Chapter 14:

The next few days passed by in a haze of troublesome mornings and afternoons and sleepless nights. Tom would wake up each morning feeling just as tired and irritated as the night before. Friday, the day after his braille lesson, went rather smoothly until the bus ride home. Tom was feeling thoroughly depressed about going home and seeing his fake family. Also, he wasn't looking forward to riding the bus with Bryce Weiler who would probably bug him the whole way home.

Tom boarded the bus and settled himself in one of the back seats, hoping against hope that Bryce wouldn't sit in the back. Unfortunately when Bryce got on the bus, he seemed to know exactly where Tom was sitting and sat right across from him. Tom scooted as far over in his seat as he could, squishing himself against the window. Bryce immediately tried to engage Tom in conversation. "So, I watched this really interesting football game. One of The Dolphins' team players smashed another player into the ground. It was most definitely the most exciting game I've watched this year. I also purchased a pop from the Student Center, and I got to touch Michele's elbows. By the way, can I touch your elbows?"

Tom had been tuning Bryce out until the very last question, which snapped him out of his own thoughts. Bryce absent-mindedly slid to the very end of his seat, reaching for Tom's elbow. Tom wished he could just disappear through the window and end up back in England. "No," he said flatly. "You can't touch my elbow."

"Why?" Bryce questioned, still reaching blindly for Tom's elbow.

"Because your hands are gross and I don't particularly care for them on my elbow."

At that moment, Tom got wind of that same dirty sweat aroma that he had smelled in the computer room on Monday. Adrian Grice came golumping down the isle and sat right in front of Tom, the seat making a strange deflating noise as he sank into it. Another kid followed Adrian onto the bus. Tom thought this kid looked somewhat like a weasel with his pointed face. The kid sat right across from Adrian. Tom vowed to never sit in the back of the bus again.

Tom leaned back as the bus began to move and put his knees on the seat. He felt Adrian's bulk push against the seat as his knees made contact. Tom hurriedly sat up in his seat, not wanting to feel that gross feeling on his knees even through the seat. They stopped in front of a much smaller building, and the driver got out, returning with two little kids, one of them screaming bloody-murder.

The rest of the bus ride was a nightmare. They stopped at the Deaf School and picked up four kids, all of them trying to beat up one another. The deaf kids occupied the four seats in front of Adrian and the weasel kid who's name was Nick. There was also another kid who was from the Blind School that had gotten on the bus without Tom's noticing. He just sat there as Tom did, not talking to anyone. Tom guessed that him and the other kid were the only two normal people on the bus. Bryce kept up his continuous reaching and pleading for the elbows until he fell asleep about halfway through the trip. Tom also learned that he was to be the last one dropped off, along with Adrian.

"Why can't I be dropped off first?" he asked the driver when it was his turn to be let off.

"Because it wouldn't be fair to the other kids. They wouldn't want to wait on you. And, I wouldn't want to drive clear to Evansville, drop you off, and then go back and drop the rest of the kids off," the driver said snippily. Tom huffed in agitation and jumped down the last three steps.

"Be careful," the driver said, reaching out as though to grab Tom, making sure he didn't fall. Tom ignored his wafflings and went inside the house.

"Hey," Joanne said from the kitchen as she made a pot of spaghetti and meatballs. Tom's insides gave a jolt, thinking of the school's spaghetti and meatsauce. The family was made up of Joanne, which he seemed to see the most of, her husband, Dan, and her two kids Peter and Patricia.

Tom gave her silence in return. "Did you have a good week?" she tried again.

Silence. "Ok, fine. Don't talk," she said, turning back to her spaghetti. "But you know you'll have to talk to me eventually."

Silence. She didn't try again, just merely stirred her spaghetti.

Tom turned and walked up to his room. It was going to be a long weekend.

Tom rode the nightmeric bus back to school on Sunday. He didn't really want to sit in the front of the bus because of the little kids, but he also didn't want to sit in the back with Bryce, Adrian, and Nick who Tom figured out had stinky breath. But, he also didn't want to sit in the middle with the deaf kids. He didn't really want to be in the middle of their constant fights. So, he decided to resume his spot in the back and hope that Bryce wouldn't sit right across from him. Bryce, luckily sat in front of him, but he still tried to reach back and touch Tom's elbow. He managed to get his moist hand around Tom's wrist and started snaking his way up Tom's arm. Tom grunted with revulsion and jerked his hand away. The only thing that kept Tom from losing his mind was the exciting thought of being free this night. Rylie wasn't there to keep a constant watch on him. He had learned that the Lafayette bus didn't run on Sunday. This meant that he was free to do whatever he wished without her scolding him.

When he got to school, he immediately asked Mr. Odum, the other house parent beside Mr. Baugh, if he could walk the halls. "You need to make your bed and unpack first, kay?" Mr. Odum said, turning it into more of a question by the end of the sentence.

"Yeah whatever," Tom said, walking up the stairs. He sifted through the sheets and bedspreads, trying to find halfway decent ones, and then went to make his bed and put his clothes in his dresser. When this was all done, he again went downstairs and asked Mr. Odum if he could walk the halls.

"Are you gonna eat dinner?" Mr. Odum asked. "You should probably eat before you go."

Tom was getting a little irritated with the man. "Can I eat a little later?" he asked.

"I guess. But if there isn't any left, that's your problem."

"I think I'll live," Tom said, not keen on eating the school's food, even though the dorm cooked it.

Tom meandered through the halls for a while, thinking, until, climbing the ramp that lead up to the cafeteria, he spotted Alex, the girl who had collided with him, sitting with another girl, who was sobbing uncontrollably. This girl was tall and rather stalky with dark-blonde hair. He had seen her in class, but hadn't really bothered to pay much attention to her or get to know her. Even though Tom didn't know the girl, he immediately didn't like the sound of her crying. He didn't know why, but she didn't seem like the type to cry. So, he felt the tiniest bit sorry for the girl along with his feelings of amusement and curiosity. He crept nearer, but he didn't have to get too close to hear Alex's yells.

"You know what Sammy," she was screaming. "I hate you. You're so insensitive to my feelings. I just wanted to tell you a little secret and you had to go and blow up like that!"

"That's so stupid though," Sammy said, still crying.

"Stupid! How is it stupid?" Alex inquired starting to cry even though no tears were falling.

"Alex, please. You know he doesn't like you. He even said that he wasn't interested in you. Why would you keep stalking him?"

"I'm not stalking him. I only met him once. He just sounds so hot, him and his British self." She put a little preppy sound in there before she said the last few words, her fake cry apparently forgotten.

"Exactly my point," Sammy said, her tears also forgotten in her agitation. "You just met the poor kid. Why do you have to go and flirt with every guy you meet? That's what annoys me about you, Alex."

"I don't flirt with every guy!" she yelled, stomping her foot dramatically.

"Yes you do," Sammy said, her fury matching Alex's. "You met the guy last week and you're already trying to make plans for him to like you."

"Well, I like the way he sounds. He sounds so hot. If I can just get him to like me. I might buy him something in the Student Center, or maybe I'll just try talking to him."

"But he already said he wasn't interested in you," Sammy pointed out.

"If you can't help me with my problems, I don't want to be friends with you," Alex sniffed, starting her fake crying again.

"That's-that's mean," Sammy said, real tears forming in her eyes. Tom suddenly felt like punching Alex in the face for making Sammy feel so horrible. He was disgusted with himself. Why did he feel this way?

"So! You don't want to help me win Tom Blackston. Then, I don't want to be friends with you," Alex said dramatically. Sammy was crying silently, apparently stunned that Alex would even say something like that.

"Fine," Sammy whispered, her voice choked with emotion. "You're my best friend, but I--I guess not-not anymore." Alex's face broke into a smile. He could see the love of drama in her eyes. Then, suddenly, she got up and started running. Tom hurriedly stepped aside so she wouldn't collide with him again. Sammy was sitting there exactly where Alex had left her, her body shaking with silent sobs, looking shocked that Alex would just leave her like that. Tom felt a mixture of disgust toward Alex for doing something that horrible and sympathy for the broken teenager sitting on the ledge. Tom Riddle never felt these emotions, ever! He tried to wipe the feelings away and put a non-caring emotion in their place, but the feeling only intensified as Sammy sat there, looking extremely upset.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was walking toward her. He hesitated for a few seconds, not wanting to approach her, but his heart lead him to sit down beside her. "What do you want now, Alex? Wanna come back and rag on my judgement some more?" Her tear-stained face had grown agitated.

"Uhh, Sammy," Tom said, feeling extremely embarrassed. Sammy seemed to share his embarrassment; her face flushed with it. "I'm sorry," she said, wiping her face hurriedly on her sleeve.

"Don't be," Tom said. "That was horrible what she did." Realization dawned on Sammy's face.

"Tom? You listened to that whole fight?"

"It was pretty hard to block out," he said, laughing a little.

Her flush deepened. "I suppose so," she said.

"I just wanted to say, uhh, thanks for uhh, ya know, uhh, telling Alex to lay off me." Sammy actually smiled.

"Your welcome. I'm in your classes, and I know you wouldn't want Alex. She would probably dump you in the week anyway." Tom was surprised to hear the irritation and bitterness in her voice.

"Yeah. She seems rather flirtatious," he said. Sammy had stopped crying by now and Tom felt heartened by this. He was about to get up and walk away, but his heart and his emotions kept him seated.

"Was Alex the only thing you were crying about?" Tom inquired, feeling that Alex's dramatic behavior wasn't worth crying over.

"No," Sammy said, trying not to cry again. "Everything just seems to be going wrong."

"Wrong, like how?" Tom asked, feeling pity for the poor girl.

"I-I don't really want to talk about it," she said quietly. Tom knew this wasn't the truth. He could see the mistrust in her eyes.

"You can trust me," he said, a reassuring note in his voice.

"Really?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yes you can."

"Well, Alex is extremely mean, Amber was talking about me to Michele, and Levi got so mad at me for no reason at all and spilled milk all over my clothes. My cousins are mean, they always leave me out of everything, and there was a huge flood and our whole garden was ruined. So, now we're living on food stamps." She started crying again, silent tears pouring down her cheeks. Tom had no idea why he did it, he wasn't even planning on doing it, but he gave Sammy a quick awkward hug. Tom was shocked when Sammy hugged him back and started crying into his shoulder. She didn't know why she trusted this new kid, but there was just something about him that charmed her. He patted her awkwardly on the back, starting to feel uncomfortable, but also feeling an emotion that he had never felt before; content. Someone trusted him, cared enough to tell him her secrets, and didn't turn away from him or annoy him. Tom stood, and pulled Sammy to her feet. He steered her toward the ramp and made her walk, telling her that the walking would make her feel better.

They were soon walking down the halls, talking about many different things: classes, braille lessons, grades, and people they hated. She was an extremely fun person to talk too, and he enjoyed her company immensely. She laughed at some of the descriptions of people he gave. "Ahhh," she said dramatically. "I hated those stupid lines when I had to trace them."

Tom was in an extremely cheerful mood when he got back to his dorm. He took his shower, not even taunting Jacob Lynch who was taking his shower with Tom. Jacob was singing some extremely weird tune in a very peculiar voice, but disgusted as Tom was by this, he didn't say anything at all.

He got ready for bed, and settled down to go to sleep. But sleep didn't come. He tried to think about something else, but his and Sammy's conversation kept slinking into his head. Why did he feel like this? He was supposed to feel appalled by Sammy's emotional state, not sympathetic and caring. He had to call Rylie and ask her about it. She knew more about this stupid, emotional stuff than he did. He got up and started sifting through Levi's junk, looking for his phone that his precious mommy gave him. He hurriedly brushed some disgusting, stale cookies aside, and found the phone buried underneath them. He opened it, blew on it to get as much of the contamination off as he could and began to dial the numbers. He just didn't get it. Sammy had annoyed him with her obnoxiously cheerful manner and constant happy "Hi," to everyone she passed. So, why did he feel this way? He punched the call button, and nervously heard the ringing on the other end. He had luckily gotten Rylie's number from Sammy for emergencies exactly like this.

"Hello?" Rylie said after the third ring.

"Hey Rylie," Tom said cheerfully. He heard a gasp of surprise from the other end and the phone drop. He snickered in amusement.

"Tom!" she exclaimed. "How did you get my number?"

"From Sammy. So, how's the angel?" he asked casually.

"It's-it's fine," Rylie said sounding expectant. He knew that she knew he didn't want to talk about the angel.

"Well, it's Sammy I want to talk about," Tom said awkwardly.

"Sammy?" Rylie said, sounding surprised. "Hold on a minute. Shut up Britney."

"Britney?" Tom said, dread sinking into him.

"Yeah. I'm at school, but of course you didn't know that."

"No, I didn't." This put a little damper on Tom's cheerful mood.

"Yeah. The bus doesn't leave early enough for Ryne. He has to go to North Central, so Mom's taking us in on Sundays."

"Oh," Tom said, trying but failing to hide his disappointment. "But anyway, I talked to Sammy today. Well actually, I caught Sammy crying because of a fight she got in with Alex. Then, Alex just walked off and left her."

Tom continued to tell his story, telling Rylie the whole conversation. Tom had a rather agrivating way of telling his stories. He told them in excruciating detail. He seemed to remember everything. Rylie listened without any comment.

"Wow," she said, sounding shocked. "This is exciting. You finally found someone you care for!" She didn't say it arrogantly; she actually sounded genuinely excited.

"Exciting? I'm not supposed to feel this way. I'm Lord Voldemort!"

"No. You're Tom Riddle, not Lord Voldemort. If you were Lord Voldemort, you would have murdered someone by now," she said calmly. "I was hoping this would happen."

Guilt crept into Tom's heart. He had thought of murdering.

"So, it's...normal to feel this way?" Tom said, slightly embarrassed. Rylie actually laughed which angered Tom a little.

"Yes, this is completely normal. If you were Lord Voldemort, you would have never met Sammy. Instead of feeling this way, you would have murdered her piteously. You wouldn't have given her a chance, just thinking her a stupid muggle, nothing more."

Tom knew even before she was done speaking that she was right. If she hadn't caught the angel, forced him to live with muggles, his mind would still be closed to some of the wonderful people out there who just weren't privileged with magical powers like him. He would have just murdered Sammy, with no second thought. "Thanks," he said quietly. "Thanks for everything." He hung up, leaving a rather shocked Rylie on the other end of the line.

Tom Riddle had never known emotions like this. He couldn't hate Rylie anymore, even though her superior-acting was annoying. But, she didn't even act superior during the conversation. If she hadn't caught the angel, he wouldn't have met Sammy. Sammy. The only person who seemed to care for him. 'Maybe,' Tom Riddle thought, slumping back on his pillows, 'This school won't be quite so bad after all.'