So, how was yuor smumer? I'm witrnig lkie tihs baecuse I can, and bescuae I konw you can raed it! Ins't the mnid icendrilbe? Aynawy, bcak to the sotry. I hpoe you ejnoy!


When the last bell finally rang, Ib had been called to the "High Warden's" office. The Warden in question, who could technically be called the Principal in this situation, was a balding Albino man with piercing eyes similar to her own. He was nice and asked her why she ran out of Art class. When she wrote down the incident (leaving out the drawing and making it look like they were making fun of HER) his bushy eyebrows furrowed and he frowned.

"This is not good. You should tell someone about these incidents, Ib, not keep them to yourself."

She wrote that she did tell someone. Garry was the first to hear about anything going on in her life. She had, in fact, told him about the Art incident (excluding what she actually drew of course) when they were at their "hangout spot" ( a semi-small tree that they climbed).

"Ah, yes. This 'Garry' fellow. He seems quite taken to you. In fact, from reports I'm getting, he doesn't talk to anyone else unless forced to. You have gotten very close to him indeed." The Warden said, his smile a bit stiff. He muttered, "Maybe TOO close," as he looked down at his paperwork, but Ib heard him anyway. She was taken aback at what the Warden was implying., anger quickly replacing shock. What would Garry have to gain by hurting her? He was the one who had SAVED her in the first place!

The Warden looked up again, almost like he could sense her fury.

"I'll let you off with a warning, Ib. Please don't do this again. And be careful around Garry. You don't know the kind of boy he is." He waved a hand toward the door, dismissing her.

She gave him her most withering glance, hoping that some of her fury might burn the rest of the Warden's receding hairline, and stormed out. She was so mad she was grinding her teeth and squeezing her hands into fists so tight her nails bit into the skin. Garry was waiting farther down the hall for her. When he saw her his smile quickly changed to confusion at her expression and body language.

"I-Ib? What's wrong?" His concern for her only made her angrier at the Warden. She shook her head violently, indicating that she didn't want to "talk" about it. She didn't want Garry to know the lie that the Warden had told her just now. She would tell him later, after she'd calmed down.

"Are you sure? It wasn't anything bad, right?" She shook her head again, her anger already fading somewhat. Taking out a notepad, she wrote that the Warden had told her off and that she was going to her dorm, she would tell details later. He nodded, a bit miffed at her bluntness.

"Well, you know where to find me when you want to talk." He said, accompanying her to her dorm room and bowing in a butler-type fashion. "My lady."

Despite herself, she giggled. He walked away bowed over like that until he nearly ran into one of the pedestals that held a semi-expensive vase. Grinning at her, he straightened up and walked away.

As soon as he was out of sight, she stopped smiling and sighed. All the anger from earlier was almost, if not completely, gone. It left her with a feeling of confusion and uncertainty. What could Garry have done to give him a record worth mentioning? True, he didn't talk about his past very much. But that didn't justify what the Warden had said!

Growling under her breath, she opened the door to her dorm and entered the small space, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.

It was about 10ft.x14ft. All that occupied it was a bed, a dresser, and a large-ish desk. If you were to look under the bed, you'd find a large amount of books peeking out from under it. The desk was cluttered with half-finished drawings and schoolwork that she hadn't put away yet. Right on top of it all was Garry's portrait, now completely drawn and spotted with color here and there.

She stared at it with a mixture of pride and guilt. It was no doubt her best drawing yet, but she felt slightly guilty for not telling Garry everything, even if it was about something as minor as a drawing.

Plopping down in the creaky chair that sat in front of the desk, she took out her colored pencils and markers and began coloring. Coloring and drawing always calmed her down, even when she was smaller and couldn't do very much of either.

When she finally felt calm (and brave) enough to talk to Garry, the picture was nearly complete. The only thing left was his eyes, which were such a complicated color she didn't even bother to try lest she mess up the entire thing. Setting the picture aside, she cleaned up her art supplies and took a deep breath. She had never asked Garry about his personal life or his past directly, believing it to be an invasion of privacy. But what the Warden had said stuck in her mind like a irritating mosquito and it wouldn't go away.

What had Garry done in his past that gave him a record worth mentioning to a female friend?

She was about to find out.


Garry was at their tree, laying stretched across a branch. And, to Ib's amazement, singing. She stood where she was, listening to his surprisingly soft and lilting voice.

Hush Child, the darkness will rise from the deep and,
Carry you down into sleep
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep and,
carry you down into sleep.

Guileless son, i'll shape your belief,
and you'll always know that your father's a thief
And you won't understand the cause of your grief,
But you'll always follow the voices beneath...

He stopped and sighed sadly. Ib walked up to him and tapped his shoulder, causing him to jump violently and fall out of the tree.

"OW!" He cried as he landed on his back. Ib rushed to his side and pulled him into a sitting position against the tree, silently apologizing heavily.

"You know, sometimes you not talking isn't a good thing." He chuckled weakly. She sighed in relief and pulled out her notepad and pen, settling down next to him.

"What were you singing?" She asked, inwardly giggling at the red blush that crept onto his face.

"Y-you heard that, did you?" He asked, his blush reddening, "It was a song called 'Mordred's Lullaby'. My mom was fond of it and used to sing it to me as a child."

She nodded with a small smile, "You're really good, you know." She wrote.

"T-thanks. Anyway, how did you do in the Warden's office? Why were you so mad?" He asked, obviously keen to be off the subject of his vocal skills. Ib sighed and flipped to a new sheet of paper.

"He said something about you that i didn't like." Said the piece of paper. Garry raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

"He said something about me? Why me?"

She hurriedly scribbled, I told him about the bullies, so he told me I need to tell someone about them. I told him about you, and he insulted you! He implied that you were dangerous or something! Why would he say that? You're so nice and sweet and thoughtful!"

Her writing was almost illegible near the end. Tears were welling up in her eyes, tears of anger, tears she didn't want Garry to see. He had a small sad smile on his face. A smile that looked almost exactly like her picture.

"He may be right, Ib. I'm not what i used to be, but I'm still me."

He glanced down at her astonished face.

"Hey, don't cry. You know i would never hurt you, ever."

She hurriedly scribbled again, "What did you do? Was it really that bad?"

He looked her in the eye, "Are you sure you want to know?" She nodded fervently.

He sighed, "Well, after I saw my mother die, I fell into a depression that bordered on schizophrenia. That's basically an illness that makes you go crazy." He said to the questioning look on her face.

"I kept hallucinating that my mother was calling my name, calling for help, and when i finally 'found' her it turned out to be the killer with blonde hair and a green outfit. Eventually, they gave me medicine that was supposed to make the visions go away, which they did, but the voices didn't. I kept hearing things and would occasionally talk to and answer myself. This led to me lashing out at people and becoming violent. Because my dad was an arrogant prick, he sent me back to public school when I was still struggling with my temper and self-control."

Ib stared wide-eyed at him, already guessing what happened next. She noticed his eyes were glazed over and scrunched up, almost like he was reliving the memory instead of telling it.

"Everyone picked on me. Calling me 'crazy', 'weirdo', asking me where my 'imaginary friends' were and so on. But there was this one kid, I think his name was Eric or something like that, he would always go that little extra step, just to annoy me. Well, one time, he had the nerve to tell me that 'my bitch mom deserved to die'. i honestly don't know what happened after that. Something inside me snapped and I ended up beating this kid within an inch of his life. I think he's still got scars." Garry looked grimly satisfied at this,

"It was only my dad's influence that kept me out of juvenile hall, although he beat me enough that I don't think prison would have been any different. After that though, I went through program after program of those stupid anti-depression seminars, where the people speaking about being happy look almost as depressed as i was. I ran away from home 5 times. My dad caught me on the face with a riding crop on my fifth attempt, so i never tried again." Garry unconsciously rubbed a spot over his left eye, where a thin scar that Ib hadn't noticed before ran from the top of his eyebrow to the tip of his eyelid.

"That was about a year ago. My dad decided he couldn't tame me, so he's been putting me in different care services. This place is my 4th one. I got kicked out of every single one for beating up the bullies that picked on me. About three months ago, I finally managed to control my temper and whatnot and then my dad sent me here. And then I met you." He smiled down at her, "I think these last few weeks with you have been the happiest I've felt in years."

Ib was astonished and appalled at what he'd been through. His dad beat him? And left a scar? She hugged him tightly, sorrow for the broken teen that was hidden behind a facade of smiles and laughter welling up in her. compared to what he'd been through, her past was a cakewalk! Suddenly she felt determined to show how much she cared for him.

Garry, unprepared for the hug, awkwardly returned it. He then turned her face so he could stare directly into her eyes.

"Are you sure you want to stay friends? I may say i've got my anger and sanity under control, but the truth is I don't really know."

She looked back and smiled. She inhaled deeply.

"I-I'm sure, G-Garry"


I'm SOOO sorry for the delay but I hope I made it up to you with a realllly long chapter. Yes, I know Garry's past is depressing, but i felt like it was necessary. Also, the reason why I randomly put song lyrics into the story was because "Mordred's Lullaby" seems to fit Garry so well. And YAY, Ib talked! I've been planning that last sentence for like 3 weeks,hahaha.

I hope you enjoyed.

I Love you all!

((Also, OVER 2000 words bitches! HAHAHAHA! FINALLY! This is officially the longest chapter I've EVER written))