Lunch rolled around quickly as the fourth lesson came to an end with just as much interrogating as the first two did. Each teacher Hazel met seemed to want to test her skills. And while she was smart, there was a lot in school that you tend not to need or learn outside of it. For example, the various ways a rock can break. She knew how they broke, but there was really no point in testing her on the names of every process. Damn Geology, why did they even teach that in a Geography lesson?
"Did I walk into a quiz show?" Hazel said into her arms, her voice small, muffled and worn as the Geography teacher exited the room.
The three boys watched her with the same questions in their own minds. It seemed everybody had noticed how questions were thrown at her. Maybe they were just testing to see how much she knew, but it felt a little harsher than that when their tones were so strict and they kept mentioning that she should know if she previously went to a school in the North. Did they not like people from the North? Or did they just not like her?
"I guess all the teachers are associating you with us," Leo sighed, leaning back in his chair and resting against her desk with his elbow.
"You deal with this type of thing every day?" She pouted, lifting her head. "I see why you spend your time at the cafe instead-"
"-What the fuck are you doing here!?"
A new voice bellowed from the open doorway, putting the conversation on hold as everyone turned, their eyes meeting a scowling face of a boy with an upturned nose, larger forehead and a shaven head.
"Dude," Oscar turned to face Ryan, "did you get into a fight with Dicky Ricky again or something? Why is he yelling towards us?"
"He's not," Leo stated, continuing to lean against Hazel's desk and say words that only puzzled the girl further. "I think he's yelling at Tweetie..."
She blanked, her head tilting as she realised that the boy was definitely looking directly at her. But, why? What did she do? She didn't recall ever really talking to the boy. Sure, she was there when he and Ryan argued, but, she wasn't involved, was she?
"Oh shit," Ryan mumbled, "I've never heard him yell at someone other than me before..."
The boy in question moved towards the group, the remaining classmates moved out of his way hurriedly as he crossed the classroom, shoving chairs as he passed. Hazel didn't move, she simply sat and stared down at the table, attempting to figure out what the hell was happening.
She thought back, going to every possible situation she could to figure out if this was a mistake or if she really did something to upset him like this.
"Bitch," the boy snapped, his hands slamming onto her desk and forcing Leo to jolt away, quickly standing and watching while, beside them, Oscar's lips parted and he figured out what was happening.
"I'm... confused-" she lifted her head to look at him, but, as she did. It clicked.
She turned to Oscar, recalling the blurry events when she was chased and punched and the two were threatened. It was Ricky and she assumed that he felt alarmed from finding out that she joined the school and could potentially tell a teacher there.
He furrowed his eyebrows at the sound of her confusion, shifting from anger to his own confused expression. But, she sat up and looked at him.
"...Oh, you," she said, monotone but silently shocked he had made himself known. Maybe he was an idiot.
"Oh, now you remember?"
"Yeah," she snapped back quickly, deciding not to take any of his shit on her first day. First Amelia? Now, this? Maybe she was getting a bit of an attitude problem. "Did you think any of this through? Or were you planning on blurting out what you did for everyone to hear? I can tell them for you if you want."
He stopped, blankly staring at her for a couple of seconds as he realised just what happened. He came in with the intention to threaten her and Oscar again in order to stop them from telling anyone about what he did... Yet, she ended up threatening him.
He pursed his lips together and scowled before stepping back.
"Fuck you. I swear, I'll kill you if you say anything." He snapped, glaring to her then to Oscar while stepping back and away before leaving without another word.
Silence followed as the three boys around her tried to figure out what had just happened. Meanwhile, she lost herself in her mind little by little, going over just what this meant. Honestly, she didn't want to put any faith in the fact that he wouldn't try to do something if she told anybody what he did. He punched her just for catching a glimpse of something she shouldn't have, now he was making direct threats.
She turned to Oscar who shared a worried glance, neither trusting that he wouldn't go through with his threats.
"What?" Ryan squinted between them. "What was that about?"
"...It doesn't matter," Hazel said, set on keeping quiet for the sake of Oscar's brother and beside her, he nodded along quickly, hoping to get the message across.
"D'you guys wanna head to the cafe?" Leo asked, deciding to move the topic along so no other questions could be asked about what happened. It was obvious they didn't want to say anything about it immediately.
"Yeah!" Oscar cheered, his usual smile growing brighter. "I wanna tell Fox and Joel I got a geography question right!"
"It took you three tries," Leo said.
"I still got it right!" Oscar argued back as Leo pulled a Hoodie onto his arms and lifted his bag up to his shoulder.
"Yeah, it was a three choice question."
"Ryan, what the hell, you haven't stopped glaring at her since we left school."
"-Leo, what's wrong with his face?"
"Hm?" Leo turned, his eyes meeting Fox's who joined the four as they approached the cafe buzzing with life. Hazel and Oscar walked only a few steps ahead, both far too distracted by their conversation about classical music to listen to the group behind them.
"I think he's pissed at Tweetie for something." Leo continued, gesturing towards the short brown haired girl who skipped along with a happy smile, oblivious to the conversation.
Fox let a hum slip from him as he glanced over the silver-haired boy with a scowl, his eyes burning into the slightly shorter boy before he brought a hand up, hovering it over the back of Ryan's head until he finally hit. his hand knocked his head forward with a light slap and brought a much more hardened scowl to Ryan's face.
"Fox, what the fuck?"
"Quit glaring at her," Fox demanded, unaffected by Ryan's bitter tongue. "Why do you look so angry? What'd she do?"
"Because," Ryan spat, turning to Leo for a moment but paused in thought, staring down at his feet momentarily until he seemed much less aggravated. "She knows shit about Dicky Ricky and I want to know what it is."
"That's all?" Fox sighed, tuning to Leo who shrugged. "You can be so dramatic sometimes."
"Yeah, whatever," Ryan groaned, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Something's weird about her, I dunno."
Eventually, after only a couple of minutes, the group finally arrived at the cafe, the smell of coffee and treats greeting them like a pleasant smile from an old friend. It was busy, but not too busy. People sat around tables, the group's usual table remained free as people avoided it with fear while others sat nearby, waiting for the boys to turn up.
"Hey boys!" Stewart cheered, greeting the group as they stepped inside with a kind smile. Hazel gazed around the rustic interior that was the same as always. She hugged the jumper around her body tightly, the cold of the air outside nipping at her skin and as he let his eyes fall to her, Stewart found himself smiling and letting a chuckle escape him, "Robin, you stick out like a sore thumb with that lot!"
She smiled, deciding not to question how exactly she stuck out.
The boys walked, moving towards their table while Hazel decided to head for the counter, noticing a copper-haired head in the corner of her eye but unable to make any gestures towards her friend out of the fear of being caught.
"Hi Stewart," she smiled.
"Hey Robin," Stewart returned the greeting, his smile never leaving as she rested on her elbows, leaning forward against the counter to chat with the man while there weren't any customers waiting in line. "How's your first day of school? It's not too much of a shock, is it?"
"I'm used to being around adults," she responded, comfortable enough to be truthful to him, "so sitting in a room of kids my age is totally new, I can't even write notes on the case." Her voice was silent, barely a whisper in the fear of others hearing her. Stewart nodded, understanding exactly what she meant.
"You've never had much chance to act your age, huh?"
"No," she lowered her gaze, picking at her fingers, "I guess I don't have a choice now..."
"You'll be alright, you're smart, you can get through it," The man said, patting her shoulder gently before glancing behind her, his eyes meeting Ryan's who seemed to be waiting for a good opportunity to call Hazel over. "The boys're waiting for you, you should head over."
"Right," she nodded, straightening herself up and pulling her smile back onto her lips. "Thanks, Stewart."
"No problem."
She spun around, her line of sight instantly falling onto the four who sat around the round table they usually stayed at. Ryan was the first to notice her, his eyes already watching as she spoke to Stewart and quickly, he gestured for her to join them.
"Hey," he greeted her as she reached them. "Sit."
Obediently, she followed his orders and lowered herself into the chair beside his and Oscars, her hands meeting as she placed them on her lap and felt Ryan's eyes burn into her.
"I have a question," he began, his intimidating aura spreading wider the longer he stared at her, however, she continued and moved her gaze to meet his green eyes once more, nodding her head for him to continue. "What d'you know about Dicky Ricky?"
"You mean about that thing back in class?" The group of four watched her, curious to see how she acted under the pressure of Ryan, one of the most intimidating kids at school. Unsurprisingly, the entire group sat within the top five students on that list.
"Yeah," Ryan continued, his eyebrows furrowed. "He almost pissed himself when you threatened to tell people about what he did."
"He also threatened to kill me if I told anyone," She reminded him as she rested against her palm. "I don't want to dig my own grave if I can help it."
"He's not gonna do shit," Ryan spat out a little harsher than intended, causing the girl to raise an eyebrow. "Just tell me, I wanna know."
She turned to Oscar who turned to her at the exact same moment, quietly trying to decide through just eye contact whether they should. Which, of course, got Ryan to squint between them both even harder as he specifically looked to Oscar this time.
"What?" He asked. "Osc?"
Oscar frowned and sank in his seat, bringing his hands to his face and lowering himself down further and further until he was no longer above the table.
"He's the guy who punched Tweetie," he admitted and Hazel patted his shoulder gently to ease him. She of course wasn't worried about what would happen to her, she faced killers. But Oscar's silence through the whole situation spoke volumes. If he was hiding something from the others, then he was genuinely worried about the outcome. "He threatened her and said he'd go after Matthew if we said anything, you know he would, I didn't-"
"Osc," Leo leaned forwards against the table, "nobody is upset. Right, Ryan?"
Eyes turned to Ryan who, of course, was practically frothing at the mouth. But he kept quiet, his leg bouncing beneath the table where Hazel could see and she watched him carefully.
"Why didn't you guys say anything?" Fox asked, looking between the pair who had held this information for days. Oscar frowned and stayed quiet, still down about having hidden this in the first place. But, they both knew it was probably needed.
"I was the one who got hurt," Hazel explained, "there wasn't any reason to get anyone else involved."
"He broke your nose." Leo reminded.
"I break my nose on the daily anyway." She shrugged back, obviously exaggerating. "I'm a girl of chaos."
"Clearly," Ryan uttered, seemingly calming now he was able to see that Oscar was alright, just upset that his brother somehow got involved. Ricky seemed to really know where to hit people where it hurt. Luckily, he didn't know anything about Hazel.
"Let me know if he tries anything," Fox stated, his expression remaining as bored as ever but his voice sounding genuine. Quickly, with a sweet smile, Hazel nodded her head and Oscar turned, his own smile on his lips again as he forced the conversation to move on.
"Tweetie," he said, his head tilting towards her as he changed the subject entirely, "you're buying lunch today, right?"
"Right."
"Make sure you buy yourself something too, okay?"
"Okay," she smiled warmly, thankful for his reminder. She glanced around the table quickly, acknowledging that Joel was still missing.
"Should I wait until Joel gets here to buy things, or do you guys want stuff now and I'll buy his when he turns up?"
She turned to Ryan who had told her to pay in the first place and he paused for a moment, thinking.
"Get it now," he decided, realising Joel might end up arriving at the end of lunch.
She nodded and stood from her seat, waiting for the group to tell her what they wanted. They told her, yet, neither Ryan nor Oscar was happy with Leo's choice of a cake, both frowning as they seemed to know something that nobody else did, but, nothing else came of it so she moved on.
Soon enough, Hazel was back at the counter, speaking to Stewart again as he brewed coffee and poured hot chocolate.
"This is weird," she said, feeling as though she was on the wrong side of the counter. "I'll work extra hard on the weekends since I can't help through the week."
"Ah, you're a good kid," Stewart smiled brightly, noticing as the boys spoke and turned towards her every so often to see if she was still at the counter or looking towards them. Though, he didn't mention it to the detective who strangely, despite working even more, felt as though she was on some kind of break. "Just don't overdo it, you need a rest every so often."
"I know," she nodded, reminded of the previous week she had spent feeling more exhausted than ever. "Hopefully, I'll be able to get all this work done soon. It's been long enough."
"You'll do it eventually," he nodded, handing her a tray. "I'll be cheering you on with every step."
"Thanks, Stewart," she smiled warmly, taking the tray from him as he nodded and she began to make her way back to the table where the boys talked, their voices becoming clearer the closer she got.
"Osc, you really didn't tell us?"
"He threatened to kill Tweetie right after mugging a stranger."
"We wouldn't have told anyone."
"We were worried Ryan would get angry and fight him."
"I wouldn't have if you said- well, actually... that's valid, I guess-"
"-Oh, hey Tweetie!"
They all turned, their eyes falling to the tray as the detective noticed an extra presence at the table and immediately smiled towards the boy only a little younger than she was. Quickly, Joel beamed up at her. His energy flowed from him as he leaned back in his chair, rocking back and forth as Leo held onto the back of it, ensuring he didn't end up falling backwards.
"Joel's here," Hazel stated the obvious, placing the tray down and acting as though she hadn't heard their conversation. "Where've you been? You're usually one of the first here."
"You noticed that?" Joel said, no longer rocking in his chair as he grew happier knowing she had taken notice of him. "I fell asleep in class and just woke up."
"It's your own fault for sleeping so late at night..." Leo pointed out, turning to the boy with a raised eyebrow who seemed more proud than anything.
"Hm?" Hazel tilted her head. "Did you go to sleep late? You seemed a little tired when I saw you this morning too..."
"Just a little," Joel smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Around four in the morning..."
"What?" She paused, suddenly noticing the dark circles beneath his eyes. He usually had dark circles beneath his eyes, did he normally go to bed late then? The group took notice of the worry which washed over her face and watched as she thought for a moment, parting her lips to say more. "You go to sleep late a lot, don't you?"
"His earliest is two in the morning," Oscar announced, taking the hot chocolate from her as she began to hand the drinks and food out.
"Hey, don't tell her that!" Joel yelled out as Oscar let a satisfied laugh escape him, happy he got a chance to annoy the younger boy.
"You should sleep earlier," Hazel hummed, a small pout on her lips, "if you keep sleeping late, your immune system won't be so good and you'll get ill."
He stopped moving, glancing over her genuine concern that he definitely didn't expect.
Sure, she was being a bit of a hypocrite considering most nights, she didn't sleep at all. But, she was used to that, it was necessary for her work sometimes. He didn't need to, he went to school and had to wake up early for that. It would take a toll on him like it already had on her.
"Awh," Joel breathed, lowering his head as her words hit him. "I'll try to sleep earlier tonight, I promise."
"Good," she said, lifting the tray from the table. "I take it you want coffee then?"
"Oh yes please!"
There was a pause, and as eyes turned to her, Hazel decided not to move quite yet.
"Leo," Oscar spoke up before she could leave, "are you sure?"
She tilted her head, unsure of what was happening and why it was stopping her from going.
"Tweetie," Ryan turned, ignoring Leo's nodding head, "could you get Leo some food? That cake isn't for him so he doesn't actually have any food himself."
She glanced to Leo, noticing that the box the cake was placed in was already gone, and she quickly realised that it was gone because he had tucked it into his bag.
"Sure-"
"You don't have to," Leo interrupted. "I'm not going to make you spend extra on me."
"Leo," she smiled, hoping to reassure him. "I have the money and you need to eat. It's fine, seriously. I get a discount here, y'know."
He eventually gave in, and quickly, after she found out what he and Joel wanted, she nodded and then made her way back across the cafe towards Stewart who watched patiently with a smile. However, he stood with Archie who leaned against the counter, his eyes following Hazel as she approached with yet another sigh.
"So," Archie began as Hazel came to a stop, nodding her head towards Stewart who began to make a coffee and prepare food, already knowing the boy's usual orders. "How's school?"
"Oh God," she breathed out in exasperation from simply thinking about the day. "I don't remember school being so dramatic, the only drama I used to deal with was having nobody to eat lunch with. I've been confronted twice already."
"Must be a change from your old school." Archie cocked an eyebrow, watching as Hazel nodded and took a hot cup from Stewart. "But this isn't permanent, remember that."
"Right. Good thing too, I don't think very many people like me." She seemed to falter, her lips falling to a frown briefly. But she stopped, recalling something else. "Oh yeah," she glanced up to him. "I know who broke my nose."
"You do?" Stewart asked, placing food on a tray for her to take.
"That kid, Ricky. He threatened Oscar's brother if I told anyone, so..."
"Ricky?" Stewart repeated while beside her, Archie furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and shook his head. "He's banned from this cafe for good."
"Make sure you stay away from him if you can," Archie added and she nodded along. She was already planning on it.
She turned back to the table of boys and let a sigh escape her before forcing herself to perk up a little more.
"I should go."
"Wait, Robin," Archie stopped her, noticing the odd irritation that had lingered in the back of her mind since the incident with Ricky. "Are you alright? You seem a bit... off."
The signs had gotten clearer the longer he knew her. Avoidance of eye contact, shortened breaths and hands that rubbed her eyes tiredly. At first, he thought they were just average movements. But, realising that her deeper emotions were a little harder to read than most people's, it became clearer that they were signs of irritation and annoyance, things she didn't show often.
"Yeah," she nodded, "just... stressed, I guess."
He hummed, accepting her words while knowing that there was a little more to it that she didn't want to admit. But, that came from the stress of the case that she definitely couldn't talk about in the cafe.
"See ya," she brought a smile to her lips, stepping back with the coffee and food in her grasp.
She approached the table of boys again, who, like last time, were chatting between themselves.
"She talks to him a lot, doesn't she?"
"Who? That police guy? Archie?"
"Yeah, he still gives me a weird feeling."
"I think she's friends with him."
"Wait, she has friends?"
"Hey," she pouted while Ryan turned and tossed a knowing smirk over his shoulder. Of course he knew she was there, of course he took the opportunity to tease her.
"Not nice." She pouted, placing coffee and food down and sunk into her seat.
He let a laugh escape him, happy with his successful attempt at teasing her and she turned to him, clearly holding back her own smaller smile of humour, and she glared... poorly.
After that point, the day seemed to slip by.
Lunch came to an end, class started again, she went home and she spent the night going over her work just like usual. Even while exhausted from her first day of school, she worked late into the night.