Willow finished her jewellery check and dropped her backpack on the hook at the back, relaxing. After the brief scare yesterday, the necklace had actually belonged to a girl named Cassie with no relation to them, she was glad for her extra precautions. Voices from beside her caught her attention as they rose above the usual morning chatter.
“No, I’m serious. My brother goes to PECI and he told me about it.”
“But hearing voices? Shouldn’t he have been committed or whatever? I mean, he could be dangerous! What if he freaks out and attacks someone?”
Willow, eyes narrowing, jerked her head out of her locker to stare at the two girls sitting a few feet away. Neither one saw her look.
Maya nodded. “I know, right! I can’t believe the school even let that guy transfer in.”
Willow coughed loudly. When Jean and Maya turned to look at her, she glared. “That kind of gossip is stupid and just plain nasty.”
“It’s not gossip if it’s true,” Jean said, her chin rising.
“Oh? And how do you know it’s true? How do you know what someone else is hearing? Unless you’re the one hearing things, like other people’s thoughts or whatever, you can’t know.”
Maya rolled her eyes. “God, whatever! You’re so annoying,” she said, before turning her back towards Willow so she faced Jean again. “Did you hear that the cheerleading squad’s going to hold open auditions for anyone who wants to try out?”
Willow snorted quietly and ducked her head back into her locker to grab her books. Even despite her family and the care they took with rumours, she’d never really understood the whole gossip thing. Especially saying bad things about others. Sure, maybe it made some people feel better about themselves, but if you kept saying that kind of thing, it was only a matter of time before you became a target yourself.
The metallic bring of the bell sounded overhead, interrupting her musings. Her binder and textbook held against her chest, Willow made her way towards the Biology room, slipping in and out of the clusters of students hurrying in every direction.
Sliding into her desk, Willow hoped they were going to do something interesting today. Grade ten Science had been kind of fun, so she hoped that being in a more specialized class would be better. A clatter beside her had Willow looking up as Rune sat down. “Morning,” she said.
Rune nodded. “Morning.
“You finding everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, shoving his textbook to one side before studying her.
“What?”
“This school seems to be filled with tall people who have brown hair,” he replied.
Willow made a face. “Yeah. Those would be my cousins. Our family’s kind of big and everyone pretty much lives in this town, so…”
The final bell punctuated her shrug. Willow could see Rune’s grin before he turned to face the front and had to smile as well. She had no idea how the rumour about him hearing voices had started, but she certainly hadn’t seen any sign of anything that could be taken for it.
Mr. Beasley watched them all, waiting for the last echo of the bell and the last whispered comment to die away before speaking. “I’m going to go over the units we’ll be studying this year, how I’ll be evaluating, and my expectations for all of you. Everyone’s here today, so I don’t want to hear any complaints later in the year about you not understanding what I want from you, capiche?”
While the rest of the class murmured their assent, Willow felt the round end of a pen jab her back. She turned around to look at Joe. “Head down, Byron,” he said, jerking his chin in the direction of the blackboard.
She sighed, wishing he’d actually asked instead of ordered her, when Rune spoke up. “You know, I was always taught to say please and thank you when asking for something. It’s considered polite.”
Willow stared at him, taking in the narrowed gaze he had on Joe, and had to fight down a wince. “It’s fine,” she said. “I’m tall so it happens all the time.”
Rune ignored her. Joe’s chin rose as his eyes continued to hold Rune’s. “What the hell’s your problem? It’s not like I was talking to you.”
“I happen to believe in common courtesy.”
Noticing Mr. Beasley’s attention shifting over to them, Willow made a shushing noise. “We’re in class.”
But it was too late. “Mr. Campbell, may I ask what it is about Mr. Carboni that you find more interesting than what I’m saying?” Mr. Beasley said, eyebrows up.
“I’m waiting for an apology,” Rune replied, gaze still locked on Joe.
Willow buried her head in her arms, knowing that there was no way this story wasn’t going to spread through the school. She could already hear the lecture she’d get about getting involved in rumours. She pulled her face up just enough to see when she heard Mr. Beasley speak again.
“And what has Mr. Carboni done to you that he needs to apologize for?”
“It’s not me he needs to apologize to. It’s Willow.”
Under the scrutiny of the whole class now, Joe flushed and said “I’m sorry, alright? Now back off.”
Rune nodded sharply and turned back around to face the front. Mr. Beasley shook his head. “Well, now that I finally have everyone’s attention again, I can explain the labs we’ll be doing.”
Willow waited a few minutes to ensure Mr. Beasley’s focus was off them before she glanced at Rune. “You didn’t have to do that. I was fine”
He looked at her sideways, a faint frown pulling at his lips. “Every time someone just accepts that kind of rudeness, it reinforces to the other person that it’s okay to be like that.”
She stared for a moment, then dropped her gaze to her desk. He definitely had a point.