Hunting the Fairy Tale

Chapter 6 - Study Proximity

I watch her go. I really feel rather bad about how her day turned out. I don't know much about what happened to her and her mother before they came to Briar Cove. Ma just said that Willow and Aunt B have been to hell and back quite a few times recently and that we should all do our best to help them heal.

Teasing her to help her lighten up is one thing, but getting her detention is definitely not on the right track. My parents are going to give me an earful and then some when Willow tells them about her first day. Ah, well, I've earned it. But I hate disappointing them.

I know a little bit about the type of environment Willow grew up in. I'm completely caught off guard by the increasing proof that she's not the snobbish, entitled brat, demanding, opinionated, and filled with self-importance I'd expected her to be. I've had to deal with my share of the type on various occasions and was braced and ready to tolerate her as much as possible for Ma's sake. I'm completely unprepared for the obviously vulnerable, rather shy girl she's turning out to be in reality. Is there a manual somewhere for this kind of situation? I should try googling it.

The first clues that I might be wrong about her were the sweet, patient way in which she treated Frankie yesterday and how helpful and polite she was towards Ma. Today I saw her being rather nice to Paisley as well, even under circumstances that were clearly upsetting her. Girls are never nice to Paisley, which is why bitchiness is her go-to attitude when dealing with them. Things are becoming a lot more complicated than I imagined. I'm really not enjoying the overwhelming protective instincts that keep on taking over, messing with my head. Well, I've always had a thing for wounded animals. I guess, in her own way, Willow is one too.

Maybe she'll snap at Frankie tonight, snub Ma, snipe at Dad and kick my cat. Any of those will really piss me off, but it will also put everything in its expected place. Then I can go back to plan A: Tolerate and Torture.

When school let out today, I went to find Willow to tell her that I'd arranged a ride home for her with Asher since I was being detained against my will. That was already not part of my plan. I planned to ditch rugby practice and take Willow home as soon as school let out. It was her first day, after all, and she'd been extremely nervous. Unfortunately, my loose mouth landed me in detention... again...

Or was it the fact that Robin has a badly sprained finger after yesterday's park game and might not be ready when our rugby matches start again after the holidays? It's probably that, but it's not like I sprained his finger on purpose! I just didn't dodge his punch effectively enough, and he connected a bit awkwardly. Seriously, he has the whole exam time and school holiday to heal!

It could also be because Galen's shiner is being attributed to me. I hope that's true. It's a definite improvement to his smug face. Besides, he bit me! If I'm standing in the right kind of light, you can see a faint bruise with light teeth marks on my shoulder. Nobody wants to come into the friggin' light with me! All Coach Sanders is interested in seeing is bloody Galen's black eye. And these people call themselves my friends!

Damn, I hope it was me!

At least the fact that practice got cancelled saved me from having to make up some excuse for missing it.

I was surprised to see Willow walking along a corridor with Paisley, and judging by the look on her face, I could tell that something was very wrong. My head nearly exploded when I saw the two of them go into the detention classroom. I sent Asher a message to cancel the ride and felt rotten when I entered the room and saw how frightened and out of place Willow appeared. She seemed to be on the verge of tears.

She was clearly terrified to be trapped in a room full of boys. Willow might actually have some kind of male phobia. I'm going to have to speak to Ma about our travel arrangements to and from school. It's clearly more than she can handle. Though, to be honest, I don't mind it at all. She was rather soft and supple against my back, like a kitten. I like cats.