Regarding the empty halls, jacket hugged tightly to his chest, Dash had a goal in mind, a light flurry of intention that lead him along, even when his thoughts trembled with a furiosity he couldn't understand. It was much easier to try and ignore it, the inching hands of many voices, voices that refused to be silenced anymore, not that they had bothered to be very considerate of that in the first place, the boy just barely grasping what the meeting had been about in the first place as his focus was impossible to maintain.
Scant words here and there, something about schoolwork, suspension, and other things, but it just wasn't making sense to him, more akin to a mismatched puzzle than an actual conversation that he could reasonably make sense of. That wasn't to say that he hadn't tried or wasn't still trying, finding great effort in the endeavor of attempting to listen as closely as he could, but fatigue was setting in, the motivation to even give it any effort was waning, he noticed, as of late.
'Wouldn't it just be easier to go along with it?' He thought again as he remembered thinking something similar in the office not too long ago, when his father had said something to him, and he just barely managed to hear him. His nerves were shot at the thought of it, the memory of having no idea what was going on but what was occurring in his head, and just how little he had grasped what was happening.
What was happening, he wondered then, searching through the most likely answers they wanted through the noise, which had only gotten louder, and louder, and LOUDER. It was beginning to get unbearable at a point, recalling just how tightly he had been gripping his father's jacket in a bid to just ground him, anything to make sense of the world around him, and the odd sensation of...falling away.
Was everything always so weird, so...distant?
Looking down at his arms, he still had his jacket and broken book bag, lying in this arms limply as he made no move to progress further, realizing with a strange sense of elation that he could still recognize what he had been holding.
'This is my book bag and my jacket...my jacket...my jacket...,' A slow mantra, as if reminding someone of something they had forgotten, yet not lost to him was the latent guilt at the thought of it, of a lady he knew, that he had met again after only a few days of being apart.
- (Flashback) -
Bellworth entered was immediately unsure of the two that stood before, a woman not much older than her, looking thoroughly...confused, uncertain and just lost altogether, and a man, a towering man that, for the strangest reason she just couldn't place, made her skin run like ants, scurrying ants about a threat that they just couldn't get away from, and she treated it as such, making little eye contact as her eyes fell upon Michael, or Dash she reminded herself quickly as she closed the distance between them and door, putting on her widest smile that even she struggled with.
That lovely grin that had the tough job of trying to slice through thick glue, formless tension hanging like an endless miasma over the group that she wasn't even sure she'd be able to lighten up.
What had she just walked into?
"Ah, there you are, Bellworth. We were just talking about you since there were some, well, things that Mr. Baxter here would like to discuss." Ishiyama smiled, though she couldn't help noticing the odd look of relief that erupted on her face as she left the tall man's side and joined her own, taking her arm in hers, though she narrowly avoided touching the jacket.
"Everyone, this is Ms. Sarah Bellworth, or school nurse, and these are Mr. and Mrs. Baxter. I hope we can reach an understanding for the situation." With that, Ishiyama lead her over to them, not very different in the same way a child took their parent or teacher over to deal with a bully, but there was something in the way that she grasped her arm, the way she practically clung to her, that made her look to the others.
What had her so spooked?
"Ah, yes...hello." The older man was first to speak, turning away from his wife and son to face the much, much smaller lady, and a swift hand, he held it out to shake her own, Bellworth warily reached out to meet it, uncertain of its clamminess, its rough grip, the callouses that ground upon her soft palms; they released each other and an uncomfortable moment passed, then another, and she took this time to try and peak at Dash, who was strangely, almost ominously silent throughout this.
In fact, she noticed with an sense of horror, his face looked...off. Puffy and red sections caked on with makeup so poorly applied, she was surprised that someone hadn't mentioned anything before, but what disturbed her more was that look, that look that threatened to carve a whole in her chest as she gazed into his eyes.
It was as if he wasn't even there at all.
He just looked...vacant, but she could see his lips moving, appearing to mutter to himself, but Allen moved in front of her view just as she could tried to make sense of it, his sickly, yellow smile almost appearing to drain the room of light in one movement.
"Principal Ishiyama and I were just discussing your conduct, and how you have clearly crossed a boundary involving our son...Michael." She didn't miss how Allen's eyes flickered between her own and the worn, red jacket that laid firmly in her arms, and even stranger, she felt compelled to hug it closer to her, even when she continued to smile, beaming brighter as she spoke, responding, "A boundary? I don't know what you mean, Mr. Baxter. I was simply doing what my job entailed."
In that, the room went still, as if no one quite knew what to say.
Behind Allen's towering form, she could just peek Dash looking up at her, then at the jacket.
She couldn't read his expression, but she could recognize part of it.
Fear.
But for whom?
Her?
Himself?
Both of them?
She couldn't be sure.
"And in that lies the problem, Bellworth. You know, some families would like for you to respect their comfort zones, and the Baxters here have made it perfectly clear that they are not comfortable with you pushing it. In the case of Michael's...injuries, Mr. Baxter feels as though you should have left him alone, yet you did not do so," Ishiyama scolded, but her voice held not an ounce of anger or actual intent, the older woman searching Allen's expression as the man's gaze never left her.
Did he have to stare?
But even more, her heart began to race, feeling the beginnings of anger as she opened her mouth to speak.
"Left him alone? Did you guys see him? He was unconscious when he arrived to my office, bleeding so heavily that I ask myself why it was that I didn't call an ambulance to get him to a hospital! Seriously, 'left him alone'? Surely Mr. Baxter cannot be serious." She hadn't meant to raise her voice, but it escalated anyway.
Maybe it was the tension, the tough atmosphere...them, the two of them, staring at her with equal parts fury and uncertainty that made her want to yell.
She really shouldn't have to be justifying why she helped him.
"I am entirely serious, Sarah. Deadly serious that it was not your place to involve yourself with my son's stupidity. If he did that to himself, he should have dealt with it on his own, not have nosy nurses poking around where they shouldn't be." The man's expression didn't shift, didn't change, didn't move; just cold, hard indifference as she grew madder, her frown deepening.
Dash was watching her, at least, she thought he was.
It was hard to tell through his obscured face, but those blue orbs were unmistakable, piercing yet they looked the same from before.
Sad.
"He is correct, Sarah. If what you said was true, then that rash could've been taken care of by the student themselves. Besides, it is within the parents' rights to say that they don't want their child treated. Didn't you see that on his form?" Opening her mouth to argue back, a flash of memory struck her, recalling with gritted teeth the distinct letter on file, written in scrawled handwriting their formal request to omit him from in-school care. It was clear as day, and Ishiyama made sure bring it forth as well, holding it in her hands as she picked it up from the desk, an exact replica of the one that she had.
If she hadn't know any better, than she would have seen Allen smirk smugly, as if he had won a competition and had reason to rub it in her face.
"See there, Sarah? As a matter of fact, I think I am in my full right to take full legal grounds to sue you for a violation of my parental rights. Right, Principal Ishiyama?" The two of them looked to the small woman, and she sighed, placing the paper back down upon the desk, and smiled apologetically at Bellworth before hardening her expression.
"Yes. He has a fair point. You violated a clear part of the consent form, so yes, he does have grounds to take this to a court of law due to his negligence. I hope you understand your error here." In truth, she could.
She could see that she had deliberately disobeyed what was clearly stated on the sheet, that she had treated him when the form had clearly said otherwise.
That she had helped a child that was clearly hurt, and that the implications behind his injury weren't lost to her, yet she couldn't find the voice to reply, instead holding the jacket close to her, shutting her mouth and looking away.
She couldn't bear to have to look at him anymore.
"Now, that wasn't so hard, right? It's not difficult to see why women need help seeing that sometimes you just need to be quiet and listen. You could have just minded you business before, but you just had to root around. Leave people to themselves sometimes, Sarah." His voice was grating, as if talking to a small child, and it took every once of self-control for her not to bite back at him.
'Just let it go, Sarah. Let him have the wi-,' However, his voice cut through again, grinding her thoughts to a halt.
"Also, because I'm so nice, I'll let this one go, but Ishiyama...," Turning to meet the small woman, his face seem to flicker, like a lamp shade torn away to show the bare light bulb where his expression darkened, exclaiming in a low voice, "...keep you staff in-line." With that, he grabbed Dash's arm, Mira following suit, and the three of them left the office, leaving just the Principal and Bellworth alone as the tense still lingered, hanging lower as Ishiyama walked around the room went quiet.
Bellworth didn't look to her though, finding little to say as she left the office, and Ishiyama didn't try to stop her, the quietest that Sarah had ever seen her.
Leaving the office, she stopped the secretary's desk, touching her arm gently as she began to leave the office, but said nothing to her as well.
She really just needed a minute to herself.
The secretary nodded, making no move to push her as she went back to her work.
Leaving the main office, Bellworth's mind was disquieted, buzzing with fury and activity at the revelation just a moment earlier.
'You could have just minded you business before'...
'Leave people to themselves sometimes, Sarah.'
'Now, that wasn't so hard, right?'
Clenching the jacket, she breathed, counting to ten as she paused in the hallway, however, upon opening her eyes, she could see them, right there, standing at the door as Allen, stood over Dash, appearing to whisper in his ear though he was too far away. Yet she didn't move, not even when those dark, pit-like eyes danced over to her, and his grin returned, as if to remind her of before.
She could feel her jaw tighten with unspoken words, words she wished she could spit like fire at him, Mira, too. She was just as bad, remarkably absent in the head as she basically went along with whatever he said.
The boy didn't move, though he nodded slowly, grasping a really worn bag at his side, then just like that, like a mirage in a desert, they were gone, empty visages that disappeared just as quickly.
The boy didn't move for awhile after that, staring at where his parents once stood much to the discomfort of Bellworth, watching as the boy just...stood there until he slowly turned around, hardly noticing her looking at him from across the hall before walking to where she was, or at least, it looked as though he was, but when he made a swift turn to go the opposite way, she looked down at the jacket, then sped across the distance, stopping him just short with her hand, but this time should didn't miss it.
He had flinched away from her touch.
"Oh, uh, sorry about all that. I won't keep you long, but I just wanted to return this to you." Letting go of his arm, alarmed at the way he shook beneath her gentle hand, she instead focused on the jacket, handing it to him with both hands, smiling with all the good will she could muster, repeating over and over in her mind 'I'm not a threat, I'm not a threat, I'm not a threat', as if her thoughts could be beamed directly to him.
The boy just barely looked at her, but quickly looked away, mouthing something under his breath before inching to take the jacket from her hands, slowly, carefully, as if she were going to pull it...away.
To reassure, she held it out a bit further from her body, her bright green eyes searching for his face, his expression, and if she hadn't known any better, his expression looked the most relaxed she had ever seen it be, but just as quickly, it went away, shrouded in distress as he turned away from her, starting on his way when he suddenly stopped, turning around for just a moment as quiet words stumbled from his mouth.
"Thank you. And I'm...I'm sorry about...about before." And just like that, he, too, was gone, a whisper in the cold hallway, drowned out by the chorus of voices as the lunch bell rang.
- (End of Flashback) -
He was glad he could have made his exit, dropping his bag to take the worn, stained article upon his shoulders, shuddering at its warmth, its calming spell.
If he could recall from his schedule, having gotten it upon his arrival back at school, it was...gym.
Gym was today, the voices would echo, then others would make noises, a few others would scream, but none of them could possibly feel as nervous as he did right then.
His body began to ache.
