-"... I have some money, Jim still gives me allowances, and all... A-And I... I may have asked an old friend to get me an interstate bus ticket. I can't because I'm underage, but I look taller than sixteen so the only problem was the ID... and well, I still keep in touch with some of the kids from back in the foster kid days... He's not into anything sketchy, I promise! It's just... well, hard times... And... And after I got the tickets I asked around to another of my friends who actually works in the foster system. He did some digging, and came around with your address... It was all a last minute thing, and somehow he got it yesterday... Thankfully, or else I wouldn't have made it here... I... I didn't tell Nicola I was coming because, well... I'm... I'm not really sure..."
Brandon made a brief pause to take a sip from the cup of hot chocolate he held in his hands. Grace had given it to him, along with the blanket he had over his shoulders, the second she saw he was dripping wet after entering the house. He had been travelling with rather light clothing for the cold weather outside, not to mention the snow, so she was convinced he was about to catch a cold.
Currently, Brandon was sitting down in Grace's dining room table, joined by Connor, who sat right across from him, Alexis, Mikey and Grace to the sides. Chester was standing against the kitchen counter, listening as well. Even Goose was sitting patiently on the floor, wigging her tail and with her tongue out.
After Brandon placed the cup on the table once again, he took a deep breath and went on speaking, not daring yet to meet his brother's gaze.
-"... I just... I... I felt... Terrible, for the way I acted... The other night..."
And then, Brandon finally looked at his brother, his eyes like two crystals bound to shatter at the slightest touch. Filled with guilt, he was barely managing to get the words out.
-"... I needed to see you... One more time."
Everyone was dead silent, expecting for Connor's response. Alexis was playing with her fingers anxiously, and Mikey was giving her a side hug to help calm her nerves a bit. Grace was biting her lower lip listening to Brandon, while at the same time she turned over towards Connor to see how he was taking all of this. Chester watched still.
Connor didn't say anything. Instead, he stood up from his chair, and walked all the way over to were Brandon was sitting, and placed his arms around him, leaving the latter at a loss of words. Brandon's look of surprise in his face could only be compared to Grace's, who was struggling not to yell out of joy. Alexis and Mikey were smiling to one another, and Goose barked in approval.
Connor sighed, without letting go of the hug.
-"I already told you,"—he said calmly—"there is nothing to forgive."
Finally he let go, and squatted next to Brandon, and looked at him with a heartfelt smile.
-"I'm just so, so happy...!"—Connor confessed—"All these years I was wrong. I... I thought that... That you hated me, and blamed me for what happened to mom and dad..."
-"W-What!? N-No! I-I would never!"—Brandon denied, shaking his head, evidently nervous—"I never blamed you...! Just, the night... The night they took me away, they—I didn't understand! I didn't understand what was going on, and by the time I realized, it was already too late, and...! And at the cemetery, after so many years, you must understand—"
-"I understand."—Connor said, placing his hands on his brother's arms to reassure him that he wasn't accusing Brandon of anything—"I was mistaken, Brandon. I lived thinking that I had wronged you. And that you resented me for it, and wouldn't ever forgive me..."
-"No!"—Brandon exclaimed—"No, never! I have missed you! Nicola and I, we've missed you for so long! There were times when—when—!"
Brandon took a moment to compose himself, Connor rubbing his back. He had been moved by his little brother's words. For the first time his mind wasn't racing at a million miles per hour. Instead, it was as if he were finally finding some form of peace, after being in doubt for so long. Brandon was able to speak up again,
-"... After we found Dustin, and he told us what happened..."—he said—"Nicola flipped. She got so mad at him—I don't think I've ever seen her that mad at anyone before. She started to try and find out about you on her own. She even tracked down the orphanage, the one in Chicago..."
Alexis perched up. Brandon was talking about the Genevieve Street Public Orphanage, the one in which she and Connor met ten years back. The one where she had lived ever since she was a newborn until she was six years old.
-"... That's where the trail got cold."—Brandon said—"We learned that you were taken in the foster care system, along with Alexis. That's what the people in there told us, but it became impossible to track you down..."
Connor remained silent. It was physically painful, thinking that as he was being moved from place to place, his brother and sister were desperately trying to see if they could find a trace of him. And to think he had never even thought about looking for them, convinced they would rather he was dead...
-"... We... We thought... I, thought... That I would never see you again."—Brandon confessed finally—"Nicola never lost hope. She kept making calls, driving to places... But I... I thought that... That you were gone...!"
Brandon couldn't take it anymore, and broke down into tears. Connor started hushing, trying to calm him down. Anyone who would have seen it would've thought that the younger brother was calming the older one, because of Brandon being physically bigger than Connor, but it was still an endearing sight. The rest of the people in the room were starting to get emotional as well. Mikey was especially trying to hold a straight face, and Alexis rolled her eyes at how ridiculous he looked when he tried to appear macho.
-"I'm here."—Connor said, once his brother was more calm—"And I'm not going anywhere. And... And we will never lose track of one another again, I promise. We will keep in touch; and we will be seeing each other all the time... Nicola promised you would all come here sometime next week, so that everyone could meet..."
Brandon nodded, and whipped off the tears with his sleeve. Connor went on.
-"You'll see now, B. We're gonna be alright. We'll be a family again."
Connor couldn't help smiling, as everyone else, especially Grace. Brandon smirked and laughed under his breath. It was an idea that he liked.
-"... Nicola must be worried."—Connor said, suddenly realizing—"We must call her! She must think you've ran away!"
Brandon shook his head.
-"Y-yes, you're right. I should probably call her, and my social worker... Jim's probably called them already worried sick; they probably will want to take me back themselves so I should tell them so that they come here before it's later at night..."
-"What!? No! That's ridiculous! You're staying over for the night!"—said Grace, gaining everyone's attention.
Connor and Brandon looked at her, the former relieved and the latter rather surprised.
-"You're sure it's alright, Grace?"
-"It actually offends me that you ask that!"—Grace reassured, and managing to actually look offended.
-"I-I really don't want to cause any trouble..."—Brandon stammered.
-"It is absolutely fine!"—Grace said once again, standing up and heading towards Brandon, patting his shoulder—"We have an inflatable mattress, you can share room with Connor and Mikey! They can come pick you up tomorrow, there isn't any reason to worry! We would love to have you!"
-"Yeah, it's totally cool!"—Mikey said, with a grin—"It'll be fun."
Brandon looked at Mikey surprised, but not as much so as the look he gave to Alexis when she walked over to him, and offered her hand with a soft smile.
-"Come."—she said—"Let me show you where the bathroom is. You should get a hot shower before you catch a cold..."
Brandon looked back at Connor, unsure if he should accept, and Connor patted him on the back, letting him know it was alright. After seeing them off up the stairs, Mikey and Chester left the dining room, leaving Connor and Grace to some privacy. Connor clicked his tongue before talking to her.
-"Thank you"—he said—"for doing this. Letting him stay, I mean."
-"Connor there is nothing to thank for; I'm just... I'm..."
She sighed, right before wrapping her arms around Connor and hugging him tight, without giving out any warning. She took Connor by surprise for sure, but that didn't keep him from hugging her back nonetheless.
It was strange.
He didn't remember the last time Grace and him had hugged this way. It wasn't because he had almost died or because one of them had cried themselves to sleep. It was just a hug because the sake of it.
He liked that.
-"... I was worried, you know? Worried sick, when you left with Troye..."—Grace said, stroking the back of Connor's head—"I was worried that, perhaps, you wouldn't find what you were looking for—but you did, and you found yourself with Nicola, and with Brandon... And he's here now, and you two have finally found your ways to one another, and I feel... Like at last, you... And Alexis, are getting to the good parts of your story... And I'm happy, because of that."
Grace stopped talking, and after a brief silence, Connor stepped away from the hug to speak up.
-"... I think... I think we got to the good parts of our story... The day we first arrived here at Yule. Here, with you and Mikey."
Grace looked like she was bound to cry. She placed her hands on Connor's head, and kissed his forehead.
-"You should be careful with what you say, sweetie; someone might think you have a heart."
Connor giggled, as Grace playfully patted his cheek.
-"You should probably call your sister; tell her Brandon is here, safe."
-"Yeah, I already texted her... I will call her in a bit, though. I think tomorrow they are gonna come pick him up early."
Grace smiled, and after messing with Connor's hair, followed Chester back to the kitchen.
Everyone was already set for bed, and once Connor headed to his bedroom upstairs, he found Mikey reading out from a school chemistry textbook. He had forgotten to study for tomorrow's test, apparently. The inflatable mattress was already set in the middle of their bedroom, on the space between their two beds. Connor jumped over on his bed, and Mikey groaned in frustration.
-"Damn it... I hate chemistry! I just—I don't get it! For fuck's sake—!"
-"Language!"—Grace yelled all the way from her room, causing Mikey to roll his eyes slightly.
-"Sorry mom!"—he yelled back, and went back to reading—"Geez... I just don't understand the first thing about salts and stuff. Like, why do we even need inorganic chemistry? It's all so confusing..."
-"Well it is the study of the components of matter and all."—Connor pointed out—"It's for you to, you know... Know what makes up the world and shit."
-"It's not making it any easier to understand, let me tell you..."
Connor shook his head and mocked Mikey silently, when his thoughts were interrupt by the sound of two pairs of footsteps approaching the outside of his and Mikey's door. Since the door was slightly ajar, the two of them could hear pretty much everything that was going on outside. Mikey also went quiet, and perched up to pay attention.
-"... Really? That's... that's hard to believe...!"—said Alexis' voice, as she got closer to the boys' room.
-"No, trust me, I swear! This other time, Connor and I snuck up into Dustin's room, he was the only one of us boys who didn't have to share..."—Brandon replied, with a goofy tune—"Connor was such a scaredy-cat back then. Somehow we managed to find his 'secret stash' of porn magazines, and he was just like, eleven! Of course I didn't have a clue on what they were, but watching our parents flip out and Connor ask so many questions was so funny..."
-"Oh my God...! This is gold...! And it's way smarter than hiding them under your bed, for a change. Mikey could learn a thing or two from Dustin!"
Mikey became visibly embarrassed, judging from the red tone his face had suddenly gotten. Connor laughed silently.
-"Is it true you were to three different foster homes in one year? Damn, that sounds like a drag..."
-"Yeah, that was the worst year by far. We didn't really make much friends there... Except for this one girl? Bethany, I think was her name... For some reason she and Con seemed to hit it off quite well..."
-"You don't say? Did they...?"
-"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing we should waste our time thinking about."—Alexis concluded—"Right now my gut says Con's got his eye on someone else..."
Now it was Connor's turn to get embarrassed. What on earth did Alexis mean by that? Mikey looked at him questioningly right before the door to their bedroom was fully opened by Alexis, as she showed Brandon inside with a huge grin.
-"Well, boys; I'll leave all your testosterone alone for the night"—Alexis said, before turning to Brandon—"Good night, B! It was nice sharing embarrassing stories with you! I'm looking forward to the next time!"
To his pleasant surprise, Connor saw how Brandon nodded that big head of his, smiling back.
-"Sure, so am I!"
-"K! Good night!"
Alexis looked at Connor with a sweet grin before closing the door behind her. Brandon was already showered and dressed into a set of pajamas Connor suspected Chester had lent to him, because neither he nor Mikey were tall enough to own those. He was about to get ready for bed, when he noticed Mikey struggling with his textbook. After observing it for a bit, he walked over.
-"... Eh... Are you... Having trouble, with chemistry?"—Brandon asked tentatively.
-"What? No! No, no, I mean... Ok, I kind of suck at it."—Mikey admitted—"I'm more of a physics person, really."
-"Right... Well... I could, like... Help you study. I mean, if you like."
-"Wait, you mean it?"—Mikey asked rather surprised—"Are you good in chemistry?"
-"Well... I... I wanna go to med school, and since I've been little I've been like a science geek... So, yeah, I kind of like chemistry, and stuff."
Connor rolled his eyes.
-"Last year he got the best score in his entire grade."—he revealed, remembering some details from his conversation with Nicola in Minneapolis and effectively gaining both of the younger kids' attentions—"He's literally a science prodigy. Trust me, Mikey, you can't find a better tutor."
Brandon scratched the back of his head with a doubting smirk.
-"Gee, Connor; genius feels like a stretch..."
-"Well, genius or not, you are definitely helping me now! C'mere, I'll get you a chair. Connor can we borrow yours?"
-"Sure, go ahead."
Mikey got Connor's desk's rolling chair and pulled it over to his own desk, where Brandon took a seat next to him, and then gave a quick read to the page of the textbook Mikey was stuck in. After a few minutes, he started explaining Mikey the different inorganic functions that could be formed from the mixture of a metallic and a non-metallic element, or some chemist shit like that Connor couldn't find it in him to care to understand.
All he could focus on, was how before him, Brandon, his little brother whom he hadn't seen in ten years and whom he thought he'd never meet again, was sitting right next to Mikey, his foster brother whom he had only known for a few months and still seemed impossible to imagine a life without him now. He remembered, how at first, it was hard to be around Mikey, because there was so much in him that reminded him of Brandon. Now, they were both with in the same room, little by little the idea of being able to unite his two families seeping into Connor more gently.
And that thought alone was enough to make him feel happy.
---
The next day, in the morning, a car arrived at the front of Grace's house. It wasn't raining anymore, though the grayish sky hinted the possibility of snow, plus the cold winds persevered despite the supposed improvement of the weather the news channel had broadcasted. From the car came down a kind lady who introduced herself by a name Connor couldn't quite remember, saying she was there to pick up Brandon and take him back to Minneapolis. She was his social worker, and he was already quite in trouble with Jim and Tanya for sneaking out without saying anything to anyone, so it was best if he was off quickly. Right now, he was standing at the porch of the house, saying his goodbyes to Chester and Grace, followed then by Mikey.
-"Don't forget"—he told Mikey—", salts can be acid or basic, depending on the components..."
Mikey laughed and shook his head.
-"I'm sorry I'm gonna let you down; I won't fail, but I won't get an A either."
-"Just... don't forget."
Brandon reached out his right hand to shake goodbye, but Mikey went for the hug, and after that awkward limbo in which neither knows what to do, they hugged goodbye. Brandon then walked towards Alexis, and gave out a sigh before speaking.
-"... I want to thank you."—he said—"For being there for Connor all these years, when I wasn't. I'm... I'm happy, that you two stuck together."
Alexis' eyes were starting to water slightly, but she cleared her throat, got on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on Brandon's cheek.
-"I'm happy for it, too. And I'm happy you're finally here as well."—she said.
Next, it was turn to say goodbye to Connor. The two of them stood in front of each other without saying anything at first, and then, almost at the same time, they embraced in a tight hug which lasted about forever in Connor's mind, and he was glad for it. After stepping away from it, Brandon spoke.
-"I-I'll make sure we're over n-next weekend."—he promised, stammering slightly—"I-I don't care if I have to d-drive myself..."
-"Hey, hey. It's alright, B."—Connor reassured—"Trust me. Now, we're... We're not gonna go through so much shit ever again."
Brandon nodded relentlessly.
-"Definitely. I promise, I... I won't let that happen... Not a second time..."
After yet another hug, Brandon finally got on the copilot's seat of the car, and as the lady drove away, everyone waved him goodbye through the street. This time, Connor being sure that he would see him again very, very soon.
To Connor's bad luck, as well as Alexis' and Mikey's, this was yet another school day, and despite the emotional goodbye they had just experienced, Grace hadn't absolved them from their education. They got into Chester's car, and upon arriving to the school grounds, albeit a bit late, they made their way through the already empty hallways towards their respective classes. Connor was trying to check if he had everything he needed in his backpack to avoid stopping by his locker; he noticed he had left his journal in it without realizing, which meant he was going to have to carry it around all day.
-"Say, Connor; is that a new jacket?"—Mikey asked, suddenly.
Connor raised an eyebrow questioningly, he had been too distracted checking his backpack. He took a look at the clothes he was wearing; Mikey had to be talking about the black leather jacket he had on. He didn't remember it being new, he had definitely seen it sometime before.
-"No, I don't think so..."
-"Did Chester lent it to you or anything? Because I'm hell as sure it isn't mine, but it's pretty cool..."
-"Wait, Connor..."—Alexis suddenly observed—"Isn't... Isn't that Troye's?"
Then, it hit Connor. This was Troye's jacket. It was Troye's leather jacket which he always wore, and the one he had been wearing the other day, when they were driving back from Minneapolis to Chicago, and they stopped by that highway motel...
Without realizing it, he must have taken Troye's jacket instead of his own.
-"Y-Yeah..."—Connor stammered—"It's Troye's. He lent it to me, I forgot..."
Neither Alexis or Mikey commented on it, though Connor could tell they exchanged a silent look he couldn't quite decipher, though decided to mind it later, or rather to avoid minding it at all.
After breaking their little company, Connor rushed upstairs to Mrs. Ballinger-Evans class (Ms. Ballinger had finally gotten married with her long-time fiancée through the holidays, and she had his last name hyphened with hers so now she asked everyone to refer to as her Mrs. Ballinger-Evans), where he barged in without knocking, and patting out of the exhaustion, gaining all of the student's attention, and Ms. Ballinger-Evans', who stopped writing on the blackboard to look at him with a questioning raised eyebrow.
-"How nice for you two join us, Mr. Franta!"—she greeted with a sarcastic smile and placing one hand on her hip—"Now that you've done your big entrance, would you mind sharing with the class to what we owe your tardiness today?"
-"I'm sorry, Ms. Ballinger—I mean, Mrs. Ballinger-Evans."—Connor replied nervously—"We had visits at the house and we ran late, it won't happen again."
The teacher shook her head disapprovingly, but said no more of it. It seemed she was already in good terms with Connor, and he was even convinced she had even grown fond of him, despite all the shenanigans.
-"Very well, Mr. Franta. I'd tell you to pick any seat, but we all know you're gonna go sit next to Ms. Singh, so why bother..."
Connor nodded, and headed to the back of the class, where Lilly had saved an empty seat right next to her. As soon as he sat down, she started bombarding him with questions about Brandon.
-"So is he ok? When will he get to Minneapolis? Is everything good? Did he get along with Alexis...?"
-"Shhh...! It's all good, Lilly, I promise."—Connor said—"I'll tell you all about it later at lunch."
-"Ugh. Fine..."
After going quiet for a second, giving Connor some time to order his textbooks, Lilly noticed Troye's jacket on Connor, for which she raised an eyebrow.
-"Say, isn't that Troye's jacket...?"
-"What? No! I-I mean, yeah! What of it?"
-"How come you have it?"—she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
-"I borrowed it!"
-"Oh reaaally?"
-"Yes, really!"
-"Are you suuuure...?"
-"Yes, I'm sure! If you don't believe me, ask him! And where is he, by the way—?"
Right as Connor was asking for Troye's whereabouts, the door to the class barged open once again, and in came a panting and tired-looking Troye, wearing a green sweater and his white headphones, which Connor realized was probably the first time he saw him in school without his jacket. Mrs. Ballinger-Evans retook her hand to her hip and looked at Troye accusingly.
-"Yet another tardy; what a lovely day it is indeed! May I ask what's your reason to be this late, Mr. Mellet?"
-"I'm sorry Mrs. Ballinger-Evans! I just couldn't find my...!"
As Troye had been apologizing, he turned his head to the left, and noticed Lilly and Connor. She was struggling not to laugh her ass off; he was trying to hide the fact that he was turning red like a tomato.
-"... Jacket."—Troye said, finishing the sentence—"I... I couldn't find my jacket, for school."
-"Fashion emergency! Well that's one thing I didn't expect to hear from you, Mr. Mellet. Now, please, go take your seat, if you will..."
Troye nodded and headed crestfallen to Connor's left, taking his seat. They exchanged a look and a grin, and after, when looking at Lilly, he saw she was raising an eyebrow at him questioningly.
Connor avoided eye contact with her for the rest of the class.
---
The rest of the school day seemed like it would go uneventful. In science class with Mr. Cole, Connor was astonished to see that Alexa had showed up to class, finally going back to her usual day to day routine, which was something he didn't expect to see for a while considering all that had happened.
Joe and Caspar were still very ecstatic from the events of Chicago. It was funny, seeing them go around showing off the video of them playing live with The Broods, and getting the attention of even the popular crew. Even Andrea Russet seemed to finally be interested in Joe, much to the latter's excitement, which was obvious from half a mile away. Will, on the other hand, was constantly trying to make it up to Arden for losing it during the competition. So far he had gotten her two boxes of her favorite chocolates, a couple of roses here and there (Lilly laughed when seeing that) and even new drawing equipment for her to paint. Everyone knew Arden wasn't mad at him or anything, but she was definitely having fun torturing her boyfriend.
Oli, on the other hand, was finally walking hand in hand with Lilly, and Connor loved teasing those two more than anything. Though his teasing proved ineffective when it came to those two; it seemed as if it didn't matter how much he tried to mess with them, they just wouldn't give him the satisfaction of caring. And that, in its very self, was very sweet.
Then, came lunchtime, and Connor finally gave himself a time for a small break. The dining hall, as always, was crowded, and the outside gardens were white from the snow that had started falling during first period, much to everyone's dismay. People were already kind of over so much cold. Connor walked in with Oli, Lilly and Troye, the four of them searching for somewhere to seat, to little avail.
-"Wait, look; there's a spot!"—Oli observed, pointing at a table—"It's Alexa. She's sitting all on her own."
Connor looked in the direction Oli had pointed, and indeed, Alexa was sitting all on her own in an isolated table, far away from Cameron's crew and the cheerleading squad with which she usually had lunch with. From the looks of it, she was barely touching her food tray. People who walked past her whispered one another, as if speaking about her. Probably about the posters.
-"Wait, you're saying that the cheerleading squad isn't sitting with her? Because of what happened...?"—Lilly asked in genuine shock—"I mean I know they have no brains, but are they heartless, too?"
-"It's not like that."
A fifth voice called over to their attention. Connor spun around along with the rest and came face to face with Shawn, who looked like the aftermath of a bad fight; a cut lip, a couple of bruises and one scar across his right cheek he could see previously had stitches on. This couldn't have been from the fight at the Andrew Graham center, that had been too long ago.
-"Shawn...? What... What happened...?"—Connor asked.
-"It's nothing."—he said, shaking his head—"I got into a fight with Cameron because I defended you back at the center... Don't worry, it's cool."
-"Shawn, I—"
-"Connor, it's ok. I don't regret it."
There was something in Shawn's eyes, a determination in his words Connor hadn't seen before. He was convinced that what he did was right. Connor wasn't certain if he'd ever felt that way.
-"She is pushing everyone away."—Shawn revealed—"Her friends from the cheerleading squad invited her to have lunch like every day, but she said no, and went and sat all by herself..."
Connor went back to looking at Alexa. She was sitting right there, but at the same time, she wasn't there at all. She was somewhere far away, far away from all the hurt that these walls had brought here. Connor hated seeing here like that. And he was certain that Shawn hated it even more, and to an extent he would never comprehend.
-"... I'll go talk to her."—Lilly said, making everyone turn to her—"I mean I get that she wants to be alone, but... I don't think she really wants to. Maybe she just needs someone to... Break her walls."
-"... Well there isn't a better person to do that than you, Lil."—Connor agreed, earning a grin from his friend.
-"Alright. Why don't you guys check if there is someplace to seat outside, by the terrace? I don't think any of these tables are getting empty anytime soon..."
Lilly went in Alexa's direction, and Shawn went back to the table where the rest of his friends sat, far away from Cameron's crew. Troye sighed, and turned to Connor.
-"I'll go make a line to get some food."—he said—"Any chance I'm getting my jacket back?"
-"Oh. Oh, yes, of course, sorry, I don't even know at what time I..."—Connor started, proceeding to remove one of the jacket's sleeves.
-"Connor, Connor! I was totally kidding, geez... You... You keep it. It..."
Troye seemed unsure if he should go ahead and say what he was about to say next, with Oli standing there, but after a brief silence, he helped Connor put the jacket again, and then patted his left shoulder, removing some dust from it.
-"... It suits you well."—he said smiling, before going towards the queue for lunch.
Connor struggled not to smile back, but couldn't help the slight grin. He then walked side by side with Oli, who still was trying to process what he had just seen.
-"Connor, what was that...?"
-"Eh... Well... I don't know if—"
Right at that moment, as he was looking away, Connor crashed against someone who was walking in his direction, causing them both to fall on the floor, their open backpacks throwing all of their books to the ground. Connor immediately started picking up those he saw were his, while constantly apologizing.
-"Sorry! I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going, I..."
But then he lifted his gaze, and his eyes came against the flash of yellow hair he knew too well. Lia was also picking up her textbooks, saying nothing, and not bothering to look back at Connor. When she had a final notebook in her hand, she looked up, and the two of them just glared at each other. Slowly, Connor stood back up, as she remained crouched on the floor, picking up papers here and there. He didn't notice the small brown journal she picked up in her right hand. He was too focused on her eyes.
After she was up on her feet in front of him, he blinked as if escaping a trance, and spoke up.
-"I-I'm sorry, Lia..."
Lia didn't say anything. Instead, she blinked twice again, escaping from her own trance, and then noticed Connor's getup, and the jacket which didn't belong to him. She opened her mouth slightly, and frowned, looking back up at Connor. Connor then saw what she carried in her hand; it was his journal. The one journal he had been carrying around all year, and the one that had fallen from his backpack just now.
Quickly, he tried to snatch it away from her, but she was quicker and pulled her arm away. It was then that she noticed that the book in her hand wasn't hers, and after seeing that the first page read Connor's name, she connected the dots, and looked back and forth between Connor and the book. She started going through the pages, until she finally stopped.
Connor's heartbeat disappeared. It was as if nobody else in the entire world existed. It was only him and her, and that book which she held open in her hands. He wasn't able to feel anything, not his breath, not his pulse.
Just the most horrifying sense of fear he had ever experienced in his entire life.
With her mouth agape, Lia raised her head slowly, looking directly into Connor's eyes with a fulminating frown, and a single tear going down her left cheek.
Yet, she didn't do anything.
She just stood there.
Connor was expecting the worst, but she just stood there, motionless.
Oli finally decided that whatever was going on was too much, so he grabbed Connor's arm and started dragging him away towards the terrace.
-"Come on, Connor, let's leave right now."
Oli took Connor across the entire dining hall, leaving Lia behind, still glaring at Connor, and then through the double doors that led to the gardens. It was snowing and the sky was mad gray, and instead of stopping by the lunch tables, Oli took Connor out to the snow-covered grass, stopping him to check if anyone was behind them, and then looking at him worried.
-"Ok, what the hell was that!?"—he whispered-yelled.
-"I-I-I—"—Connor stammered, clearly unable to respond.
-"Connor, what was that book?"
-"I-it was... My journal..."
-"Journal!?"
-"Yes! I... I use it to... To practice, for my therapy sessions with Lisbug and that, and... And for private thoughts, and..."
-"Connor, what did she read in it?"
-"I-I..."
The proper question probably was what didn't she read in that.
Ever since the incident with the posters of Red's sonogram, Connor had lost all inhibitions with his journal. The night he tried to run away he wrote every single thing that had happened ever since he first met Red, and then started having 'sessions' with Troye, who was MGSK and then Blue in the book. He used codenames and all, but it was still easy to gather who was who, if one knew the characters in person.
And certainly, Lia did.
-"YOU!"
Connor and Oli both turned towards the double doors to the dining hall, from which a now absolutely outraged Lia stomped in their direction, gaining curious eyes from the people inside the dining hall. Some started walking outside to the snow, among them, to Connor's surprise, Alexa and Lilly, and even Shawn, a little further apart. He felt his blood freeze, but even so, he took two steps forward, and faced the yellow-haired beast before him. And as soon as she was close enough, Lia lounged the notebook at Connor, hitting him in the head and barely managing to dodge it a little, and then proceeded to slap him furiously; first across the face, then his arms, then his chest, continuously, while puffing in rage and crying with anger.
-"IT WAS YOU...! IT WAS YOU...! THIS WHOLE TIME, IT WAS YOU...!"—she exclaimed with every hit—"ALL THIS TIME, I WAS SO STUPID, STUPID, STUPID...! IT WAS ALWAYS YOU...!"
Her slaps weren't exactly painful, but somehow Connor was in the verge of tears. He didn't hit back a single time, but still he felt defenseless. Even knowing that he could easily beat her, she went on.
Finally, she stopped hitting Connor, and took a second to gather her breath. Her perfect hair was an uneven mess, and her usually temperate gaze was a powerful storm ready to happen. From her eyes Connor couldn't perceive anything but hatred. Fulminating, pure hatred towards him. She pointed an accusing finger towards the book.
-"WHAT BULLSHIT IS THAT, EH!?"—she demanded to know—"IS IT LIKE, A NOVEL YOU'RE WRITING OR SOMETHING!? A DIARY!? WHAT THE FUCK IS IT!? WHY DOES IT SAY...!?"
She was clearly losing it. She started waving her hands in the air, at loss of words to describe whatever was going on.
-"... THOSE... THINGS!?"—she finally said, unable to come with better words—"ARE THEY TRUE!? ARE ALL OF THOSE TRUE!?"
Connor felt unable to speak. He looked over Lia's shoulder and met eyes with Alexa, who was crying silently. She shook her head at him, warning him not to say anything.
Then, Lia slapped him across the face strongly, this time really managing to hurt him. He took a palm to his aching cheek, and then looked back at Lia.
-"DON'T YOU DARE LOOK AWAY FROM ME!"—she screamed—"IS IT TRUE!? IS ALL OF IT TRUE!? WAS IT YOU!? WERE YOU THE ONE WHOM HE WAS CHEATING ME WITH!?"
Connor didn't respond, or move. He just remained standing there, taking all of her insults. From the double doors he saw a couple of teachers had joined the crowd, but none of them seemed to be planning to walk towards the scene. And then, following them outside, came none other than Troye, whom as soon as he noticed what was going on, froze still, and went extremely pale.
Lia was now laughing, her eyes fixed on Connor. She wasn't laughing of joy, though; it was more of a mad laughter. As if she had just realized that, after this, she had finally lost.
-"I'm such an idiot..."—she said, then looking up at the sky and screaming—"I'M SUCH AN IDIOOOOT...!"
She sighed and looked back at Connor, with a maleficent grin.
-"I have been wasting my time, thinking it was Alexa Losey... When all along, IT WAS YOU!"
She then spun around, still laughing, and looked directly at Red.
-"I'M SORRY, LOSEY!"—she exclaimed with a mad smile—"MY BAD! I'M SORRY FOR PUTTING UP THOSE POSTERS, I SWEAR IT WILL NEEEEVER HAPPEN AGAIN! HAHAHAHAHA...!"
Alexa was visibly shaking, and after hearing Lia's confession, she almost collapsed on the floor, it took both Lilly and Shawn, who had rushed to her side, to keep her from falling. Lia went on.
-"YOU SEE, I SAW YOU RUNNING AWAY FROM TROYE'S HOUSE A DAY OR TWO AFTER HE DUMPED ME! I WAS SURE YOU TWO HAD BEEN FUCKING!"—Lia accused, emphasizing on the action—"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE I WENT THROUGH, CONVINCING MY COUSIN WHO WORKS AT THE HOSPITAL TO GET YOUR MEDICAL HISTORY FOR ME! I THOUGHT I HAD YOU! I HOPED YOU WOULD DROP DEAD, I REALLY DID! BUT GEE, I WAS WROOOOONG! TURNS OUT..."
Lia turned around once again and looked at Connor.
-"... HE WASN'T AFTER PUSSY AFTER ALL!"
Connor felt her words stab him in the chest like daggers. He wondered if the pocket knife Cameron tried to cut him with would have hurt as much. Lia scooted closer.
-"Tell me."—she asked, almost quietly, but everyone could hear her loud and clear—"Did you like it, huh? Did you like it how he screwed you, did you? I bet you did, you disgusting fag."
She took two steps back.
-"I regret the fucking day I was ever nice to you."—she said—"I regret the day you were born; I wish you had fucking DIED WITH YOUR GOOD-FOR-NOTHING PARENTS—!"
-"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Troye's scream cut Lia off mid-insult, making her turn around fully and face him. Now he had walked towards the two, only a few steps away from Lia. Color back into his skin, and his blue eyes, colder, colder than anything Connor had ever seen before in his entire life.
Lia shook her head and laughed, like a maniac. This was dragging her down, far below than what she had even been before.
-"Boy, you've got some NERVE coming here!"—she said with wide eyes and smile—"Are you here to stand up to your new fuck toy...?"
-"Lia, you are ridiculing yourself."—Troye said calmly but firmly—"Stop now, and walk away."
-"YOU DON'T GET TO TELL ME TO STOP!"—she balled—"YOU DON'T GET TO TELL ME ANYTHING!"
-"LIA LOOK AT YOU!"
Troye's much more powerful scream made Lia twitch and take a step back, yet her demeanor remained. Everyone else was watching quietly.
-"If you're mad at anyone, it's at me."—Troye said—"So attack me. Leave him out of it."
Troye's words made Lia open her mouth widely, and nod silently, looking back between him and Connor. She seemed to be amusing herself in the revelations.
-"... So it's true, then?"—she asked, finally crying—"You... You really are gay after all."
Troye nodded his head.
-"Yes."—he admitted, earning gasps from several of the people in the crowd, and making Lilly cover her mouth and tear up—"Yes, Lia. I am gay. I like boys."
Lia crossed her arms and shook her head, apparently in denial.
-"... And all this time, I thought that..."—she said, apparently reminiscing to past memories—"When you broke up with me, back then, last summer... And you told me it was because of what I said about Sage, and because you didn't know if you liked girls..."
Troye clenched his fists and swallowed a gulp of saliva. Finally, his story with Lia was coming out to the light, and it was much darker from what everyone expected. Lia went on.
-"... I really did think you were wrong, you know? I was convinced... That you were just saying that to make me back off, because I made you upset with what I said about Sage..."
-"... Is that why you came looking for me?"—Troye asked—"Why you kept on insisting, even after I told you I thought I didn't like girls?"
Lia raised her arms questioningly.
-"What can I say?"—she said, putting her arms down—"I refused to believe I had wasted my time with a fucking faggot."
Some people in the crowd were whispering among themselves, and from what Connor could gather, they didn't like the things Lia said. Troye however, seemed immovable. He took everything she told him with a strong will.
-"... But, I guess I was wrong."—Lia admitted, looking at the entire crowd around her—"Well, look at that... I was so eager to be the lead in my own stage play this year, I went as far as pranking that brat Alexis to get the role... It seems... it seems I finally got it..."
She then looked at Troye.
-"You were there for me, Troye. That day on the opening night for the first play I ever was in, remember? When I remembered my lines, and the audience started laughing at me. And then that bitch Singh came in and took over my performance..."
Lilly remained still. From what Lia was saying, this had to be something that happened several years back. And suddenly Connor understood; he understood what Troye had said that Lia had felt humiliation before, and the reason why she and Lilly hated each other so much.
-"... And then, for what she did to me, I showed everyone where she lived."—Lia admitted—"Glamorous life, leaving next to a landfill. Hahaha... Come to think of it, I always was the most dramatic when it came to getting back at someone... At least in that, I'm the star..."
She then stretched her arms wide.
-"Today... I AM THE STAR...!"
Troye shook his head slowly.
-"... The show is over, now."—he said—"The show has been over for a long time now, Lia."
And then, Lia finally stopped laughing, and breathed silently for a couple of seconds.
And then, she really looked.
She looked at the crowd and the people around her. She saw the eyes of disgust projected on her. She saw how they spoke her name with repulse. How people pointed at her. She stood there, and felt how they all judged her, one by one, bit by bit.
For once, she realized that being the star of every show wasn't always the best thing.
She wished, deeply, that she weren't the star of this one.
She turned around one last time, and looked at Connor. One single tear down her cheek. And then she turned to Troye, shaking her head slightly.
-"... I really did love you once, you know."—she said, slowly shaking her head—"And... And he...!"
She turned around and pointed and accusing finger at Connor, turning towards Troye without stopping her pointing.
-"... He won't love you the way I did. He.... He won't make you happy the way I did."
-"... You're right."—Troye said—"... With him, I will really be happy. And this time, I will be in love, for real."
It was as if that was all that took, and finally Lia was defeated, the yellow flash of her golden hair, gone. Connor imagined her, standing up the stage, frozen in shock, no words coming out of her mouth, feeling like she was shaming herself in front of the entire auditorium. And now, she had her very own personal trial, and she was being sentenced by the entire school.
From behind Troye, appeared no other than Principal Hart appeared, with her arms crossed, and with her secretary Gigi to her left and Mr. Hartman to her right, sporting her red-headed top bun. Sternly, she spoke up.
-"Ms. Johnson. If you were so kind, please come with us to my office. There's the matter of your expulsion to discuss."
It took a minute, before Lia realized the situation. But once she did, she didn't say another word. She just walked. Walked past Troye, not daring to cross eyes with him, as he stared directly towards the floor. When she came across Alexa, Lilly and Shawn, she took a minute to look stop walking and look at Alexa in the eyes. It was impossible to tell what those two were telling each other with their looks. And for some reason, Connor thought it was best never to find out. Then, the students that were blocking the entrance to the dining hall through the double doors move aside, and let her through, walking slowly through the crowd, one step at time, always behind Principal Hart. And after leaving the dining hall, Mr. Hartman closed the entryway behind him, not letting any of the students follow them down the hallways of the school.
That was the last time any of them ever saw or heard of the Queen of Hearts.
---
A/N
Just a little gift of mine, so that you don't say I never give you anything ;)
So, it's been a time since I've asked ya'll a question... how about... how are you feeling right now, eh? hehehe...
Well, I don't know how to say it, but there is something I need to tell you...
Hmm... I know! Perhaps like this:
**** ******* ** *** **** ***, *****!
So, yeah...
Hehehe... you know how this goes...
--Coffee