that, but the lights were off. This worried me greatly, given the Rangers in the house. I froze as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and the front door closed. Then I felt the ice cube down the back of my shirt and I scrambled to remove it, Gilan's laughter filling my ears.
"For crying out loud, Gilan!" I exclaimed once the ice fell on the floor. "Don't do that!"
"It was pretty funny," Will commented - unhelpfully. I glared at him. He grinned, his hands going up in surrender. I was going to get back at them some day in the near future…
"Well, in any case, how'd the day go?" Gilan was talking to Will now. Will stiffened slightly, glancing at me. Gilan's eyes followed his.
"Did something happen?"
Well, this was problematic… at least Halt wasn't here…
"Oh, hello Halt," Gilan said, his attention cutting to a point right over my shoulder. My heart sank.
"What was this about something happening?" I felt his unnerving gaze on the back of my neck, and I desperately just wanted to hide in my room.
"I… uh… I may have forgotten exactly what we were learning in Health today, and… um… it may have involved… uh… d-drug abuse…?" I said, picking my words as carefully as I possibly could. I felt two pairs of eyes narrow at me. "But once I did realize I got him out of the classroom as quickly as I could."
Gilan seemed to relax a little bit, but Halt certainly didn't.
"Halt, I'm okay," Will commented. "Just surprised me was all…"
"If you're sure…" Halt suspicious gaze lingered on me for a moment more before leaving me and turning to Will. "Since you're back, why don't you go practice?"
Will sent Halt a pleading look. Predictably, Halt was unmoved by it, and Will stalked out to the backyard to practice. Halt followed, and I moved to go upstairs, but was stopped by Gilan. I looked up, and his face did not make me very relaxed.
"You uh… might not wanna go up there…"
Naturally, this urged me up the stairs at a quicker pace, Gilan running after me. Something told me I was not going to be pleased with what I was going to find upstairs.
I'm sorry, we've got some serious stuff here. We're also in the actual drug and alcohol unit in my health class irl, so that's probably where I got the idea.Also, for you guys reading Skandian Slaves, you've got a double upload day, since I'm not waiting for Saturday again. BC I'll forget.
