A Revolution On Canvas (Frerard)

7: In Which Megan Attempts To Prove That Mr Way Is A Vampire

Miss Ballato had never really thought much of Jamia Nestor: that girl who sat in the back and didn't say much, with her headphones in, and she reckoned no one knew, but everyone knew, but she seemed to show at least a spark of enthusiasm for the subject, so she let it slide, anyway, in a class like this, Lindsey had much worse things to worry about than the girl that didn't particularly care much for the mind-numbingly idiotic gossip and chatter of a high school classroom. Although it seemed that as of recent, Lindsey herself had become far more accustomed to it than she would ever care to admit.

Gerard knew, of course, but Gerard Way just knew things, remember?

Anyway, Lindsey was busy throughout her life of not really giving too much of a fuck about Jamia Nestor and what she may or may not do in the back of her classroom, until a rather fateful day, in which she found herself inside at lunch time, looking for some goddamn folder that she'd somehow misplaced, and in the act of doing so, she stumbled into an unused closet full of junk, and found herself shell shocked at who she found inside it... not in a metaphorical sense, but that did kind of apply too, but in the literal closet, stood Jamia Nestor herself, jumping a little as she noticed Miss Ballato's presence, and in the act of doing so, a little bag fell from her grasp and onto the closet floor.

Lindsey followed the bag's journey with her eyes: neither her nor Jamia making a move to pick it up for at least a minute after, and in fact, it looked a lot like Jamia had found herself frozen and stuck to the back wall of the closet, and it was then that Lindsey finally gave the contents of the bag any attention, and in one single moment, Jamia Nestor had become so much more than the girl at the back of the classroom with the headphones, who she let off because she always did the work, and to quite a good standard as well.

Because in that moment, Jamia Nestor became the girl with the pills, and Lindsey knew instantly that these weren't the kind of pills she was supposed to be taking, or anyone was, for that matter, and in another prolonged minute of silence, the art teacher leaned down to pick up the bag, and hold it hesitantly in her palm for a few seconds, before tossing it to the bin in the corner of the room, and exhaling loudly, before she looked up to Jamia's gaze once again.

"I'm not going to say anything about this if you talk to me." She began, running a hand back through her hair, and most likely getting paint in it in the process, because this had been a long day, and Jamia didn't deserve this at all. "I'm not going to say anything regardless: I don't want to threaten you, and I'm not going to, I just... you need help with this, and as your teacher, and even as a decent human being, I can't just turn away and walk out of this door, Jamia."

"Okay." She nodded, exhaling forcefully as she did so, her hands even shaking as she spoke, and she didn't look good at all, although, Lindsey hadn't really expected much of a positive reaction from her in this situation. "Thank you... I guess... I thought... you'd get me into trouble... I can't... I... my mum would kill me..."

"It's not like Mr Urie would even do much if I told him." Miss Ballato added in reassurance, "and I'm not going to phone your mum, this is between us, but I am really worried about you, and I want this to stop and I want you to let me help you, because if you don't listen and this starts to be a serious risk to your life, then... then I'm legally obliged to tell someone that you're in serious danger, but it doesn't have to get that far... I don't think you want it to either..."

"No..." Jamia let out a sigh, "I don't... I just.... I-"

"Hey, how about we got out of this closet and you can talk to me in my classroom where there's more than about a cubic centimetre of space. I came in here to look for some paperwork, but that doesn't really matter as much, it's not like anyone at this school knows what they're doing, but hey, you can give me credit for trying, and anyway... a student's wellbeing is more important than paperwork in any sane person's mind, isn't it?"