Angel had rarely ever gotten detention the first time around in school. Only for missing work assignments in younger years and never but once in High School, and that was because she forgot her id.
Now she had Saturday detention for missing and being late to school too much. Making up hours, as Uhl put it. He simply "cannot abide by tardiness on a regular basis." Fair, and she wasn't all that upset.
During the days she was stuck in bed she emailed her teachers to ask if they could send her her work for the days she'd be gone. They mostly did and she arrived earlier when she did come to school for help with the math, so she had one assignment left and then she could read. The only bad thing about the day was that she couldn't be with the little cardinal as he healed.
"I suggest him to a safe place, preferably outside so he's comfortable, for the little guy to heal," the vet told her.
"I know the perfect place," Angel offered, taking the little bird in her hands. The vet suggested a carrier, but she said it was fine.
"And keep an eye on his temperature. It's strangely high for a bird his size."
"Got it."
Since she had already filled out the paperwork while the exam had been going on, she could just leave. She went to the alley that she had first arrived from and teleported back to the gazebo.
"I promise, this place doesn't look all that safe, but there's wards and spells that keep this place hidden from anyone I don't want here." Angel chuckled as she made little leaves and sticks float over to a nook right off the stairs to make a nest. It probably wasn't up to bird's standards, but it would do for now.
"You probably can't understand a word I'm saying right now. Well, here ya go. A little nest till you get better." He chirped something of a thank you in a response. There was a bandage around the side of his neck, running across the end of the black feathers. They made a heart over his big and wide brown eyes. At least that meant he was getting better.
"I gotta go to school, but I'll be back later, ok?"
"Chirp!"
Now being here on a Saturday was now a bit of an annoyance.
"This is a vacation," Jim said as he walked up the steps. Just then, a truck pulled up and Steve got out rather upset.
"And vacation canceled," Angel joked as the trollhunting trio groaned. Toby was the only one to actively look at her. Glare more like. "What?"
"Angel?" Came Jim's mom's voice. Angel turned to her and walked to greet her.
"Hey Dr. Lake," Angel said with a wave. The woman was standing with the car still running and door open. A concerned look was on her features.
"Do you have detention too? I didn't picture you for the type."
"Eh, it's just to make up hours. Missing a lot of days and all."
"And why have you missed so many days?" She didn't know how to answer that, especially since her concern was replaced for a second with a bemused look. Uhl thankfully chose that time to call her in, so she had to bid Dr. L goodbye.
. . .
"Mary, just give up your phone," Angel groaned. Why did Uhl want her to sit next to her anyway? At least she still got to listen to music.
"But how come you get to keep yours?" Mary whined as Uhl finally wrestled her phone away.
"My phone is in there, same as you. I'm listening to music on my Mp3."
"Mp3? That's so old school."
"It's useful when you can't have your phone. And music helps me focus, so don't start."
"And, she is the only one here who technically isn't in detention," Uhl said as he went to the front.
"What?" Mary exclaimed. The others were a bit confused as well. Angel was already working on some kind of math assignment, both earbuds in.
"She just has to make up hours and this was the best way to do it. That being said-" Uhl pulled out one of Angel's earbuds and startled her. "Keep one out so you can hear me."
"Yes sir," she said.
"As for the rest of you, you are to do homework for the entire duration."
"What if I already did my homework?" Eli asked.
"Then you will sit and stare at the wall! What, Ms Sweet?"
"If it's alright with you, I have a couple books he could read in my bag," Angel offered. Uhl sighed exasperated, but agreed. She passed her bag to Eli after quickly grabbing her current read.
"Woah, you have a lot of books," Eli gushed.
"Talk about a book nerd," Mary muttered.
"I take that as a compliment," Angel fired back with a smirk.
"Enough- None of you are to leave this room!" Uhl interrupted, shutting down the fight before it started. "If I find that any of you have left this room, you will all face the consequences. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sénior Uhl," the kids replied. Angel practically tuned out for the few minutes. There was a slight skirmish which had Steve punch Eli out of chair immediately after defending him from Toby. The thing that finally got her attention again was Uhl running out of the classroom.
She followed the others after a few minutes of him being gone to the doorway and just barely saw Uhl run into the bathroom. Good that he had the classroom near a one.
"What happened?" She asked.
"He ate my Diablo Maximous Breakfast Burrito in one go," Toby explained, and for once he didn't sound bitter when talking to her.
"Eww," Mary groaned. "Sounds like lasagna getting shot out of a T-shirt cannon."
"Thank you for that imagery, Mare," Angel muttered.
"Yeah, that burrito had three ghost peppers in it. Too spicy for his delicate Austrian stomach."
"How is that not too spicy for you?" Angel asked both worried and impressed. Toby shrugged and said something about building up a tolerance to it.
"He could be in there all day," Claire said, sounding a bit worried. Mary seemed to take it another way.
. . .
Angel wished she could say that she was responsible in that moment, she really did. But the idea of running around school unwatched, able to go practically anywhere, was too much.
The whole day was spent riding bikes indoors, stacking desks in classrooms: Angel helped Jim scare the begeebus out of Steve, which had led to a chase that ended in Steve jousting with the both of them. No one won, but everyone fell to a laughing fit after, so they didn't care.
Angel, Mary, and Claire gagged but still laughed at Jim's weird noodle trick. It was different, being able to freely laugh with both Mary and Toby. The concert on the roof was pretty fun to watch. And despite Shannon and Angel's protests, they each got a make over.
Thankfully, Mary seemed to understand her aversion to the stuff and only did things to "highlight her natural beauty". Whatever that meant.
Finally, as the day neared its end, they left to relax in the gym. Angel wasn't all that good at sports, but she still found it fun to play sometimes. And basketball was one of the ones she was better at. She only wished that she wasn't playing Steve.
"Palcuck! For the win!" Steve announced as he made a shot for the basket. It bounced off, but he didn't seem all that upset. "Ooh, and Angel fouls him."
"I was nowhere near you!" Angel yelled as she raced to catch the ball before it went to the outskirts. He didn't seem to listen and kept booing her, mimicking an invisible crowd. Angel groaned and threw the basketball at him, leaving to sit next to Claire.
"I told you," Claire stated in a sing song voice. Angel rolled her eyes and muttered a half hearted 'yeah, yeah'.
"Is it true? Did you guys really steal Sénior Uhl's truck?" Mary asked, breaking the bit of calm they had. Eli gasped and Angel's eyes widened. Even Shannon had turned to them in interest.
"Technically, we didn't steal it," Toby started, nervous. Claire didn't have to give Angel a glance to know that it was related to trollhunting. "We just uh-"
"Yeah, we were uh," Claire interrupted/continued. This was going nowhere.
"Guys, this town is a snoozefest," Jim said with the air of a teenager unburdened by the mystic, who was just bored of a small town. "What else are supposed to do, read a book?"
"Ok, FYI, books aren't that bad," Angel offered snarkily, a bit annoyed he wouldn't even try. "You should try reading one sometime."
"Whatever."
"What about you, Mare?" Claire asked, changing the subject.
"My only crime is love," Mary said with a dreamy look. "Coach caught me making out with Tight Jeans Hank under the bleachers." Eli gasped, but Angel lost the next few words, too interested in Steve climbing a rope slam dunk turned into faceplant into the headboard. He caught himself on the basket, but she still winced as he fell down.
"He's forbidden fruit. You wouldn't understand."
"Is there anyone you haven't kissed?" Steve and Angel asked together with the same level of contempt. It startled the two for a second, Steve stumbling his dribble.
"Jealous?" Mary asked as she threw a bit of popcorn at him. "I know Angel isn't, she's got her own boo."
"I- I don't," Angel stammered, her face heating. Both Claire and Mary gave her looks that screamed 'uh huh' so sarcastically. Now everyone, even Shannon, had their eyes tuned to the conversation. Angel groaned. "Ok, he's not 'my boo', but he is, sort of, my boyfriend."
"Sort of?" Claire asked, crossing her arms.
"I, asked him to take it slow. I've never really had anyone like this, with the freedom to just be a couple."
"Never?" Jim asked, leaning back to better look at her. "You're 18."
"Well, in 7th grade, I sorta dated a pedophile. He was about fours years older than me and preyed on another girl, who was nine, on my street." Everyone grimaced, Mary and Shannon gagged. "Then in- sophomore year, I dated a guy purely out of shock because I never thought that anyone would really like me like that." Then, a bit lower, "I'm not even fully sure Douxie likes me as more than a friend and is just taking pity on me." Claire put a hand on her shoulder in comfort.
"That can't be the case," Toby chimed in.
"No offense, but how would you know?" Angel chuckled humorlessly.
"Well, we came into the bookstore one day and you two were pretty locked together." Toby but his hands together like they were sentient and kissing, causing Angel to look like a tomato.
"You were saying?" Mary asked with a smirk, adding to the red on Angel's cheeks. Claire glared at her, shutting down whatever she said next.
"So, maybe not pity," Angel said, and everyone could hear the doubt in her voice. "But the closest thing I've had to a full relationship was a girl that my parents never let me be fully with. They were all accepting in theory, but in practice I'm just like a pedophile."
"Wait what?" Claire asked. Toby regarded her a bit different, and not for the girl thing.
"Yeah, apparently pedophilia is a part of the LGBT to them."
"That's stupid."
"You dated a girl?" Mary asked with barely contained confusion. Like she couldn't comprehend the idea.
"Yeah," Angel answered simply.
"But you dated guys too?" Steve asked, genuinely curious about the possibility.
"It's called bisexuality. Look it up sometime." Mary shrugged it off and started eating her popcorn. Steve and Shannon, who had been listening intently, looked thoughtful. That was a first for Steve.
"So, who did you beat up to get here?" Claire asked, effectively shutting down the quiet. "A freshman?"
"Hey, what makes you think that I beat someone up?" Steve defended, leaving whatever he was thinking about. "Did you ever consider that maybe I'm not just a bully? That maybe, I'm a good guy."
"Says the student currently serving detention," Jim joked, and everyone but Steve (he was glaring at Jim), Angel, and Shannon laughed.
"I don't know why we have to be so mean to each other," Shannon offered, making everyone turn to her. "Everyone goes through stuff. So we lash out. We were just the ones who got caught. So we should be nicer. I mean, we aren't perfect. The least we could do is be honest with one another. Then maybe we could help each other out make this world tolerable."
As she spoke, they all shared looks of embarrassment and hesitation, like they wanted to share but knew they couldn't. Angel didn't know what made her share all that, but it was nice getting it off her chest. Douxie didn't know the 7th grade or sophomore year (which was really junior year, but in order to make it seem consistent with her place now, she had to change a couple details) or senior year the first go round.
And Douxie... of course he was upset she didn't tell him about Zoe training her. Merlin wasn't exactly an open book when it came to his plans, almost never giving a direct answer. Just asking for complete trust and hardly giving anything back. At least, that's what she gleaned from what he told her. This was probably making him feel horrible, like it was his fault.
Claire, Jim, and Toby were mostly obvious in their problems. Being the trollhunting trio, they had a lot on their plate. It probably got them here today.
"What are you in here for?" Claire asked Shannon, breaking Angel from her thoughts.
"Embezzlement. Apparently, there are limits to my power as student body treasurer." Even Angel chuckled at that. Steve shot the basketball over his shoulder and finally made it in.
"And the game is over! Angelia Sweet is booed out of the stadium! She'll never feel happiness again!"
"I stopped playing you like five minutes ago," Angel deadpanned as he continued his gloating. Mary noticed the clock and suggested they hurry back before Uhl got back.
Jim had to stay back for a moment to "tie his shoe" Angel didn't believe it for a second, so she feigned leaving but turned invisible as soon as everyone was distracted.
"What are you two doing here?" Jim asked a four armed, six eyed troll and a larger mossy haired troll who, if Claire's descriptions were right, were Blinky and Arrrgh.
"Userna plans to integrate you about the inconsistencies in our stories," Blinky said. Who was Userna? "Don't worry, I have a foolproof plan. We'll lie like the wind." That always works, Angel thought bitterly. Though, she supposed she wasn't much better at the moment.
"No blood goblins," Arrrgh said as he was chewing on a basketball. Weren't blood goblins only found in the Darklands?
"We'll say that the blood goblins were of the local variety. And the Gruesome was a lost-"
"Tourist."
"Exactly. And as for Draal leaving his post-"
"Wait, she knows Draal left his post?" Jim asked, leaving Angel wondering what he was posted at. Claire had mentioned Draal a few times, a great warrior and Kanjigar's son. "No, I should just be honest for once. I should tell Userna everything. I'd rather she hear it from me."
"No! We were the ones who plotted this rescue mission."
"Which you only had to do because I went into the Darklands alone. Any consequence should fall on me." Angel had to keep from blurting out what at that. Jim was in the Darklands for how long? She always knew Jim Lake Disease sounded weird. And why would he go in in the first-
Claire's brother. The goblin they had seen that day, the stuffed bunny, the way Claire had suddenly stopped speaking of her brother in the past tense, like he was out of reach.
Jim, you idiot...
"You will be admitting to treason against Trollkind."
"I'm still the Trollhunter. I stand by my actions even if the tribunal doesn't understand them." The door squeaked as Angel left, not wanting to reveal herself.
. . .
What Angel saw next was horrible. Proof that Gunmar was out. A poor troll had been touched by his blade. And she had let down her invisibility right as he spotted her.
It was Draal based on his blue stone skin and wide and long horns. But his metal arm was gone and his eyes were fully blue. Like how some under the influence of-
"The Decimar Blade," Angel breathed as Draal came forward. It wasn't fast, like a charge. It was slow and calculated. By the noises from behind and beside her, she couldn't go either way due to Uhl and Jim and his troll friends walking around. It was too late to go anywhere now that Draal was so close.
"Um, Draal, is it?" She asked dumbly. Maybe she could break through the magic. She didn't know him, but it was worth a shot. "Claire has told me a lot about you. Kanjigar's son, protector of the Trollhunter. I do that too."
She was suddenly backed into a wall, Draal so close she could smell his breath. At least it didn't smell like Bular's. But his deep and gruff chuckle couldn't be his own; it was too malicious for the way he was described.
"So," he said finally. "This is one of the wizards that the impures are so scared of?" He moved directly in her face and sniffed her. "You only smell of fear."
"Doesn't mean you can get to me. It would draw too much attention to have me mauled here, wouldn't it? And you probably don't want that, considering you haven't been knocking on the doors of Arcadia." How her voice was staying even and unwavering in the face of Gunmar, she had no idea. Maybe it was simply because she wasn't facing him head on.
"Hmm... It doesn't matter. I shall tear you and Merlin's apprentice limb from limb soon enough." He started walking off, but Angel put up a barrier to stop him. Bemused and confused, he turned around to see her glaring daggers at him.
"You touch him, and it won't the Trollhunter who deals your killing blow." Gunmar laughed, a true and genuine one, as much as he could get when he was a crazed troll.
"You can't touch me, little witch. You don't even know where I am, let alone when I'll strike."
"Look, after detention, I'll head straight to Trollmarket to tell the Tribunal everything." Jim. He couldn't see her, not using magic. But she couldn't leave Jim alone with Gunmar, even if he was controlling one of his friends. So she did the only thing she could.
She turned invisible and watched and waited until it became dire. The only thing she let herself do was block the windows from the sun so Blinky and Arrrgh didn't get turned to stone. As Jim fell after the small fight that was little more than Gunmar toying with his emotions, Angel had to get back to class. Hopefully finding a way to stall Uhl for him.