Team8s and Counting

153. When the Calm Shatters

"Nooo." Thread whispered to Flare. "I don't WANT to switch partners."

"Neither do I." Flare responded. "But it's fine, it won't be for long at least."

The rest of the class shuffled around the room, all seemingly picking partners with ease. However, Thread had yet to find herself a partner, and it felt like no one was even available to be her partner.

"Thread?" Ms. Root slowly approached her, knowing that she hadn't found a new partner for the project yet. "How about you work with Lemon, he also doesn't have a partner yet."

"Great." Thread thought to herself. Lemon wasn't a bad kid, but Thread always found him to be a bit...off putting. He was another one of the ICT kids, and while he was usually quiet, he sometimes would just sit and stare at people for seemingly no reason, making Thread to be quite uncomfortable. However, she knew she wasn't going to get out of working with him at this point.

Thread wheeled herself up to the desk next to him, both pulling out their worksheets. Thread started doing the worksheet to the best of her ability. However, Lemon seemed to just be staring at her doing her work, instead of doing his own. Frustrated, Thread started to fidget with the sides of her wheelchair, her fingers tracing the familiar grooves of the handles as she tried to concentrate. But Lemon's staring didn't stop. He wasn't even looking at his own worksheet, and the feeling of his eyes fixed on her made her skin crawl.

Thread took a deep breath, reminding herself to stay calm. She didn't want to make a scene, especially after the stress of leaving her sandcastle unfinished at recess. She tried her best to ignore him and focus on the math problems in front of her.

But it wasn't working. Lemon continued to stare at her, almost as if he was going to just copy her work instead of actually doing it himself. Thread felt like she had to say something to him.

"Um, are you going to do your worksheet?" She asked Lemon, clearly very irritated at this point.

Lemon shrugged, seemingly oblivious to her frustration. "I was just...watching you do it," he mumbled, his gaze not shifting.

Thread clenched her fists, her irritation bubbling into something more intense. She'd already been struggling to keep calm after being forced to leave her sandcastle half-finished, and now Lemon's unrelenting stare was pushing her over the edge. She felt her breath quicken, her senses heightened—everything around her seemed louder, brighter, harsher.

"Can you stop staring at me?" she snapped, louder than she intended. A few nearby students looked over, and Ms. Root's gaze shifted to them, sensing that something was wrong.

"What's going on over here?" Ms. Root asked, approaching the two of them.

Thread grunted. "Lemon won't stop staring at me!"

"I'm sorry." Lemon said, looking down at his lap. "I didn't realize."

"Thread, honey, let's be nice. Lemon didn't mean any harm," Ms. Root said gently, placing a reassuring hand on Thread's shoulder. But the sensory overload was already bubbling over inside Thread, like a dam on the verge of breaking. She clenched the sides of her wheelchair again, her hands gripping so tightly her knuckles turned white. It was all too much; between the sandcastle and not being able to work with Flare, she had reached a point where nothing could calm her down.

Then, it happened.

Thread let out a scream, a desperate, frustrated sound. It was her way of releasing everything she couldn't express in words. The whole class turned their heads at her sudden outburst, eyes widening in surprise. Ms. Root knelt down beside her, her voice soft but urgent.