The Extremely Crappy Days at Ashfield High

Chappy Thirty Four: Robin

Joshua Townsend was not especially happy this morning. It was several days after his ordeals in Silent Hill, and here he was, perfectly fine. Almost. His left palm was bandaged up, still in the process of healing, and so was his lower torso. The only relatively good thing that came out of this was his exclusion from the activites in his gym class, which was fine by him. Still though, he was curious. His parents had remained silent about what they knew concerning Walter Sullivan, but he wasn't as interested in that as he was in what that cult had been attempting.

He adjusted his backpack strap and waited for the traffic light to allow him to keep on walking. He had woken up an hour and a half earlier than usual today, but what was really strange was the urge to get to school. He paid it no heed, though; it was a trivial matter of no great significance. Besides, he felt it his responsibilty to make sure Myron was all right. He had dragged him into that mess, so he felt kind of guilty over the matter.

And then there was Zeik. That lunatic had almost killed them both, but he did sacrifice himself to ensure their survival-even though it was hardly necessary. He could've gone with them instead of staying with that thing and getting blown up. But, he probably had his reasons for it.

It was then that someone jogged up beside him, slightly out of breath. He didn't even bother to glance at the girl, whose long, crimson hair nearly matched the light. Had he looked at her he would've been partially surprised at her attire. It was a female, private-school uniform. However, her backpack would have attracted view first, being a bright, hot pink. He finally turned when she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but you wouldn't be heading to South Ashfield High... would you?"

"What?" he replied while turning his head.

She stared at him weirdly. "I said-,"

"I know what you said; I was just checking if it was my imagination... and, yeah, I am going there."

"Oh goody!" she exclaimed while beaming. "I wasn't sure if I was going the right way." Joshua eyed her from top to bottom, scratching his chin.

"Yeah... Why are you wearing that uniform?"

"Oh, it was the only thing I had this morning. Plus, I think it's comfortable."

"...Uh huh..." he said as the light turned green and he began walking across the street. She followed him.

"I was thinking, you know, that I could walk with you to the school. Is that okay?" she said very innocently.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Err... sure..." he answered, looking back to the front. Suddenly, however, she stopped at the sound of a mew. He looked back at her as she spun around to stare at a nearby tree. "What are you looking at?" he asked as another mew sounded. She pointed at one of the highest branches, where a bright orange, furry little kitten was clutching the bark fearfully.

"The kitten! We have to save it!" she said frantically. Joshua just snorted. "That tiny furball? Just let it jump down and get some experience." He was about to leave, but she latched onto his arm, squealing.

"No, no, no, please, you have to climb up and get him down! He's completely helpless!"

"Me? Chick, can't you see I'm in the process of recovering! I can't just... climb up a tree and risk injury!" he responded while he tore away from her. As he spoke, her eyes grew large and teary, like puppy-dog eyes.

"Please? You won't get hurt, really! Just look at him, he's perfectly helpless!"

Joshua sighed and looked up, locking his gaze with that of the kitten. It was in that one second he saw the cat the way she saw it. He saw its helplessness.

"Oh, fine..." he said while giving in and studying the tree for a moment before starting to climb.

"Be careful!" advised the girl as he slowly made his way to the branch. After about a minute, Joshua stopped and, resting most of his weight on the nearest branch, reached out for the kitten.

"Come here, little kitty... Come on..." The cat gradually moved and positioned itself to face him. The brunet grasped it gently, but at that instant, the kitten hissed, frightening Joshua as it pounced on him and scratched at his face, three, bloody lines grazed onto his right cheek. He and the kitten fell, but the girl caught it while Joshua hit the ground hard, aching in pain as he struggled to get up.

"That damn thing!" he fumed, glaring at it. But the animal was purring happily as the girl scratched behind its ears.

"I think I'll take him to school... don't you think?" she said before putting her backpack down and placing the small kitten into it, zippering it up enough to leave a small hole for air.

She put it back on and smiled at him. "...I don't think I caught your name..."

He sighed. "It's Joshua," he said while feeling at the small cuts. "You're not serious about that, though, are you?"

"Of course I am, and my name's Faith... That's it!" She looked down at her backpack. "That's what I'll call him! Little Josh!"

---

Christian Richards flipped through the book he'd brought to school that day. It was a short one, in his opinion, ranging up to about only two- hundred pages. As he did this, Cheryl Mason walked into the classroom, holding the chocolate bar she'd bought from the vending machine in the teachers' lounge. She glanced at him quickly as she sat down at her desk.

"Hello, Christian, I hope you've been doing well. I know the past few days have been hard... Actually, I'm surprised you even came to school today."

He shook his head. "No... I'm fine," he replied, glancing down at his long- sleeved shirt. "Well... I do have something I'd liked to ask you."

"Yes?"

"...I know you know about The Order, Miss Mason. I... I want to know about them, and what they did," he said rather hesitantly.

She opened her mouth to respond when Joshua walked in, glancing at the only other two occupants in the room. He waved at Cheryl before plopping down into his seat next to Christian. A few seconds later, Faith Nielsen entered the classroom, immediately zooming over to Cheryl's desk and handing over her schedule.

Christian looked to her and then to Joshua, who had his head on his desk. "What's going on, Christian? Any freaky cultish things happening?"

"...None from what I know of," he lied as Cheryl directed Faith to the desk to Joshua's right, one of the only empty seats. She deposited herself there, waving at Christian.

"Hi, I'm Faith!"

"Christian Richards," he responded with a smile as she leaned back.

"Where's everyone else, Miss Mason?" Faith asked curiously.

"It's too early," Joshua answered for the teacher. "Nobody comes into class, like, thirty minutes before school starts..." Faith looked at him with a grin, before smacking her head.

"Ooh, I'm almost forgot to show you all little Joshy!"

"Little Joshy?" inquired Christian as the redhead opened up her backpack and brought out a small, orange kitten. Christian scratched his head as he whispered to Joshua, "...Where'd she come from, anyway? A little weird..."

The other male shrugged and kept his head down. Cheryl cocked an eyebrow up. "I have to admit... this is the first time I've ever had a new student bring a cat to school."

"Well, Josh here saved him, 'cause he was stuck in this tree, and I just couldn't bear to let him wander off and endanger himself anymore, so I decided to keep him, at least for now. It's... okay, right?"

Cheryl nodded. "Just as long as you keep him in your backpack and not let him get around; I don't want to be responsible."

"Sure!" chirped Faith as she cuddled the kitten, who purred more than ever. "So..." she started, putting the cat on Joshua's head, "what do we do now?"

"Just wait," replied the teacher. "Not much else we can do this early." She looked at Christian, who was softly petting the kitten. But after that there was silence. Joshua was staring at the clock, the new student was humming, and the blond boy kept on petting the little Joshy.

A few more seconds...

"You seem like the type of woman who'd have a husband, Miss Mason," remarked Faith. The short- haired woman looked up, but kept her head relatively low.

"...You really can't rely on a husband, um...?"

"Faith."

"Faith. And besides, I haven't met anyone that really..."

"...tickles your fancy?" said Joshua out of nowhere with a chuckle.

"...Yes, Joshua, no one that tickles my fancy."

---

Linda stepped through the doorway, shutting the apartment door behind her. Lucas didn't attempt to look up at her from his position at a desk nearby. He was staring intently at the book lying before him. "I didn't get any luck with them, but I told them we'd give 'em some time to think it over. But, based on first impressions, they're all weak; won't be a bit of help," she stated while plopping down on a sofa. "Good thing we managed to rent this place, eh, Lucas?" He gave no answer.

She furrowed her brow. "Lucas, I'm talking to you here!" She stood up and walked over to him, peering over his shoulder at the book.

"...Where'd you get the book? And... why are you just staring at it like that?"

"I'm thinking," he replied, closing his eyes. "...Abraham gave me the book, by the way." Linda just stared at him for a few seconds, but the burst out giggling.

"Abraham? You're kidding, right?"

"...No. I met him after I went to see Townsend and Richards. Look's like shit, in my opinion."

Linda moved away, looking to the side. "...You're serious, then? You met with him, after all these years, and just let him run off again?"

"He's the one who walked out on us, remember?" he said, keeping his eyes on the book's cover. "He's none of our concern." She cast him a dirt look and walked towards the hallway.

"I'm taking a shower."

Lucas waited until she was gone before he flipped the book open. "If this is what I believe it, Abraham, then you've played into my hands without even knowing it, but I will admit, decoding this will be more difficult than I expected..." he said silently to himself. A sick smirk appeared on his face. "However, a little cheating shouldn't hurt that much..."

---

Melissa sighed and eyed the revolver with some type of distate as she loaded it with exactly five bullets. She did this slowly and steadily, with each bullet, she knew, a part of her was dying. If she loaded all five, she knew she would die. So she left it at three, but as she was about to insert the third one into the weapon, the door opened, and in walked Catherine.

Melissa quickly stowed the gun away into the drawer and turned, brushing away several strands of hair from her eyes. "Oh, Catherine! Is... there something wrong?"

"Nope," responded the blonde as she looked around the small room. "I was just thinking. Alexis's been acting weird recently, right?"

"If you mean 'different', yeah, I suppose so... I just don't know about this. Part of me wants to help them, but... it's not worth it... is it?"

"Well, it depends. Me and Lexy will be supporting you in whatever you decide, and... um, that's all I really wanted to tell you."

The raven-haired woman nodded in response. "...Thank you, but I'm still deciding."

"That's fine, but what're are we gonna eat?"

"...W-What?"

(Bit of a filler chapter, but the juicier stuff will be coming soon.)

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