A/N: Reason Nick asked the school nurse last set if he could smack someone? Because he'd talked to her before first period about things that were on his mind and he'd already agreed to discuss it with the advisor. (If you can't talk to the readily available and adjacent school nurse, who can you talk to?)
Week Eleven: After the Of! - UDC 6
51. Death
The classroom they normally met in was empty save their advisor seated at the desk, Nick observed as he stopped in the doorway and pulled the framed picture from his backpack that he'd snagged that morning. He paused, looking down at it, and then sighed heavily.
"Has it been that bad of a... oh. Nick, get over here."
Nick blinked at the now-familiar voice and looked up to find Alan watching him with a neutral expression and a curious tilt to his head. "You're not Mr. Norling."
"No, he had a family emergency to see to," Alan told him. "And I'm the reserve advisor today. What's that, kid?"
Nick went closer and handed the picture to him, and Alan studied it for a long moment before laying it face down. "Mr. Jenkins, I-"
"Were you going to tell Norling about some things?"
"Yes."
Alan nodded. "Grab a chair and we'll talk, Nick."
52. Doom
As Nick went to grab a chair and bring it back to the desk, Alan stood and started writing on the chalk board. Nick watched, perplexed at the subject matter and the bullet points. "Should I be taking notes?"
"This is for later," Alan told him. "And you will be, along with everyone else. All week long, and I managed to forget that you, however mature you seem, are fifteen. This has been a lot, hasn't it?"
"I don't know where to start," Nick admitted.
Alan paused. "That's a good place, actually. Does Pete know you brought it to school?"
"He was too tired to notice."
Alan chuckled at that answer. "Well, your mother did say he was exhausted, as well as having the Flu, so that tracks." Silence, and Alan glanced back at him. "Paperwork, Nick. I saw her this morning."
"Oh. Doesn't a JROTC advisor have to be or have been military somehow?"
"I was. Navy. Served aboard a ship during the Korean Police Action." He paused in writing one of the bullet points, shook his head. "Of course then, just like now, over there it's a war and not a police action."
53. Terror
Nick wondered what the distinction between the two definitions was as he sat down. "Right."
"And then, just like now, the draft was in play. Something you should consider here, really. People do and say things they normally wouldn't as a means of dealing with fear, both known and unknown." Alan stood back and read everything he'd put on the board, then nodded to himself and sat back down at the desk just as two more JROTC members filed in. "Take your seats and start taking notes, Gentlemen. It'll be a theory of communications drill today instead." Nick stared at him. "More than one way to deal with a problem. Remember that."
"Theory of communication?"
Alan tapped the picture he'd laid on it's face. "Part of the issue, which the school staff has been aware of but unable to do anything about? Communication and rumors. What a person thinks they know versus the reality can be two very different things." He lowered his voice as more members filtered in. "That was what you were going to bring up, wasn't it?"
"Badly," Nick admitted. "Just... he hasn't even unpacked yet, and is always startled at nice gestures, as if it's the last thing he expects. Pete was even startled when Ma told him he could use the dresser in his room, and asked if it really was his room and not the guest room. How does that happen, that he'd be so closed off like that, Mr. Jenkins?"
Alan stared at him for a minute, then nodded slowly. "All of that makes sense, you know. It shouldn't, and if this were a normal situation, you'd never have to think about the whys, but this? If he's talking about it, if you're open to listening, it's good. It's progress." He looked over Nick's shoulder at the dark-haired teenager watching them from the open door. "Is the non-uniformed guy with you?"
Nick blinked and looked, then chuckled. "Nah, he's from Pete's Honors Geometry class. Jaime?"
"Just making sure you weren't actually in danger of smacking Campbell like you wanted to," Jaime said with a touch of humor.
54. Peril
"What did I do?" Campbell asked suddenly, drawing Alan's attention. "And you did say you were lost, Bradshaw." He cringed suddenly. "Don't look at me like that, Huntington."
"Someone should," Jaime muttered. "Sir, can I join the drill? I'd love to learn a bit more about Communication."
"Take a seat," Alan told him, then turned his attention back to Nick. "Now why would you want to smack anyone? Lost?"
Nick sighed. "Two guys in the locker room were being mean in Pete's general direction and I intervened. I was lost for a week or so, new school and all. As for Campbell... he has a locker near Pete's and a habit of asking questions and saying things that he shouldn't. Also? Pete is twelve and doesn't know how to cope sometimes. He's fine with adults, but not so fine with..." He motioned to Campbell. "Not sure how to define it, and I might be missing the right vocabulary to do so."
Alan nodded again. "Now I know we need a communications drill. Thank you." He handed the picture back to Nick. "Put that back in your bag."
55. Shadow
Campbell caught his arm as Nick was moving to take a seat next to Jaime, and tilted the picture so he could see it momentarily. He frowned, then looked up at Nick. "Is that...?"
"You have eyes," Nick told him curtly, a hint of danger in his tone. "And you're the one who asked if he'd suddenly gained a sense of humor."
"Gentlemen?" Alan spoke up and Campbell blinked. He studied the picture again, and then let go and Nick quickly put it in his backpack and then sat down. "Thank you."
The next hour or so was filled with a communications lecture that was so heavy they'd have to re-read their notes several times to understand all of the theory presented.