Sanctuary

Chapter Twenty Two - Nigel

"How about you let me take Maggie to school today?" Nigel told his mother over breakfast. He was freshly showered from his night shift, but hadn't gotten to the part of the morning where he styled his hair up into his signature spikes. Instead the bleached white of his hair was pulled back into a top knot.

"Don't you have your own school to go to?"

"I'm taking off today." He popped a bite of egg into his mouth with casual shrug and his mother frowned at him.

"So early in the year? You only have a set number of absences, you know."

"I know. But it sounds like something big is going to happen and well. . . I'd rather be here when it does." He did his best to make it sound as if it weren't that big of a deal, but in all honesty he was afraid. There was something ominous in the air that morning, what with the talk of Senna trying to leave the dome and some mysterious old friend of Michio showing up out of nowhere. The whole thing smelled like bad news. If anything were to happen because of it, he would rather be at home protecting his family.

"Alright. I trust your judgement," his mother responded, catching the seriousness in his face that he had tried so hard to keep out of his words. "In that case," she added with a smile, "how about you invite Dani over for dinner tonight when you go see her?"

"Mom, no."

"Why not?"

"I've told you, she's sensitive."

"And dinner is going to offend her?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Besides, she's been avoiding me the past couple of days because Maggie drew that stupid picture."

"All the more reason to invite her over."

"How is that MORE reason?"

"It gives you an excuse to talk to her, doesn't it? And you can blame the invitation on me."

Nigel frowned, wondering if maybe he was wrong about the ominous feeling. Perhaps the looming feeling of doom had nothing to do with Senna leaving or some weird chick from Michio's past and everything to do with talking to Dani. It did seem to be the scariest of the three.

-

The hall outside the classroom was a bustle of morning activity. A handful of moms stood to the left of the door, signing their morning gossip with a speed that Nigel was sure he'd never begin to comprehend. A tall woman with dark umber skin pulled out of the conversation as Nigel and Maggie approached. Her black hair was sectioned into scores of small neat braids, half of which were pulled up and back so they wouldn't fall around her face. She smiled, greeting Maggie first with her usual kindness and letting her know that her daughter, Bekka, was already in the classroom. Maggie skipped off into the room as Bekka's mom turned to converse with Nigel instead, still going full speed while Nigel did his best to keep up.

"I'm skipping," he explained when she was done and she frowned at him with an expression that must have been universal amongst mothers. He swore they all had that same tired frown and they all shook their head the same way.

"Nice chat, but I'm going to go..." he pointed with both of his fingers to the classroom door, ducking out of that conversation as quickly as possible. It was like he was a participant in a game he hadn't quite signed up for. How many people could he get scolded by in less than an hour?

Maggie was already energetically signing with Bekka when Nigel entered the room. Dani was in the corner, sketching while Mrs. Davenport handled the influx of kids and spoke with one of the parents. It didn't look like she had noticed him yet, so he took the opportunity to shake the look of someone avoiding a scolding. He shrugged his shoulders up and back, slid one of his thumbs into one of his belt loops, and strolled with a more casual ease towards Dani.