Thank you for the lovely response to the first two parts. This one takes place further into the future of this alternate universe. I've chosen to keep all these pieces in the same story for the moment. Hopefully it doesn't get too confusing. Enjoy!
It's a regular, normal, average day in May. The sun is shining and it's Friday, which makes Oliver wish he was outside instead of writing a stupid math test. The weekend is so close that Oliver can almost taste it. And he's got big plans for this weekend. He and Tommy are having a sleepover, as usual, but Tommy has just gotten the newest Playstation, along with all the new games, and Oliver can't wait to break it in in the Merlyn's awesome theatre room.
"Ten minutes left, everyone. Make sure you're finishing up and checking your answers," Ms. Rowan announces as she roams around the room, making sure they're all keeping their eyes on their own papers.
Oliver looks down at his test and curses himself at all the blank answers he has left. He's not nearly done and he knows if he brings home another bad mark his dad is going to be angry, again. Robert Queen has big dreams for Oliver and they apparently all require him to be a brainiac like Felicity.
Speaking of Felicity, out of the corner of his eye he can just see her desk. In September, Ms. Rowan quickly moved them apart after discovering Felicity's tendency to talk and talk and talk to Oliver whenever she could, rather than paying attention in class. Somehow only Oliver's had grades suffered. Felicity seems to get good grades no matter what.
Even now, Oliver's pretty sure she's probably been done her test for awhile, considering the amount of doodles on the back of her paper. Felicity gets harder math work than everybody else in their third grade class, and as she is constantly telling Oliver she reads at an eighth grade level, but she also gets the best grades.
Further across the room, Tommy scowls down at his own test. He's obviously not done and he looks pretty grumpy about that fact. Tommy hates math. The only thing he hates more is when he loses a video game to Oliver. And Tommy really hates losing.
"Five minutes."
Ms. Rowan interrupts Oliver's rambling train of thought and he gives his head a shake, looking at the questions on his test that still need answers. Multiplication. Oliver's nemesis.
He manages to figure out a few more problems and then Ms. Rowan's calling out to put their pencils down and Felicity is waving her hand in the air, asking to collect everyone's work.
She bops her way around the room until she has an armful of papers. When she reaches Oliver's desk, he adds his to the top of his pile. It's basically right under her nose, so he knows she sees the blanks he's left and looks down, avoiding her eyes. Sometimes it's hard having a friend who is so effortlessly brilliant. Even though he knows Felicity would help him with multiplication if he asked, he doesn't want her to think he's dumb.
She doesn't say anything, just sighs and moves away, handing off the papers to the teacher and returning to her desk. Oliver catches sight of the clock and feels a burst of excitement chase away his glum post-math-test mood. There's only twenty minutes until the end of the day, and then they're free for two whole days! Thank goodness.
Ms. Rowan looks at the clock too and decides that there's no point in trying to teach a bunch of restless third graders anything new twenty minutes before the weekend, and gives them free time for the rest of the day.
Oliver and Tommy beeline for the games shelf. There are only a few good games in there and they always seem to get stuck with Monopoly, which is missing a billion pieces and Oliver hates anyways.
Tommy elbows Adam Donner out of the way and grabs Sorry! off the shelf. Adam gives Tommy a dirty look and chooses a sad looking deck of cards for himself instead.
"Score!" Oliver crows, punching a fist into the air. He loves bumping Tommy back to the start because he gets super grumpy every time. "Come on, let's play at my desk!"
A few minutes later, in an astonishing turn of events, Tommy has just sent Oliver's game piece back to the start again, when the PA above the door crackles to life.
"Tommy Merlyn, to the office. Tommy Merlyn, please come to the office immediately." The secretary's scratchy voice is drowned out by a chorus of "oohs" from their classmates.
Tommy rolls his eyes and pushes to his feet. "Hey, Smoak! Come finish this game for me." Felicity's head pops up over the top of her book, blue eyes wide, a startled look on her face. Oliver's pretty sure she has no idea what Tommy's talking about, but he pats her gently on the shoulder as he leaves and she watches him go, then turns to look at Oliver expectantly.
"Tommy had to go to the office," Oliver fills in. "He wants you to play for him until he gets back."
Understanding dawns and she carefully marks her page before joining Oliver at his desk.
"You're lucky, Tommy was winning, so now you're winning," Oliver tells her, rolling the dice. "But I'm pretty awesome at this game. Tommy just had a couple lucky turns, so I wouldn't count on a win."
Felicity narrows her eyebrows at him. "Challenge accepted."
Before they know it the bell has rung, the game isn't finished, and Tommy hasn't returned. After tidying up the pieces and board and packing his belongings to go home, Oliver waits outside the classroom, his eyes peeled for his friend. Felicity joins him, a stack of books clutched in her arms. Her fingernails catch his eye because they're painted a bright sunny yellow. Her thumbs even have little black happy faces on them. They're absurdly cheerful, which he thinks fits Felicity perfectly.
The hallways are clearing out, the sounds of shouting and laughter echoing around him as most kids scramble away from school as quickly as they can, but Tommy hasn't come back to get his stuff yet. For some reason, Oliver feels a nervous ball of energy building in the pit of his stomach. His fingers rub together as he scans the hallway, looking for any sign of his friend's return.
Felicity shifts her weight back and forth beside him. "Are you okay?" she asks, looking at him with concern in her eyes. Oliver knows that Felicity can sometimes live in her own little bubble because her brain moves so much faster than everybody else's, but she's also one of his best friends and she knows him better than almost anyone. "You're doing that finger rubbing thing, which always means that you're nervous or anxious. Not that- I don't mean that you're always nervous. You're actually a pretty calm person, which I think is impressive when you're almost nine, and you're a boy, and boys generally have more energy than girls and I am rambling and not helping at all so I will be stopping in 3, 2, 1."
Felicity takes a deep breath with her eyes closed, then opens them and gives him a bright smile. "Sorry. Brain to mouth connection is not quite there yet." It's so typically Felicity that the nerves in Oliver's stomach seem to settle.
He smiles hesitantly back at her, then it fades as he remembers why they're waiting around after the bell. "Tommy's not back yet. Do you think everything is okay?"
Felicity seriously considers his question. "Well, it's never a good thing when you're kept in the office after school," she says slowly, like she's choosing each word carefully. "But I think that we shouldn't jump to conclusions until we know all the facts."
She's probably right, Oliver knows, but his brain can't help but jump to the most illogical conclusions he can come up with.
Ms. Rowan strides out the door a few minutes later and almost drops the stack of math tests she's carrying when she catches sight of them. "Oh my goodness! Oliver, Felicity, what are you still doing here?"
"Tommy's not back yet," Oliver repeats. "We're waiting for him."
A cloud seems to come over Ms. Rowan's face and she brushes a fallen strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I think that you both need to head home, and that Tommy will join you when he can," she says carefully. Her normally animated voice is soft and sends alarm bells clanging in his head. He looks at Felicity, who is watching their teacher with a puzzled look on her face.
"Okay," Felicity says, drawing out the word. "Well, let's go, Oliver. Bye, Ms. Rowan. Have a good weekend." She heads towards the doors and Oliver follows in her footsteps without thinking, his thoughts elsewhere, giving Ms. Rowan a less than heartfelt goodbye.
He nearly slams into Felicity when she abruptly stops before they get to the doors. "Oof! Felicity, why'd you stop?" He grabs onto her shoulders so he doesn't fall over like a dummy and gets a mouthful of her ponytail in the process.
Felicity turns to face him and he drops his hands to his sides. She looks over his shoulder before meeting his eyes. "Shh," she says, blue eyes wide. "Oliver. Do you really just want to go home and wait to hear from Tommy?"
Oliver shakes his head emphatically. "No. Of course not. I want to find out what's going on."
"Me too. Something's not right," she adds. There's a kind of crafty look on her face that Oliver hasn't seen before and he wonders what's going on in her head. Her thoughts move way faster than his own, so it's probably a really good idea. "So we're going to-"
Her mouth snaps closed and she suddenly grabs the sleeve of Oliver's shirt with one hand, dragging him around the corner and out of sight. "Shhhh," she says dramatically, shushing him again even though he wasn't saying anything.
"I wasn't saying anything," he protests aloud, shaking her hand off his sleeve.
Felicity eyes him knowingly, then sticks her head out around the corner. "Okay," she says, a little bit breathlessly. "The coast is clear. We're going to go to the office and get to the bottom of this whole thing. Once we find Tommy, he'll tell us that everything is all right and then we can go home and our weekends can all get back to their regularly scheduled activities."
Oliver stares at her, because of any of them, Felicity is the last one he'd ever picture breaking the rules.
She seems to read his thoughts and adds, "It's Tommy. Now come on."
She leaves her books and backpack on the floor and Oliver quickly wriggles out of his own. With a quick peek around the corner they dart down the hall, and after a high-speed dodge behind an open door when the janitor backs out of a classroom, they arrive undiscovered at the main office.
The wall is mostly glass, so it's immediately clear that the room is empty upon first glance.
"Where is he?" Oliver whispers, as they huddle outside the office, trying to remain hidden. "There's no one here."
Felicity's eyes move slowly across the room until they come to rest on the closed door of the principal. "In there," she says decisively, and then she's marching in and banging her fist on the door.
Oliver scrambles after her, not about to let her get into trouble alone if she's wrong. They're in this together.
After an agonizing moment, the door swings open and their principal, Mr. Woolley, towers over top of them. He's holding the round glasses that are always perched on his nose in his hand and his eyes are suspiciously red.
"Miss Smoak. Mister Queen. What exactly are you doing here?" Mr. Woolley looks behind them, like there's an adult who has brought them here and can answer his question.
"We're looking for Tommy Merlyn, Mr. Woolley. He came down here before the bell rang and he hasn't been back to get his stuff yet and we're really worried." Felicity's voice wobbles at the end and Oliver swallows before threading their fingers together. Her hand is kind of cold. Felicity is always complaining that she's cold. Oliver hopes he can make her feel a little better. He gives her fingers what he hopes is a comforting squeeze.
Mr. Woolley purses his lips, then sighs softly. "You're both good friends for coming to check on him," he says, making eye contact with each of them in turn, "but Mr. Merlyn has gone home. Tommy got some, well, some quite upsetting news, and I think he will need the both of you to be there for him. I suggest seeking him out as soon as you can."
Oliver's stomach drops, like when he rode the Tower of Terror at Disney World last year, and his hand squeezes tighter around Felicity's. She squeezes back just as hard.
"What do you mean, upsetting? What happened?" Felicity asks, and Oliver can hear the panic in her voice. He knows she's probably remembering last year's incident with Slade Wilson but he pushes all that out of his head because Slade is gone and Tommy's not and Tommy definitely needs them right now.
"I can't say any more, Miss Smoak. Go see Tommy." Mr. Woolley wishes them a good weekend and retreats to his office, rubbing at his temples as he shuts the door firmly behind him.
Oliver and Felicity turn to look at each other, holding a quick conversation without speaking. Wordlessly, they turn and run, back to their bags, out the door, and straight to the Merlyn's.