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—chapter seven—
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AROUND TWO WEEKS HAD PAST until Sam decided that Rue was in control enough to go back to school. It hadn't taken her very long to get in control of her shift, they assumed it was because she was typically a calm person. Her mom had stopped by everyday to bring Rue the homework she missed, letting her know that Quil brought it home every single day to make sure Rue didn't fall behind.
This just made Rue feel so much worse about going back to school, knowing she was going to have to ignore him. She felt even worse about lying to Tama. He was her twin, they told each other everything. They didn't keep secrets. Their mom had told him that her "mono" was so bad that she was staying at a friends house so the rest of them didn't catch it.
She was also worried about her heightened hearing, especially how it would effect her during school. Sam had her practice by going to the grocery store, which ended up with Rue leaving with a massive headache and ringing ears.
But as she practiced, it got a little better, she still got a headache now and then but she's learned to tune things out for the most part.
Rue had mentally prepared herself for all of the looks and stares she was about to get as she hopped out of Jared's truck. Malia and Paul decided to take Paul's truck instead so Embry and Rue had squished themselves into the front with Jared.
Ignoring the stares as best as she could, she searched the parking lot for Billy Black's rusty old pick-up. Thankfully, Rue didn't see it. They weren't here yet.
"Come on," Embry said, taking Rue's hand and squeezing it as an attempt to comfort her. She gave him a grateful smile before the three of them walked to meet up with Paul and Malia. Once they were all together, they started walking towards the school. As they were walking, Rue began to worry about what Quil would think when he heard about it, or saw them. Accidentally, she stopped focusing on her hearing as her anxiety became overwhelming. And then before she knew it, the voices hit her all at once.
"Is that Rue?"
"What's she doing with them?"
"Is she apart of the gang now too?"
"Are Rue and Embry together? I thought her and Quil were dating?"
Rue winced, gripping the sides of her head. Embry put his hand on her back, quickly motioning for Jared, Malia and Paul to form a sort of wall around her to block her from everyone else's view.
"Rue is it your hearing?" He asked, concerned. She nodded, her ears were ringing so loud she could barely hear him.
"Hey, just focus on my voice, okay?" He said, repeating the words Sam had told him too. Before Rue returned to school, Sam had made it a point to pull Embry to the side. He instructed Embry on what to say and do in case something like this happened. He knew having Embry do it would be best since the two were close, rather than having someone she had just become friends with.
Rue listened to Embry's voice, focusing on what he was saying, the words echoed through her head. "Just focus on my voice." "Rue, listen to my voice, okay?"
Her eyes were squeezed shut as she tried to focus on him. Very slowly, the ringing died down, as did the voices. They were still there, just now they were faint whispers that lingered at the back of her head.
Rue let out a big sigh and took her hands off her ears, "so much for a good first day back."
"You okay?" Embry asked, hand still on her back.
Rue rubbed at her ears a few times, "yeah, can we just get to class, I don't like the staring."
Embry nodded, and the group finally made their way into the school building. Ignoring the stares from the people in the parking lot, even though the states inside didn't get much better.
Embry and Rue said a quick goodbye as they left for their separate classes. She groaned, "I am not in the mood for civics."
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"UGH, JAKE," Quil groaned as he rushed to get out of the truck, "you made us late."
Jacob feigned offense, "don't blame me cause Tama doesn't know how to set an alarm clock."
The long haired boy threw up his hands as he slung his back over his shoulder, wondering how he got dragged into this.
"Hey leave me alone, normally I have Rue running around the house waking me up," Tama defended.
Quil turned back to look at him as he caught up with him and Jake. "Yeah how is Rue? When's she gonna be back at school?"
Tama sighed, "I don't know man, my mom said she was pretty sick, I haven't seen or heard from her since she left school."
"What does she have anyway?" Jake asked.
Tama shrugged, "I think my mom said she had mono or something."
Quil stopped, his eyebrows furrowed, "wait, mono?"
The other two boys stopped as well, looking back at him. "Yeah, mono. Why?"
"Isn't that what Embry had?" Quil asked.
Jake nodded, confused as to where this was going.
He continued, "isn't mono only spread through like, saliva? Like kissing?"
Jacob and Tama shared a look, "Quil you don't really think that Rue and Embry—"
Tama spoke up, "yeah dude there's no way they would ever do anything like that."
Despite their words, Quil was still discouraged. How else would Rue get mono right after Embry had it?
"Yeah, I'm sure you're right," Quil sighed, though he didn't sound so convinced. The trio finished making their way inside the school, making a quick stop by the office to get their tardy slips.
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RUE HAD CHOSEN A SEAT IN THE VERY BACK CORNER OF THE ROOM, she knew she would have to face Quil. So she opted out of sitting in her normal seat beside of him.
She had yet to be noticed, until her teacher had announced the girls presence with a, "I'm glad you're feeling better Ms. Kioke." To which everyone has turned around to look at her, as she subconsciously pulled her flannel back up to cover the tattoo on her arm.
Her eyes glanced to Quil's empty seat, she wasn't too surprised. She figured Tama had made them late since she wasn't there to wake the boy up like normal.
The first twenty minutes of class were normal, which meant they were excruciatingly boring. Until Quil rushed in through the door, fumbling to get his notebook out of his bag like normal.
Everyone turned to look as he awkwardly dropped the notebook, "uh sorry." He quickly picked the notebook back up and handed his tardy slip to the teacher before rushing to his seat.
"Glad you decided to join us Mr. Ateara," their teacher gave the slip a quick look before tossing it in the trash.
"I assume it's Mr. Kioke's fault again?"
Quil nodded sheepishly, "uh yeah, sorry." He knew she probably didn't believe him, but he couldn't really do anything about that.
"Well," their teacher turned her gaze to Rue, "Ms. Kioke, I ask that you tell your brother to get to school on time. So, Mr. Ateara here can stop interrupting my class."
Rue's eyes widened in panic and instantly shielded her face. Quil furrowed his brows, turning back to look at the girl. His mouth dropped when he realized that Rue was actually at school. Why didn't she tell anyone she was coming back?
He wanted to get up and talk to her, ask her where she had been, and why she came back to school and didn't tell anybody. But he couldn't. He had been late so many times the last few weeks that he knew he would probably get sent out. So he stayed sat in his seat, looking back at Rue every now and then.
But she didn't look at him once. She kept her head down, not even looking at the board. He would catch her after class, he had to talk to her.
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a/n: hey guys ! i'm sorry for making y'all wait so long for an update, but i have not been super focused on wattpad. honestly, writing this has been the most time i've spent on this app in ages. i've been super focused on sports more than i should, and i'm very behind on my school work. but i randomly got the urge to finish this chapter and i did, i know it's not great but i'm gonna try and start writing the next one soon.
much love,
— k