HEY GUYS!
Thank you ALL for your questions and suggestions in the reviews. THEY are the reason that this chapter got written so well and so quickly. If you reviewed with a question, keep an eye out in this chapter to see where it was used. Give yourselves a BIG round of applause. You all helped out BIG time with this chapter. If THIS isn't proof that I write better with feedback, I don't know what is!
ATTENTION! IMPORTANT MESSAGE!
Ok. So in the end of this chapter, I am introducing a new character, Emanuel Anderson, nicknamed Viper. He is a character Eraman created for me to use based off of her (Thank you by the way Eraman ;D). I'm going to make this clear now so I don't get a thousand frantic reviews and questions from you guys. VIPER IS NOT 'V'! 'V' IS NOT VIPER! They are two very separate people who know nothing about each other...yet. Emanuel is a good guy. "V" is not. There is no need for you, my poor little sweetie pies, to worry. Seb is perfectly safe...for now.
Now that we have that settled, without farther ado, let's get back to our favorite boys and answer SOME of your many questions :D
The Warblers all looked to Seb worriedly. No one really knew what was happening. No one knew what to say...or if they should say anything at all. The room was dead silent.
Seb sighed and put Thad's phone down on the table. "Ok...fire when ready."
Jeff shook his head. "Bas...what's going on? why did you get so upset?"
Seb smiled sadly. "So many things Cuckoo...SO many things."
Thad went over and wrapped a blanket around Seb gently. "Are you better now Bas?"
Seb snuggled into the warmth of the blanket "Ya...thanks. I...I really needed that."
Thad nodded, clearing his throat. "So...who is this Carter? Ex-boyfriend?"
Amiri snorted at how OBVIOUS Thad was about trying to hide his jealousy.
Seb chuckled and took Thad's hand. "Carter is Scarab's real name."
Thad blushed. "Oh..."
"Scarab?" Andy asked.
"He's a student teacher at my old school." Seb explained. "He was Head Hornet when I first went there."
"Head what?!" Lincoln asked.
"Hornet." Seb said simply.
"What are the Hornets?" Andy asked.
"And what are the Honeybees?" Nick asked.
It was obvious the Warblers were getting even more confused.
Seb sighed. "You know how I said my cousin Ella goes to a boarding school in West Virginia? Well, I use to go there too. It's a co-ed school with two show choirs: The Hornets and The Honeybees. Hornets are the boy's choir. Honeybees are the girls. The captain of the Hornets is unofficially called the Head Hornet. The leader of the Honeybees is the Queen-bee. The youngest a captain can be is a sophomore and they stay captain until they graduate unless they are overthrown by the swarm. Carter was the captain of the Hornets when I came to the school. He when he was a senior and graduated, he passed it on to the next kid. However, when he decided to study education in college, the school offered him a student teaching position with them. He works as a tutor, substitute teacher, TA, and a head of the dorm staff."
"Basically, the Big Brother Bird of Seb's old school" Thad summarized.
The Warblers all nodded. That at least they understood now.
Wes went over and sat by Sebastian. "Why would you leave Dalton?"
Sebastian shivered. "Because that's what I did last time. V knew where I was at my old school. So...I had to leave. THAT is why I went to Paris to live with my mom. I needed to go somewhere V couldn't find me until the police had that monster in custody...which they never did. V was never brought to trial and is still living somewhere in West Virginia. I'm not safe there. So dad got me enrolled in Dalton...where he THOUGHT I'd be safe. If Hunter tells where I am...then that's it. I need to leave. Because then I wouldn't be safe here either. V would know where I was and WOULD come after me again." He was shaking hard in fear now at the very thought.
Wes pulled his brother close. "Sshhh...it's ok little Mockingbird. It's alright. I'm here. You're safe now. V can't hurt you. I promise. No one will find you. Dalton will protect you."
Seb's eyes slipped shut as his body relaxed, lulled into security by Wes's words. He trusted Wes. Wes would never let anyone or anything hurt him.
"What I'm wondering," David said, "Is how Hunter knew? How did he know what V did? How does he know who V even is?"
"Hunter said it himself," Trent said sadly, "He does his research. ANYONE who he wants the upper hand on, he will dig up dirt on till he can find something he can use against them."
"He...He meant it about him and V being old friends" Seb whispered. "He's showed me pictures as proof. He DOES know V."
"Probably went to the same rehab." Nick joked softly. A few people laughed...but Sebastian didn't.
"Actually..." Seb gulped. "They did."
Nick went bug-eyed. "Wait! WHAT?!"
Seb sighed. "Hunter has been evaluated before for his drug use in the past. V...is HARDCORE into a lot of shit. Should've gotten treatment a LONG time ago...but no one really noticed there was a problem till it was too late."
"Until YOU got hurt." Thad clarified. "No one cared what V did until YOU got hurt and someone with more than half a brain was given a reason to give a shit."
"Yes and No." Seb said. "It was me getting hurt that shown the light on the issue. But it wasn't that people didn't care. It really was that they didn't notice. V was VERY good at appearing like a normal, functioning human being." He sighed, "Plus, it's not even really the drugs that caused the problem. Plenty of people do drugs, get off them, and are fine. Heck! If the drugs were what made them monsters, we'd all be SCREWED!"
The warblers all laughed, though it was somewhat forced.
Sebastian shook his head, "No...the steroids just emphasized the issue that was already there. I mean...I guess you're sort of right Goldie. The real issue was that no one cared enough to stop them and ever tell them 'No'. The danger in them is that they've been built up to an untouchable state of entitlement."
The warblers all nodded in agreement. Nothing in the world is more dangerous than someone so entitled they won't take 'No' as answer.
"I would really like to know who this 'V' is, how bad they are, and why Sebastian is so scared of them?" Amiri said.
Seb tensed harshly.
"BUT," Wes jumped in quickly, "Seb doesn't have to tell us right now...not till he's ready."
"It must be something pretty major if Sebastian is so shaken up about it." Isabella whispered to her aunt.
Dean Mirren simply nodded, "It is..."
"Is this 'V' the source of your merinthophobia?" Amiri asked seriously.
Seb sighed. "Not the original source...but what happened definently made my phobia worse..."
"Bas..." Jeff said softly. "Your old life... Why so much secret?"
"Why can't you tell us?" Nick frowned.
"Do you not trust us?" Trent pouted.
"Why don't you trust us?" Lincoln wondered.
"Please tell us?" Andy begged.
Seb closed his eyes. "No...guys...I...It's not that I don't trust you it's just..." He sighed, "Look...It's just a really personal thing for me, ok? What V did to me...it scarred me for a long time. I'm trying to get better at talking about it but...that's with people who already KNOW about it. Telling NEW people what happened...having to explain it to someone who has no idea...THAT is a level of acceptance I've yet to reach. I'm getting there...but I'm not there yet."
They all nodded. They could understand the feeling. Many of them had come to Dalton for traumatic reasons. They knew it took time to open up and trust people with your story.
"Why does Ella live with you and your dad?" David asked, trying to change the subject. "I heard her say she's lived with you since she was 6?"
Seb gulped, this obviously being another hard topic for him. "Ella's mother was...she died when Ella was five. Then her dad...he's not dead but...he can't take care of Ella anymore. That's...a different story. THAT is where my Merinthrophobia came from. And...it's not just my story. It's Ella's too."
Wes held Seb to his chest, stroking his hair softly. "Let's not talk about this anymore, ok?"
Seb nodded and snuggled closer. "Ok."
They all agreed. They could see that all of this was just making Seb more upset.
Amiri picked up the remote, "Cool! So we missed a bit of the movie. Let me just rewind the..."
The doors suddenly burst open again. The Warblers all jumped in fright...but relaxed when they saw it wasn't Hunter. Instead, there stood a rather panicked boy in flannel pajamas.
Wes looked to Thad, "Who's that?"
"Emanuel Anderson." Thad explained, "Vice chairman of the student council. He's a junior. He's on the Lacrosse team. Friend of Sebastian's."
Seb jumped to his feet, looking worried. He ran over to the boy. "Viper! What's wrong?"
Emanuel caught his breath as he spoke. "Heard...screaming...thought...you guys...in trouble. Went...to get Dean..."
"I'm right here Mr Anderson." Mrs Mirren said calmly.
Emanuel looked to her, eyes widening. "Dean Mirren! Thank god I found you! It's an emergency!"
The Warblers laughed. "She's already here! I think she knows what happened!"
Viper shook his head. "No...not that. I was searching the school for Mrs Mirren, but I couldn't find her. Then I thought that she might already be here. So I came this way. But on the way here, I passed through administration hall again." He looked to the Dean again. "Mrs Mirren, there is SMOKE coming out of your office! Something in there is on FIRE!"
Hope that answered at least some of your questions...and left you with more!
Until next time, keep reviewing and I'll try to keep writing