Disclaimer: I do not own the Mentalist and would not be foolish enough to claim to.
He just couldn't help it. He really couldn't. Still, he tried to do it discreetly. Jane peeked as he headed for class, walking down the crowded hall using only his periphery senses as he focused in on the contents of Lisbon's backpack. It contained two textbooks covered in torn, decorated brown paper, two notebooks with scribbles all over the covers and a change of gym clothes that smelled like sweat -and oddly cinnamon- crumpled in a heap. There was nothing else. No pens, or pencils, which made him think she must carry her stylus' around in her pockets or something. There was no real way to tell.
Then he remembered he had her jacket thrown over one arm and couldn't resist checking. A smirked torqued his lips when he found a pencil and marker in one of the pockets. His eyes strayed to the fixed seam along the jean's left shoulder, fingers following in their wake gently.
The repair was done in a functional, ugly sort of way. A seamstress Lisbon was clearly not, but it seemed infinitely more special as a jagged grouping of thread than neat little stitches would ever have been. It meant she cared enough to fix it, rather than just throw it away, even if she didn't really know how. At least, that's what he hoped. For some reason, it made him feel better thinking that she wasn't a wasteful person. It would be an excellent quality to possess. And if an old jean jacket barely holding it's threadbare seams together was worth the effort, maybe other things were. Or other people.
He was nearing his classroom. Gently draping her jacket back over his arm, Jane started to zip up the bag when a tiny sparkle caught his eye. Curious, he stopped his forward progress and looked inside more carefully. At the very bottom of the bag, piled in a small, tangled heap, was a delicate little cross on a thin chain. He frowned at it. Had it gotten tangled in her gym clothes and pulled off, or placed at the bottom of the bag intentionally? Should he grab it, so that he could hand it back to her, or leave it down there? His fingers were closing around it, when at the last second he pulled away and zipped the bag up the rest of the way. Best to leave well enough alone for now.
Once in his classroom amongst the press of other students moving for their seats, Jane noticed far more of the class than he had the day before as he walked to his seat. Perhaps because Lisbon wasn't there to distract him yet.
He shook his head. Really, was he that obsessed already?
Behind where Lisbon usually sat to the back of him and were Van Pelt was reading, were the two boys, Cho and Rigsby. The two were chatting amiably and even though it looked like Rigsby was the one carrying the conversation, they seemed to know each other well. Jane wondered what in the world those two could possibly have in common as he sat, twisted in his seat to observe his classmates. Off in one corner, he could see the girl who sat in front of him in Geometry, Brenda something, and the football player who had sat in front of Rigsby. What had his name been? O'Laughlin? He even saw the pretty brunette Rigsby had been talking to at lunch the other day sat up against one wall. She was talking to a boy he knew from his Chemistry class.
He really shouldn't be so surprised they all shared this class as well. Most of his year-mates had to take Geometry and English as requirements, so it made sense that most of them would wind up sharing at least some of their core classes.
Unable to keep his mind distracted for long, Jane looked at the clock over the door. Lisbon had better hurry. Not knowing how far away Drew's school was, he didn't even know if it was possible for her to get there and back before Hightower started class, but he had to hope. When the bell finally rang, his frown deepened and he went from wondering if she would make it to wondering when she would go from being tardy to absent on the record.
He fidgeted, which he didn't normally do. Nervously, he started jiggling his leg up and down rapidly as the time ticked slowly away.
Up front, Hightower called the room to order and got it remarkably quick. She started to take roll, making notes in a bright red notebook as she went. Lisbon still hadn't showed and when Hightower got to her name, her mouth twitched slightly but she didn't comment.
He looked at the time again.
"Alright people, homework in, books out, come on." Hightower sighed from the front.
Obediently, Jane did as he was told, but he did not even attempt to read any of what was before him. Instead, he leaned back a little and settled in for an anxious wait. Almost six minutes later, when Hightower was about ready to call an end to silent reading and start calling on people to answer questions, the door was flung open and he felt his heart leap into his throat unexpectedly.
Flushed, breathing hard, and staggering, Lisbon ran straight into the room.
There was an answering, bubbling murmur from the class. When he glanced away from Lisbon, he could see Van Pelt looking as worried as he felt. Perhaps the two really were friends.
Lisbon just ignored them all, bending to put her hands against her knees as she gulped in great lungfuls of air.
It was only then that Jane saw that she was trembling slightly. Drew's school had to be quite a distance away for her to run full tilt and still be so late.
After a moment, Hightower walked calmly over to Lisbon, hands behind her back. She waited a moment for Lisbon to catch her breath, expression equal parts concern, sadness and disappointment.
When Lisbon finally straightened, holding a stitch in her side, she looked disappointed too and slightly hopeless. She must know what was coming.
So did Jane.
"I'm sorry, Lisbon. I'm gonna have to ask you to go to the office-"
"Uh, here!" Jane interrupted hurriedly. He didn't know why he was talking or even why he was moving, just that he couldn't let this happen. Not to Lisbon. What use were the rules when they protected no one and only gnashed up those that actually needed help? His body seemed to be acting on instinct alone as he stood and held out Lisbon's backpack toward her. Think fast, think fast! "I can't believe that teacher needed so much help." He smiled breathlessly. "I thought he said it'd be just a minute."
Hightower eyed him in surprise.
In fact, everyone was staring at him with similar expressions, even Lisbon. She was watching him, staring like a deer caught in the headlights, before she finally managed to shake herself and limply take her bag back. "Uh... thanks, Patrick."
Jane tried not to shiver when she said his first name. This would not do, not at all. There could be no more of that during this conversation if he was going to be believable. "I told you Lisbon, it's Jane, at least until I get to call you by your first name." There was a snigger and a grunt from behind him, but he didn't turn to see whose reactions they were. Instead, he smiled brightly, almost too brightly. "You at least got a note from him right?" He asked conversationally as he held out her jacket to her too.
Ms. Hightower looked at Lisbon sharply, but by then, the girl had recovered enough to play along.
"N-no. I didn't want to be even later than I already was." She made a helpless gesture. "I- guess it slipped my mind."
Hightower looked between them. "Without a note-"
Damn. "Well, I guess you'll just have to get one for Ms. Hightower later, Lisbon." Jane smiled at the teacher between them, his most convincing look plastered on his face. Hightower may be sharp, but he knew from experience that it wasn't so much a lack of keenness or even intelligence that made a con work. It was the audiences desire to believe.
Apparently, Hightower really liked Lisbon a lot, because she wanted to believe.
"If that's what happened, I suppose I can wait till the end of the day for a note." She softened her tone considerably. "But only till the end of the day."
Jane looked over and saw the way Lisbon's eyes had gone wide and paralyzed, obviously not knowing what to do now. If she told the truth, she would get in more trouble than before, but she didn't have a note and they two both knew it. As he caught her eye, she suddenly glared at him as discreetly as possible, voice sullen and wrathful. "Yes, ma'am."
Jane returned to his seat, feeling the anger and confusion rolling off Lisbon in waves as she sat behind him. His heart skipped a beat from fear when her foot slammed into the back of his chair just as angrily.
The entire rest of the class, he found himself in much the same position as he had this morning. He remained aware of her, of her frustration, her anger barely concealed but evident in the way her foot clunked rhythmically against his back till it was all he could think about. When the bell finally rang, Jane lingered, letting her get out first. He knew enough to give her a wide berth till she simmered down.
His last classes sped by while he devoted all of his concentration to getting Lisbon out of the mess he had made of her earlier predicament. He had formed a basic plan by the time the last bell signaled the end of the school day, walked out into the hall and was immediately seized and pulled into an empty room. He stumbled for a moment, but eventually righted himself and took a step back when he realized Lisbon was pacing not far away. Squinting, he looked around the dimly lit room. It was some kind of cupboard, he thought, perhaps a supply room based on the rolling trays of TV's gathered in one corner.
He almost jumped a foot off the floor when Lisbon finally turned on him sharply.
"Are you crazy? How the hell am I supposed to come up with a note from a teacher I didn't help?" She pointed a finger in his chest. "When she finds out I don't have one, I'm gonna get at least three times more detention than I was headed for and you- will be a dead man."
"Now, now, no need for threats." He warded her off by putting his hands up between them. "It'll all work out."
She gave him a look that clearly said that she was not convinced.
"Relax, okay." Jane smiled at her gently. "I can get us out of this."
"Us? What us?" She snarled. "I'm the one with my head on the chopping block here."
"I'd never let you go it alone." Jane defended automatically.
That took them both aback a little.
"Uh-" He cleared his throat and firmed his voice. Now was not the time to get distracted. "I meant, since I started this, I'll finish it. Come on." He grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him out of the dusty room. "I have an idea."