Turn for the Worst

Chapter 21

"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."