It seemed like only a few minutes later when Que heard a knock at her door.
"Hey Que? You in there? It's been a while. Are you good?"
It was Aasir. Que opened her eyes and tried to sit up. She was surprised to find it was dark in her room, and she realized she must have fallen asleep. Ugh, the thought of having to leave her room was nearly impossible. Leaving just meant she'd have to speak to people and do things in general. On the other hand if she decided to just not move, Aasir would most likely break down her door.
Que sat up, turned on her bedside lamp, and swung her feet around to the floor. Oh, that really smarted. Even with the snow boots still laced all the way up, her ankle was definitely not cooperating. She'd have to fix that ASAP.
"Que," Aasir repeated knocking more insistently this time. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah! Im fine. Give me a sec," Que replied, wading through the crap on the floor to her door. She might have let her space go just a bit. It seemed pointless to clean it when she knew she'd just find it a mess the following morning after a windy nightmare. She grabbed her flannel jacket from her desk chair on her way to the door, hoping it would cover some of the scrapes and bruises she'd received from the afternoon's fall.
"Hey Aasir, what's up?" Que said, emerging from her room and quickly closing her door.
Aasir eyed her quizzically. He'd seen her room earlier and knew it was a mess. "The Professor still want to see us. He instant messaged me just a few minutes ago, wondering where we were at. He expected us over two hours ago… I said I was waiting on you. What have you been doing?"
"Sorry, just fell asleep," she replied as they slowly headed towards the stairs.
"How's your ankle?" Aasir asked. He knew Que was still limping, but at least she was walking.
"It will be better by morning," she replied, avoiding his question.
"Alright then. Are you ready to get this over with? We have missed a good bit of class. I bet we get extra chores for a month." Aasir said glomily.
Que nodded but didn't reply. The whole skipping thing had been her idea, and she knew Aasir just did it to make sure she didn't do anything too reckless.
The pair silently continued to the elevator and down to the first floor. Once they got to the Professor's office, they heard, "Come join me in the kitchen you two. You're a bit late."
They turned and went to the kitchen, where they found the Professor sitting with a few other students eating a late dinner. As Aasir and Que walked in, the students remaining in the kitchen quickly cleaned up their dishes and shuffled out without glancing at the pair. Was it that obvious they were in trouble or was it possibly the fact that they were always in trouble?
"Have either of you eaten yet? There are some leftovers in the refrigerator if you'd like. Please get something and take a seat. I feel we may be a little bit," the Professor said, indicating the chairs left vacant around his table.
Aasir chose a simple sandwich, while Que heated up some spaghetti. The Professor casually waited, seemingly occupying himself with only his thoughts. Once they settled around with their food though, he continued.
"Aasir, Que. It should be fairly obvious why we are having this chat, but just in case it escaped your notice, this is a school where you are required to attend classes. Those were the expectations we set and agreed upon from day one. Now, as of late the two of you have taken it upon yourselves to redefine what education you need, or more appropriately, what you believe you could do without." He paused waiting for a response, and Charles wasn't disappointed as Que was the first to speak.
"Okay, so we've missed a couple classes. We'll do better. That good?" Que questioned nonchalantly, folding her arms and reclining in her chair. Aasir gave her and uncomfortable sideways look, trying to signal her to tone it down, but to no avail.
"Que, if I thought you meant what you just said for a second, then yes that would be all, but unfortunately that is not the case. Not only have you been skipping class, but your reckless behavior and attitude have many of your teachers, including myself, questioning what to do with you. Do you realize how far you and Aasir went today on you grand adventure through the woods? You were just barely inside the grounds, and sometimes you both go even further than today. If something serious happened, no one would be able to get to you both very quickly."
"So? Nothing happen we were f…" she started before Aasir cut her off.
"We are sorry Professor. We did not mean to worry you. I'll make sure we stay closer next time," Aasir apologize.
The Professor threw Aasir a very empathetic look.
Aasir, I know you care about Que, and I know your apology is sincere. I appreciate it, but we both know your behavior is not the problem. She is going to have to understand that her actions have consequences, including her attitude. You are a good friend to her Aasir, and in her own way she cares very deeply for you as well.
Aasir blushed, but did not reply out loud or otherwise.
"Uh, hello? Earth to Prof and Aasir. Want to let me in on the conversation?" Que interrupted, a slight breeze briefly fluttered the napkins in turn.
"Que, what I need you to understand is that I've seen your whole demeanor change the past few months since Christmas, and not for the better. I thought you needed some time to process what happened, and you'd come talk to me when you were ready. I think that was a mistake, and I'm sorry I've left you alone with the weight of the events for so long," the Professor conceded.
"I haven't come to you because there is nothing to discuss. I'm fine! Aasir will tell you. I haven't had any problems," Que said defensively, then looking to Aasir for confirmation.
There was a long, uncomfortable pause, before Aasir answered. "Well… the Professor's right Que. You have kind of shut me out, and things are not right. I mean, have you seen the state of your room? You use to always keep it so neat, or at least relatively sorted, and now… it always looks as if its been hit by a tornado."
Que looked quite taken aback. Her best friend had totally just sold her out! She was a little lost for words. This was not how this conversation was supposed to go. They were supposed to get a few nights of extra homework or chores, promise to do better, and that would be it. End of story. The lights slightly flickered and the breeze in the kitchen became more constant. She felt like the pair of them had planned an intervention for her… She felt cornered, trapped.
Que couldn't tell if she was angry, surprised, upset, all of the above, or something else entirely. The onslaught of emotions was very intense and unexpected.
Before she could regain her thoughts, Charles, seeing her discomfort, continued.
"Now Que, Aasir and I care about you very much, and …" the Professor started but was cut off.
"I am fine! Can't you see? There is nothing wrong with me!" Que yelled, emphasizing each word. She had unconsciously risen from her seat with her fists clenched at her sides. Wind filled the kitchen and the lights flickered more rapidly.
Que glared at the Professor with his stupidly, calm face. All she wanted to do was jump over the table and break it. She couldn't stand him sitting there, judging her and what she felt! She wanted to shove him out of his chair and onto the floor. Then, maybe he'd feel just a small part of how she was feeling. Suddenly, she felt a warm wetness play at her eyes. Was she crying? leaking? What the hell? She was pissed, not sad. He knew nothing! With that, her anger grew and the energy in the room increased. She wanted to run, but as she glanced toward the door she heard, the Professor speak to her.
Look around you, Que. This is not fine.
The Professor glanced around at the kitchen, which was hedging closer to disaster in the ever growing wind and electrical issues. She refused to acknowledge his suggestion at first. What did she care? But then, she did, and the first thing she saw was Aasir's face, then the Professor's. She really looked this time too because what she saw there caught her off guard. Both of them had mirrored expressions of what looked to be… sadness? Why were they sad? They had no reason to be sad.
Next, she saw a face reflected in the window. It scared her. The eyes were hollow with deep bruises underneath, the hair was dirty and flying around in all directions like tendrils, and the look within the face, her face she realized, was what scared her the most. There was so much anger in her expression, but mixed with a little something else. Sadness? Fear? Pain? She almost didn't recognize herself, yet the girl reflected in the window reminded her of a time she thought she'd buried in the past.
She realized she was the reason they were sad. Her friends. They cared and didn't like to see her like this, whatever this was. She knew that, but then why did she feel this way? Why was she just so angry all the time?
She looked away and blinked hard, trying to force back the unrelenting tears that were streaming fully down her face now. The lighting went back to its original, dim glow, and the wind did not cease but died slightly. She felt shattered, like nothing would ever be able to fix her again. She continued to stand, shaking slightly, and starting into the floor. Somewhere her subconscious told her she should sit. Her ankle still hurt.
Aasir stood and gently put his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't touch me," she said flatly, shrugging him off.
Images of her nightmares started filling her head. Dead Professor. Dead Raven. Dead Storm. Dead Aasir… She'd felt numb for so many months and all it took to tip her over the edge was being asked to go to class. Finally, Que slumped back down into her chair. How did this happen? What was wrong with her? She felt like she was losing her grip on reality.
Charles could plainly see Que struggling to regain control over her emotions, but the anger that had taken over her facade, slowly slipped away into something truly horrifying. Emptiness. Brokenness. Tears were still rolling down her face, but the emotions were gone from there. He still felt them underneath, and he knew Que's strong emotions ran quite rampant when she let them. Her anger had almost taken him for a moment, but now all he felt was immense pain and confusion. He could also feel her trying to smother these feeling. Slowly beating them back, but she was not succeeding as quickly as she would have liked.
"Que you need to let yourself feel. I feel your anger, pain, and anguish that you are trying to push back. They seem to have been blocked for some time, much longer than just Christmas, and now they are more intense with everything that has happened. We can help you. I know it hurts, and it's uncomfortable, but feeling these things is natural. Please, let us help you Que," the Professor said adjusting his chair closer to her.