"Henry you just need to get your mind off everything," Mary Margret says as she packs him a paper bag lunch. Henry hadn't had a paper bag lunch since he was little, but it was a small comfort even though he is dragging his feet at the suggestion of going to school.
"Won't you need help here?" Henry asks.
"I'll be fine, everyone is chipping in and we'll be ready for the search party on Saturday,"
She did speak the truth. Elsa, Anna, Ruby, Lacey, and Leroy had gotten up early to plaster posters all over town and Mary Margret had been talking to the local church about provide extra nourishment for the searchers. Things were going quite smoothly and there was no reason for Henry to stay home. The teacher knew it was never good for Henry to miss more school than he had to, and if she was honest, he just needs to distract himself, even for a little while. Mary Margret leans forward from the kitchen table, her bulging belly getting in the way and kisses Henry on the head. This causes Henry's heart to sink as his mother used to the same thing. He knew Mary Margret wasn't trying to replace his mom, but she was filling as a surrogate for the time being. Henry was sad but also grateful that she and David were here for him.
"Okay," Henry says, as he packs his laptop and phone for school. He honestly didn't want to go to school to learn useless things while his mother was still missing. He wanted to be there in case there were any leads in the case. However, so far the only news was that there had been holes in Killian's story and he was being held until they had solid proof that he was at a bar all night. David was trying to sort out the situation with Killian while Mary Margret and the others prepared for their search for Emma.
Mary Margret saw Henry's hesitation at the door to catch the bus. She gets up and wobbles over to him.
"I promise, I'll pull you out of class the moment we hear something," she whispers, giving him another hug.
Henry looks up at Mary Margret for a long moment before he gives her a forced smile. She matches his facial expression with a similar look of forced optimism. Henry then spies some missing posters of his mom. He looks for Mary Margret's approval and she nods, allowing him to put them up at school, or around the school to help with the search.
Henry then turns and leaves, taking the stairs down to the first floor and heading for his bus stop.
He stands waiting patiently with a few other kids, mostly freshman students. Several girls stare at him to the point that he's uncomfortable, Henry tries to be amused with his phone, but he can still hear them whispering to each other.
"Wasn't he on TV last night?"
"Yeah I saw him, some creep kidnapped his mom."
"Do you think that's true?"
"Maybe she…"
Henry puts in his headphones to drown out any more of the conversation. He didn't want to hear anything else about the possibility that his mom might've taken off, abandoning him completely. They hadn't seen the video; they hadn't gone through what he had. He leans against the bus stop sign.
When the school bus pulls up, the bus driver looks at Henry for a long moment before he heads towards the back of the bus. The entire way down the aisle, all his classmates are looking at him. Some point, some whisper to their friends and others even try to take pictures. Henry puts the hood of his jacket up and sits in the farthest corner of the bus, avoiding the glances.
As the bus begins to move, Henry stares out the window, wanting so badly to be at home, at least at home he wasn't like some freak show suddenly put on display.
As they pass the downtown area of Boston on the way to the school, Henry's mind wanders. He thinks about what happened after his dad had left. He remembers waking up in the night, crying, and he heard his mom come down the hall. Somehow she could sense that he was upset, it was her mom "superpower."
"What's wrong Henry?" Emma said, having appeared in the doorway.
"Nothing," he said, trying to hide the emotion in his voice.
"Henry what's wrong?" she insisted.
"Nothing! Go away."
"Don't lie to me kid, I know that you're lying." That was her other superpower. Emma walked across the floor of his room in the darkness and Henry felt her sit on the end of his bed. He was facing away from her, too embarrassed that he was crying.
"Come on bug…" she whispered.
Emma had not used that nickname since he was about six. She had always called him "bug" because he used to like to snuggle, his dad had called him a "snuggle bug" and the name sort of stuck.
Emma had reached over and ran put her hand on his shoulder.
"I miss him too," she said gently.
Henry began sobbing very hard and he curled up into a ball. His entire body shook with sadness.
"Why?" he wept. "Why did he leave? Why would he do that?"
Emma lay down next to her son and put her arms around him. She held him tight.
"I don't know…" Emma had said.
"He didn't say goodbye," Henry whined heavily.
Emma squeezed her son tightly and began to stroke the side of his head in a comforting motion. She used to do this all the time when he was little and had had nightmares. Henry still found it comforting, he just didn't want to admit it. He continued to cry until he eventually turned over and embraced his mom fully. She welcomed him with open arms and merely rocked him back and forth, allowing him to cry it out. She whispered that everything was okay and then the two laid down in silence.
The kid had never felt so hurt in a long time. His dad had abandoned him, gone without a trace, leaving very little behind. It was as if his dad had been completely removed from his life and was now a ghost that haunted their apartment. Henry felt betrayal and anger, he had been thinking that if his dad left him, would that stop his mom from leaving too.
"Please don't leave me," Henry whimpered.
"Oh Henry," Emma had said, holding him even tighter. "I promise that I will never ever leave you. Anywhere I go, you'll go with me. I'll never leave you behind"
"You promise?" Henry had asked. It seemed rather immature to ask such a thing, but he needed the reassurance.
"I promise. I love you, Henry." She whispered, kissing the top of his head.
"I love you too, Mom."
The two spent the rest of the night holding each other.
A bump brings him back to reality as henry realizes that he's been crying a bit. Fortunately, his hood was up and the other kids were too busy with their own problems to pay attention to him. He wipes the tears away and cranks up his music. He stares down at the missing person's posters sticking out of his binder.
"I promise, I love you Henry..." her voice echoes in his ears.
…
Henry feels just awful during school. Everyone is staring and whispering about him, even in his classes, his teachers are looking at him funny. Henry felt a burning spotlight fixated on him and he couldn't do anything in peace. He basically sleepwalks through his morning classes, not learning anything. He sees Violet at some point and she does try to talk to him but the bell rings and class begins before she can say anything. Henry mostly stares into space and out the window, wondering where his mom was. He kept his head down, not noticing that Violet was watching him, concern in her eyes.
By lunch, Henry wants to leave the country. Everyone is still staring at him as if he's a freak or something.
You'd think they'd have other things to worry about, he thinks to himself.
He picks a small corner of the cafeteria where he's least likely to get the most stares.
He opens his bagged lunch and finds a roast beef sandwich with mustard on it, his favourite. He manages a small smile as he begins to eat.
Then Violet comes up to him.
"There you are Henry," she says, sitting down next to him. Several of her friends also sit down, most of them from the synchronized swimming team. He doesn't look up.
"Henry we're so sorry to hear about your mom," Violet says. She reaches over and grabs his hand.
Henry looks into Violet's brown eyes, very shocked of her sympathetic look. Even her friends were concerned about him.
"I wanted to talk to you earlier, but there wasn't a good time," Violet says. "We wanted you to know that we're here for you."
Henry is very surprised. "Y-You are?"
"Yes, we'll even help with the search party," one of the girls adds.
Henry keeps his eyes on Violet. They hadn't talked since the party and they definitely hadn't talked about the kiss. Henry prayed that she hadn't told her friends about it. His ears turn red and he fights back some tears.
"This must be so hard for you," Violet says quietly. "You must be so worried about her."
"I-I am," Henry says. "I'm noticing a lot of the adults are avoiding the subject, but they're hoping it doesn't turn into a murder…"
"It won't, don't worry," Violet says. She pulls him into a hug. Henry is surprised at first but his heart begins to race and he accepts it more fully. He feels the warmth of her body and the sound of her breathing. He can even smell her perfume, which is lilac he guesses. He actually forgets about his mom for a fleeting second, enjoying the embrace with Violet, before she lets go. He felt a little better, having some support from his peers and especially Violet. She then looks down and sees the missing posters sticking out of his backpack.
She grabs them.
"How come you only have three?" she asks.
"It's all they had left,"
"We're going to need a lot more if we're going to get the word out," Violet says.
"Y-You mean you're going to come to the search party?" Henry asks in disbelief.
"Yeah, a lot of the others want to help out too, they just didn't know how to ask you without upsetting you," one of Violet's friends says.
"I'll ask Mr. Javier to make some extra copies so we can hang them up," Violet says.
Henry feels a surge of hope and little lighter now that Violet and her friends want to help him. He follows the girls out of the cafeteria and they get to work.
"We should put a few up by the pool too," Violet suggests as they hang one on the front window of the school.
Henry just nods. He looks at Violet earnestly and then impulsively leans forward to kiss her on the cheek. Both of them blush.
"Thank you," Henry says.
"For what?"
"For being my friend,"
"I'm more than a friend right now," Violet says, she hugs him again. "I want to help you any way that I can. I promise."
Those words seem to make Henry shiver slightly as the two begins walking towards the halls, having to get ready for next period. As they go, Violet weaves her fingers in between his and they walk towards their lockers.
Henry knew he had to thank Mary Margret when he got home.
Here's Henry's POV. I'm not really sure how actual students would react when one of their classmate's family member's go missing, but I'm hoping this is what would happen. Please review and follow.